Seventeen women in Australia have lost their lives at the hands of partners or ex-partners already this year.
Trigger warning: This post deals with family violence. Some readers may find the article distressing.
One woman is hospitalised every three hours from domestic violence.
As a society, we know this is unacceptable. As women, we grieve for the suffering of our sisters. As individuals, we want action taken and lives protected.
But these grim statistics also make us feel helpless. Because we seem to be witnessing an epidemic of violence that is getting worse not better. And solutions that are discussed often appear complex, distant or beyond the reach of individuals.
This is why calls for a national Royal Commission into family violence are gaining momentum. We want the scale of the problem acknowledged at the highest levels of our society and we want our institutions to come together to testify to the scale of the issue and to agree on a cure for this crisis.
But we need to think carefully about whether a Royal Commission would truly help us confront and deal with this issue. Royal Commissions can certainly be powerful instruments for revealing the truth. They can force open powerful or closed institutions. They can compel individuals to speak the truth. And they can help unravel complex mysteries.
So what would a national Royal Commission into family violence reveal? It would undoubtedly highlight the extent of the issue. And it would give women who have experienced violence a forum in which they could be recognised and acknowledged. But it may tell us shockingly little.