• Australia has seen a surge in violence against women, leading to rallies advocating for gender-based violence.
• Albanese emphasized the need for change in culture, attitudes, legal system, and approach at all levels.
• Protests have occurred in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, the Gold Coast, and Newcastle.

Across Australia, rallies have occurred in response to a surge in recent violence against women. Demonstrators are advocating for the declaration of gender-based violence as a national emergency and the implementation of stricter laws to combat it. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has stated that the issue represents a national crisis.

Australia has seen an average of one woman killed every four days so far this year.

Martina Ferrara, an organizer, stated, “We advocate for alternative reporting options for victim-survivors, enabling them to own their stories and control their healing and reporting journey.”

“And we want the government to acknowledge this is an emergency action and take immediate action.”

Addressing thousands of protesters at a march in the capital Canberra, Mr. Albanese acknowledged that the government at all levels needed to improve.

“We need to change culture, the attitudes, the legal system, and the approach by all governments,” he said.

“We need to make sure that this isn’t up to women, it’s up to men to change men’s behavior as well,” he added.

Mr. Albanese responded to protesters’ calls for classifying violence against women as a national emergency by stating that governments typically use this classification during floods or bushfires to release a temporary injection of cash.

“We don’t need one month or two months – we need to address this seriously, week by week, month by month, year by year,” he said.

As some in the crowd criticized him, Mr. Albanese suggested that he had been informed beforehand that he would not be permitted to speak at the rally, leading to a tense exchange with organizer Sarah Williams.

In video footage of the incident, Ms. Williams can be heard stating, “That’s a lie. That’s a complete lie,” before seemingly bursting into tears.

In a statement on Monday, Ms. Williams accused the prime minister of demanding to speak “because he was being heckled” and of behaving like “a man with power trying to diminish a vulnerable young woman”.

“I was happy to just attend as a participant or happy to speak, either way,” Mr. Albanese told Seven News, urging that the controversy should not serve as “a distraction from what is a very serious issue indeed”.

Australia’s federal attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, has refused to consider holding a royal commission into gender-based violence.

Mr. Albanese has consistently labeled gender-based violence an epidemic, although it’s not a recent development: in 2021, marches occurred nationwide in response to allegations of sexual misconduct within parliament and society.

In Adelaide, an estimated 3,000 people rallied outside the city’s parliament building on Saturday.

A private news agency reported that protests had also occurred in Brisbane, Melbourne, the Gold Coast, and Newcastle over Friday and Saturday.

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