Thousands of Australians will gather at rallies across the nation to demand "no more" to gendered violence following a surge of killings of women at the hands of men.
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About 15 rallies will be held across states and territories over the weekend as women and their allies call 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.
"We've reached a point where we want to say 'enough is enough' and we want to speak up," Melbourne rally organiser Martina Ferrara told AAP.
"Not only are these rallies moving, but they show a sense of mutual frustration and disappointment on how the government is dealing with this and how the numbers just keep piling up every day."
Demonstrators descended on Newcastle and Ballarat on Friday evening to kick off the national rallies, with the regional Victorian city rocked by the deaths of three local women within two months, allegedly at the hands of men.
Ballarat community members 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 while Emma Bates, 49, was discovered dead at a property in Cobram in Victoria.
Ms 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 said.
Organised by sexual assault prevention non profit What Were You Wearing?, the rallies centre around demands including governments acknowledging violence against women as a national emergency and taking 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 for news organisations to wait at least 48 hours before publishing images of any victims.
Ms Ferrara said the fact that these national rallies are being held shows "there are people out there that agree with us".
"(It) shows they've had enough with this repetition of events every year and every month," she said.
"It's really just a desperate call from everyone to have someone listen and do something."
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, meanwhile, has announced it will spend $96.4 million to bolster the safety and support of victim-survivors of family and domestic violence.
Demonstrations will be held in Ballarat, Newcastle, Adelaide, Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne, Bendigo, Geelong, Coffs Harbour, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Wagga Wagga, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra, Orange and Cobram.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
Lifeline 13 11 14
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
beyondblue 1300 22 4636
Australian Associated Press
