Protests have erupted across the world to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which is officially observed today.
In France, Italy, the UK and Australia, demonstrators have marched on the streets calling on their governments to do more to address the shocking statistics of gender-based violence.
Over the weekend, 80,000 people from over four hundred organisations kicked off the UN’s 16 days of activism, gathering on the streets of Paris and calling for an end to violence against women in view of Gisèle Pélico’s criminal trial against her former husband and dozens of men, and Donald Trump’s recent election victory.
Demonstrators waved purple banners that condemned gender-based violence and supported women’s reproductive rights. Earlier this year, the country of over 68 million enshrined abortion rights in the constitution, a decision largely viewed as a reaction against the diminishment of women’s reproductive rights in the US.
Protesters also showed their solidarity with Gisele Pelicot, whose former husband Dominique Pelicot and 50 other co-defendants has brought global attention to sexual violence against women. The men were trialed over allegations that they drugged and raped Gisele while she was unconscious over the course of nearly 10 years, from 2011-2020. Dominique Pélicot has since pleaded guilty.
Maelle Noir, a spokesperson for the feminist collective Nous Toutes (“All of Us”) said on Saturday, “Unfortunately, anybody can be a perpetrator of violence.”
“It can be our brothers. It can be our fathers. It can be our colleagues. It can be our bosses. I think that’s the big shock for people,” she told The Associated Press news agency.
Nous Toutes called for public policies to issue stronger protections to women and vulnerable groups, including education programs and women’s shelters, and a “sustainable annual budget of at least 2.6 billion Euros, or 0.5 percent of the State budget” toward these policies.
“The current government is an obstacle to the implementation of effective measures against gender-based violence,” a statement from their website reads. “We refuse to let [Emmanuel Macron] exploit our feminist demands for racist, xenophobic, transphobic and reactionary purposes. We therefore demand his resignation and call for the appointment of a feminist and anti-racist government, which would put social justice at the heart of its political project so that our demands are really heard.”
“Once this new government is in place, we will finally be able to obtain what we have been asking for for years: the establishment of a minimum budget of 2.6 billion euros for the fight against gender violence and the adoption of public policies that meet the urgency of needs.”
“These public policies must be structured around three axes: the prevention of gender violence, the accompaniment and support of victims, as well as the guarantee of equitable access to the fundamental rights of all.”
In Italy, roughly 150,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Rome, carrying placards that read: “Disarm Patriarchy.”
Trans-feminist organisation Non Una di Meno (“Not One Less”) joined dozens of other groups to march from the Colosseum to Vittorio Emanuele Square, demanding an end to violence against women as well as an end to the suffering of women and children in Gaza. Large crowds were heard chanting, “Free Palestine”.
Elsewhere, in St Helier, the capital of Jersey in the Channel Islands, up to a hundred protesters gathered in bright orange gear and orange wigs to call attention to the lack of legal protections available for women who experience violence.
One victim survivor, Suzie Mahe, told BBC that she hopes the island will follow England and Wales in their move to make non-fatal strangulation illegal.
“I hope that people can take away from today is that they don’t have to feel alone and we’re all standing together to make change in Jersey,” Mahe added.
Last Friday, protests in Sydney and Melbourne saw thousands of people demonstrate to end gender-based violence. In Melbourne, the family of murdered 19-year old Isla Bell marched alongside 8,500 people, calling for justice to be served.
Last week, Bell’s remains were found in a tip in Dandenong, Melbourne’s outer east. Police have charged 53-year-old Marat Ganiev with the murder, and Eyal Yaffe, with assisting an offender.
Bell’s uncle Keiran Dionysus, read a social media statement written by Bell’s mother, Justine Spokes.
“My grief is paralysing, and I cannot function,” the statement read. “We live in a world where the suffering of women is their cross to bear. A society that tells them they are strong and must continue to martyr themselves to be worthy of the barest of praise.”
Bell’s cousin, Caitlin Brown told 9News, “We all love Isla so much in our family, she was taken far too soon and it wasn’t fair.”
“We just want to say that she’s loved and she’s cared for, and we hope justice is served,” she said.
In Sydney, school groups and community organisations marched from High Cross Park in Randwick to Grant Reserve in Coogee to show solidarity against domestic and family violence
If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au for online chat and video call services.
If you are concerned about your behaviour or use of violence, you can contact the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491 or visit http://www.ntv.org.au.
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