This past weekend, the Catholic Church in Australia marked Social Justice Sunday, and this year, the bishops chose to focus on the pressing issue of domestic and family violence.

We only to have to watch the news to know what a big problem this is in our community. And sadly, too many Australians, mostly women and children, have first-hand knowledge of the trauma of violence.

In the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Social Justice Statement, entitled ‘Respect: Confronting Violence and Abuse’, we are told that The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports that “family, domestic and sexual violence is a major national health and welfare issue that can have lifelong impacts for victims and perpetrators. It affects people of all ages and from all backgrounds, but predominantly affects women and children”.

The statement goes on to outline the shocking statistics concerning violence against women and children in Australia. One woman is killed every nine days by a current or former partner while one in six girls and one in nine boys were physically or sexually abused before age of 15.3 Some groups are more vulnerable than others.

These include women and girls with disability, young women, elderly women, people who identify as LGPTQI and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are also more vulnerable to violence than other groups. Family and domestic violence is a painful and complex reality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. It occurs within the context of a history of the violence of colonisation and ongoing racism. These have impacted on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls in particular ways.

As Divine Word Missionaries who are present in a number of indigenous communities, we know the impact of the scourge of violence in those communities, especially against women and children, and the complex dynamics at play. In reading the bishops’ Social Justice Statement I was struck by the voice of Shirleen Campbell who was named the 2020 Northern Territory Local Hero. Her plea to be heard on this topic presents a challenge to us all.

Shirleen says: “Please don’t look away. Listen to us and stand with us. We are 45 times more likely to be a victim or to have experienced family domestic violence and sexual assault. And we’re not just numbers. We’re living breathing human beings. We’re mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunties, great-great grandmothers. We want Australia to see the good work we are doing. Aboriginal women in the Northern Territory are the most victimised women in the world. Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group is a group of strong town-camp women and behind those women are a lot more strong women as well. Having to be that voice for many women who don’t have their voices is to share our stories, our experiences. Family and domestic violence and sexual assault is daunting. We say enough is enough. We want to be out there. We want to be heard. We want you to stand with us and to support us. It’s a hard topic to talk about it, but the whole of Australia needs to hear because this is our future. This is our home, our community, and our country.”

Shirleen’s request of us is clear and urgent. “Please don’t look away.” Sometimes it is easier to not get involved, but as the bishops point out to us in their statement, it is a matter of solidarity and justice for us to call out family and domestic violence when we see it, to support victims, and to help build better structures and responses to reduce such violence.

If you are seeking to further understand the problem of domestic and family violence in Australia and join the effort to combat it, I commend to you the bishops’ Social Justice Statement.