Rosie Batty: Stop Saying “Why Didn’t She Leave?”

In February 2014, Rosie Batty’s life changed “catastrophically and permanently” in a way most of us can barely comprehend. Her 11 year old son Luke was murdered by his father during what should have been a normal summer cricket practice. In the hours that followed, Rosie stood in front of cameras and, with extraordinary calm and clarity, gave voice to tens of thousands of victim survivors who had never been heard.

In this powerful episode of You’re Going To Want To Hear This, Marie Claire editor Georgie McCourt sits down with Rosie more than a decade on. Together, they unpack the myths that still surround domestic and family violence, what coercive control really looks like, why “that moment after a woman might leave a violent relationship is often when she’s in the most danger", and how Rosie's own childhood loss shaped the way she navigated the unthinkable.

Rosie explains why domestic violence “happens to everybody, no matter how nice your house is or how intelligent you are”, and why we must let go of the idea that it only happens to “other kinds of women” in “other kinds of homes”. She talks through the reality of engineered abuse over many years, the way shame is still placed on the victim rather than the perpetrator, and the lifelong impact of trauma and PTSD.

This is not an easy listen, but it is an essential one – for anyone who has lived with fear, loved someone in danger, or wants to better understand the reality of family violence in Australia today.
If this episode brings anything up for you, please know you are not alone. In Australia, you can contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 a confidential 24‑hour support service for people impacted by domestic, family and sexual violence

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