I decided on Mother’s Day, that it’s time to say enough is enough. Across Australia every day women (a large percentage of mothers) are victims of abuse from an intimate partners and they’re trapped in homes, with their children and their abusers. Every week in Australia women die at the hands of their intimate partners. 

And every week - we see high profile perpetrators of domestic violence given media platforms on mainstream television (Eg sports commentary and opinion pieces). 

We call upon the leadership of these media organisations (The Age, The Age Footy, SAS Australia - Seven Network) to stop employing perpetrators of domestic violence and giving them a platform. 

When these perpetrators have a public value placed on their opinions and commentary - this sends a message to the many thousands of Australian households that even if you do commit acts of violence against a domestic partner - it isn’t detrimental to your reputation or your profile. 

This week a former AFL player wrote a profile piece for The Age that discussed the physical challenges he faced in the pursuit of AFL excellence. This same person had committed acts of violence against women, including law enforcement personnel. What about the physical pain and emotional trauma suffered by his victims?

When a paper like The Age prints opinions on culture, we are saying that he is valued. We are signalling regardless of off-field behaviour, we put a worth on his view. We say that it’s ok to commit acts of violence at home or upon police officers because you won’t be punished in public. You won’t suffer ignominy, you won’t be disgraced or shamed, you will be put on a pedestal and lauded for your opinion. Contrast that with the shame, the disgrace and humiliation that is suffered by domestic abuse victims as their experiences are called into question, the pain of those who suffer in silence because they see perpetrators glorified on television and across our mastheads.

As a small business, we donate a dollar a sale to a domestic violence shelter - it's hard to feel this even makes a difference when I see these perpetrators on mainstream media.