The March4Justice protest is taking to the streets again nearly a year after thousands of Australians marched against gendered violence right across the country.
This time around the focus of the protest is on demanding more from the government as the country heads to the polls in the upcoming federal election.
The Women’s March4Justice protests — which will be held on Sunday, February 27 in major cities and townships across Australia — are currently being organised and added to the March4Justice live map. The map shows every public and private event happening on the weekend, and you’re able to log your own event as well.
Organiser Janine Hendry — whose single tweet kicked off the snap protest in 2021 — said the upcoming demonstrations on February 27 are about asking ourselves what’s changed in the last 12 months in regards to taking action on gendered violence in Australia.
“Last year’s march was a catalyst for women and their allies to pull together and get organised,” she said in a statement on Monday.
“This year, on the anniversary of that historic march, women are asking what’s improved? What’s changed for the better? They will be taking these questions with them to the ballot box.”
Melbourne March4Justice organiser Bronwyn Currie said that women will not be “smiling and asking for change” at the upcoming election.
“Let’s be really clear — the collective anger we saw motivate tens of thousands of people to flood the streets this time last year has not gone away, it hasn’t blown over, and it’s not a niche issue for a select few,” she said in the same release.
“From Brisbane to Bega, Perth to Melbourne, Sydney to Adelaide organisers in every state have been inundated with interest. We believe more people will be involved this year than we saw last year – that’s how big it’s getting.”
This year the March4Justice protest is making four major demands:
- Safety for all women, with First Nations women as a priority
- Safety at work and home, including the full implementation of all 55 recommendations from the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Respect@Work report
- Real action to end gendered violence and promote gender equality across Australia, including independent investigations into public entities and officeholders
- A criminal justice reform including a consistent national approach to domestic and family violence, and sexual assault laws
More details of these demands are up on the March4Justice website.
If you’re not able to make it to a protest (or you’re not feeling comfortable with being in a crowd just yet) there will also be a live-streamed March4Justice event, hosted by Shelly Ware.
We’ll let you know how to tune into that live stream on Sunday when we find out more, but until then you can find your local physical or online event on the March4Justice website and register your attendance ahead of the weekend’s protests.
