If I told you we'd like to see more reported family violence, you would probably say I'm in the wrong role and should do something else.
But that's exactly what we want to see. The key word here is "reported". We don't want more family violence, but we do want more family violence being reported. Why? That's easy. We know that family violence perpetrators thrive in an environment behind closed doors. They rely on power and control, isolation and manipulation.
They know we have historically had a culture of turning the other cheek and ignoring the situation. And because of this, it's estimated that only around 25 per cent of total incidents are reported to the appropriate agencies. That means three quarters of family violence incidents are not being reported. The unknown is far too great. The reasons so much family violence is not being reported are numerous:
• Shame or humiliation from the victim.