MAY is Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) Prevention Month.
It is held each year to raise community awareness of DFV and to send a clear message that violence of this sort will not be tolerated.
There are many excellent agencies dealing with the DFV crisis including the Queensland Police Service and agencies such as Whitsunday Counselling & Support Inc.
However, the daily struggles of countless individuals continues, and perpetrators continue to wreak havoc.
A local DFV survivor has shared a powerful testimony on behalf of all domestic abuse survivors.
She has chosen to remain anonymous, due to still fearing the power of her ex-partner over her and her child’s lives.
Her words highlight the urgent need for change in our systems for victims, who ‘continue to be overlooked by our legal and protective frameworks’.
“The testimony speaks to the real and often heartbreaking experiences of survivors, highlighting the gaps in law enforcement, legal protections, and child welfare,” she said.
“It is a call to action for greater compassion, more comprehensive legal reform, and an acknowledgment of the realities faced by those who seek safety and justice.
“I hope it brings insight into the challenges faced by survivors of domestic abuse and inspires meaningful dialogue and action.”
Following is her heartfelt account of what it’s like to be caught in the devastating trap of DFV.
We Demand Change, Yet Are Met With Silence
By ‘Just Another’ Domestic Violence Victim
I am one voice among countless others who have endured physical, emotional and financial abuse.
Another statistic. Another parent who left with nothing but a child (children) in hand and the weight of shattered dreams.
But we are more than statistics; we are survivors who demand change.
We have reached out, shared our stories, written letters to politicians and, still, we encounter silence and walls of indifference.
When we call on the police for help, we are met with half-hearted responses and technicalities that defy common sense.
How can the law excuse an abuser for sitting beside us, claiming it is not a violation if they don’t speak?
We are left unprotected, dismissed, often treated as though our pleas are exaggerated or misplaced.
So, we turn to the legal system, hoping it might offer justice and protection.
Yet, instead of supporting us, it frequently shields our abusers, painting them as misunderstood or even as victims.
This is the same system that allows our abusers to exploit loopholes, wielding legal rights as weapons to continue their control.
We fight with every ounce of strength to rebuild our lives—to provide safety and stability for our children—only to encounter endless, insurmountable hurdles.
Even with protection orders that include our children, we are told that family law, as it is federal law, trumps state legislation, leaving our protective order documents as little more than paper.
Our children become pawns, weaponised, caught in a tug-of-war that drains their innocence, manipulated by those who should be protecting them.
And we wonder why, even now, people die in the shadow of domestic violence.
What will it take for the laws to change? Will it only happen when tragedy strikes close to those in power?
Perhaps if a politician’s child were murdered by a partner, there would be no hesitation to amend the law, no delay in implementing change.
Then, and only then, would it be newsworthy, headline-grabbing, an issue urgent enough to demand action.
But for the rest of us?
If we fall victim, if we lose our lives, we are statistics—a number in a report, a line in a sad news story, one more ‘tragic case’ in the eyes of those who never knew us.
Our voices are raised not out of bitterness but out of desperation for a better, safer future.
When will we be more than statistics? When will our cries for justice no longer be brushed aside?
Will it only be when it’s too late, when we are reduced to numbers, names forgotten, stories untold?
We demand to be heard now, before we are silenced forever, before more lives are lost in the gaps of a system that claims to protect us but continues to fail us.
