A musician with a conviction for domestic violence will tour Australia this year.
Dizzee Rascal is listed to tour the country from November 26 to December 26, including a performance at the Sydney Opera House.
Rascal, whose real name is Dylan Mills, was convicted in 2022 for an assault on his then partner Cassandra Jones.
He was holding his son in his arms during the assault. Before the attack he sent a raft of abusive messages to Cassandra.
Throughout the legal process he downplayed his actions and blamed Cassandra for his decision to use violence.
He was sentenced to a 24-week community order, a 12-month restraining order was put in place and he had to undergo a behavior change program.
Australia’s character test is supposed to prohibit domestic violence offenders entering the country but the law also says offenders can come in if they serve less than 12 months in jail.
Given the high levels of violence against women in our country, no gendered violence offender should be allowed in.
We’ve faced an ongoing epidemic of gendered violence against women for years. Most of that violence is perpetrated by current of former partners of victims or the sons of victims.
As I write, we have lost 56 women to acts of violence – almost all were killed by men known to them.
The decision to let this man perform in Australia once again shows that no matter what a violent man does to women you’ll be forgiven, you’ll be given a microphone and the spotlight and you will be allowed to maintain your pedestal.
At some point, this platforming of domestic violence perpetrators has to stop.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PERP DIZZEE RASCAL TO PLAY AT SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE
