Bianca Dye has offered an impassioned response to Lisa Wilkinson’s editorial about Melbourne comedian Eurydice Dixon, who was raped and murdered on Wednesday.
On Friday’s episode of The Project, Wilkinson criticised Victoria Police’s statement about women exercising vigilance and being ‘aware of their own personal security’.
However, Dye said on Brisbane’s Bianca, Terry and Bob radio show on Monday that women do need ‘to take responsibility for their safety’ because ‘we do not live in a safe world.’
‘Yes, we do have to be careful’: Radio host Bianca Dye (pictured) has responded to Lisa Wilkinson’s tearful monologue about the rape and murder of Eurydice Dixon
During her monologue last week, Wilkinson said: ‘Instead of telling our girls not to walk through parks, we should be telling our boys not to rape them.’
The veteran journalist also claimed that police statements about women being ‘responsible’ for their own safety were simply wrong.
Dye took a different approach, however, and said that watching Lisa’s editorial made her ‘start to get me really angry in my belly’.
Emotional: Lisa Wilkinson (pictured) said on The Project on Friday: ‘Instead of telling our girls not to walk through parks, we should be telling our boys not to rape them’
Dye said: ‘I was yelling at the TV, “Yes, we do have to be careful, we do have to watch out for ourselves”.
‘Because we live in a world where – I’m sorry – we live in the world where there are always going to be mentally-challenged human beings that want to murder and kill.
‘I’m sorry but we are cavemen at its most primal level.’
Safety: Bianca added that women need to be taught ‘to hold keys in our hands and their mobile phones’
She added: ‘We do not live in a safe world and so the whole thing of “we shouldn’t be educating women to not walk through parks, we should be educating our men to not kill”… people will always kill!
‘The murderers aren’t going anywhere.’
‘I have so much respect for [Wilkinson] as a journalist and she is an incredibly smart and intelligent lady,’ Dye concluded. ‘But I just think that was aimed…
‘I think women do need to take responsibility for their safety and we do need to teach men and we need to be aware we live in a world that is not going to change.’
Sad: Eurydice Dixon’s body was found on a soccer pitch in Melbourne’s north on Wednesday morning, less than three hours after she messaged her boyfriend she was ‘almost home safe’ (Eurydice is pictured)
Eurydice Dixon’s body was found on a soccer pitch in Princes Park, Carlton North on Wednesday morning, less than three hours after she had messaged her boyfriend she was ‘almost home safe’.
The tragedy sparked a nationwide discussion about safety advice given to women.
In an eight-minute segment on Friday night, Lisa emphasised the need to change the focus of blame.
‘If one woman doesn’t walk at night, that one woman won’t be attacked, but the problem with giving this…’ Lisa said, becoming emotional.
‘The problem with giving this advice is that it keeps that one woman safe at the expense of all women’s right to move freely.’
She added: ‘Parents, instead of telling our girls not to walk through parks, maybe we should be telling our boys not to rape them.’
Speaking up: Lisa emotionally pled the need to change the focus of blame in order to keep women safe during an eight-minute segment on Friday night
The dialogue surrounding violence against women became a topic of debate after Victoria Police said women should ‘take responsibility’ for their own safety following Eurydice’s death.
‘Make sure you have situational awareness, that you’re aware of your surroundings,’ Local Superintendent Dave Clayton said on Thursday.
‘Take responsibility for your safety… make sure that people know where you are and that if you’ve got a mobile phone carry it.’
Causing a stir: The message addressing violence against women was again brought to light when Victoria Police told media women should ‘take responsibility’ for their own safety