Australia's Ambassador for Women, Natasha Stott Despoja, has been campaigning against domestic violence since she was a young girl and her journalist mum, Shirley, would take her to refuges as part of her work.
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Earlier this year, amid the fresh momentum that came with Rosie Batty being named Australian of the Year, Stott Despoja spoke of the uncomfortable truth that lies at the heart of Australia's shocking record on domestic violence.
"Why do male perpetrators commit violent acts against women?
"You realise that women must be considered less worthy. And no society wants to admit that about itself."
That relationship between gender inequality and domestic violence has been a bit of an elephant in the room as Australia has begun to tackle this problem in a more open way.
As Stott Despoja acknowledged, to admit that something as awful as domestic violence bears a relationship to things like sexist jokes, thinking women are less able than men, or the casual prejudices that many of us hold, is not an easy thing to do.
Along with Stott Despoja and Batty, former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick and Minister for Women Michaelia Cash have recently spoken about the link between inequality and violence.
But the conversation wasn't put at the front and centre by the government.
Until today.
Calling out Australian men for not respecting women - and noting that violence against women begins with this disrespect - was a small step for Malcolm Turnbull, but a giant leap for the domestic violence debate.
"Let me say this to you: disrespecting women does not always result in violence against women. But all violence against women begins with disrespecting women," the new Prime Minister said on Thursday morning.
This is not just some throwaway talking point.
While Turnbull was quickly applauded by Batty, Cash and former Victorian police chief Ken Lay, make no mistake, there will be others who hate what he had to say.
They may not pop up in the news packages tonight, but there will be voters out there who really object to the Prime Minister calling out their attitudes towards women as not just socially unpalatable but potentially life threatening.
Maybe they'll express their views to their mates in the coffee queue or at the pub. The onus is now on those mates to call them out for their outdated opinions.
There are, of course, others (the media releases are already flowing in) who say that the government's $100 million funding announcement on Thursday is nowhere near enough to tackle the size of the problem. And that more action is needed to address critical shortfalls in things like accommodation and legal services.
But in among this, words are still important. The language that the Prime Minister uses shapes the parameters of debate.
It has the power to make concepts, arguments and information mainstream.
And make us less squeamish about the roots of why one in six Australian women is sexually or physically abused by a current or former partner.
The work doesn't end here, but when Turnbull says it is "unAustralian" to disrespect women, he has made the campaign to end domestic violence that much more achievable.
