The first women’s March4Justice rally kicked off in Perth on Sunday afternoon with about 5,000 people, mostly women of all ages.
Many of the signs at the march point out the lack of a public inquiry into historical rape allegations made against Western Australian minister, attorney general Christian Porter. Porter has strenuously denied the allegations.
#March4Justice #March4Justiceau #march4justicePerth #EnoughisEnougth pic.twitter.com/CGeifbBPrM
— 🌿 Lou Corteen (@Lou_Corteen) March 14, 2021
Speakers at the rally continually returned to the theme of whether it was appropriate for the first law officer to remain in his position while the allegations remained unresolved. One group of women walked behind a banner advertising that they were from his electorate of Pearce.
The woman at the centre of the allegations, who was in the 1988 Australian debating team with Porter, took her own life last year before giving a formal statement to NSW police.
But at the rally there was strong support for another type of inquiry with loud applause each time it was mentioned.
Speeches at the Perth rally were led by Noongar women who told stories of childhood sexual abuse when they were taken from their families.
Noongar woman, Dallas Phillips who gave evidence at the royal commission into child sexual abuse, told of the early sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of priests after being taken away from her family.
“There is an epidemic of sexual harassment, misogyny, abuse and toxic masculinity in this country,” she said.
“Compared to this, Covid-19 is trivial. Australia has a rape culture that goes back centuries,” she said.
“It started back in 1788 against Aboriginal women who were then left with what they called ‘half-caste’ children,” she said.
“No one has ever paid a price for these crimes.”
Several speakers highlighted that the rate of sexual assault against Aboriginal women is one in three compared to one in five for all women.
In the crowd, there was discussion of how the government’s handling of sexual assault allegations might have played a part in the WA Liberals’ annihilation at Saturday’s state election.
Three generations of Merrimans attended the march on Sunday. Mair Merriman, who’s turning 86 in April, said she has been demonstrating for women’s rights for seven decades.
“I am here because women are being raped by men and they must be held to account,” she said.
“I would love for men to join us in fighting these wrongs,” she said, gesturing towards her two grandsons who had joined her at the rally.
The rally was filled with women of all ages, almost all clad in black as organisers requested.
They joined in singing Helen Reddy’s feminist anthem I Am Woman before the march ended in the supreme court gardens.
#EnoughIsEnough #March4Justice #March4JusticePerth pic.twitter.com/tU86AzFRGh
— Tyronn Gunn-Brockhof (@TGB1969) March 14, 2021
Belle Stidworthy and Stef Kolodziej said they were marching because they want to feel safe when they go out.
“It needs investigations of the current rape allegations and then we need a broad cultural sweep of our society” said Kolodziej.
“I just want to feel safe when I go out and not to worry about what I am wearing, whether it’s safe to walk down the street,” said Stidworthy.
“We are strong. We now need young men to come onside on this issue,” she said.
Alicia Gibbs and Mel Wray also joined the march with Gibbs’ children, Cameron and Taylor Giles. They held signs saying “Women’s rights are human rights” and “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention”.
The children held a sign reading “Is she nagging? Or is she being crushed under the weight of a centuries-old inequitable distribution of domestic and emotional labour, created and perpetuated by the patriarchy?”
Another speaker at the rally, former ALP MP for the NSW seat of Lindsay, Emma Hussar, said women were were sick of being victim blamed.
Hussar lost her preselection after allegations of bullying and an internal inquiry.
“I am tired of people saying you can break the glass ceiling as long as you walk across the shards and men can watch,” she said.
If this many have turned out in Perth I reckon Canberra is going to be huge! #march4justicePerth #March4Justice pic.twitter.com/qQc3CG87DL
— Kaz (@kaz_neena) March 14, 2021
• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, family or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000. International helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org.
