Non-Fiction Book Group: Domestic Abuse

By not asking ‘why didn’t she leave?’ we can reframe our thinking of a problem that is of such scale that it is estimated that Australian police are called to a domestic abuse incident every two minutes.

It is a national emergency that one in four Australian women has experienced violence from a man she was intimate with. But too often the wrong question leads to poor solutions and instead we should be asking: ‘why did he do it?’

‘See What You Made Me Do: Power, Control and Domestic Abuse’ by Jess Hill (Black Ink. 2019) is our November book group discussion. Winning the 2020 Stella Prize, among other accolades, is testament to the power of this book.

Walkley Award-winning investigative journalist Jess Hill puts perpetrators – and the systems that enable them – in the spotlight. Her analysis is a deep dive into the abuse so many women and children experience – abuse that is often reinforced by the justice system they trust to protect them.

This is Hill’s first book and to call it courageous is an understatement. Critically, it shows that we can drastically reduce domestic violence – not in generations to come, but today.

Combining forensic research with riveting storytelling, ‘See What You Made Me Do’ radically rethinks how to confront the national crisis of fear and abuse in our homes.

Click on the image below for member-only content about the book, subscribe to the Ex Libris post, find resources on domestic abuse and watch author videos.

This Melbourne Forum interest group gives us an opportunity to view contemporary themes through the lens of the non-fiction written word. Come with an open mind, hear differing perspectives and uncover what your fellow readers think.

As our group continues to meet next year, we’ll be posting on Ex Libris each new theme, book, written piece, poll or author interview for the interest group to explore.

In February, we will be discussing ‘The Hype Machine’ a brilliant smart-thinking book about the power and influence of social media by Professor Sinan Aral (Director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy)