The mother of murdered schoolboy Luke Batty has broken down on live television and launched an extraordinary attack on Studio 10 co-host Joe Hildebrand.
Rosie Batty, whose 11-year-old son was murdered by his father Greg Anderson in February, blasted Hildebrand for saying women have no excuse for being in an abusive relationship when their partner has sexually abused their child.
His comments were made on Network Ten during an earlier panel discussion of new Victorian laws making it illegal to not report child sex abuse to police.
"Anything is better than staying in an abusive relationship," Hildebrand said.
"To say that you're going to not report a case of child sex abuse by your partner because you are scared for your own safety, I'm sorry, it is not an excuse."
When Ms Batty came on air she fought back tears as she told Hildebrand his comments were misguided.
"I am absolutely outraged. I was living in hope that because of Luke's tragic death it would bring a huge awareness to family violence," she said.
"This is beyond my comprehension how, again, the woman who is the victim is punished."
Ms Batty went on to reveal the details of the violence she suffered at the hands of her estranged husband Anderson, who killed their son with a cricket bat on February 12.
"Greg had finally lost control of me and the final act of control, which was the most hideous form of violence, was to kill my son," she said.
"So don't you ever think that if we don't report it's because we don't want to. It's because we are so scared about what might happen.
"Joe needs to look at his views as a man and needs to step up and get informed."
Hildebrand remained largely silent during Ms Batty's comments, which prompted applause from the studio audience.
At one point he defended his opinion, saying he believed the laws would actually help to protect women, before she cut him off.
Studio 10 later tweeted their thanks to Batty for her "grace and her passion" during the interview.
Hildebrand posted a statement on his Facebook page in response to the backlash.
He wrote: "For the record I do not support the jailing of domestic violence victims who fail to report child sex abuse, and never said that I did.
"What I did say was that the safety of a child must be paramount in considering these issues. If a child is being sexually abused then I strongly feel it is the responsibility of all those who are aware of it to report it."
Studio 10 responds to Rosie Batty's comments and backlash
"We are deeply sorry to have cause Rosie Batty any distress. But let me be very clear about this: we never approached Rosie to comment on the child sex abuse legislation," said Studio 10 co-host, Sarah Harris.
"Rosie had been booked to come on our sow to talk about her charity work... around half an hour later.
"This is an opinion-based panel show where we debate news topics and express our opinions. That's what Joe did," she added.
"Many of you have expressed outrage at our handling of the interview and at the opinion of one person. But this should make you even angrier: one woman dies every week at the hands of her partner in Australia. This is a discussion that we desperately need to add."
Rosie Batty said, in a statement to Studio 10, that there was "no bad feeling at all."
"I know the discussion wasn't intended to upset me and I certainly did not take it personally. I am really pleased that this has come up as it has raised a HUGE opportunity for discussion and that has to be a good thing.
"No bad feeling at all."
