A 42-year-old man has been charged with the murder of his 66-year-old mother in Brisbane’s CBD yesterday afternoon.
Paramedics and police were responding to a welfare check at an apartment block in Fortitude Valley on Tuesday afternoon. The authorities forced their way into the unit and discovered the body of the woman. She had suffered multiple stab wounds.
According to police, the 42-year-old man was present in the unit. The authorities detained him and charged him with one count of murder (DV offence) overnight.
“The deceased is a 66-year-old Western Australian woman who is related to the man,” police said last night.
It was later revealed by police that the deceased woman was the mother of the 42-year-old man. She was visiting him from Western Australia, according to police.
The welfare call authorities were reported to be responding to came from the deceased woman’s husband in Western Australia, police told reporters yesterday.
The man is facing the murder charge at the Brisbane Magistrates Court today.
According to Destroy the Joint’s Counting Dead Women, 16 women have been killed by gender-based violence in Australia. The death of the 66-year-old woman will bring that number to 17.
Two in five women (39 per cent) in Australia have experienced violence since the age of 15, according to statistics from Our Watch. Perpetrators of violence against women are most commonly men, and are more likely to be known by the victim (35 per cent) than a stranger (11 per cent).
Australia’s First Nations women face disproportionately higher rates of violence than their non-Indigenous counterparts. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are 31 times more likely to be hospitalised as a result of domestic and family violence.
Based on analysis from Our Watch in 2015, gender-based violence is costing Australia $21.7 billion every year.
‘Stop Killing Us.’
In November last year, Mel Arnost started an online petition at change.org, titled: Stop Killing Us.
“When will violence against women make front page news? When will it lead every news bulletin? When will it be the focus of Question Time in parliament?” Arnost wrote in the petition description.
“We need more and better-funded programs for men… we need more and better-funded programs for schools and families, and most of all, we need this serious issue of women in Australia being killed acknowledged and addressed by our media and our leaders.
“We are daughters, mothers, sisters, wives, grandmothers, friends, partners. Stop killing us.”
Last week, Independent MP for Wentworth Allegra Spender tabled the petition in parliament.
“Violence against women in Australia is out of control- it has become a national emergency,” Spender said while tabling the document.
“We have heard too many stories… stories which are deeply tragic and genuinely shake us, but have not led to the changes we need.”
The petition, which now has more than 25,000 signatures, calls for “sweeping reforms” to better protect Australian women from gender-based violence.
“I hope the government is listening,” Spender said.
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.