Christchurch Women's Refuge blog - Verdict Reinforces Message - It's Really Not Ok

The trial of Clayton Weatherston whose sentencing took place today (18 years non-parole; read the Christchurch Women’s Refuge Media Release) and the details of the crime he committed certainly caught our attention. Not only in Dunedin, where it occurred, or Christchurch, where the case was heard, but throughout the country.

Gaining the media and the public’s attention when it comes to domestic abuse and its horrendous realities is often hard work, but in his case people were listening, and watching. What made this case different?

Perhaps it was the ferocity of the attack which was relayed in graphic detail, but I suspect it is also because the perpetrator and the victim did fit the stereotype of abuser and victim – a stereotype that people are comfortable believing. If an attractive, intelligent, young woman and a seemingly together (from the outside), professional young man can be embroiled in an abusive and violent relationship, then that means it could happen anywhere. How shocking.

How true. As we know, domestic violence is not limited to any age, IQ, job, race or religion. The neighbourhood you live in, the job you hold or the clothes you can afford to buy won’t make you immune. As the verdict was released to the media the news websites also ran another story – a woman critically injured, a male friend murdered, and her estranged husband being sought by the police.  It appears to be another domestic violence incident and another person who has lost their life. Will the media follow it so religiously? Probably not.

Alas for Sophie Elliott, she has become something of a poster girl for violent relationships, because she didn’t fit what the public is comfortable in viewing as the ‘norm’. It will be cold comfort to her devastated family and friends, but at least her media friendly face may help to bring attention to an otherwise undercover problem blighting the lives of so many other women and children.