So today in Melbourne a man, who apparently was disgruntled with the legal system, mowed down people in the centre of Melbourne with his car. Apart from the fact that I am glad he did not have access to firearms, I find the discourse surrounding the incident intriguing.

The calls predominantly seem to be around tougher sentencing laws, ‘doing something about the ice epidemic’ and domestic violence. To me, the most baffling is that also today we see reported a man gaoled for four months for raping a women. Not a lot of discourse about this case- I would hate to think it was because it involves an Aboriginal woman. Last year we saw Eddy McGuire in lukewarm water for laughing at a colleague who suggested a female journalist should be drowned. We still see men receive lenient sentences for crime because of the way a woman was dressed, how much alcohol she had consumed or how alluring she looked to a perpetrator. And women speak out about this and are labelled misandrist and told they should shut up and they don’t really understand what is going on.

It was abhorrent that a man ploughed through busy footpaths today trying to run down people in order to exact some personal revenge for a court matter that didn’t go his way and it is right that we are calling for justice, however I also feel we need to remember that until we can identify examples of everyday sexism and call them out then we are fighting a losing battle. Eddy Everywhere laughing at comments that a colleague should be drowned does not show respect to women in the same way men who abuse partners, girlfriends and wives with their fists and words does not show respect. And if you question whether or not something is sexist, substitute Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person, someone who identifies with being LGBTI or any number of religions. If it is racist then it is probably sexist too. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.