Dear Prime Minister,
I must begin this letter by saying that while I am appealing to you as Prime Minister, first and foremost I write this letter to the Minister for Women.
My name is Hannah Diviney and I’m a 16 year old girl from Sydney. I felt compelled to write you this letter because when I opened up my laptop today, on the 12th of September, I wanted to vomit. This feeling was caused by the horrifying statistics regarding violence against women in this country.
You have 3 daughters. A wife. Female colleagues. A nation full of women whom you have a duty to, not only as our nation’s leader, but also as the Minister for Women since 2013. Your job is to protect, provide platforms for and ensure that the women and girls of Australia can thrive.
But we cannot do that at the moment.
I’m sure the idea that 62 Australian women have been killed at the hands of a man in 2015 so far induces the same nausea and outrage in you as it does in me, especially since it is only September and that means 2 women have been killed every single week this year.
Imagine if one of those women had held the knowledge to cure cancer or change the world in some other life-altering way – but they could not because they were trapped in an abusive relationship that ultimately took their life
We need significant and immediate action to be taken for us to end this sickening culture of violence and aggression.
As Minister for Women it is your duty to lead this charge, to influence the attitudes and mindsets of Australian men so they learn that women are valuable, strong and not allowed to be disrespected.
Perhaps this mission for change would be assisted by the rise of more women to prominent positions both within our government and society.
You also need to make women feel protected, safe, strong and equal within this country – but particularly for women who are already trapped in worlds of abuse, you need to allow funding for shelters and programs or helplines so that they can leave violent relationships and not become yet another statistic.