Call for end to violence against women

In the wake of No More rallies held around Australia on April 27-29 calling for government action on violence against women, a Walk for Women will be held in Gosford on Sunday, May 5.

Starting at 3pm at the Brian McGowan Bridge on the Gosford waterfront and concluding at Eat Street café with a series of speakers to address the crowd, the march has been organised by Member for Gosford Liesl Tesch.

“This Sunday’s march is a call-to-action, to encourage Coasties to come together to say enough is enough and that more needs to be done at every level to address family, domestic and sexual violence,” Tesch said.

“It is deeply concerning that a woman dies every four days, on average, at the hands of a partner.

“This is simply unacceptable.

“Our community is faced with a crisis and we need to act urgently.

“Women deserve the right to be safe in every space.

“We are seeing too many women lose their lives, staying in unsafe environments, staying in violent relationships, experiencing declining mental health from staying in toxic situations.

“We need to set a better example for the next generation – that violence and abuse is never their fault.”

Tesch anticipates many women who have been marching on this issue for several decades will again be showing their support on Sunday.

Victim survivor, women’s advocate and social worker, Sue McCarthy, who will be speaking at Eat Street cafe, says she is inspired by the actions taking place around the country.

“When I worked at Elsie Women’s Refuge in Glebe in the seventies, we took to the streets to raise awareness of women’s safety,” she said.

“It seems nothing has changed and women are still being killed.

“We must take to the streets yet again.

“It is very sad that men haven’t taken responsibility for other men.

“Men can intervene with other men – it’s not only up to women to fight this; I ask men to join us in this fight for women’s right to safety.”

Sunday’s speaker lineup also includes Central Coast Domestic Violence Committee vice chair Sharon Walsh; Renee Simpson, author of I Want to Go Home – Reclaiming Power After Sexual Assault’ and facilitator of peer-led support group, The Survivor Hub MeetUp in Gosford; and Central Coast Youth Citizen of the Year Anannya Bandaru.

Walsh said the march was timely, with Domestic Violence Prevention Month beginning on May 1.

“It is a really crucial time to be taking action,” she said.