CW: This post discusses the death of an Aboriginal woman.
Yvette Hilder did the best she could to live.
She was fierce yet fragile. Taylor Hilder remembers her mum as beautiful and gregarious – a woman hopeful for the future but worn down by abuse.
“My mum had six children within 10 years, with very little time to rest and recover between pregnancies.
“She was constantly focused on caring for her growing family, often without the support she needed to truly rest.
“She faced violence in her relationships that left her isolated, away from getting support.
“She felt such hopelessness.”
Yvette knew of only one way to free herself.
On April 5, 2005, the 27-year-old ended her own life. Her son found her body. Her youngest was six months.
Suicide is a path no one should ever have to choose to live in peace and yet it is the primary cause of death for female violence survivors in Australia.
For every woman killed by an abuser, 10 DV survivors will end their own lives.
Aboriginal women are 34 times more likely to be injured by abusers, eight times more likely to be the victims of femicide and 2.5 times more likely to end their own lives.
Since Yvette died, I estimate at about 12,000 Australian women have died by suicide post-DV.
Yet this is not considered an epidemic. There are limited supports for women navigating DV, mental health trauma and self-harm ideation.
We have no specific law to hold abusers to account when their victim suicides. In some countries, there’s offences for this.
“She was a beautiful mother, daughter, sister and friend,” Taylor says.
“She was fun, bubbly and she was so gorgeous.
“She was beautiful and stunning. She lit up the whole room.”
❤️YVETTE HILDER MATTERS❤️
femicide #womenssafety #violenceagainstwomen #maleviolence #SheMatters #Domesticviolence
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