Why she is the wrong kind of murder victim.



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Have you heard the name of Erana Nahu, who was stabbed to death in Sydney's Glenfield on October 11? Her partner, the father of her children, has been busy.

Gold of Jacqueline Francis, 50, stabbed in the neck on October 6 in Rockingham, WA. A man is being held in a psychiatric ward, awaiting charges.

Dannyll Goodsell's body was discovered after a fire at Ballarat, Victoria on October 6. Police say she did not die in the fire, and did not mind a 35-year-old man with her murder.

You may have heard of Kristie Powell, the crime that took her life was so very shocking. Kristie was beaten to death from his five-month-old son in Wollongong, NSW on October 4.

There's Gayle Potter, mate down by a car in Traralgon, Victoria on October 2. Her ex-partner has been involved with her death.

Look at those dates. So many lives lost, so many others ruined, in such a short time.

They are not even the only ones. We do not know the names of other people.

They are the faceless members of a terrible toll. We have now lost 55 women to violent men in 2018, according to the keepers count, Destroy The Joint's Counting Dead Women. We are in the 42nd week of the year, and we have lost 55 women. These numbers are not falling. They are rising. At this point last year, which despicable number stood at 39.

And yet the streets are silent. The front pages – yes, including Mamamia's – are focusing on Meghan's baby belly, on multi-million-dollar horse-races and reality TV. It's much easier to face a problem we can not solve.

When Eurydice Dixon was found murdered in Melbourne in June, my co-hosts and I recorded a special episode of our flagship podcast, Mamamia Out Loud. Like the nation, we were reeling at a young woman. We discussed how to deal with the worst of every woman, whatever age, how do we know about certain predators. Predators we are helpless to defend ourselves in a quiet park.

We have not done that for Nicole Cartwright's death. Nor has any other media outlet. There is no market, no protest, no thousands-strong vigil. It's difficult to maintain the rage, the shock and the horror as the deaths keep coming.

It's also uncomfortable to hold the thought that many of these women knew their predators. Loved them. Had children with them.

We do not know if it's the truth of Nicole Cartwright's death. The police are doing their work.

The killer who left her in that park, was just one of eight men who ended up in a woman's life in Australia within two weeks.

Eight men whose violence has destroyed the lives of so many more. For the people who loved these women, they have lost everything. A daughter, a sister, a friend, a co-worker, a mother.

And for all of us, a loss of hope. Hope that the glare of attention on violence against women might actually save lives. Change things.

It's unreasonable to expect a perfect victim. It's unthinkable to get accustomed to this level of loss.

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