BALLARAT, AUSTRALIA – A Victorian Supreme Court judge on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, sentenced 23-year-old Lachlan Young to 28 years in prison for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Hannah McGuire. The sentence, delivered in Ballarat, mandates that Young serve a minimum of 22 years and four months before being eligible for parole. The case has drawn significant attention in Australia, casting a harsh light on the issue of male violence against women.

The court heard that on April 5, 2024, Young strangled McGuire, also 23, in the bathroom of their home in Sebastopol, a suburb of Ballarat. Following the murder, Young placed her body in her utility vehicle, drove to a remote bushland area, and set the car on fire in an attempt to stage her death as a suicide. In a further act of deception described by Justice James Elliott as “cold and calculated,” Young used McGuire's phone to send text messages to her mother, impersonating Hannah and claiming she intended to take her own life. He also transferred money from her bank account to himself and her mother.

Young initially denied the murder charge, claiming the death was accidental, and offered a plea of guilty to manslaughter, which prosecutors rejected. However, eight days into the trial, faced with mounting evidence, he changed his plea to guilty. During the pre-sentence hearing, Crown prosecutor Kristie Churchill argued that Young's actions were motivated by “male entitlement, jealousy and rage” after McGuire ended their abusive and controlling relationship. The court was told that an intervention order was active at the time of the murder.

Global Context: A Worldwide Crisis

While this specific crime occurred in Australia, it is emblematic of the global pandemic of femicide and intimate partner violence. According to data released by UN Women in November 2024, an estimated 736 million women worldwide—nearly one in three—have been subjected to intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their lifetime. In 2023, an average of 140 women and girls were killed each day by a partner or family member globally.

These statistics underscore a universal human rights crisis. In Australia, national data reflects this grim reality. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, one in four Australian women has experienced violence by an intimate partner since the age of 15. The Crime Statistics Agency for the state of Victoria, where the murder occurred, reported a 6% increase in family violence incidents for the 2023-24 period, reaching a new high of 98,816.

Relevance for Kenya

The themes of control, male entitlement, and lethal violence in the McGuire case resonate deeply with Kenya's ongoing struggle against gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide. In recent years, Kenya has seen a significant public outcry and activism, such as the #EndFemicideKE movement, in response to a surge in the brutal killings of women. According to Africa Data Hub, at least 500 women were murdered by intimate partners in Kenya between January 2016 and December 2023. Furthermore, data indicates that between 39% and 47% of Kenyan women have experienced GBV in their lifetime.

Kenyan activists and organizations like Usikimye have pointed to deep-seated patriarchal norms, economic dependency, and weaknesses in the justice system as contributing factors to this violence. The McGuire case, with its history of controlling behavior and the victim seeking help from police prior to her death, mirrors the tragic patterns seen in many Kenyan cases where the system fails to protect vulnerable women. The court in Australia heard that McGuire had taken out protection orders against Young before he killed her.

The sentencing of Lachlan Young brings a measure of legal closure for the McGuire family, who were present in the packed courtroom. Outside the court, Hannah's mother, Debbie McGuire, stated that the outcome was an important step in their healing journey. However, the case serves as a stark reminder for communities in Kenya and around the world of the urgent, collective action required to dismantle the societal structures that enable violence against women and create a future where women can live without fear.