
This post deals with domestic abuse and might be triggering for some readers.
The fact that many Australians recognise the names of people like Hannah Clarke and Rosie Batty and little Kobi Shepherdson, the fact that strangers march in the streets calling for justice on their behalf, is a reflection of the increasing consciousness of domestic and family violence in this country.
But for all the hard-fought gains in putting this issue on the national agenda, a stunning lack of attention has been dedicated to one of the most critically impacted groups: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
Have you heard of Tamica Mullaley and her son, Charlie, for example? What about Jody Gore?
They have endured family violence so shocking you'd imagine their names dominating front pages and news bulletins.
But, no. Their names are barely spoken, their stories little told. There are no nationwide vigils or street-filling marches.
Watch: Indigenous Lives Matter. Post continues after video.
Dr Hannah McGlade, a Nyungar woman, Associate Professor at the Curtin School of Law and expert member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, is advocating for an end to that silence via a movement she calls 'say her name'.
She argues the "wall of silence" the media and the justice system has built around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander victims condones the violence inflicted against them.
"It says they don't matter, that they can die like this," she told Mamamia. "We need people to care about Aboriginal women's lives just as they do the lives of non-Indigenous women who are being murdered in this country at such a shocking rate."
What thrives in the silence.
According to a 2018 report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, family violence occurs at higher rates among Australia's Indigenous population.
The AIHW found that, from 2016 to 2017, Indigenous females aged 15 and over were 34 times more likely to be hospitalised for family violence than non-Indigenous females. And the rate of intimate partner homicide was twice as high.
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