If you ever wonder why Australia has a femicide epidemic, look no further than One Nation leader and federal senator Pauline Hanson.
Before I continue, it is imperative to preface this article with the current femicide toll. As I write, we have lost 38 women to violence this year and 27 of them were killed by domestic violence perpetrators, including eight mothers murdered by their sons.
Of the deaths I've documented, only three were caused by other women.
In other words - this year like every other year -  male family members remain the biggest danger for women in Australia.
Which is why Hanson's rhetoric is so disturbing.
Over the past eight months, she's made some horrendous assertions that provide violent men with the excuse they need to hurt women.
This week it was describing domestic violence as a two-way street and a situation that women could simply pack up and leave from (instead of saying men are responsible for their decisions to be violent and should leave).
"It is wrong, but it’s also a two-way street," she told 4BC.
"I’m not saying that it’s just men, women can lose their cool as well.
"Society is under so much pressure.
"Domestic violence is a scourge but look - I’ve been through it myself in my life.
"And I just feel if you’re not in a house where you feel safe, Then you shouldn’t put up with it.
"If these women are getting abused by men out there, then don’t put up with it."
Some eight months ago, Hanson was interviewed on the Broken Fathers Podcast, during which she opined that 'women's rights had gone to far, claimed women were rorting domestic violence leave and argued feminists had made the family court a woman-focused forum for disgruntled single mothers at the cost of fathers' rights.
To be honest, it's a long interview and a gruelling one at that, especially when I support day in day out, families bereaved by femicide.
For me, the most dangerous of her assertions in that podcast episode is her belief that domestic violence is 'not a real crime'.
Here's the thing about that comment - it is a reflection of how some serving members view family abuse.  And that is a dangerous thing for a woman with Hanson's platform to reinforce.
We need domestic violence to be taken seriously and part of that seriousness is ensuring police treat it with more urgency than most other crimes. We are not talking about a stolen car being written off here - we are talking about the lives of women and children being erased.
Australia has a high femicide rate. By my research, we are on par with, or above, Italy and Britain when it comes to the killing of women and girls.
A key figure in Australian politics using their platform to parrot myths and misconceptions about domestic violence, male violence, rape and sexual violence and other harms women gives violent men the ammunition they need to justify ending a woman or girl's life.
Meanwhile, it seems Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is missing in action right now. He should be calling out Hanson while letting everyone else know her words are not acceptable.
How are we supposed to change a culture that allows male violence to thrive when one leader contributes to toxic masculinity and the other leader pretends it's not happening?

You can 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