‘F**ing erased them again': Outrage as women's violence mural defaced in iconic Melbourne laneway

News.com.au

03-05-2025

A mural dedicated to women who allegedly died due to violence has been defaced in an iconic Melbourne laneway known for its street art.
The She Matters mural was created in Hosier Lane on International Women's Day by Femicide Watch, operated by Sherele Moody, and bears the names of more than 120 women who were allegedly murdered or died due to violence since January 1 2024.
On Friday morning, Ms Moody arrived at the mural to find it vandalised with red and yellow spray paint, which read the words 'war on men' across the posters of the women's faces.
Speaking to NewsWire, she said the sight felt like 'a real punch in the heart', and was 'more sad than angry' by the vandalism.
'I was absolutely devastated and appalled,' she said.
'To think that someone has so little empathy or sympathy or understanding of, you know, violence against women in this country, to think that they could just go down and erase 124 faces. (I have) no words for that, to be honest.'
Ms Moody said the mural was no stranger to being vandalised in the past, and made visits to the mural 'every week and replacing cards' of the faces that had been covered with tags or spray paint.
However, she said she had never seen vandalism so extreme.
'The cost the cost of producing a mural like this, in terms of money and time and community goodwill, is huge,' she said.
'But the fact is those women have families who love them.
'They have families who adore them and miss them and are angry at their loss and angry that … someone has f**king gone down there and erased them again.'
She said the person who sprayed the 'war on men' graffiti 'just doubly erased 124 women' in a 'five-minute sessions with a couple of spray cans'.
A clean-up effort was under way on Saturday morning, with hundreds of spectators gathered around the mural as volunteers worked to replace the faces of each woman on the wall.
'People have been really generous,' she told NewsWire.
'People care and if you stand down there and listen to the conversations that people have when they see these faces, when they understand what it's about.
'That's why the mural is there – it's there for a reason and it's to get those conversations happening.
'It is to remember these women, to put their faces out there and to give their families a public memorial space.'
Ms Moody says she hopes the mural can stay up until Mother's Day Eve on Saturday May 10, where she will hold a vigil for 'all the mums who've been murdered and all the daughters who won't be home as well'.
A Victoria Police spokesman told NewsWire they were investigating the incident.
'It is understood a mural in Hosier Lane was graffitied,' they said. 'Investigators are working to establish when the incident occurred.'