Labor’s Dr Anne Aly has worn a handmade gown honouring domestic violence victims to Parliament’s Midwinter Ball on Wednesday night.
Each flower on Dr Aly’s gown represents the unique life of a woman that Australia has lost to family and domestic violence. On the back of the dress are the words: “End Violence Against Women”.
“When we look at each of those women as an individual and recognise what we have lost as a society, and what we lose as a society every time a woman gets killed from family and domestic violence.. that’s what I want people to see,” Dr Aly told the ABC.
“I want people to see a visualisation of just how many women, how many beautiful souls, how many flowers… we lost last year.”
A total of 64 women were lost to violence last year, according to Destroy the Joint. And already, this year, the number of “beautiful souls” lost in Australia has reached 39.
In regards to the hours it took to make her dress, Dr Aly said “it doesn’t matter how many hours went into it, it’s never enough to make up for the hours lost for every woman who’s died and been killed through family and domestic violence”.
Dr Aly also pointed to the popular Australian book and tv show, The Lost Flowers of Alice Heart, when it came to her inspiration behind the dress.
“[It’s] a beautiful show with the theme of domestic violence, and when you watch the show, you realise that the lost flowers are actually the women who are survivors or victims of family and domestic violence,” she says.
“I thought that was such a poignant way to describe women who’ve been killed in family and domestic violence.”
“They really are flowers, who’ve been lost to us.”
In crafting each flower, Dr Aly made sure it was very unique, in order to properly symbolise the uniqueness of each individual woman.
“As I was crafting each flower, [I was] thinking about each woman who was taken from us and what that means. So, each flower is kind of a homage to the women who have died.”
“For me, the true message of it is that these women aren’t just numbers,” says Dr Aly. “Each woman was unique in her own way. Each woman was a beautiful soul who we lost to a needless violence.”
An annual Canberra event, the Midwinter Ball was held in the Great Hall of Parliament House and saw politicians, members of the media and other influential guests dress to impress.