Since Hannah Clarke’s murder, 431 women have been killed. In every one of these cases, there were points when each woman could have been saved.
The Guardian’s investigation into police failures before and after the murders of Hannah and her children Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey in Camp Hill, Queensland, on February 19, 2020, at Camp Hill by Rowan Baxter shows how fundamentally flawed the systems designed to protect and save women really are.
But here’s the thing – nothing has changed. I know this because every time a woman is killed in our country, we can find at least one moment where authorities could have intervened and potentially saved her.
The slaughter of Hannah and the children in the street should have been enough for police forces across the country to ensure they never make the same mistakes and failures – but it didn’t.
Earlier this year, a woman was murdered within a week of telling police she feared her husband would kill her. The police officer she spoke to told her ‘come back when you have evidence of physical abuse’. It’s not known if that officer logged her fears in the system.
I am releasing a campaign on Friday regarding the suspicious death of another woman. She was a police officer whose colleagues ignored the violence she was enduring because her abuser was also a police officer – and their mate.
Daily, I speak to women fearing for their lives. Women who are turned away by police and domestic violence services at the scariest points in their lives.
HANNAH CLARKE, AALIYAH, LAIANAH AND TREY CLARKE MATTER! ❤️
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