ACT police are expecting to lay further charges on a man who is alleged to have forcibly confined and assaulted a woman at a home in Canberra for several days.
Police were patrolling an area in Lyneham at 7pm on Monday night when they came across a naked woman running and screaming down a street. They immediately stopped and took the woman into the vehicle.
According to the police report, the woman alleged that she had been forcibly confined to a home in the area for several days and was physically and sexually assaulted numerous times. The woman had sustained a number of injuries, police reported.
Shortly after, police arrested a 44-year-old man at his residence and charged him with four serious offences, including: forcible confinement, sexual intercourse without consent, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and failing to appear. The man was expected to appear at the ACT Magistrates Court this morning.
Police say the investigation is ongoing and further charges are expected to be laid.
When will male violence end?
The incident comes at a time where family, domestic and sexual violence has spiked in Australia. According to statistics from OurWatch, almost 40 per cent of women in Australia have experienced violence since the age of 15.
About 90 women a week are admitted to hospital due to family, domestic and/or sexual violence, while a woman is killed every four days.
Just last week, three separate incidents of domestic violence, including one in Canberra, took the lives of three women across Australia.
In Canberra, the body of 78-year-old Wanda Dorothy Uhle was found at a townhouse in Togo Place, with police treating the incident as related to domestic violence. The woman’s 86-year-old husband, Manfred Uhle was arrested.
In Darwin’s northern suburbs, the body of a 36-year-old woman was found inside a Coconut Grove unit, with police treating her death as domestic violence-related. A 43-year-old man was arrested at the scene and later charged with murder. It’s been reported he breached a domestic violence order and sexual intercourse without consent.
In Brisbane, a man and woman were found dead inside an Albany Creek property. The man, in his 40s, and the woman, in her 70s, both suffered gunshot wounds.
According to Destroy the Joint’s Counting Dead Women, the lives of 35 women have been lost at the hands of male violence.
If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au for online chat and video call services.
If you are concerned about your behaviour or use of violence, you can contact the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491 or visit http://www.ntv.org.au.
Feeling worried or no good? No shame, no judgement, safe place to yarn. Speak to a 13YARN Crisis Supporter, call 13 92 76. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.