Calling out the 'good guy' myth key in fighting DV

Everyone knows a domestic violence perpetrator in a country town.

“He’s a ‘good guy’ - he serves your coffee, he cleans your clothes, he fixes your car when it’s broken,” solicitor Vanessa Vazquez told a rally calling for an end to violence against women in Orange, in central west NSW.

“So just imagine how difficult it is for a woman to appeal to someone when you all think he’s a good guy?”

The complexities of addressing violence against women are stark in regional Australia, where the rate of domestic and family abuse has long been higher than the cities.

The rate of domestic violence assault in the Orange region is 1.5 times the NSW average, according to recent figures from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.

Further west, the rate is almost four times higher.

The death of 28-year-old childcare worker Molly Ticehurst, who was allegedly murdered by her former boyfriend Daniel Billings in Forbes, has drawn national attention to the local crisis.

It came 10 months after Kristy Armstrong, 36, was killed when her former husband allegedly drove her car off the road at high speed in the village of Molong, 30km from Orange.

Ms Ticehurst’s death also followed the alleged murders of Samantha Murphy, Rebecca Young and Hannah McGuire at the hands of men within two months in Ballarat, in regional Victoria.

Emma Bates, 49, was found dead at a property in Cobram, Victoria, the day after the Forbes incident.

They were among many women remembered at the rally in Orange on Sunday afternoon, with hundreds of locals joining the national protest movement to end gendered violence.

Ms Vazquez founded a fundraising campaign Birds in the Bush four years ago after some residents opposed a women’s shelter being built in a new residential area.

That stance illustrated the lingering stigma around domestic violence, she said.

“It disturbed me even though we know the stats ... people couldn’t see the need for a refuge in our community.”

The Orchard refuge, run by not-for-profit Housing Plus, opened despite the backlash and has supported 190 women since 2020.

Chief executive Justin Cantelo said the organisation relied solely on government and community support, but increased funding was needed to reach more women and children.

More funding would also continue its behaviour change program, which is reforming men who control or abuse their partners.

“It’s time for men to hold other men accountable,” Mr Cantelo told the rally.

“Men’s violence against women is a national emergency requiring immediate action.”

Orange Aboriginal Medical Service chief executive Jamie Newman also gave an impassioned plea to men, asking them to look at the women and girls around them.

“They are at risk,” Mr Newman said.

“We have to stand up - our wives, our daughters our sisters, our aunties, our cousins, our granddaughters are at risk.

“We cannot accept that women are unsafe.”