Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Jess Hill, Black Inc., $32.99.
The content in See What You Made Me Do is not only confronting, but it’s also a crushing actuality: one woman is killed every week by somebody with whom she has been intimate.
Domestic abuse is a national emergency. In Australia, with a population of almost 25 million, investigative journalist Hill estimates that police are called to a domestic abuse incident every two minutes.
Startling reality, as Hill states, is “a victim’s most frightening experiences may never be recorded by police or understood by a judge. There are criminal offences committed within domestic abuse, but the worst of it cannot be captured on a charge sheet”.
Forensic research is combined with fascinating storytelling as See What You Made Me Do radically rethinks how to confront the national crisis of fear and abuse in our homes. There are stories that assault the senses, evoking images of sadness, sympathy, frustration, disgust and anger. Each chapter is meticulously backed up with carefully told case studies statistics, reports, interviews and intelligence.
However, the most distressing parts are the stories about children and her interviews with child survivors who know all the best places to hide, and how to make themselves disappear when the yelling starts. Yet, there is little reliable data on how many children are affected by domestic violence.
Multi award-winning Hill says the questions we often ask are why didn’t she leave? That’s wrong. What we should be asking is why did he do it?
This paperback is a harrowing plunge into the mistreatment so many women and children experience – abuse that is often reinforced by a justice system they trust to protect them.
Hill calls for reform with an urgency that seeks help for the many people who are suffering from abuse today. Her question to experts is: why are we prioritising long-term attitude-change when the problem is so dire right now?
The best thing about this book is it specifies that the blame should be squarely placed where it belongs – on those who perpetrate ill-treatment.
See What You Made Me Do is comprehensive, significant and it is truly distressing.
