It's four days until Christmas and whilst many are taking this week off to relax, I'm using the end of the year to reflect on what the past 12 months has meant for women in Australia and Nauru. In September when we began our campaign we wanted to draw a very clear and distinct correlation between the violence and disrespect that women and children in Australia face, with the degradation and abuse of women on Nauru. We knew that many women in Australia would understand what living violence and sexual abuse on Nauru was like, because they continue to experience the very same violence here in Australia. https://www.change.org/p/prime-minister-turnbull-women-s-refuges-save-lives-funding-needed-now 79* women have lost their lives from violence against women this year in Australia. And for all Destroy the Joint's groundbreaking reporting and research on this deeply disturbing issue, the Australian Federal Government has failed to act sensibly. They haven't put money towards women's refuges, when countless reports and organisation have each shown that this is the only way to decrease the murder rate. Nor have they put an end to the conditions faced by women and children on Nauru. Perhaps this is the problem. Women and children's deaths from domestic violence are not seen as murder, but rather they're seen as byproducts of 'private family situations'. On Nauru, is it perhaps that people recognise the violence and degradation that women like Abyan face, however do they it to be a byproduct, or "just a part" of being an asylum seeker? In any case, it simply isn't enough for Malcolm Turnbull to demand respect for women, when he has categorically failed to amend his cabinet's policies to ensure safety for women both in Australia and in mandatory detention. It's now the 21st of December. Unless there's a sudden, drastic policy change in the next 10 days we will see yet another Christmas and New Year pass with no real action on violence against women, and yet another end of year will pass for those in detention on Nauru. This is not the end of 2015 we had hoped for, and all we can do now is to work hard to make a change in 2016. - Luisa