Pauline Hanson has been accused of victim-blaming after declaring domestic violence “a two-way street” and suggesting women should leave their relationships and not put up with abuse.

Anti-domestic violence campaigners swiftly condemned the One Nation leader on Wednesday, saying her comments shifted the blame away from perpetrators and ignored the difficulties victim-survivors faced in leaving abusive relationships.

Two women and two girls were allegedly murdered within four days earlier this month, forcing domestic violence into the national debate again after another string of alleged murders in May.

Hanson was asked on Brisbane radio on Wednesday to send a message to men who lose their temper, after she met last week with UK far-right figure Tommy Robinson, who has criminal convictions for offences including assault of an off-duty police officer.

“It is wrong, but it’s also a two-way street,” she said of domestic violence. “But I’m not saying that it’s just men ... women can lose their cool as well,” Hanson told 4BC.

“Society is under so much pressure … I think today everyone’s sitting on a time bomb because the pressures of cost of living... or if you lose your job or the kids.”

Hanson suggested women who were subject to abuse in their relationship should leave.

“Domestic violence is a scourge, but sometimes, look, I’m not going to go in detail, but I’ve been through it myself in my life, and I just feel that if you’re not in a house where you feel safe, you feel you don’t want to be there, then you shouldn’t put up with it,” she said.

Advocates warned that a person was most likely to be killed when they left an abusive partner.

“My sister Niki tried to do what Ms Hanson suggests. Terrible advice. He murdered her,” Tarang Chawla, who has campaigned against domestic violence after his sister’s murder in 2015, wrote on social media.

“It is not as simple as ‘don’t put up with it’. The responsibility isn’t on the victim. It’s on the person who is abusive or violent. Overwhelmingly, that person is a man.”

Sherele Moody, founder of the Red Heart Movement and Australian Femicide Watch, said Hanson had a fundamental misunderstanding of the difficulties those fleeing abuse faced, and that not everyone had access to the resources needed to leave safely.

“It’s not just a case of a woman packing up her bags, the children and the pets, and walking out the door,” Moody said. “Especially now because there’s no space in refuges … there’s no space in transitional housing.

“It is right for Pauline Hanson to talk about her own experience, but it is really wrong to expect other women to have the same path.”

Moody’s Femicide Watch has counted 38 women’s lives lost to violence this year, 27 of whom were allegedly killed by a current or former partner, a son, or another family member.

Moody said external pressures contributed to higher rates of violence, but that should not be used as an excuse.

“It is a person’s choice to use violence, and they are the people that need to seek support and get help and not harm or kill other people,” she said.

The cost of leaving domestic violence exceeds $7000 according to Anglicare Sydney – a 71 per cent rise in the past decade. Research released on Wednesday by the not-for-profit considered the cost of a rental bond, hiring a moving truck, temporary accommodation and rebuilding a safe household.

One woman was killed on average every 11 days and one man was killed every 26 days by an intimate partner in 2024-25, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Four in five domestic violence offenders are male, with a median age of 35, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.

It is not the first time Hanson has come under fire for her stance on domestic violence. Earlier this year, she relented to public pressure and sacked convicted rapist Sean Black from the party’s headquarters.

The senator has previously said women lied about abuse to gain advantage in custody disputes, and called for the Family Court to be abolished and replaced with a tribunal of peers.

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said Hanson’s comments were irresponsible and dangerous.

“Senator Hanson has a voice and she is using it to send a message to victims that violence is their fault and to those that use violence that it’s excusable,” Plibersek said. “Leaving takes enormous courage, safety planning and financial support. Senator Hanson should focus on how we better support survivors rather than belittling them.”

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce was also repeatedly pressed on 4BC on Wednesday to call out domestic violence.

He said it was not “stylish” for people to lose their temper.

“I’ve never been accused of hitting a woman or anything like that,” Joyce said. ”I’ve got many other things, but that’s never one of them because it’s disgraceful; it’s disgusting because it hurts other people.”

National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/hanson-says-domestic-violence-a-two-way-street-20260722-p60hjx.html

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