Socially complex, sad and unreasonable and illogical

The abduction, rape and murder of Jill Meagher was, and is, as socially complex as it is sad.

Steven Pinker's book
in which he uses
 statistics to illustrate
 the decline of
violence.

Reports of the event sent a decided sense of fear ricocheting throughout communities, particularly in Victoria.

As desperately sad as the circumstance is, when considered objectively, it was as rare as it is distasteful.

Whatever we might say or think, or communities are less violent now than they once were, a fact made abundantly clear by author Steven Pinker in his latest book, "Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined" .

Pinker relies on the brutality of statistics to help his readers understand that in this modern era such happenings in which Meagher became sadly entangled are a rarity, while only a century ago they were significantly more frequent.

People now are, Pinker eloquently points out, far less inclined to prosecute their desires and feelings through violence than was the case.

An event such as that involving Jill Meagher is launched into the public eye through the efficiency of main-stream media and it then comes under the unblinking public gaze through the seemingly ceaseless and masturbatory-like effect of social media, all along ignoring the infrequency of such things.

The public focus on that one relatively rare event raises the spectre of violence in our communities, a menace that is unquestionably real, but one that is lessened as education increases.

The more learned people become, the more they abandon the sword and take up the word – education ameliorates aggression.

Many have marched in memory of Meagher and that deserves applause, but their energy should not simply dissipate on the streets, rather be the beginnings of push to enhance the broader decency of our communities.

In taking Meagher’s life, the perpetrator stole not only her future, but along with that a sense of trust among people, even those geographically remote from the Sydney Rd incident.

Some women have already talked about the insecurity they now sense in certain situations and others have said that there are some parts of Shepparton they once avoided if possible, but now they most certainly will.

That I understand, but accepting the realities of life and being prepared to consent to statistics illustrated by Pinker, their concern is unfounded.

The expression of one fellow’s fantasies impacted not only those immediately involved, but filtered throughout the community to damage everyone, regardless of gender.

Women are nervous and men, whoever they are, carry the guilt, even though that is both unreasonable and illogical.

The manifestation of what happened on Brunswick’s Sydney Rd early on that September Saturday morning is many faceted, but among the legacies is an increase in the distrust between men and women.