Safe Place Women's Counselling in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | Local service

Safe Place Women's Counselling

Locality: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Address: Inner City 3000 Melbourne, VIC, Australia

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25.01.2022 You've probably heard the news that Sean Connery has died, aged 90. I'm too young to have seen Connery while he was playing James Bond, but have known him thro...ughout his life as a revered and celebrated icon. After his death, my friend Tully Fletcher pointed out something we don't recognise nearly often enough when it comes to celebrating male public figures: His characters were not the man. Tully writes: "You’ll be able to count on one hand (fist?) the number of leaders and commentators in the coming days who remember Sean Connery for what he really was: a proud, self-confessed bully and wife-beater. ‘I don't think there is anything particularly wrong in hitting a woman, though I don't recommend you do it the same way that you hit a man.’ Connery’s wife at the peak of his fame, Australian actress Diane Cilento, suffered a decade of physical and mental domestic abuse before leaving him. His characters were not the man, and Connery should be remembered as barely a man at all." #NotOneMoreNiki

24.01.2022 https://www.instagram.com/p/CBF-bdGHDI_/?igshid=dobg72lbpd08

22.01.2022 This is 63-year-old nurse Carol Ann Cameron. Carol dedicated her life to improving the outcomes of people with cancer. Now she is dead, allegedly stabbed to dea...th by her own son at St James in WA earlier this week. Carol was murdered in front of a group of paramedics who attended her home to treat her son. Carol is the 40th of 41 women lost to acts of murder or manslaughter this year. A total of 91 men and 18 children have also been killed since January 1 (see end of post for more info on this data). Almost all the women killed this year, have died at the hands of a partner, former partner, child or other relative. My research shows there has been a total of 55 domestic violence killings, including the loss of a number of children to abusive parents. Almost all the killers are male - whether domestic violence, stranger violence or associate violence. Australia is in the midst of two pandemics - one a virus, the other gendered violence. It is right that we respond strongly to the coronavirus, but we also need to start taking stronger action against violence. We need to treat it as a public health issue instead of offering up insubstantial band-aid responses to crimes that are entirely preventable. The more we refuse to address the pandemic of violence appropriately, the more Australia will lose people like Carol. Her work with cancer sufferers was heroic and selfless - her death was the result of cowardice and selfishness. RIP CAROL ANN CAMERON! **Please note: I count ALL murders and manslaughters regardless of perpetrator or the victim gender and regardless of the relationship between them. In others words, not all of these deaths are due to domestic violence. They also include stranger and associate violence.

21.01.2022 #HERNAMEISRUTH #countingdeadwomen

20.01.2022 Two women have been killed in Australia in the last 24 hours. Neither victim has been named yet. One woman was killed in Perth and another woman in South Gippsl...and (regional Victoria). Both women are believed to have been killed by men known to them. One is under police guard in hospital (Perth) and the man in Victoria has been arrested, but not yet charged. This is the country we live in... #NotOneMoreNiki

17.01.2022 20% of young males surveyed agreed that domestic violence is a natural response to stress. Violence against women is a national emergency. 34 women have been killed by men this year. Gender equality does not pit men against women - it allows inclusiveness & diversity that benefits everyone. Well said Natasha.

17.01.2022 Still the same statistic - too many women murdered

16.01.2022 Re: Porter, Tudge and their abysmal behaviour, it's always 'boys will be boys' and women are 'sluts'. Nothing will change as long as blokes get away with this! ScoMo is more angry at the ABC for doing its job than his two ministers behaving in an unacceptable manner.

12.01.2022 The Morrison government's response to women fleeing domestic violence - use your retirement savings!!

11.01.2022 This picture was taken exactly six years ago. It's my mum Sunila with my sister, Nikita Chawla. Niki was 23. In her eyes and smile you can sense the anticipatio...n of a blossoming future away from men's violence, control and the fear of being killed by someone she should be able to trust. Two months before this photo was taken, Niki called 000 to say that she was feeling terrified because her partner was waving a knife around at home. She literally didn't know what to do. I mean, who would if the person you're supposed to be able to trust is holding a knife at you? Two months after this photo was taken, in the dark of night Niki's partner killed her and called 000 to tell them to "come and collect the dead body." The operator was stunned by his cold, callous and emotionless voice. He was more scared about being shot by police than the act he had just committed. Niki's murder is one of far too many acts of violence committed by men. Violence against women is more than the headlines and the grisly details. It is more than the victim blaming narratives and the male entitlement writ large that has seen many men take the lives of their partners and then their own so no-one can touch them. For me, it is the thought of another Christmas in a month's time where there's an empty chair at the table that should be filled by a vibrant 29-year-old woman. It is missed anniversaries and birthdays and the smallest of interactions with the people we love that we rarely pause to think about, but are truly the rich fabric upon which this tapestry of life is woven. It is making each other cups of tea and having each other's back. It is love. And the hideous attempt of evil to destroy it through violent means. But they won't win, not now or ever, because ultimately there is hope that love conquers all. I love this photo to the moon and back and wanted to share it with you #NotOneMoreNiki

08.01.2022 This little cutie is nine-month-old Kobi Shepherdson. Yesterday, her father strapped Kobi to his body and jumped off the Whispering Wall in the Barossa Valley,... South Australia. Today, her mum is in mourning, knowing Kobi was murdered and that the dad of her child was a cowardly killer who also ended his own life. Police have confirmed Kobi died as a result of a murder-suicide. Kobi is the 12th Australian child killed in 2021. A total of 14 women and 42 men have also been killed since January 1 across Australia (*please take the time to read the note at the end of this post about these deaths). Kobi is one of the youngest victims of a domestic violence murder - indeed of any unlawful death - perpetrated this year. Police have confirmed her dad was the subject of domestic violence allegations but that he also had legal access to the youngster. It beggars belief that in 2021, domestic violence offenders are still allowed to have vulnerable children in their care. Our family law system not only upholds this right but makes it impossible for concerned parents to keep their children away from these potential killers - no matter the heinous nature of their previous behaviours. In essence, if a woman fears leaving her violent partner, child protection will take her kids. If she leaves him and raises DV as a concern, the court will give them to the abuser. It's a situation where women and children will always lose - and that loss may include their lives. It's far too easy to forget the smallest victims of Australia's domestic violence scourge and it is far too easy for many people to emphasise and sympathise when parents commit murder-suicides - as though it is somehow acceptable for a parent to kill as an "act of love". Here's a truth bomb - murder is never about love. It is always about many things like possession and control - but love has nothing to do with it. The reality is, good parents don't kill their children. When they do kill their children, they must be viewed as nothing more than cowardly thugs. Sadly, all violent deaths are preventable but as long as our legal and criminal systems fail to recognise that domestic violence is a precursor to murder, defenceless innocent children like Kobi will continue falling through the cracks. RIP KOBI SHEPHERDSON The Memorial to Women and Children Lost to Violence: https://t.co/UroVD68fcd The Australian Femicide & Child Death Map: https://t.co/RDVGgeLKBq *Please note, I document ALL unlawful deaths in Australia, regardless of victim or perpetrator gender or relationship between the person killed and the accused. This means not every death is due to domestic and family violence. Australians are also killed by strangers, friends, colleagues, neighbours and other people known to them.

08.01.2022 CN: rape, trauma, victim blaming and death by suicide . This is Daisy Coleman. She was an artist. An advocate. A leader. A visionary. A survivor. . In 2012, a c...lassmate of Daisy’s raped her after plying her with alcohol at a party. She was 14. He was 17. He was also a footballer, with family connections that included wealth and status privilege. After the assault, he and his friends dumped her on the front lawn of her house in almost freezing temperatures. Her mother found her scratching at the door the next morning, barely conscious. . Despite having evidence to prosecute, charges against Matthew Barnett were ultimately dropped amidst an unofficial campaign of victim blaming and aggression towards Daisy. While Barnett went on to study at his grandfather’s distinguished alma mater, Daisy’s mother, striving to protect her children from the unbearable hostility being meted out against them (Daisy in particular), moved her whole family out of the Maryville town in which a privileged young man had first assaulted her daughter and then been protected by his community. . Daisy suffered because of the sexual violence a man chose to do to her. She suffered because of the lack of support a community chose to deny a child. Despite that, she went in to found a student-led national organization with a mission to end sexual assault among middle and high school students. The work of Safe BAE continues today, giving teens the tools to combat sexual violence, to understand consent and to reject victim blaming. . This week, Daisy Coleman ended her life by suicide. She was 23. As her mother Melinda says, She never recovered from what those boys did to her and it’s just not fair. . It isn’t fair. And men’s lives go on to fulfil the great potential society defends and protects for them, while the women they choose to harm are left to put themselves back together. . Daisy Coleman had a potential too. She managed to fulfil so much of it despite the violence that was done to her, first by Barnett and then by the structural powers in place that work every day to protect men just like him. . Rest in power, Daisy. You will not be forgotten. . LIFELINE: 131114 . [ETA: Feminist News has blatantly ripped this whole post off, word for word (except removing the content note ) and reposted it on their page with no accreditation. They’ve even left the Instagram spacing dots in there. If you wouldn’t mind commenting on their post that they’ve stolen it, I would be very appreciative. They’ve got 1.5 million followers and their version of my post, without my name attached, has been shared 10,000 times: https://www.facebook.com/110218365992057/posts/1273501592997056/?d=n]

07.01.2022 It looks like murder victim Kim Murphy and her loved ones will be denied any chance at justice after the man who was charged over her death walked free this wee...k. Kim's brutalised body was found in her Morphett Vale home on the afternoon of April 16 this year. At the time, Major Crime Investigation Branch officer-in-charge Superintendent Des Bray said Kym's death was one of extreme violence. To make matters even worse for Kim and her family, there was a chance that she could have been saved because people in her neighbourhood heard her screams for help. Sadly, no one lifted a finger to call 000 or to check on her welfare. Shortly after her body was found her former partner was charged with Kim's murder. Today, I am seriously saddened, furious and frustrated to report that the murder charge has been dropped due to lack of evidence. And by all accounts, it looks like police will not be charging anyone else. How in 2020 - after decades of women fighting to highlight gendered violence and to get appropriate justice outcomes for victims - can we be at a point where the violent death of a woman can't be prosecuted? It simply beggars belief that a woman can be killed in her own home, yet investigators cannot find enough evidence to ensure a murder charge sticks. It's such an appalling result for Kim, for her loved ones and frankly, for every woman in this country.. Kim was 35 years old. She was a mum, a sister, a daughter, a friend, a domestic violence victim and a woman who deserved the best outcome in the wake of her preventable death. After Kim died her family said: "We could not have imagined that our Kimmy would end up in this nightmare. She was a loving, caring, kind mother. She tried so hard to fight back, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to get her over the line." I cannot begin to imagine the heartache Kim's family is experiencing knowing her killer may never be held to account This outcome really shows that victims are rarely front and centre of our legal system. And until that changes, many more women will face the same dismal ending as Kim and like Kim, some of them will also be denied any hope of justice. RIP KIM MURPHY: YOU DESERVED SO MUCH MORE! See more

07.01.2022 https://womensagenda.com.au//deeply-sexist-actually-a-mis/

05.01.2022 REMEMBERING COURTNEY HERRON Courtney Herron is the 25-year-old woman who not only had her life taken from her in May 2019, but was subsequently victim blamed an...d shamed in the Australian press in May 2019. Her killer took her life after they met at a party. I won't name him here. The front cover of the Herald Sun days after her death called her killing a "party twist". You literally can't make this shit up. I'm consistently angered by the way women are belittled, ridiculed and their deaths trivialised by the media. When Courtney Herron was killed, it was no different. There was no "PARTY TWIST" when Courtney Herron was killed. For the journalists who got it wrong then, here's your reminder: That is not what happens when there is a twist at a party. Twists at parties are when people who you never thought would hook up end up hooking up and then get a rescue dog together. Or anything. Literally anything else. Going to a party and then getting killed by a man you meet there is NOT a 'party twist'. And today, I can only imagine pain of Courtney's family and the trauma they are reliving because the man who killed her was found not guilty of murder. Yes. You read that correctly. Today, the Supreme Court of Victoria found the man charged with the murder of Courtney Herron not guilty due to mental impairment. Two psychiatrists provided reports to the Court that the man who killed Courtney Herron was in the midst of a relapse of schizophrenic illness at the time of the killing. As The Age reports, Dr Rajan Darjee, a forensic psychiatrist, told the Court he believed the killer has suffered from schizophrenia since at least 2017, characterised by abnormal beliefs and delusions about spirits, Norse gods and Jesus. He also said he believed that at the time of offending, Mr Hammond was suffering from schizophrenia and not a drug-induced psychosis, and that while the drug use may have exacerbated the offending it wasn't the cause. "He felt that [Courtney] intended harm to him. He felt she was interfering with his mind. He felt she had been involved in some way in a past life in which she had harmed him or people close to him," he said. "And I think he believed she was actually not who she was but was someone else, perhaps a spirit, that had entered her body and felt it was linked to a wider conspiracy ... because of that he had to destroy her." I have said it before and I will say it again: Courtney's death is not her fault. Today, and when the news forgets about her, I'm remembering Courtney Herron and all those whose lives have been taken. #NotOneMoreNiki

03.01.2022 Rosie is in my thoughts today

02.01.2022 ’Data supplied by the State Government showed family violence organisation Safe Steps reported a 30 per cent decrease in calls in April from victims of family violence, and the Orange Door reported a 12 per cent decrease over the past month compared to February.’ (Source ABC news)BUT this does not mean the incidents of FV have decreased- given COVID it’s an indication of less women being able to call for support as violent partners are ever present