Action demanded on gendered violence

NEITHER icy conditions nor rain could deter hundreds of community members coming together on Sunday to demand stronger political action against gendered violence.

The rally, organised by First Nations-led not for profit organisation What Were You Wearing? (WWYW), was one of 26 demonstrations that took place across the nation at the weekend, calling for mandatory trauma-informed training for Australia’s first responders and greater funding for grassroots organisations operating in the domestic, family and sexual violence sector.

It comes as the number of women lost to violence this year rises to 54, according to Australian Femicide Watch.

 

 

Local rally co-organiser Rachel Bishop said the government’s national plan, released in 2022, to end violence against women and children within 10 years was not working and more needed to be done urgently to stop the crisis of gendered violence.

“Since its release, the rates of women being murdered have only increased.

“Our demands are a clear step towards concrete prevention and justice.

“How our government responds to our cries for help will deeply reflect on where their values lie, and it will show all of Australia where they stand when it comes to male violence and murdered victims.”

 

 

The demonstration began with a Welcome To Country by Traditional Owner Corrina Eccles before several survivors and women with lived experience of violence addressed the crowd, bravely sharing their own stories and experiences.

The Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative’s Julie Saylor Briggs spoke of a lack of grassroot services available to women and children in need of support, with service workers operating across the region “burnt out” and “overworked”.

“We should be mourning for the 54 women, the 54 families, their communities, their work colleagues, though we also should mourn the fact that we don’t have the resources on the ground,” she said.

“There are no grassroots services that are holistic, that are genuine, that are consistent.”

 

 

She noted that since the previous WWYW rally in April, a further 22 women had been murdered.

Protestors stood, many in tears, as the names of each of the women who have been murdered by men this year were read aloud.

A flower was laid at the front of the crowd for each name as it was read and Dolly Parton’s “Eagle When She Flies” was played.

Marshalls moved through the crowd, comforting those in need, before demonstrators marched around Market Square precinct chanting “Say it once, say it again, there’s no excuse for violent men” and “Whatever we wear, wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no”.

 

 

Trauma therapist and sexologist Josslyn Owleye said too often the perpetrators of violence were not the strangers women were warned about, but their loved ones.

“The perpetrators of these violent crimes are your fathers and brothers, your male cousins, your best friends and bosses, your husbands, boyfriends and sports coaches.

“They are people we trusted.”

She called on men who use violence to take responsibility for their behaviour.

“What we need today is for all men to stand up against men’s violence by calling it out and shutting it down,” she said.