For the last 34 years and 8 months an average 4 women a month have been murdered by a current or former intimate partner.
Finally an Australian federal government has moved to make an easily accessible public record of such deaths.
In large measure as a response to women from Destroy The Joint who, by a sustained monthly recording of all females mentioned in the media after dying a violent death from September 2012 onwards, kept a spotlight on the issue of lethal violence against women and girls.
Counting Dead Women a Destroy the Joint project |
Eight women were killed in June alone, three in as many days and 17 more women have been killed than at this same time last year. [ABC News, 1 July 2024]
UPDATE:Fatal house fire - Lalor Park
Sunday, 07 July 2024 05:11:32 AM
A man is in custody following a fatal house fire in Sydney’s west.
About 1am today (Sunday 7 July 2024), emergency services were called to Freeman Street, Lalor Park, following reports of a house fire.
On arrival of emergency services, one nine-year-old girl and three boys aged eleven, seven and six were treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance Paramedics and taken to Westmead hospital in stable condition.
Two boys – aged two and four – were treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics and taken to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition; however, they died a short time later.
Fire and Rescue NSW extinguished the fire before a third child – believed to be a 10-month-old girl – was found deceased.
The three children are yet to be formally identified.
A 29-year-old woman has been taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.
Officers attached to Blacktown Police Area Command arrested 28-year-old man at the scene; he was treated for smoke inhalation and taken to hospital under police guard.
Police have commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
A report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report information via NSW Police social media pages. [My yellow highlighting in article]
Det Supt Danny Doherty described the circumstances as “incredibly tragic”. He alleged that a 28-year-old man arrested at the scene attempted to prevent police and emergency services from rescuing those inside the home. The man is the father of the deceased children, police confirmed. [The Guardian, 7 July 2024]
Homicide in Australia
Intimate partner homicide dashboard (data commencing 1 January 2024 & updated quarterly) can be found at:
https://www.aic.gov.au/statistics/homicide-in-australia