New edition

Losing It

Can we stop violence against women and children?

Quarterly Essay No. 97

Mar 2025

What went wrong? Australian governments promised to end violence against women and children in a single generation. Instead, it is escalating: men have been murdering women at an increased rate, coercive control and sexual violence are becoming more complex and severe, and we see a marked rise in youth-on-youth sexual assault. Why?



In Losing It, Jess Hill investigates Australia's National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children to find out what's working and what's not – and what we can do to turn things around. This compassionate, groundbreaking essay lifts the lid on a national crisis.

"Each time a woman or child was murdered, I felt a gnawing sense of urgency. If it's everybody's responsibility to prevent violence, where does the buck stop?" – Jess Hill, Losing It

“Losing it is a sobering read. But most of all, it’s a galvanising one.”

- The Conversation

Longlisted
:
Australian Political Book of the Year
2025
Longlisted
:
Australian Political Book of the Year
2025
Read
Translated editions available in Russia, Hungary and China
"A shattering book: clear-headed and meticulous, driving always at the truth."
Helen Garner
“The most important book of the last decade on one of the most critical issues in our time.”
Rick Morton
100 Years of Dirt
"Jess Hill is a journalist whose clarity of expression and thought are of the highest order... (her) extraordinary call to action cannot be ignored."
Louise Swinn
Chair of the 2020 Stella Judging Panel
“One Australian a week is dying as a result of domestic abuse. If that was terrorism, we’d have armed guards on every corner.”
Jimmy Barnes
“An extraordinary work… power on every page… a meticulously researched piece of longform journalism.”
Lucy Clark
The Guardian
“Jess Hill’s reporting on gendered violence has changed the course of public policy in this country.”
Chris Minns
NSW Premier MP
“In some respects, The Reckoning is contemporary history – a first draft account of seismic developments that will continue to be dissected in the decades to come. Hill is to be commended for this tour de force of reportage and analysis.”
Kieran Pender
“What’s missing from Hill’s essay is a greater understanding of why many have been frustrated by and disappointed with the exploitation of the #MeToo movement... Not every claim under the #MeToo banner deserved, or deserves, to be taken seriously. Not all women are powerless patsies in the workplace.”
Janet Albrechtsen
“...Hill’s essay is so powerful. It lays down the narrative, without spin but with deep analysis, adding perspective to two years of anger and inaction. It displays the entire puzzle in clear, chronological daylight for all to see.”
Amber Schultz
"Jess Hill exhibits how the #MeToo movement has always derived power from storytelling — a chorus of survivors speaking together to testify that this harm is common but unacceptable. The essay maps the courage and tenacity of the survivors who have spoken up, spoken out and spoken back over the past five years."
Hannah Ryan and Gina Rushton
No items found.
Jess Hill is an Australian investigative journalist and author whose work has transformed national understanding of gendered violence. Through her in-depth reporting, she explores coercive control and the systems that enable it. Her work has been recognised with major awards, including the Walkley award and Stella Prize.
Jess now works across media, education, and advocacy to drive change and expand awareness of how violence can be prevented.
Close-up portrait of a woman with curly dark hair, red lipstick, wearing black sleeveless top and black earrings.

IMAGE BY:

Jesse Dittmar

Read The Book

Losing It

Quarterly Essay No. 97

Other Books By Jess Hill:
The Reckoning
Quarterly Essay No. 84
See What You Made Me Do
Black inc. Books