Safe and Equal

We are devastated to learn another woman’s life has been cruelly cut short by men’s violence.    Vicky Van Aiken was killed in front of her home in Bayswater on Saturday by a man known to her. We extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones and community of Vicky – and in particular to her two children, who now live with the trauma of witnessing their mother’s murder.    On top of an increase this year in reports of women losing their lives to family and gender-based violence, recently there has been a disturbing spike in these deaths, with 14 women being killed in a 3-week period.      14 women.    Their deaths - along with all family and gender-based violence deaths* - are completely unacceptable and should never have happened.    In 2024, we have seen an increase in public and government attention being paid to family and gender-based violence, in response to a horrific average of one woman being murdered every four days.    While there has been increased investment and action from our state and federal leaders, it is simply not yet enough.    Family and gender-based violence is a national crisis. We’ve said this many times, and we’ll keep saying it until we see the change we know needs to happen.    Safe and Equal will continue advocating for all governments to work together to urgently prioritise an ongoing, sustainable response to this crisis.     That means preventing violence before it starts, by addressing the attitudes, cultures, systems and structures that enable it.    That means providing adequate and long-term investment in specialist family violence services, and the workers who continue to experience immense demand for their crucial work in supporting victim survivors in crisis.  These services save lives!    That means addressing the ongoing housing crisis, so that victim survivors can access both crisis accommodation and affordable, long-term housing options - a crucial step in escaping violence and rebuilding lives.    That means ensuring every person - adults, young people and children - experiencing violence can receive the support they need, in the way they need, and when they need it - no matter where they live, who they are, or their circumstances.    This is not a quick fix. Change takes time, and requires everybody to be on board - not just government, but individuals, businesses and the broader community. We all have a role to play here.    But if we don’t take increased action now - if we don’t get this right - we’ll never truly address this crisis, and more women and children will die.     As we get closer to the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, Safe and Equal will be sharing stories of change, ideas for taking action, and reasons to remain hopeful in addressing and ending family and gender-based violence for good. (Continued in comments due to word limit.)

We are devastated to learn of the deaths of three Victorian women over the last few days. Last Thursday, Sandra Dobrila, a 41-year-old woman from Mordialloc, was murdered by a man known to her.    A day later, a Footscray woman was found murdered at her workplace.    And just this morning, there are reports of a woman found murdered in Rye, by a male perpetrator suspected to be known to her.    We extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones and communities of these women, who have had their lives cruelly cut short. Their deaths - along with all family and gender-based violence deaths* - are completely unacceptable and should never have happened.    A recent UN Women and UN Office of Drugs and Crime report has found that, worldwide, 140 women and girls die every day at the hands of their intimate partner or a family member.    That’s one woman or girl killed every 10 minutes.    Many of these deaths are happening right here, in our communities, to our friends, family, colleagues and neighbours. As well as the recent deaths in Victoria, we also acknowledge the disproportionate number of deaths of First Nations women, as highlighted by the report released by the Northern Territory coroner last week.    In the last few weeks, there has been a significant spike in family and gender-based violence homicides across Australia. We have watched in horror as the number of women killed by men has continued to rise, with little recognition or action from our leaders.    As we approach the end of the year, we are bracing for this spike to increase. The period around Christmas and the end of the year is a particularly high-risk time for people experiencing family violence.     If we want to stop this - if we want to reduce these deaths - we need action, now.    We need all governments across the nation to come together immediately, to urgently prioritise an ongoing, sustainable response to this crisis.     We need everybody in the community to know what family violence can look like, and know how to offer support to someone experiencing abuse. We all have a role to play in this.    There is no time to wait. Lives are at stake.     *There is no complete and official list of every woman and child murdered in Australia. At the time of publishing this post, Destroy the Joint has reported 70 women killed this year. Australian Femicide Watch has recorded 93 women who have lost their lives to violence.    While these numbers are shocking, they are only the ones we know about. Many deaths go unreported and unrecognised as family violence, meaning the true number of women and children killed is likely far greater. 

Yesterday we shared our second video interview of three, as part of our Hope in Action campaign for 16 Days of Activism. We heard from Feifei Liao from the Multicultural Centre for Women's Health, who spoke about the inspiring PACE Leadership Program. 🎤 Feifei reflects on the impact that this project has had on the lives of migrant and refugee women, non-binary, trans, and gender-diverse people, to help build their advocacy skills alongside other participants with shared lived experiences. There are more than 400 people in the PACE Network. Together, PACE participants grow stronger on their leadership journey to create positive change and impact across the community, and the sector. This 16 Days of Activism, Safe and Equal would like to say thank you to everybody working to prevent and respond to family and gender-based violence. We are all in this together, and the work we do matters. 🔗 Learn all about the Hope in Action campaign: https://lnkd.in/g7dRh2As #16DaysofActivism #16Days #HopeinAction

Have you met Feifei Liao? 🎤 To mark this year's 16 Days of Activism, we’d like to share with you three projects that have inspired Hope in Action for those working to prevent and respond to family and gender-based violence. We are excited to share our conversation with Feifei Liao from the Multicultural Centre for Women's Health. We asked Feifei all about the PACE Program – a leadership program that has inspired and uplifted women and gender-diverse people from migrant and refugee backgrounds for over 15 years! The PACE Leadership Program is just one of the many great projects in Victoria helping to end family and gender-based violence. This 16 Days of Activism, Safe and Equal would like to say thank you to everybody working to prevent and respond. We are all in this together, and the work we do matters. This video was filmed and produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. 🔗 Learn all about the Hope in Action campaign: https://lnkd.in/g7dRh2As #16DaysofActivism #16Days #HopeinAction

"Some of the things I get most hopeful about is the solidarity I've seen between the trans movement and the feminist movement. That gives me hope. Some of our biggest supporters have been cisgender women." To mark this year's 16 Days of Activism, we’d like to share with you three projects that have inspired Hope in Action for those working to prevent and respond to family and gender-based violence. For our first story, we were fortunate enough to chat with Starlady ⭐ from the Zoe Belle Gender Collective (ZBGC) about Transfemme.com.au, a project designed to promote healthier dating and relationships between trans women and cisgender men. As we work to end gender-based violence, it’s imperative to acknowledge the disproportionate rates of violence experienced by Sistergirls and First Nations trans women, trans women of colour and trans sex workers. Trans and gender diverse people have the right to healthy, happy relationships, and are the experts in their own lives. Starlady reflects, “Small conversations can make a big difference. Together we can end gendered violence.” 👉 Visit transfemme.com.au today! 🔗 Learn all about the Hope in Action campaign: https://lnkd.in/g7dRh2As #16DaysofActivism #16Days #HopeinAction

Yesterday we shared our first video interview of three, as part of our Hope in Action campaign for 16 Days of Activism. Here's a snippet. The star of the video is Starlady, of the Zoe Belle Gender Collective (ZBGC). ⭐ Starlady reflects on being the Director of Transfemme.com.au, a project designed to promote healthier dating and relationships between trans women and cisgender men. Trans and gender diverse people have the right to healthy, happy relationships, and are the experts in their own lives. Transfemme is a great example of a primary prevention project that was developed collaboratively with trans women, ensuring an authentic voice and impactful set of resources. This 16 Days of Activism, Safe and Equal would like to say thank you to everybody working to prevent and respond to family and gender-based violence. We are all in this together, and the work we do matters. 👉 Visit transfemme.com.au today! 🔗 Learn all about the Hope in Action campaign: https://lnkd.in/g7dRh2As

Have you met Starlady? ⭐ To mark this year's 16 Days of Activism, we’d like to share with you three projects that have inspired Hope in Action for those working to prevent and respond to family and gender-based violence. For our first story, we were fortunate enough to chat with Starlady from the Zoe Belle Gender Collective (ZBGC) about Transfemme, a project designed to promote healthier dating and relationships between trans women and cisgender men. 👉 Visit transfemme.com.au today! Transfemme was created by the Zoe Belle Gender Collective in collaboration with a group of Australian-based trans women, and cis men who have experience in dating or are in relationships with trans women. Starlady reflects on the importance of this work, “I want to acknowledge the trans women in Australia who’ve died from intimate partner violence and family violence, in particular Sistergirls and trans women of colour who are from migrant and refugee backgrounds. Our community is still waiting for justice and an appropriate cultural response to these deaths. We deserve to be included in the conversations about ending gendered violence.” Transfemme is just one of the many great projects in Victoria helping to end family and gender-based violence. This 16 Days of Activism, Safe and Equal would like to say thank you to everybody working to prevent and respond to family and gender-based violence. We are all in this together, and the work we do matters. This video was filmed and produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. 🔗 Learn all about the Hope in Action campaign: https://lnkd.in/g7dRh2As #16DaysofActivism #16Days #HopeinAction

Today marks the first day of 16 Days of Activism, a global campaign to end the epidemic of gender-based violence against women and girls. For Djirra, 16 Days provides us with a unique opportunity to amplify Aboriginal women’s voices and experiences through our 16 Days of ACTIVEism™ campaign. Our CEO Antoinette Braybrook AM kicked off our campaign this morning with a presentation to over 300 staff members at the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. Antoinette highlighted the need to share the load - responsibility to end violence against Aboriginal women MUST NOT just sit with Aboriginal women. We must ensure that violence against Aboriginal women is recognised as a gendered issue, not an Aboriginal community problem. In this country, Aboriginal women are 34 times more likely to be hospitalised from family violence, 10 times more likely to die by a violent assault and 7 times more likely to be murdered than other women. We not only face MEN’S violence, we face SYSTEMS violence from punitive and racist systems set up to silence and oppress us. Over the next 16 days and beyond, we will be calling on you to get ACTIVE in your ACTIVEism with Djirra. “In this post-referendum world, our self-determined solutions are more important than ever. Across 16 Days of Activism, Djirra calls on you to UNITE with us, AMPLIFY our voices and AGITATE for change to end men’s violence against First Nations women and children.” – CEO Antoinette Braybrook Three easy ways to get ACTIVE in your ACTIVEism are: > SHARING our posts every day   > DONATING to our self-determined solutions via www.givenow.com.au/fvpls > TELLING your friends and family to follow us @DjirraVic  Together, let’s SHOW UP and SPEAK UP to put an end to the devastating impact that gendered violence has on Aboriginal women and children’s lives. #16DaysofActivism #AboriginalWomensLivesMatter #16DaysofACTIVEism

Over the next two weeks, we'll be sharing our messages of support for the 16 Days of Activism Against Family Violence. This is one of the largest campaigns against family violence in the world, with organisations like Safe and Equal and Respect Victoria leading the advocacy. We'll be sharing slightly different messages from the mainstream campaign, highlighting the ways family violence is unique in our LGBTIQA+ communities. Swipe through the tiles to read our specific advice on how you can support LGBTIQA+ people to have safe and healthy relationships, whether you're queer or not.

Welcome to the 16 Days of Activism. The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an annual international campaign that takes place from 25 November (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) to 10 December (International Human Rights Day). For this year's campaign, we're platforming three different stories of Hope in Action in the family and gender-based violence sector. These three stories will be told by: ⭐ Starlady (Zoe Belle Gender Collective (ZBGC)) 🎤 Feifei Liao (Multicultural Centre for Women's Health) 🏉 Tess Stewart-Moore (GenWest) Tune in for our first story, live tomorrow. For today, we welcome you to the Hope in Action campaign with an opening blog written by Safe and Equal's CEO Tania Farha. Tania says, "working to end family and gender-based violence can be tough, all-consuming work. We have all watched with dismay this year as the number of women killed continues to tick upwards. Each and every one of these women deserved a long and happy life, and we know that there are more deaths and severe impacts that are not fully reflected in this number, including the impact on children. Victim survivors are at the centre of all our work to ensure that everyone is free of violence and supported to survive and thrive." 🔗Read the opening blog by CEO Tania Farha, now live on our website: https://lnkd.in/gs6EukCy #16DaysofActivism #16Days #HopeinAction