In less than 72 hours this week, four Australian women were lost to violence. These are the women erased by alleged male violence between March 14 and March 17, 2025.
KIM DALTON
On April 14, 65-year-old grandmother Kim Duncan was murdered when men drove by her home and sprayed it with bullets. Her son and a young woman were home. They both survived and were not physically injured. At the time of writing, the killers had not been caught. Kim was murdered in Ambarvale, NSW. She is the 17th of 20 women killed in 2025.
I wish I could tell you more about Kim, but that will come another day.
LOUISE HUNT
Just four hours later – on April 15 – marketing professional and anti-domestic violence advocate Louise Hunt was allegedly murdered by her husband at her home in Geham, Queensland. It’s alleged he killed Louise and set her home on fire. Her two children were in the building – they were not physically injured.
Louise is the 18th woman killed this year.
Within hours of Louise being killed – news outlets started rolling out the same old template – the one where they carry on about his career, his achievements and his life.
Louis was adventurous, fun-loving, down-to-earth, kind, caring, an animal-lover, a good mate to many and a much-loved mum, daughter and sister.
“May is Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month and we have a candlelight vigil,” Louise’s friend close friend Amanda Dalton says.
“Lou would have been there, supporting others and now it’s her that we’re having to remember.”
“She just had the most gorgeous, friendly, cheeky smile like she was just always smiling and always helping people.”
CLAIRE AUSTIN
Also on April 15, Claire Austin died in hospital. She had suffered catastrophic injuries at her home in Randwick on April 12. Her life support was turned off three days later. Her former partner claims Claire ran through a plate glass door after an argument. Police put a DVO on the male. He has since been released and a special taskforce is investigating her death.
Claire is the 19th woman killed this year.
Again, the Media published stories that were practically resumes for his next job. Claire’s career and life achievements were left to the end.
Claire was a marketing professional. A woman who cared for others. A trusted colleague. A human with dreams and the will to achieve them.
“Claire was a beautiful human in every sense of the word,” her former employer Ben Walker said.
““With kindness in her heart and a generous spirit, she had a warmth that we all gravitated to. Her compassion for others was evident in the way she worked and lived.
“To those who knew her, Claire wasn’t just a colleague at The Do Collective, she was a friend.
“Her presence uplifted the team and her endless determination made a lasting impact on every client she touched.
“She will be deeply missed, but her legacy of kindness and warmth will live on in all of us who had the privilege of knowing her.
“With love, we say goodbye but never forget.”
THI KIM TRAN
On April 17, five masked men broke into the home of 45-year-old mum Thi Kim Tran. They bashed her eight-year-old son with a baseball bat. They they made Thi remove her clothes, forced her out of the home at gunpoint and put her in their car. That car was driven away and torched. Thi’s body was found in the backseat by police. She had no chance of surviving. Thi is the 20th Australian woman killed this year.
No one has been charged at the time of writing and information about Thi is scant.
EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE
As I write, we have lost 20 women to violence this year. However, I am currently monitoring multiple other suspicious deaths so I expect the real femicide toll for 2025 to be much higher.
Since January 1 of 2024, we have seen the lives of 123 women erased.
I’ve been documenting femicides and child deaths of 10 years. My work shows an increase in violence against women year on year – but in the past 15.5 months that increase has been staggering.
How many more women do we have to lose before we hit tipping point?
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