Still much to learn about gender equality

You only need to read Ms King’s sentencing remarks today to learn of a life dysfunctional from birth.

Hudson was a ward of the state, was sexually abused as a child, had a neglected education, was a prostitute at the age of 13 and later the victim of horrific abuse at the hands of the men in her life. As Justice King said, Hudson came to accept that she deserved to be punished by Edward Heron and all other men in her life.

“You accepted punishment was appropriate because you made them angry, or upset them ... you believed to a large degree he protected you and this was just one the prices you paid for that protection,’’ she said.

What a sad and tragic life for a woman whom the court was told was a beautiful artist and had a strong chance to change her life and become a more functioning member of society.

What a tragedy that she believed that was her lot in life – to be “grateful’’ for being brutally beaten because she was made to believe that relationship was her only hope for survival in the world.

What Veronica Hudson’s story tells us is that while we have come a long way, we still have so much work to do on educating people about gender equality and speaking out about family violence.

Despite being told of the horrific events of her life, we will never understand how much Hudson endured before killing her partner, but we can be sure it was a life of hell.

So too, perhaps was Edward Heron’s but his violent choices should never have been his release.

The outcome for him may have been very different had he not introduced violence in the relationship.