Pauline Hanson claimed DV victims should ‘just leave’. It could be the most dangerous thing they do

Pauline Hanson’s suggestion that domestic violence victims “just leave” and that gendered abuse is a “two-way street” has been slammed by experts who say the comments perpetuate a damaging myth.

Hanson’s remarks on radio last week – and in another podcast appearance last year where she took aim at domestic violence leave and child support laws – sparked fierce backlash even as the One Nation leader sought to clarify her intent.

“I just feel that if you’re not in a house where you feel safe, you feel you don’t want to be there, then you shouldn’t put up with it,” she said on 4BC radio on Wednesday, adding she had been a victim of domestic violence herself.

“And if these women are getting abused by men out there, then don’t put up with it.”

The One Nation later said there had been a “concerted effort by some in the media to constantly take my comments out of context” and encouraged listeners to seek out the full interview.

But Hanson’s “misguided” remarks fail to capture why it is so difficult for victims of domestic violence to leave an abusive relationship, domestic violence experts have said.

In fact, they said, the time which a person tries to leave a domestic violence relationship can actually be the most dangerous time for them.

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“The idea that leaving is easy and is safe is just so against what we know about the data,” UTS associate professor Jane Wangmann told nine.com.au, saying Hanson’s views were “wrong”.

The NSW Domestic Violence Death Review Team (DVDRT) found 37 per cent of domestic violence homicides were committed after a relationship ended.

Wangmann, who is part of the DVDRT, said data collected by the team found 64 per cent of women killed in domestic violence incidents died less than three months after separation, and that 45 per cent of women killed by their current partner had shared a desire to end their relationship.

“In most cases, this was indicated within three months of the homicide,” she said.

Kate Fitz-Gibbon, a leading national expert of violence against women, and professor at Monash University, told nine.com.au the idea that victim-survivors can just leave is a “most damaging myth”.

“Leaving is rarely a single decision,” she said.

“It is often a long, complex process shaped by fear, financial insecurity, housing shortages, concern for children, social isolation, immigration status and the very real risk that the violence will escalate.

“For many women victim-survivors, leaving is not the end of the violence. It is often the point at which perpetrators intensify their efforts to regain control at all costs.

“Research from Australia and internationally has consistently shown that separation is one of the highest-risk periods for serious violence and homicide…

“The question should never be ‘Why didn’t she leave?’”

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Wangmann said long periods of physical and emotional abuse eat away at victims’ self-worth, potentially making them less likely to make the brave and difficult decision to leave.

“Our understandings of coercive control now really get us to start to understand that the experience of domestic violence is about a pattern of behaviour,” she said.

“It goes over time.

“Physical and non-physical forms of abuse that really undermined a victim’s sense of themselves and their freedom to do whatever they want to do.”

A report released by Anglicare on Wednesday found the cost of leaving a domestic violence relationship had risen by 71 per cent in the last decade.

Rent and bond costs had doubled, while fuel and childcare costs have risen by more than 50 per cent, according to the report.

These are the financial barriers facing people wishing to flee domestic violence relationships.

Wangmann said current services are becoming overburdened with people trying to flee abusive relationships.

“We have a service sector that is overwhelmed with the amount of people that need assistance,” she said.

“We know that a number of refuges simply can’t take people when they’re trying to escape. There are waiting lists for social housing.”

Patty Kinnersly, chief executive of Our Watch – an organisation assisting domestic violence victim-survivors – said more support needed to be available to victims, saying “financial abuse and a lack of safe housing or support” are common barriers.

“We need to ensure that people experiencing violence have the support and resources they need to be safe, while working across our whole society to prevent violence from happening in the first place,” she told nine.com.au.

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Wangmann believes Hanson’s views were reflective of an out-of-date perspective on the issue of domestic violence that veers towards an attitude of “victim-blaming” that still exists in Australia.

“They tap into some of the misunderstandings that people still have about domestic violence,” she said.

“There’s still concern about people thinking… that women could just leave and that would be easy and that women provoke the violence that they experience.

“[It’s] just tapping back into those myths that we’ve been trying to counter. I think it’s incredibly dangerous for some of the progress that we’ve made.”

Fitz-Gibbon said victim-survivors should never be held accountable for the abuse they suffer.

“Responsibility for domestic and family violence must always sit with the person choosing to use violence. Victim-survivors should never be blamed for the abuse they experience or be judged for the complex decisions they make to keep themselves and their loved ones safe,” she said.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).