Excerpts have been taken from Wendy Tuohy's article in The Age, 19 April, 2026. Become informed so you can help to prevent family violence before it happens. Be part of the solution - Rotary SAFE Families.
Wendy Tuohy wrote an alarming article in The Age on 19 April, 2026. This was based on her interviews with our leading Forensic Pathologists. She wrote: "Joanna Glengarry has performed 5000 autopsies on people who died in hundreds of ways. She describes forensic pathologists as a robust bunch, yet some of these deaths stay with her.
They are the cases in which no amount of science can explain the horrendous violence inflicted on women with everything to live for."
Tuohy wrote: It is “just the brutality and randomness” of these crimes against women going about their lives that struck Glengarry as she documented them. She was heartbroken to have to shave a woman's lush hair to expose the extent of damage, causing more distress to her devoted father.
“I remember dreading the court cases as well because I knew having to describe the injuries would be a huge thing for the community, and especially for the families,” Glengarry says."
Tuohy conveyed the horror witnessed by our forensic pathologists saying: "It is the hidden toll of violence that Glengarry and her pathologist colleagues also wish to expose and discuss.
She is part of a national effort, including Victoria Police, to have women’s suicides strongly suspected to be linked with family violence reclassified as homicides so statistics better reflect reality.
States around Australia are grappling with how to capture this phenomenon, and submissions to a federal parliamentary inquiry into the relationship between domestic, family and sexual violence and suicide closed on March 13.
Glengarry’s colleagues Dr Heinrich Bouwer and Dr Paul Bedford share her sense that the community does not have a complete understanding of how much gendered violence we live among, or its true impact."
Tuohy wrote: "Bedford summarises what he sees as the core issue bluntly: “Gruesome, horrible things are tolerated,” he says. “[Violence against women] is almost acceptable in Australia. That’s where, to me, the real problem is: cultural attitudes.”
In March the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed 2024-25 marked the highest recorded family violence offender rate nationally since family and domestic violence data was first published in 2019-20.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s most recent national survey on attitudes towards violence against women found 23 per cent of respondents agreed “that much of what is called domestic violence is a normal reaction to day-to-day stress and frustration”.
Bedford says his general observation is “that there are males who think they have rights, and their duty as a man is to control women”.
“There is just a massive disconnect in equality. It is purely and simply wrong,” he says."
We need to take note as Tuohy conveyed in her article: "Other than continuing to promote greater community awareness of the scale of, and need to act on, violence against women, Joanne Glengarry’s message to those fortunate enough not to be directly affected is to check in clearly with anyone they fear is.
She urges people to be alert to bruising in unlikely places, such as the soft skin of the upper arms – which can happen from being grabbed and held hard – and on the neck or the cheek, marks unlikely to have happened accidentally.
Most importantly, her work has taught her that people should never shrink from asking someone outright about their welfare if the person’s behaviour or demeanour suggests violence might be present in their life. “People are really reluctant because they don’t want to get involved in case they’re wrong,” she says.
“Of course its tough to raise that, but if you care for that person, do it.”
She vows to reveal the truth for those who have lost their lives. “I really do feel like we get to be that voice after death, to tell [the community] what the medicine says,” she says.
“The body may keep its secrets from those around us during life, but after death it doesn’t. And it’s up to us to tell the story of what happened.”"
If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline 131 114, or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.
