Thirty two. That’s the number of women that have been killed in 2024 by a family member or intimate partner, or as an act of femicide. That’s one woman killed every four days. In response to such a large loss of life, and the lack of tangible government action being taken to address the crisis, What Were You Wearing (WWYW) has organised multiple snap rallies to take place in major cities across Australia this weekend, including Newcastle, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.
The Sydney rally started in Belmore Park at 1pm on Saturday April 27, with a substantial crowd and a large media and political attendance. NSW Premier Chris Minns, Greens MP Jenny Leong, and former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull were spotted in the crowd.
Demonstrators marched to Hyde Park, posters and signs in hand, chanting for an end to violence committed by men, including sexual violence. Current estimates on the size of the protest approximate the number of people to be in the thousands, with some figures as high as 8,000.
Aunty Yvonne Weldon, Deputy Chair of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, gave a Welcome to Country at Hyde Park. Vanessa Turnbull Roberts followed her with a passionate speech, calling for the government to take real action instead of repeating the same rhetoric and just allocating funding. Roberts drew attention to the disproportionate impact of sexual and gender-based violence against First Nations women and children, including such violence perpetrated by the state within the foster care system. She made reference to the history of colonial violence against Indigenous communities by British settlers, stating, “this started the very first moment that colonisation came…the violence started then”.
Palestinian activist Jana Fayyad gave the next address, acknowledging the history and violence of colonialism in Australia, and how such violence is also being carried out in Gaza and all of occupied Palestine. She highlighted the offences of sexual and gender-based violence being perpetrated by Israeli soliders in the Gaza strip as a part of Israel’s genocide, including strip searching of civilians. She also criticised the silence of feminists in the West and for ignoring the gendered impact of Israel’s violence. It was noted that during Fayyad’s speech, some members of the crowd left with reports of a woman complaining to a WWYW staff member about the mention of Palestine.
American poet Azure Antoinette performed a spoken poem based on her experiences as a mother, raising boys and teaching them to not breach physical boundaries of women and girls. “We do not put our hands on women” was repeated throughout the poem. “Your mother and I will never stand in her defence, to defend unwarranted bloodshed, followed by empty echoes of the narrative that ‘boys will be boys’ because they turn into very, very malicious men”.
Mental health advocate Mia Findlay also performed her poetry at the rally, addressing how violence against women is normalised. Findlay focused on recent events; while the murder of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies saw a national response and intense media coverage, the murder of women in their homes barely makes it through the 24 hour news cycle. Mia made a poem in the aftermath of the April 13 Bondi Junction attack, where the attacker targeted and killed five women. Her poem went viral on TikTok, viewed 2.3 million times.
Hannah Ferguson, founder of Cheek Media, directly called out the media and the government in their response to the epidemic of violence against women. She began with a direct message to Channel 7, the media network that funded rapist Bruce Lehrmann’s lifestyle in exchange for exclusive interviews with him. Ferguson also decried Chris Minns for leaving the rally not even after the first speaker had finished. She also mentioned the media’s headlines for cases of sexual and domestic violence; “We do not have the reality of ‘Men killing women’ we have ‘ Women who died’. We have ‘Troubled men’, we have ‘Former loving husband’, and it is fucking enough”.
Harri James, an advocate against sexual violence and leader of the “Your reference ain’t relevant” campaign advocated for men to join the movement in ending violence against women and girls. James called for men to challenge the attitudes of their friends and their own privilege, to educate themselves and others on consent, and to stand with women and believe survivors. “The end of violence against women and children begins with men”.
Sarah Williams, the founder of WWYW and organiser of the rallies across the country, spoke at multiple points throughout the rally. She reiterated the five demands of the rally:
- The Federal government declare violence against women as a national emergency and take immediate action to address the epidemic.
- Media organisations must wait 48 hours before showing images of victims of men’s violence.
- The government must implement mandatory training to first responders and media personnel of prevention of victim blaming.
- The government must properly fund all sexual, domestic, and family violence services, with all funding agreements lasting for a minimum of five years.
- Specialist sexual, domestic and family violence courts should be set up, alongside alternative reporting mechanisms.
The band Worm Girlz performed to end the rally. Many attendees lingered in the park, connecting with one another. Support service information and resources were also provided for people as they left.
Resources
- National Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence Counselling line: 1800 737 732
- Full Stop Australia: 1800 385 578
- Lifeline: 13 11 14 (Lifeline provides 24-hour crisis counselling)
- Blue Knot Foundation Helpline: 1300 657 380 (Blue Knot Foundation provides support and resources to adult survivors of child abuse and complex trauma)
- 13YARN: 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people)
- National Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline: 1800 880 052
- Brother to Brother: 1800 435 799 (24 hour crisis line for Aboriginal men, staffed by Aboriginal men with lived experience)
- QLIFE: 1800 184 527 (LGBTQI+ peer support and referral)
- Rainbow DFSV Helpline: 1800 497 212
