In 45 seconds you will have chills.
Well, only if you stop whatever you’re preoccupied with in your busy day to watch the above footage.
Why should you?
Because it’s important to take time to understand an issue so deeply rooted in Australian society it’s deemed a national crisis. An insidious crisis that doesn’t discriminate by postcode or socio-economic status. A crisis killing two Australian women, every week.
It’s the same reason award-winning investigative reporter Sarah Ferguson took time to understand it.
Well, not just 45 seconds of her time. More like six months.
Ferguson has travelled around the country to meet the victims and perpetrators of domestic violence, to try to find answers to questions political leaders, social workers, the media – and most Australians – so commonly ask: Why do men do it? And why do women stay with them?
The two part documentary series, Hitting Home, will air on Tuesday and Wednesday next week – November 24 and 25 – at 8:30pm on the ABC. November 25 is also the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
It’s important you watch the series, too. For the same reason. Because if more people have a greater understanding of domestic violence, more people will have empathy for the victims of domestic violence. And as empathy grows, the stigma slowly diminishes, giving those victims more courage to reach out and – most importantly – find safety. Before it’s too late.
If that’s not worth your time, I don’t know what is.
