The truth about men who kill women
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I'm Daniel James, and you're listening to 7AM.
What recent killings prompted this episode's focus on violence against women?
Earlier this month, in the space of just three days, four women and girls in Australia were allegedly killed by men and boys known to them. Among them, a 13-year-old Layla J. Jeffrey, whose body was found in Bushland in regional Victoria. A 16-year-old boy she knew through friends has been charged with her murder. In the Northern Territory, a 17-year-old girl was allegedly killed by a 34-year-old man who she'd been in a domestic relationship with. In Toowoomba, 30-year-old Yana Armstrong, the mother of a four-month-old baby, disappeared from her home. Her former partner has been charged with her murder. And in Melbourne, Lavanya Chapa was allegedly murdered by her husband while her two children were in the house.
Two months ago, the Prime Minister resisted calls for a Royal Commission into domestic violence.
Will we see this Royal Commission?
There's calls for a Royal Commission about everything. But women and girls continue to be killed, sometimes within hours of one another. Today we're bringing you an episode from 2024, where Ruby Jones speaks to Australia's Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Anna Cody, about why our domestic violence crisis is getting worse and why years of plans, campaigns and promises have failed to stop it. It's Sunday, July 19. This episode was originally published in July 2024.
Dr. Cody, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today.
Thank you, Ruby.
So I believe that you were last on 7am when you'd just begun as Commissioner, so a year ago now. And it strikes me that it would be a tough time to be Sex Discrimination Commissioner because it's a hard time to be a woman in Australia at the moment. 52 women have been killed by men just in the first half of this year and there have been several terrible killings in recent weeks. Why do you think this is happening?
I agree it is a really hard time to be a woman in Australia right now. When I hear of another homicide, I feel shocked. I find it deeply upsetting to hear of another woman who has been killed in some of the most sadistic and horrific ways and now in a position of responsibility for trying to make some change in that. I feel that as a weight. I definitely feel that as I have a responsibility to try and make as much change as I can, really trying to understand what policies need to change and how I can influence that policy change. So it's both personal and then it's sort of like I've got this real responsibility to do something about this. How can I do this?
And do you feel like you understand why men kill women?
I think I have glimpses of it. I think the fundamental cause is gender inequality and very rigid stereotypes, values, norms, but that doesn't mean all men kill or that all domestic and family violence ends in homicide. So the actual homicide part of it, the evidence is that there's three categories, some who it's more sort of haphazard, it's alcohol-related, drug-related, and in some ways it's the same violence but it just tips over into homicide. And then there's the other where there's the coercive control where it's sort of typified by your typical white middle-class professional man. And the third scenario is where someone's had a crisis in their life. So it's often older men. For example, they've had a mental health incident or had a particularly difficult sort of crisis in their life.
And then they sort of go downhill and then suddenly kill.
Let's talk a bit more about what the government is trying to do. It was elected partly on this platform to address violence against women and it has a plan. It's the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children. It was launched almost two years ago now with this target of reducing female intimate partner homicides by 25% each year. We're obviously not even close to being on track for an outcome like that. So tell me what you think of the National Plan.
National Plan is... in itself, has good objectives. It's how we implement it. We really need to see a decent investment of money.
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