Tens of thousands march in Australia to protest violence against women

Large crowds gather during the Women's March 4 Justice in Brisbane

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More than 100,000 people took to the streets in dozens of rallies across Australia on Monday to protest violence against women and the government’s handling of two rape cases involving high-level political figures.

Outside Parliament House in Canberra, the crowd of hundreds was mostly female and wore black, carrying placards with slogans including "Justice for Women" and "Men, Own Your Guilt."

Prime Minister Scott Morrison refused organizers’ demand to address the crowd.

The demonstrations, which also took place in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Hobart, coincide with the first sitting of Parliament since a rape allegation against the country’s top law officer, Attorney General Christian Porter, became public in early March.

Protesters attend a rally against sexual violence and gender inequality in Australia's capital city Canberra

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Mr Porter has been accused of raping a 16-year-old girl in 1988. Mr Porter has denied the allegation and refused to step down. His accuser took her own life last year after withdrawing a complaint to police.

He has announced defamation proceedings against investigative journalist Louise Milligan and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for publishing the allegations.

Separately, a former ministerial staffer, Brittany Higgins, recently went public with the allegation that she was raped in a minister’s office by a colleague in 2019 and received no support from within the government. The colleague has not been named.

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, whose office was the scene of the alleged assault, later referred to Ms Higgins as a “lying cow”. 

She has since apologized and said she was referring to Ms Higgins’ allegation of inadequate support, not the rape allegation. The minister also agreed to pay Ms Higgins an undisclosed sum as compensation.

Mr Morrison has claimed he was not told of the assault until recently, despite five members of his staff and a number of senior ministers being aware of it for two years.

A woman holds up a placard during a protest against sexual violence and gender inequality in Melbourne

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Janine Hendry, March 4 Justice protest organiser in Melbourne, told The Telegraph that the aim was to pressure the government to “immediately implement” the Australian Human Rights Commission’s recommendations to combat sexual harassment in the workplace.

“And we are asking for procedures to be put in place that make sure there are transparent and thorough investigations of all sexual abuse or assault allegations in Australian Parliament.”

Ms Higgins, who has now made a formal complaint to police about the assault, told those gathered outside Parliament in Canberra: "We are all here today, not because we want to be here, because we have to be here.

“We fundamentally recognise the system is broken, the glass ceiling is still in place and there are significant failings in the power structures within our institution."

Brittany Higgins arrives to address protesters outside Parliament House in Canberra

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She said she went public because she felt staying silent "would have made me complicit".

"I don’t believe a brochure is adequate support,” she said. “I don’t believe people should be isolated, intimidated and ignored after traumatic incidents inside the workplace. I came forward with my story to hopefully protect other women.”

Some 55 women were killed in Australia last year by men known to them, almost exclusively partners and ex-partners. So far in 2021, eight women have been killed in the same circumstances.