A “pack of lies”. A “fallacious case brought by someone suffering some sort of celebrity deprivation”.

This was the response of accountant and yachtsman Anthony Bell after he was issued with an AVO by his television presenter wife Kelly Landry. It came via his lawyer Chris Murphy, at the Local Waverly Court yesterday.

Whether or not Bell is guilty of any violence against Landry won’t be known until the matter returns to court on February 17. In the meantime, Bell has accepted the terms of the interim AVO: he’s not allowed anywhere near the formerGetawaypresenter within 12 hours of drinking or taking illicit drugs. Also, he’s asked for a divorce.

We can’t be sure if Bell harmed his wife. But with his words, he’s harmed a whole population of Australian women.

Bell and Landry celebrating, moments after Bell won the 2016 Sydney to Hobart race. Source: Getty.

Equating an AVO with 'seeking attention' is one of the oldest, most tiresome, and most dangerous tricks in the book. By discrediting a woman's motivations for speaking out, the validity of her allegations is also doubted.

Bell, and his lawyer, should have known better.

One in four Australian women have experienced sexual or physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner.

Less than half of all people who've been a victim of domestic violence reported the incident to the police.

Why don't people report? According to a survey from theBureau of Crime Statistics and Research the most common reasons include fear of further violence (14 per cent); feelings of shame or embarrassment (12 per cent); or a belief that the incident was too trivial or unimportant (12 per cent).

An example of "shame or embarrassment" is this:

“[Bell] has never used illegal drugs in his life ... He doesn’t have the alcohol problem in his household," Murphy told the court today. "The defendant is not going back to the house. He doesn't want to see her again."

“It's fallacious case brought by someone suffering some sort of celebrity deprivation”.

Kelly Landry, Anthony Bell and their two daughters, Charlize and Thea. Source: Getty.

When you're in a high-profile position such as Bell's, and you're fronting a courtroom filled with media, you are no longer speaking to just your wife. You are speaking to all women. To women in dark places, who are living in real danger, and who are considering filing an AVO with one thing stopping them: those little whispers in their mind sayingno one will believe me because it's my word against his.

Yes, false allegations of domestic violence can occur. But rarely. A study conducted in the UK in 2011, showed in a 17-month period there were 111,891 prosecutions for domestic violence. The same period saw only nine cases of false-allegations for domestic violence.

For the most part, women do not seek AVOs because they're seeking attention. They do not go to the police station, file a report, answer questions in cold interview rooms, risk the danger that comes from angering their partner, and then relive the whole desperate situation in court, in order to attain "celebrity status".

Indeed, women who feel they need protection don't speak out enough.

But Landrydid.She went to the police and filed an AVO against Bell for an incident she alleges occurred in November.

Now, Bell has called her a liar and claimed she's suffering "celebrity deprivation". He's implied she's an alcoholic. And he's said, through his lawyer, that he never wants to see her again.

Whichever side of the story is found to be upheld in court, one truth remains: Those little whispers of doubt, in the minds of women in danger? They just became much louder, shouts even.

And it's Bell's voice, the words "liar" and "celebrity deprivation", that these women are now hearing.