'LUKE WOULD BE PROUD OF ME'

Ten years after her son's death, Rosie Batty is still helping others

- Emma Levett

Rosie Batty wrote a birthday card and lit a candle but June 20, 2023 was not the joy-filled celebration a 21st birthday should be.

The heartbreaking milestones never stop for Rosie, and this February marked a decade since Luke's death at 11 years old from a horrendous act of violence by his father.

"For two or three weeks [in the lead-up], I felt sad and antisocial and I gave myself permission to be like that and to know that unhappiness will sit on my shoulders for a bit but that I'll come good again," Rosie tells Woman's Day.

FIERCE ADVOCATE

It's a way of being Rosie, 62, has learned to live with over the past decade. But for a woman who has become a fierce advocate against domestic violence, earning accolades and respect from all over the world, it's by no means all she's mastered.

"When you see someone on the news whose life has been changed and you think, 'I can't imagine surviving through that and ever enjoying life again, it's important to see that, as much as there is struggle and pain, people do go on and can succeed on levels you can't imagine," she says.