Large crowds demand action on domestic violence – Australian Associated Press

Thousands of people will take to the streets demanding an end to gender-based violence, days after a man was charged with killing a 19-year-old woman and dumping her remains in a garbage dump.

Large crowds are expected to march in Melbourne on Friday to mark the start of 16 days of activism.

The global campaign aims to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls.

This comes after human remains were found at a Melbourne landfill on Tuesday and a man was charged with the murder of missing teenager Isla Bell.

Ms. Bell was last seen leaving her home in Brunswick on October 4th.

Prime Minister Jacinta Allan said Ms Bell’s family was going through “unspeakable grief” and her loss was that of another woman in the community who deserves the right to live a safe and fearless life.

“That was taken away from her,” she said Thursday.

“We see in Victoria and in Australia too many women losing their lives at the hands of someone they knew or someone who was a total stranger to them – it happens too often.”

A royal commission into domestic, family and sexual violence in South Australia heard on Wednesday the system was in crisis due to resource constraints and increased demand.

The SA domestic violence hotline received a record number of calls on the day the commission began operations in July and is expected to receive 35,000 calls in 2024.

In Queensland, police respond to around 140,000 domestic and family violence calls each year, with an expected number of 190,000 in 2024.

Respect Victoria chair Kate Fitz-Gibbon said Friday’s walk was a powerful demonstration of the community’s unwavering support to end behaviors and attitudes that enable the use of violence against women.

“The 16 Days of Activism provides great opportunities for all Victorians to get involved in changing the narrative,” she said.

In 2023, more than 5,000 community members participated in the walk.

Similar marches were held in regional areas such as Ballarat in Victoria and Tamworth in New South Wales in early 2024 after the deaths of several women highlighted higher rates of domestic violence outside cities.

Following the alleged murder of Molly Ticehurst in Forbes, 120km west of Orange, in April, the New South Wales government tightened bail laws.

The 28-year-old teacher was allegedly murdered by her former boyfriend, who was out on bail.

In the weeks that followed, the federal government funded a $1 billion program that provides $5,000 payments to people fleeing domestic violence.

This funding came after five women and a man were killed in a knife attack by Queensland man Joel Cauchi at Bondi Junction shopping center in Sydney.

That same month, thousands of protesters marched for several days in a dozen cities across Australia to demand action to end violence against women.

Ballarat also became a center for rallies after local women Samantha Murphy, Rebecca Young and Hannah McGuire allegedly died at the hands of men.

According to Australian Femicide Watch, 85 women were allegedly murdered by a man in Australia in 2024.

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