Pauline Hanson has described domestic violence as “wrong” but a “two-way street”, and that women being abused should not put up with it, drawing condemnation from advocates who have accused the One Nation leader of victim-blaming.
On Wednesday, Hanson told radio station 4BC domestic violence in Australia was a scourge, but that society was under “so much pressure”, when asked to call out the issue.
“It is wrong, but it’s also a two-way street. I’m not saying that it’s just men, women can lose their cool as well. Society is under so much pressure … Everyone is under so much pressure and it’s really hard,” Hanson said.
“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.”
Tarang Chalwa, an activist whose sister Nikita was murdered by her partner in a jealous rage in 2015, aged 23, said the responsibility should not be on the woman facing abuse.
“My sister Niki tried to do what Ms Hanson suggests. Terrible advice. He murdered her,” he said.
“It is not as simple as “don’t put up with it.” The responsibility isn’t on the victim. It’s on the person who is abusive or violent. Overwhelmingly, that person is a man.”
Hanson’s comments also drew criticism from Brittany Higgins, now executive director of the Vida Fund, who accused the One Nation leader of victim blaming.
“‘Mutual abuse’, ‘two way street’, ‘just leave’ – normalising this victim blaming rhetoric in relation to domestic violence when 38 Australian women have already been lost to femicide is atrocious,” Higgins said in a social media post.
The Women’s and Girls’ emergency centre called the comments from Hanson “vile and shameful”.
The centre’s chief executive, Nicole Yade, said it did not reflect the fact that violence was gendered, with the majority of family violence perpetrated by men against women and children.
“Senator Pauline Hanson’s comments today are vile and shameful. She is speaking from a position of privilege and complete misunderstanding that characterises practically every word that leaves her mouth,” Yade said.
“Having experience of domestic and family violence herself, Senator Hanson’s comments are deeply disappointing. Rather than offering empathy and understanding, they reflect a victim-blaming narrative that has no place in conversations about domestic and family violence.”
In 2019, Hanson secured a controversial inquiry into the family court system, which women’s groups warned could become a platform for men’s rights activists who believed the court system was biased against fathers.
At the time, she claimed women were fabricating family violence complaints to keep their children. The claim is a prominent grievance among men’s rights groups, but has been widely discredited in multiple studies.
“There are people out there who are nothing but liars and who will use that in the court system,” she had told the ABC. “I am hearing too many cases where parents are using domestic violence to stop the other parent from seeing their children.”
In 2017, Hanson had told the Senate her sons had domestic violence claims made against them “that were not warranted”, and said broadly, “I feel for the men out there that are going through this, because it’s unjustified.”
