When disgraced AFL player manager Ricky Nixon attacked his then fiancée Tegan Gould, he grabbed her by the throat, pushed her against a wall, hit her in the head then fled police custody. In her victim impact statement, Gould said the assault left her suffering headaches, bruises, nightmares, panic attacks, and that she was intimidated, paranoid, introverted. She said she lived in fear of him hurting her again. With five serious offences against him – along with a pattern of inappropriate behaviour towards women over time – what sentence was applied to Nixon? A grand total of 200 hours community service. Domestic violence is the leading contributor to death, disability and illness in women 15-45 years in Australia. It costs this country $8.1 billion a year, estimated to rise to $9.9 billion by 2012 if appropriate action isn’t taken. But even where guilty verdicts are achieved – which is rarely – the consequences seem minimal. When will these crimes against women be taken seriously? Here’s what I had to say on the subject on Channel 10’s The Project last night (starts at 3.46).
But women’s advocate Melinda Tankard Reist said domestic violence was too serious an offence for perpetrators to be let off lightly.
“My fear is that this will send a message to other victims that domestic violence isn’t that serious – that if someone beats you, they will just get a community service,” she said yesterday.
“This is a vulnerable woman being attacked by an older man in a position of power and authority. It’s a concern when he gets off so lightly.” Full story here.
One Response
Typical male supremacist legal system’s double standards. If Ricky Nixon had physically attacked another man I have no doubt Nixon would have given a prison sentence, but when a male commits violence against a woman or women, Male Supremacist Law minimalises the male perpetrator’s(s) accountability.
Nixon claims the usual excuses/justifications for his choice to commit physical violence against a woman because Nixon mustn’t be held accountable for his actions. This is male domination in action and what hope do we women have when men’s laws ensure male perpetrators are not given a prison sentence but merely ‘a slap on the wrist!.’
The message all women receive from this is that men have the innate right to subject any woman to male violence and mens’ legal system will protect these violent males.
Male violence against women is pandemic globally and still men and their male supremacist legal systems continue to excuse/justify male violence against women and girls.
Nixon is a violent male who should be barred from going anywhere near a female (I am of course not serious).
We women must continue to speak out and hold men and their male supremacist legal system accountable for protecting/condoning male violence against women and girls. Shaming Nixon publicly will at least demonstrate he is not being excused for his choice to commit violence against a woman.