When will a woman ever be safe?

Time for an Office of Women’s Safety

The trial of Leigh Robinson for the shotgun murder of his estranged girlfriend Tracey Greenbury is a not only a chilling reminder of the dangers women face from possessive men, but a shocking indictment of our society’s blind spot when it comes to protecting women from violent, vengeful partners.

Like Peter Keogh, the man who stabbed my sister to death in 1987, Leigh Robinson was always going to hurt or at worst kill the next woman who crossed him. As should have been the case with the violent, William John Wilkins, who raped and murdered sisters Colleen and Laura Irwin in 2006 in Altona, Robinson could and should have been stopped.

Equal opportunity commissions and reforms to the justice system that affirm a woman’s right to leave a relationship mean nothing to a murdered woman.

It’s time every state government established a designated department with the specific role of protecting women from men such as Keogh and Robinson.

If that involves the collating of intelligence that might be sourced by individual women and a greater role for local police or community agencies in alerting a woman to the dangers posed by men like Robinson then so be it.

Robinson found his way into Tracey Greenbury's life, and, no doubt skilfully explained away his previous crimes. Just what she knew is unclear. What's not in doubt is that there was no one to stop this man from terrorising and killing her.

Like so many women living in fear of a violent man Tracey Greenbury couldn't or didn't know what to do. It's time our society and our law makers made it easy for women to find help.