Acclaimed writer Margaret Atwood delivered a speech at a university in Canada in 1982.
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In it she said, to paraphrase, "men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them".
As a man, I have never felt particularly threatened walking down a dark street.
I don't feel the need to clutch my car keys in my hands, at the attack, ready if I am approached by a much bigger, much stronger stranger. For that I am lucky.
This is something I have discussed with many women I have known in my life.
I have often asked them something along the lines of, "do you feel scared walking alone at night?"
Fighting Back against family violence:
Much of the time the answer is yes, and it's because they are reminded time and time again that on any given day, for any given reason, someone might kill them.
Every time I hear or read of this happening to a woman it is upsetting.
Because with the birthright that afforded me the ability to walk down the street without fear, it also nominated me as a potential threat.
But I am okay with that.
And I'm okay with it because men are overwhelmingly the perpetrators of gendered violence - particularly in domestic relationships.
The latest and most comprehensive statistics available from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show that between 2014 and 2016 one woman was killed every nine days by her intimate partner. For men, the number was one every 29 days.
This was a problem when Margaret Atwood gave a speech in 1982 (and long before that as well).
It was a problem in 2010 when the National Action to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children was introduced after continually rising rates of family violence against women. And it is still a problem 10 years into that 12-year plan - and only two years remain.
One of the key steps in that plan was to communicate to young men - in particular - that things like stealing your partner's phone, commenting on how she dresses or how she looks, controlling who she messages or speaks to on social media or making fun of her in front of you friends is not okay.
It's so far from okay that it is part of the problem. It's one of the first steps along a path that often leads to physical abuse.
Fighting Back against family violence
While physical abuse - or worse still murder - is the one that ends up in the news. It is just the visceral scar that is left on society by men who kill their partners.
Control and manipulation, in my opinion, tends to be a masculine trait. It is hammered in by hours of watching TV or movies where men are the lead characters, living in a home environment where your mother cooks dinner while your dad watches TV, greater opportunities are given to professional men than women ... basically, just a constant reminder that men are seemingly superior.
But the sooner men - including myself - realise this is not the case, the sooner the scars of gendered violence will begin to heal in Australia.
It has not and will not happen overnight. But with a continued conscious effort, and even just one man a day reading something like this and thinking, "you know, he has a point", changes can start to happen.
Other comment and opinion:
One analogy I use to understand the impact one person can make is this:
You know when you are younger and you see a dirty plate or a scrap of paper on the ground, and you ignore it - probably expecting your mum to pick it up?
Then as you get older - maybe you start living in your own home - and you realise if you don't pick it up, nobody will, even if it isn't yours.
You understand that you need to take accountability, even if you might not be the cause of the problem.
And just because you take responsibility, for one thing, doesn't mean you can't take responsibility for other things as well.
Think of gendered violence and the ways you can help to reduce it, in the same way.
We have launched our new campaign - Fighting Back - to raise awareness about not only those who lost their fight against their abusers but to create a new conversation around family violence that will hopefully see a shift in behaviour.
You can sign the petition appealing against fees for private interim family violence orders at examiner.com.au.
For those seeking help, Family Violence Counselling and Support Service is available on 1800 608 122 from 9am to midnight weekdays, and 4pm to midnight on weekends and public holidays.
Telephone and online counselling is available at 1800 RESPECT or by calling 1800 737 732.
MensLine Australia can be reached online or by calling 1800 041 612.