As of publishing this article, thirteen Australian women have been killed in femicide attacks this year.
12th January 2025, Sydney – A somber rally in Sydney’s Town Hall Square raises the alarm on the growing crisis of violence against women, with organisers and participants voicing their frustration over the government’s slow response.
The ‘She Has a Name’ protest was held to honour the lives of the 101 women who were killed as a result of violence in 2024 — nearly double the 58 women murdered in 2023. This stark increase in femicides paints a grim picture of the state of domestic violence in Australia.
Differentiating the definitions between homicide and femicide is essential to understanding gendered violence. Femicide refers specifically to the killing of women because of their gender. These murders are driven by misogyny, and often, the manner in which they are carried out provides a clear indication that they are acts of femicide.
A pronounced example of femicide comes in the form of partner-based violence and murder, with 66 women killed by their male partners last year. But other, unfortunately common, examples include sexual violence that ends in the murder of the female victim, or seemingly random acts of violence against women. The 85th woman to lose her life in 2024, Isla Bell, was killed in St-Kilda East in Victoria, by two men not known to her.
Femicide is an epidemic in Australia and the victims deserve to be remembered.
But this rally was not just a memorial. It was a call for immediate and meaningful action, one rooted in a deep sense of anger at how slowly the authorities have responded to this crisis.
After the organisers reached an agreement with police, the protest was moved from St Andrew’s Cathedral to a more central and visible location: Town Hall. Despite the change to a better location, the rally faced several other challenges. Two of the four original speakers dropped out, and the crowd — around 100 people — had to contend with moments of hostility from members of the public. People who walked past made it known that they were missing the point by shouting “not all men” and that it was “human on human” violence — refusing to acknowledge its gendered nature.
Yet despite these hurdles, this protest was a powerful reminder of the urgency surrounding this issue. The rally was not just about the 101 women who died in 2024, but about every woman who lives in fear of becoming just another statistic – one that is consistently increasing year by year.
The government response to this statistic is entirely disproportionate.
In the past year, police officers received a 40% pay increase, while women continue to be failed by the police and justice system. This pay rise, though justified in other contexts, has highlighted the disparity between the government's priorities. Law enforcement officers are receiving significant financial rewards, and there is little to show in their ongoing battle to protect Australian women from violence. The response from the authorities has been too slow and entirely insufficient to address the root causes of violence against women.
As the protest unfolded, the frustration was palpable. Participants expressed their dismay that, despite growing awareness of the issue and the increasing number of deaths, the pace of reform remains agonisingly slow. Throughout the event, there were calls for increased funding for women’s shelters, stronger legal protections, and more reliable and severe judicial consequences for perpetrators of violence.
The rally ended with a moment of silence for the victims, but the sense of disappointment was heavy. Both organisers and attendees were resolute: this fight was far from over and the message was clear: Until the government takes decisive action, the voices of the women who have died — and those still at risk — will continue to rise in protest.