A man has murdered a woman, aged in her 60s, in Campania, Tasmania. He ended his own life.
Police found their bodies this morning and have confirmed this is a murder-suicide with the woman being the victim. She is the 26th Australian woman killed this year - and the second woman killed this week. Last year we lost 79 women to violence - the year before 106 women were killed.
* You can help me get a Royal Commission into the Killing of Women and Girls by signing the petition using the link in my bio (Insta) or go to: /FemicideRoyalCommission.
❤️ABOUT THE COUNT❤️
I document all Australian women & children lost to murder, manslaughter, neglect and other unlawful acts regardless of perpetrator gender or relationship to the victim. This means not all women and children killed are lost to domestic violence. They are also killed by people known to them (ie friends) or by strangers. My work includes Australians killed overseas. Every death is documented at AustralianFemicideWatch.org/database (link in bio).
Australia has lost more than 1300 women and girls to acts of violence since 2000. Yet there's been no national examination of the systemic failures and cultural attitudes underpinning our femicide epidemic.
I am calling on the Federal Government to hold a royal commission into the killing of women and girls.
The Royal Commission would examine all unlawful deaths of women and girls, including intimate partner and domestic violence, associate violence (the violent deaths of women and girls by people known to them but who are not related) and stranger violence.
* You can help me get a Royal Commission into the Killing of Women and Girls by signing the petition using the link in my bio (Insta) or go to: /FemicideRoyalCommission.
Please do not follow me for fun times.
My work is not comfortable and it is triggering.
I am a journalist, violence survivor, activist, the stepdaughter of a killer and the founder of Australian Femicide Watch and The RED HEART Movement.
I spent almost 30 years reporting for some of Australia’s biggest media outlets.
I left the media industry in mid-2024 because I could no longer be a part of the machinery that demeans and destroys marginalised people - especially victims of femicide and other violence.
I’ve documented the killing of Australian women and children since 2015.
As a journalist, I’m committed to telling the stories of women and children killed.
As a violence survivor, I’m committed to keeping women and children safe.
As the stepdaughter of the man who murdered Stacey-Ann Tracy and Sandra Dorothy Bacon, I’m committed to ensuring Stacey's and Sandra's stories change the world for girls and women everywhere.
❤️SUPPORT MY WORK❤️
Please support The RED HEART Movement and Australian Femicide Watch by grabbing a RED HEART tee or providing a crowd-funded donation! 100% of money raised funds support for families of femicide, an apartment for domestic violence survivors and my work documenting the killing of Australian women and children. Links in bio or visit australianfemicidewatch.org
When Caitlin Thornton died, her family couldn't bury her for six weeks.
Under NSW law, Caitlin's former partner, who was facing allegations of assault against Caitlin at the time of her death, automatically became her senior next of kin. That gave him legal control over her body, her belongings, and her remaining funds.
Her mother, Kylie Bailey, says fighting it in court would have cost $20,000 she didn't have.
Kylie is now calling on the NSW Government to introduce "Caitlin's Law", a reform that would allow police, courts, or the Coroner to suspend next-of-kin rights in cases where domestic violence concerns exist. More than 60,000 people have signed. The NSW Attorney-General is considering the changes.
If you think alleged abusers should not hold legal authority over a victim's estate after death, you can read more and support Kylie's petition through the link in our bio.
#domesticviolence #women #australia #auspol #caitlinslaw
Today in men commenting on women doing their job! Just a small selection of responses to posts by Elusive Catch co-host and outdoors enthusiast Em Lethlean.
Victoria’s Homicide Squad is investigating the deaths of a woman and a man in Werribee.
Their bodies were found yesterday. A crime scene is in place.
Meanwhile, Queensland Police are still investigating the death of a woman in Southport, WA Police are investigating the death of a woman in Joondalup and SA Police are investigating the death of a woman in Henley Beach.
We have had two confirmed femicides this week - the killing of Jan Kauffman in O’Connor, ACT, and the death of a woman in Campania, Tasmania.
We have lost 26 women to violence this year.
Last year 79 women were killed and the year before 106 women were killed.
* You can help me get a Royal Commission into the Killing of Women and Girls by signing the petition using the link in my bio (Insta) or go to: /FemicideRoyalCommission
❤️SUPPORT MY WORK❤️
Please support my work and the Memorial to Women and Children Lost to Violence and Australian Femicide Watch. You can donate or grab a RED HEART t-shirt! 100% of money raised funds the Memorial and Australian Femicide Watch. Links in bio or visit australianfemicidewatch.org
Isla Bell’s vigil tomorrow state library of Victoria 328 Swanson street 11am. It’s the second link in my bio and below. .au/live/isla-bell
#islabell
Police are investigating the deaths of two more women- one in Queensland and one in Tasmania.
A woman and a man were located deceased at Campania, Tasmania, today.
A woman's body was found in Southport, Qld,this morning.
The deaths are not related.
No sure who needs to here this .... but femicide does not stop at post codes or income levels.
Men do indeed murder women in so-called nice neighbourhoods and often the men who do this are indeed middleclass!
One of my biggest hates around the reporting of violence against women is the media's rush to interview neighbours - but no professionals on femicide, domestic violence, male violence and all the other aspects related to the killing of women.
A Sydney GP has been charged over the sustained (alleged) sexual abuse of four patients since 1988.
Andrew Robert Small was arrested on Thursday when detectives raided Waterloo Medical Centre as part of their Strike Force Midshipman investigation.
The 70-yar-old man was allegedly abusing people up to March of this year.
It is alleged he harmed four patients since November of 1988.
Small is charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault (victim under authority of offender, aggravated indecent assault (victim under authority) and sexual assault knowing no consent given.
❤️SUPPORT MY WORK❤️
Please support The RED HEART Movement and Australian Femicide Watch by grabbing a RED HEART tee or providing a crowd-funded donation! 100% of money raised funds support for families of femicide, an apartment for domestic violence survivors and my work documenting the killing of Australian women and children. Links in bio or visit australianfemicidewatch.org
❤️HER NAME IS KIARA (SIS) FERGUSON! ❤️
'In a fit of pique.'
This one statement sums up how the legal system views women and the men responsible for ending their lives.
A single bullet killed her during this so-called 'fit of pique'. She was trying to keep her daughters safe. They were in the next room. Her unborn baby could not be saved.
Then her family had to watch as her abuser was afforded leniency, empathy and regard as her worth was eroded by the legal system.
Her name is Kiara (Sis) Ferguson. She died on April 1, 2023, at her home in Shepparton, Victoria. Kiara was only 27. Her partner, Adam Winmar, was charged with negligent manslaughter, but was convicted on the much lesser charges of reckless conduct endangering life and possessing a firearm as a prohibited person.
He was sentenced to three months in jail.
Kiara died after a handmade gun was fired in the toilet of the home she adored, her daughters in the next room.
Only two people know the truth of what happened that evening and one of them is dead. He says she dropped it and it fired.
Winmar was the subject of multiple domestic violence orders.
"She was my best friend," Kiara's mum Jo says.
"The only one in the world that would do anything for me."
Jo and Kiara's dad Buddy are now raising Kiara's children.
"It's been challenging, to say the least," Jo says.
"Because you come from being that fun grandparent that turned up and had a sleepover or took them home and did fun things, to now becoming the parent and having to say 'No, we have to go to school'.
"And we also need to navigate them through the grief.
"It's another broken system."
KIARA (SIS) FERGUSON & HER UNBORN SON MATTER❤️
* Listen to Kiara's story on the She Matters Podcast and please help me get a Royal Commission into the Killing of Women and Girls by signing the petition using the link in my bio.
❤️SUPPORT MY WORK❤️
Please support my work and the Memorial to Women and Children Lost to Violence and Australian Femicide Watch. You can donate or grab a RED HEART t-shirt! 100% of money raised funds the Memorial and Australian Femicide Watch. Links in bio or visit australianfemicidewatch.org
