STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS: EURYDICE DIXON - HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, CANBERRA - MONDAY, 18 JUNE 2018

18 June 2018

I offer the sympathies of this parliament to Eurydice Dixon’s family, all the people who loved her and the people she loved.

We remember that they are not mourning a statistic or a cautionary tale. They are grieving for a person: a funny, smart, clever woman with passions and opinions, friends and family.
 
And she wasn’t seeking to make a statement that night, she was just living her life.
 
She had her phone with her, now full of a hundred unfinished conversations.
 
She was happy that her comedy performance had gone well, she was messaging a friend to check-in and to let him know that she was nearly home safe.
 
None of that cost her life. Nothing she did or didn’t do in any way makes her responsible for what happened.
 
Walking home should not mean that you are risking your life.
 
Getting an uber, a cab, catching public transport should not be a dangerous ordeal.
 
Women’s rights in Australia must include freedom of movement.
 
And that’s about more than better lighting and more CCTV cameras.
 
It’s about attitudes, it’s about actions.
 
It’s about honesty. It’s about stopping violence and stopping the enablers of violence.
 
It’s about deciding as a nation that violence against women is ultimately preventable.
 
It’s about the example that we set for our sons.
 
Our hearts go out to Eurydice’s loved ones today.
 
 May she rest in peace.