EVAWG: ‘There should be outrage’ over violence against women

Haileigh Ashton Lamont, who has waived her right to anonymity, was sexually abused by her step-father as a child.

Haileigh was invited to be part of a consultation panel on the EVAWG strategy in 2021. She has studied the action plan released last year and says she has concerns that not enough emphasis is going to be put on criminal justice solutions and reforms.

“I was shocked, horrified by the reality of the criminal justice system when I went through it,” she said.

“Offenders attitudes aren’t going to change and they’re not going to be deterred from offending if there are no consequences,” she added

“If they know if they do perpetrate and they’re arrested, the likelihood of them getting convicted is very low, or the experience is so traumatising for the victim that the victim could disengage.”

Haileigh says she believes individual politicians do want to end violence against women and girls, but that there needs to be a more aggressive approach.

“The statistics are shocking, not just sexual violence, what I suffered, but domestic violence as well.”

“I don’t think that individual politicians don’t want to see an end to this, they do. But there should be outrage. Anyone of us can be a victim, you don’t even need to leave your house, it happens in people’s homes most commonly.”