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Each year on August 26, Phil Cleary relives the day when his close-knit family’s life changed.
At 8am on that date in 1987, his younger sister, Vicki, arrived at the Melbourne kindergarten where she worked and was brutally attacked by her ex-partner.
Peter Keogh, who had a history of mindless violence, stabbed Vicki and left her for dead. As paramedics fought to save her, Vicki, 25, told them she didn’t think she would make it. Tragically, she was right.
“It was my brother who [called and] told me Vicki was in hospital and then he said, ‘the b**tard attacked her,’” Phil tells New Idea.
“I’d only met Keogh twice in the three years Vicki and he were together and I didn’t like him. He was sullen and rough but I knew nothing about his history of violence against women.”
After Vicki died, Phil learned he’d stalked and threatened her since she’d left him months earlier.
The family’s grief deepened when, despite the viciousness of the attack and Keogh’s dark history, he successfully used the now-defunct provocation defence.
Essentially, Keogh argued Vicki contributed to her own death by leaving him. He was jailed for just three years and 11 months.
“After Keogh killed Vicki, I realised there’s an underbelly of men who refuse to accept a woman’s right to independence and that is still driving the violence,” says Phil, now 73, who has spent almost 40 years keeping Vicki’s story alive.
A respected former football player, coach and federal MP, he helped abolish the provocation defence in Victoria in November 2005.
He spends his weeks travelling to sports clubs, workplaces and schools across Victoria to talk about Vicki and remind men there’s no excuse for violence against women. He’s sat in courtrooms with victims’ families and delved into the misogynistic mindset of men who abuse women. He says the ‘manosphere’ is nothing new.
“The manosphere has been around forever. The Andrew Tates on the internet today were previously judges allowing provocation defences and making rulings that demeaned women like Vicki who’d been murdered by partners and ex-partners,” Phil says.
Despite the ongoing cases of women killed by violent men, Phil sees glimmers of hope. Each year, with his sister, Lizzie, he organises a Vicki Cleary Day memorial footy match and he’s moved by the young men
who take part.
“They shake my hand after hearing Vicki’s story and I’m impressed by their empathy. It shows society does have capacity to change,” he says.
“When Vicki was killed, nobody was talking about violence against women – the killing of a woman by her ex was relegated to page 10 of the local newspaper. Today, when a woman is murdered there are protests and people are talking about it.”
Phil believes Australia needs a day, like National Sorry Day, that recognises the injustices and failings endured by victims of violence and their families.
“Mum and Dad went to their grave without one politician apologising for the state failing to protect Vicki and there are so many cases like my sister’s where women were failed and not protected.”
Phil continues to campaign for tougher risk assessment strategies that identify women at risk of violence when they leave abusive partners. He’s also calling for a national education program in schools to tackle misogyny before it takes root.
“Every time I hear a story of violence against women, it brings everything back,” says Phil.
“The last time I saw Vicki, days before she was killed, I was going to training and had my daughters with me. I heard someone calling my name across the car park and it was Vicki. She ran over to talk to my girls and I remember watching her and thinking ‘aren’t we lucky? What a beautiful sister.’ Then she was gone. I have to keep doing this for Vicki.”
For more information, visit philcleary.com.au
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