Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon
International Expert on Violence Against Women 
@kate_fitzyoung

1 in 4 Australian women has experienced emotional and/or financial abuse by a current or former partner since the age of 15, and 1 in 5 Australian women have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. Violence against women is a terrifying reality that we often think doesn’t occur ‘in our backyard’, but sadly it is more prevalent than ever, all over Australia, and around the world. Often it gets thought of in terms of out-of-control arguments between couples, with statistically the male being the dominant perpetrator. But in the modern era, violence against women extends into family violence, emotional abuse and coercive control (including financial abuse) - disabling women from being able to leave, forcing victims to flee with nothing as finances have been manipulated and crippled, whilst air tags are being used as tracking devices, and devices themselves are hacked remotely and monitored for surveillance usually by their very own partners. The gut-wrenching reality of this took hold of Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon’s life when living an idyllic youth in high school until her school friend’s dad killed his estranged wife, and after confessing to it, he successfully claimed provocation in court which saw him convicted of manslaughter rather than murder. Kate’s blissful beliefs about life crashed to a stark reality, and from then she became entrenched in the injustices that occur to women all too often, and an advocate for policy reform, prevention, early intervention and healing for those effected. So we ask Kate, what are signs we can look for with families who may be effected? What are steps friends or family can take to intervene before it's too late? And what does a world look like where intergenerational abuse heals and ceases its cycle, and how can we make that happen?