When 58-year-old Melbourne academic, designer, entrepreneur and mother Janine Hendry decided to stage a protest against sexism, misogyny and alleged sexual misconduct in Australia’s parliament, she thought it would be just her and a few friends waving placards outside Parliament House. But in two weeks, her March4Justice movement has 27,000 followers on Facebook and 8,000 on Twitter.
Dressed head-to-toe in black, women are gathering at 36 protests across Australia.
Melbourne’s March4Justice has been approved to involve 5000 people under COVID-19 rules, with a sit-in at Treasury Gardens previously having a permit for 1000 people. An extension to the numbers was granted on on Monday morning.
Enough is enough! Where, when and why March 4 Justice protests are taking place across Australia Alyx Gorman
Across Australia, survivors and their allies will be calling for gender equality, and justice for victims of sexual assault, through a series of protests under the banner March 4 Justice.
The focal point of the protests will be a rally outside Parliament House in Canberra on 15 March, which many people have stated they are travelling from interstate to attend.
There, March4Justice organiser Janine Hendry alongside Dr Anita Hutchison and Dr Kate Ahmad from Doctors Against Violence Towards Women, will be presenting parliament with two petitions outlining both broad and specific requests for further action.
A protester with a sign that reads ‘Not just a daughter’ at a rally on International Women’s Day in Melbourne. March 4 Justice protests will be held across Australia on Monday. Photograph: Michael Currie/Speed Media/REX/Shutterstock
Across Australia, survivors and their allies will be calling for gender equality, and justice for victims of sexual assault, through a series of protests under the banner March 4 Justice.
Women s March 4 Justice live: protests in Melbourne, Sydney, at Parliament House and across Australia Read more
The focal point of the protests will be a rally outside Parliament House in Canberra on 15 March, which many people have stated they are travelling from interstate to attend.
Brittany Higgins’ voice shook as she addressed the crowd outside Parliament House in Canberra. She had decided at the last minute to speak to more than a thousand people, mainly women, holding signs calling for justice for women, for sexual assault survivors and for Higgins herself, who has alleged she was raped by a colleague inside Parliament House. That allegation is currently subject of an ongoing police investigation although no charges.
âIf they want to walk home alone at night, they should be safe doing so. They should be safe in their own homes. They should be able to end a relationship without being terrified.
âWhy am I here? Being told in the workplace that my bum is too big, that Iâd get a promotion if my husband didnât have such a good salary. It is just too much. It gets in your marrow and it has to end.â
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Sexism. Harassment. Discrimination. Sexual violence. Rape.
Summer Salvato, a 41-year-old former real estate agent who last year settled a two-year, financially draining harassment complaint, says she is tired of being in a group of women â nearly any group of women â and finding out everyone else has a story to tell about being treated shabbily by men.