
Warning: This post deals with domestic violence and could be triggering for some readers.
Today, thousands of people around Australia will put on their fancy clothes and fascinators and pop the champagne.
It’s the first Tuesday in November, the day of ‘the race that stops a nation’.
But as many sip their champers, take the afternoon off work, and have a punt, Australia becomes a much more dangerous place for women and children.
We lose one woman every week in Australia to domestic violence, but that’s just the tip of a very grim iceberg. Post continues below video.
The federal government’s 1800 RESPECT service noted a 17 per cent increase in demand during Melbourne Cup Day 2017, a stat that matches a growing list of research into the link between sporting events and domestic violence.
And the victims of domestic violence are overwhelmingly women and children.
The Australian Institute of Criminology states there is a higher number of reported domestic violence incidents on Melbourne Cup Day and similarly, a report by VicHealth in 2011 highlighted the increase in incidents of family violence in and around major sporting events such as the Cup, as well as AFL Grand Final Day.
Ahead of 2018’s AFL Grand Final, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton warned that police are braced for a 20 per cent increase in family violence incidents after the game.