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Another week, another woman dies as a result of domestic violence. We will not stay silent.

Trigger warning: This post deals with family violence and may be triggering for some readers.

Another incident of domestic violence. Another woman dead at the hands of her husband, 58-year old Haydar Haydar who has been charged with murder.

Last night, police scrambled to save the life of 45-year-old Salwa Haydar, at a residential address in Bexley, South Sydney.

woman killed feat
The woman has been identified as Salwa Haydar. Image via Nine News.

The mother of four should’ve been spending an evening at home with her children. Instead, she suffered fatal stab wounds and was declared dead at the scene by police who were alerted to the incident just minutes earlier.

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The couple’s 18-year-old daughter was discovered close by with severe injuries to her hands and was taken to St George Hospital for treatment.

Read the full story here: Man charged over stabbing death of his wife in Sydney.

It is not the first time the family has been struck by tragedy, Ms Haydar’s mother was killed in 2006 as she tried to escape her village in Lebanon.

ABC News reports that Ms Haydar’s mother’s car was hit by an Israeli shell — her daughter heard the news in Sydney via Al Jazeera television.

Salwa talks to Lateline aobut her mother’s death in 2006.

“And they said one of the people that killed was my Mum, and they said her name and I just went in shock,” she told ABC’s Lateline program at the time.

She has lived in Australia for nearly 30 years.

Police described the incident as a “violent attack” with “multiple injuries”.

“As you can imagine with the knife wound, it’s disturbing,” Superintendent Donahue said.

A mother of four was fatally stabbed in Sydney last night. Image via Twitter.

The details of this complex case are sketchy at this early stage – but one thing remains clear: domestic violence cases are increasing at an unacceptable rate.

We know it’s uncomfortable reading.

We know it makes you feel helpless, because it makes us feel helpless too.

But we cannot and importantly – will not –  sit quietly and allow our mothers, our daughters, our sisters to be murdered, while we sit and say nothing.

Keep reading: This is one of the most powerful domestic violence campaigns we’ve ever seen.

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So far this year 17 women have been murdered men they loved and trusted. Men they’ve had children with. Ponder that for a moment… because it’s only March. How many more lives will we lose this year, before we see real, tangible change? How much longer before we see funds injected into the social services (safe shelters, financial/legal assistance and support for children) that are integral to help protect these women?

Domestic violence has killed two women per week this year in Australia. These are just some of the victims (post continues after gallery):

As previously reported, a 30 million-dollar ‘awareness’ campaign promised by Prime Minister Tony Abbott  isn’t enough.

More on this: Tony Abbott wants to raise family violence “awareness”… while cutting funding for support services.

We’re all aware, Prime Minister Abbott. We’re very aware. And we don’t need a glossy campaign to tell us this is a problem.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one in six women has been a victim of violence by a current or former intimate partner.

Homicides committed by an intimate partner account for one fifth of all homicides in Australia.

And right now, every week, we lose two precious women to family violence.

We will continue to campaign on behalf of those women who can’t. We vow to document and report every single incident, because this must stop and it must stop now.

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.

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