Van Badham has released a video on Facebook talking about the abuse online she has suffered as a result of Steve Price calling her ‘hysterical’ on Q&A.
For those who missed it, a man from the Q&A audience, Tarang Chawla, asked a question on the topic of how public figures could change the culture and conversation surrounding domestic violence, using his sister’s murder as an example. When Steve Price defended Eddie McGuire’s now-famous ‘drowning’ comments about Caroline Wilson as a joke, columnist Van Badham explained why this interpretation is problematic. Steve Price responded by calling her ‘hysterical’ and by interrupting her.
Further, Steve Price appeared on The Project the night after and said he wouldn’t be ‘verballed by an aggressive woman’, refusing to apologise for his comments.
In her Facebook video, Van explains how this has affected her.
“His demonisation of me over the past couple of days is another excellent example of how cultural messaging works, because in the wake of how Steve Price has been acting since Q&A, this is the kind of feedback I’ve received on the internet.”
She proceeds to read out some of the tweets and comments she has received, which include horrifying abuse like ‘I’d smack that bitch in the mouth. I can do it to a guy, and equal rights means I can do it to a girl’, ‘I honestly pray for your death every day, I’d do anything to stop this, people like you are disgusting, entitled and yes, hysterical. You deserve a good slap’, and ‘With a mouth like that, I’m surprised she hasn’t become a victim of DV herself’.
She finishes the video with the poignant comment:
“This is what my week has been like thanks to the comments made by Steve Price.
“Cultural shifts have to happen, and Steve, they’ve got to start with you.”
Watch the full video here:
