The busy thoroughfare of Charlestown Square was filled with balloons and song in a stand against domestic and family violence on Friday.
Charlestown Square owner GPT Group and charity Got Your Back Sista led a march through the shopping centre during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
Dozens of people joined the march, carrying 44 balloons carried to honour the number of women killed by violence this year and singing The Beatles' Hey Jude with the words "no more" instead of "hey Jude".
"Coming to a place like Charlestown Square, we're actually connecting with people who may not have ever gone to a domestic violence march before or who may not know much about the issue or may not have connected with the service before," Got Your Back Sista founder Melissa Histon said.
"We get to reach and connect with those people, and we had a number of people come up and approach our information desk, next to the ceremony, who wanted some information, advice and to share their story."
GPT had partnered with another domestic violence organisation to do something similar in the Northern Territory, and Charlestown Square centre manager Kate Murphy said they wanted to replicate it in the Hunter.
"It was to show our customers and our community that we stand with them," Ms Murphy said.
"And that they're not alone."
Both Ms Histon and Nicola Hirschhorn from the Women's Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service spoke before the march about what their organisations had experienced.
Ms Histon said Got Your Back Sista had supported 700 women over the past year, while Ms Hirschhorn said their service received about 500 referrals every month.
"Most of our referrals actually come through the police," Ms Hirschhorn told the crowd.
"Every time the police attend a domestic violence incident they must refer to us and we make contact with the woman within 24 hours to ensure her safety and then to provide information and referral.
"Every month we get about 500 referrals from police.
"Those are just the incidents that have been reported to police.
"And we know that only 20-40 per cent of domestic violence is actually reported.
"So that gives you a sense of the actual numbers, the actual amount of violence that women and girls in our community are living with."
A minute's silence was also held to remember the 44 women.
"Every one of those women should not be dead," Ms Histon said.
"They should not have been murdered by violence."
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