Thousands to rally over gendered violence 'emergency'

Australians will take to the nation’s streets in their thousands to demand an end to gendered violence which advocates warn has reached crisis levels.

About 15 rallies will be held across the nation over the weekend amid calls for concrete action to break the cycle of violence which has claimed the lives of at least 26 women so far in 2024, according to Destroy the Joint.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to attend a protest in Canberra on Sunday.

It comes three years after more than 100,000 people took part in the March 4 Justice across more than 40 Australian cities.

“Australia’s definitely in a time of a national emergency with men’s violence,” What Were You Wearing Australia chief executive Sarah Williams told ABC News Breakfast.

“It’s really devastating that it’s three years on and we’re probably in a worse situation than we were in 2021.”

Demonstrators gathered on Friday evening in Ballarat where locals have been rocked by the deaths of three residents within two months, allegedly at the hands of men.

“Violence against women has become normalised and that’s why I think that these rallies have become really special and important,” Ms Williams said.

“Each year, more and more women are lost to violence.”

Ballarat community members also staged a rally two weeks ago to remember Samantha Murphy, Rebecca Young and Hannah McGuire.

One day later, Jade Young, 47, Ashlee Good, 38, Dawn Singleton, 25, Pikria Darchia, 55, and Yixuan Cheng, 27, were all killed at a Bondi shopping centre in Sydney when Queensland man Joel Cauchi went on a stabbing rampage.

Earlier this week Molly Ticehurst, 28, was found dead at her home in Forbes in NSW and Emma Bates, 49, was discovered dead at a property in Cobram in Victoria.

Melbourne rally organiser Martina Ferrara said seeing reports of a woman being killed every four days in 2024 is scary and impacts how they live their lives.

“It drives a horrible fear on little girls, on young mothers and women as a whole - it is terrifying to think that you could go out on a run and get murdered or you could be doing anything and still not be safe,” she told AAP.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus on Saturday said the Albanese government had spent about $2.3 billion since coming to office on measures to address what he described as an “epidemic of male violence”.

“Men need to step up,” he told reporters in Ipswich.

“Men need to talk to their sons, to their brothers, to their colleagues at work and try to work together. It cannot be left to women.”

The rallies, organised by What Were You Wearing, are calling on governments to acknowledge violence against women as a national emergency and take immediate action to fund all domestic, family and sexual violence services for at least five years.

They want alternative reporting options for victims and specialist courts to hear cases of violence.

The group also wants better training for first responders and media personnel to stop victim blaming and to wait at least 48 hours before publishing images of any victims.

NSW Police has said it would back a proposal to stop court registrars from making bail decisions in domestic violence cases, after the death of Ms Ticehurst.

Other solutions being put forward include Victoria Police calling for a register of convicted family violence offenders to help women make more informed choices when getting into a relationship.

Western Australia will spend $96.4 million to bolster the safety and support of victim-survivors of family and domestic violence.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has said his government will consider calls for a state-based royal commission into gendered violence.

Further demonstrations will be held in Adelaide, Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne, Bendigo, Geelong, Coffs Harbour, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Wagga Wagga, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra, Orange and Cobram.

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