Thousands marched to end violence at rallies across the country over July 26–28 as part of a national weekend of action initiated by What Were You Wearing (WWYW), a community organisation dedicated to ending sexual and domestic violence.
The “No More” rallies took place in more than 20 towns and cities across the country and were organised in collaboration with a variety of local anti-violence and women's groups.
The rallies were held in response to the continued killing of women across the country. According to Destroy the Joint, 44 women have been killed so far this year, almost two a week.
WWYW said as many as 54 women have been killed this year.
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At least 17 women have been killed since the previous national day of action in April, which was also organised by WWYW.
The most recent is the killing of 23-year-old Kiesha Thompson on July 19. Thompson was killed after dropping off daughter at daycare in a hit-and-run allegedly planned by her ex-partner.
Rally organisers demanded more funding for community legal services and grassroots organisations, and called for trauma-informed training for police and paramedics.
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Alex Salmon reports that more than 300 people joined the rally in Boorloo/Perth on July 28 despite heavy rain.
The rally was addressed by Greens Senator and Yamatji and Noongar woman Dorinda Cox, independent MP Kate Chen, international human rights lawyer Rabia Siddique and Lydia Cohen, founder of Girls on Country, an arts space for young First Nations women.
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Speakers addressed the violence experienced by all women, including First Nations women, women of colour, disabled women and transgender women, as well as non-binary people.
Protesters held a memorial ceremony to honour the women who have been killed so far this year.
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Alex Bainbridge reports that the July 28 rally in Magan-djin/Brisbane was attended by about 400 people.
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It featured WWYW national organiser Sarah Williams, as well as Greens Senator Larissa Waters and journalist Nicole Madigan.
Waters highlighted the link between domestic violence and the housing crisis. She said fear of poverty and homelessness prevented many women from leaving violent homes.
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Zebedee Parkes reports that the rally in Gadigal Country/Sydney was attended by hundreds of people on July 28.
Fifty-four flowers and pieces of paper with the words “No More” and the names of victims of sexual and domestic violence were layed out in front of Town Hall.
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Speakers included Sarah Brown, co-founder of She Is Not Your Rehab, Ashlee Donohue, Dunghutti woman and anti-violence campaigner, Sarah Rosenberg, executive director of With You We Can, Katia Schwartz, disability and sex worker rights activist, and Hala Abdelnour, founder and CEO of the Institute of Non-Violence.
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Sarah Hathway reports that the rally in Djilang/Geelong was attended by about 300 people.
Jossly Owleye, a counsellor specialised in working with trauma, read a poem titled I Am A Woman Taking Up Space, printed below with permission.
I Am A Woman Taking Up Space
I am a woman encouraging other women to take up space
In Supermarkets and offices, on trains and in meetings
I am a woman Cleaning space
haplessly buried in laundry and dishes and
two minute noodle wrappers stuffed under couches
I am a woman trying to Make space
for the gym, and crafts and reading and courses and parenting and sex and love and half-assed attempts at gardening
I am a woman Holding space
For heart rending narratives of male violence
I am a woman taking up space
I will not make myself small
So you feel comfortable
I will not talk quietly
about the things that matter
I will not live or love less passionately
To protect myself from your violence or your judgment
I am a woman taking up space
I am not a lady or a girl
I refuse to wear an ideal that binds me and diminishes my soul
Strangling like Catholic lace and disdain
For an idea
that robs me of my power
That has me battling my sisters
for scraps from your table
I am a woman taking up space
So make some fucking room
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