Waleed Aly's bold claim about male violence against women that he's been ... trends now

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Waleed Aly has questioned the widespread belief that male violence against women ultimately stems from disrespect, instead suggesting the desire to hurt females actually comes from attackers feeling shamed and humiliated.

The Project host addressed the current domestic violence crisis in Australia in an opinion piece following shocking statistics that show a woman is being killed every four days.

Aly, who is also a lecturer in politics at Monash University, said he'd put off writing the piece for nearly a decade.

He referenced words from former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull who in 2015 said: 'Disrespecting women does not always result in violence against women. But all violence against women begins with disrespecting women.'

Aly said that he always thought Mr Turnbull's comment was incorrect, but had never said anything publicly - until now.  

'I couldn't repress a simple thought when I heard Turnbull's comment: I just don't think that's correct,' Aly wrote for the Sydney Morning Herald. 

'That's because my academic work was studying the roots of violence, where research overwhelmingly identifies factors like humiliation, shame and guilt as motivating drivers, not a lack of respect.'