Five hundred people rallied on March 29 to call on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to implement changes to stop gendered and domestic violence against women.
The protest, called by What Were You Wearing, assembled at the Newcastle Museum and marched to Nobbys Beach.
“A woman, on average, is killed every nine days by a current or former partner,” the group said. “In the past seven days we have lost five women to the hands of men.”
A 21-year-old woman was found dead in Mayfield on March 26, following an alleged domestic violence-related stabbing by her ex-partner. A three-year-old child was at the scene.
The huge turnout, at very short notice, and the speakers’ defiance shows how angry people are.
As one woman said: “After one man was killed by a coward’s punch in Newcastle, they changed the lockout law. But they haven’t done that for women.”
Another said that more than 87% of women reported feeling blamed for being the victim of an assault.
One woman complained about the authorities’ hypocrisy, telling Green Left: “The [police] can’t put a paroled woman-beater in jail, who then kills her, but they’ll lock up a protester in 10 minutes flat.”
[A follow-up action has been called for Saturday April 9.]