No More! A national rally calling to end sexual, domestic, and family violence is on this weekend
Posted on
53* women in 206 days. That’s how many women have lost their lives to gendered sexual, domestic, and family violence in 2024.
And the number is only growing.
Following the No More rallies held in April of this year, the Australian community is once again uniting for a nationwide protest – No More: A National Rally Against Violence.
After a spate of women were killed in violent attacks, What Were You Wearing (WWYW) organised the first No More rally, where over three days, 100,000 people took to the streets to demand that politicians and change-makers take decisive action.
The rallies led to a national cabinet meeting and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declaring gendered sexual, domestic, and family violence a national crisis – pledging nearly $1 billion in practical measures. However, despite this, the number of women being killed keeps rising. Australia is still in crisis.
It’s hard not to feel hopeless. It’s hard not to feel sad. And as more and more lives are tragically taken, it feels like conversations surrounding gendered sexual, domestic, and family violence have just…stopped.
And the silence is deafening.
That’s why on Saturday 27 July, a No More Rally will be taking to the streets in Canberra to once again demand that changes be made and to remind those in charge that this is about so much more than statistics – it’s about the mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends whose lives have been tragically cut short.
It’s about the countless untold stories of pain, trauma, and shattered families.
It’s about the reality of gendered sexual, domestic, and family violence in Australia – because it’s stark.
Our current laws are failing to protect victims, with the majority of perpetrators going uncharged, leaving survivors without justice and feeling powerless. Two in five women have experienced gendered violence since the age of 15, and 53 percent of women will experience sexual harassment in their lifetime, with an estimated 97 percent of these cases going unreported.
And their cries for justice? They’ve been met with silence.
Founder and CEO of WWYW Australia, Sarah Williams, originally created this national event to call for more action.
Now, exactly 91 days after the first rally took place in Canberra, organisers are pushing for two national demands:
- Mandatory trauma-informed training for first responders across Australia.
- Funding for grassroots organisations in the domestic, family, and sexual violence sector, including men’s behaviour change programs and women’s refuges.
Aiming to raise awareness, advocate for change, and urge Australia to address the pressing issue of violence that disproportionately impacts women, queer, disabled, and Indigenous people, men are once again encouraged to come along and be part of a supportive solution to the problem.
Ethan Fraser, long-time volunteer and CFO at What Were You Wearing, emphasises the importance of male support on this issue.
“When it’s us men who are the predominant perpetrators of violence, it shouldn’t be left to everyone else and the victims to address and fight the issue,” he says.
“If we aren’t willing to support and continue to deny there’s a problem, nothing will change.”
Rallies will start with a march through prominent streets in each area, followed by speeches, performances and organised activities that aim to help survivor victims process the day, as well as providing a direct link to accessible services for victims.
The Canberra rally will begin on Saturday 27 July at 2 pm with a march starting at Regatta Point.
Gendered sexual, domestic, and family violence is a public health crisis. It’s time to stop the silence.
For more information go here.
*Correct at the time of publication.
