The West Australian reported on Atinae Afamiliona’s brutal attack against his wife by erasing him from the headline.
Afamiliona has multiple convictions for domestic violence offences against his wife and children. This attack occurred after she suggested a separation. His response to his wife making choices about her own life was to pick up a machete and hack at her with it at least 10 times. He severed two of her fingers and toes, and left her with deep scars on her arms and legs.
Acting Judge Grogin described the attack as a, “brutal, unprovoked, unabated, unrelenting, vicious attack on the victim who at the time was trying to protect herself and trying to escape the perpetrator by crawling under the car”.
Afamiliona had three previous domestic violence offences on his record, including slapping a five-year-old girl across the face and dragging her by her ponytail, throwing a beer bottle at his wife and threatening her with a knife and breaching a Apprehended Violence Order by going to his wife’s home against court orders.
All these facts were reported in the article and yet Afamiliona’s very existence didn’t make it into the headline.
Erasing violent men from headlines about their crimes does a grave disservice to victims and to the public, who depend on journalists to tell them the truth about what is happening in their society.
FixedIt is an ongoing project to push back against the media’s constant erasure of violent men and blaming of innocent victims. If you would like to help fund it – even $5 a month makes a big difference – please consider becoming a Patron
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