For the record, I have never read the novels but my Wife and sister have read parts of one and my sister said it was poorly written sexist garbage and my Wife (who is a victim of rape) found it very offensive and thinks the book should be banned in Australia. I don’t personally have an opinion about it myself but since its release I have noticed the 50 Shades series has gone on to become best sellers but have been the subject of much controversy with some people claiming it sick and disgusting because of its dark themes and the graphic way it depicts rape and domestic abuse. The musical came under heavy criticism here because it was said to be full of rape jokes and many of the people that liked the series of novels even put the musical down and argued that it should be banned.

Recent studies have shown an alarming one in three women in relationships suffers from some form of domestic abuse in abuse in Australia and one woman is murdered every day by her partner. These figures are up compared to one in five in 2010 and one in ten in 2007 with more than 27, 000 acts of domestic abuse being reported to police last year in the state of New South Wales alone and 18, 000 acts of domestic abuse reported in Victoria. Cases of domestic violence are said to be more common among women in relationships between the ages of 17-30 with more than 70 percent of women that have reported domestic abuse in Australia making up those figures. Some groups argue this is due to the ‘pornification’ of Gen Y, the easy access young boys have to porn online, misogynistic lyrics in rap music, oversexualised music videos and the success of books like 50 Shades of Grey.

The New South Wales and Victorian State Governments are making lots of changes and starting from 2015 new classes for young boys will be introduced into public and high schools in both states which will teach boys to respect girls and help girls identify abusers in the early stages of a relationship and how to report them to the police. New laws in Victoria could see domestic abusers jailed for up to 15 years without a confession from the victim because one in five women that has reported abuse went on to later deny the claims in recent years due to fear. This is the second time the State Government has introduced laws to combat domestic violence in the last two years and after the surprising death of Luke Batty who was psychically abused and eventually killed by his Father but his Mother failed to report her ex-husband’s behaviour to police new laws were brought in which see woman who fail to report their partner or ex-partner’s abuse of children face up to five years in prison.

What are your thoughts?