Latest news with #ShereleMoody
News.com.au
10-05-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
‘F**king afterthought': Major failure in this year's federal election
It's been a week since the historic federal election in which the Liberal Party took a thumping against Labor, who secured a sweeping win with at least 89 seats across the country. This year, there was a primary focus on the ongoing cost-of-living and housing crises, the environment and fuel prices, but as the politicians made stops at schools, hospitals and petrol stations, another crisis continued bubbling in the background. As election experts and analysts conduct a post-mortem of the election campaigns and the path that led to the Liberal Party's failure, there was one demographic that went largely ignored – women. It wasn't until four weeks into the five-week campaign that the Labor and Liberal parties flagged their 'commitment to women' – a move Femicide Watch founder Sherele Moody said was abysmal. 'Women are not a f**king afterthought,' she told NewsWire. 'We make up 51 per cent of the population. We keep this country going. We are literally running households, working jobs, raising children, looking after the elderly.' Between 2021 and 2022, about one in four women experienced violence by an intimate partner or family member from the age of 15. So far this year, 24 women were allegedly murdered or died due to violence, totalling 124 in the span of 16 months. And that figure is on the rise. Slamming both major parties in the election, Ms Moody said Anthony Albanese won because 'Peter Dutton was so much f**king worse'. '(Mr Albanese) speaks nicely and he doesn't say misogynistic things, but his actions show that he actually doesn't care,' she told NewsWire. '(Women are) more likely to experience violence than anyone else, we're more likely to be killed. You know, we just we just want safety, peace, happiness and a government that f**king cares. 'How hard is that to get?' On Friday May 1, the She Matters mural – which was created in Hosier Lane in Melbourne on International Women's Day by Femicide Watch and bears the names of more than 120 women who were allegedly murdered or died due to violence since January 1, 2024 – was vandalised with the words 'war on men'. A day after the attack, Ms Moody told NewsWire the defaced mural was a 'real punch in the heart'. Volunteers worked to restore the mural and a vigil will be held on Mother's Day Eve to remember the mothers who have died due to violence. A week after the election and the mural was defaced, the Victorian Minister for Women Natalie Hutchins shared an image of herself standing in front of the restored mural 'alongside many other leaders' in honour of National Domestic Violence Remembrance Day. However, Ms Moody accused Ms Hutchins of failing to address the issue, instead accusing her of staging a photo-op and 'smiling like it's a game'. 'It's not a game, these are women's lives, these are families' lives and communities' lives,' Ms Moody said, adding it was time for politicians to take the issues seriously rather than 'taking a selfie for political points and to look good'. Ms Hutchins told NewsWire the 'harmful, appalling vandalism' on Hosier Lan was 'unacceptable and reflects attitudes that allow violence against women to flourish'. 'Every woman deserves to be safe at home, in her workplace, community, in relationships and online - and yet these women who were simply going about their lives were killed by men's violence,' she said. 'When women are still dying at the hands of men, we must do more - that's why we are changing laws, changing culture and delivering more support for victim-survivors of family violence.' Ms Moody urged politicians to stop attending rallies, murals and marches supporting women unless they act on their messages. '(Politicians) will march, they will get their photo taken, and then they will f**k off,' she said. 'They won't speak to the people, they won't address the rally. They will just be there for the media moment. And this is just what we get every time, and it doesn't change. 'It doesn't help anyone. 'Them smiling for the camera doesn't save women's lives,' she said. It wasn't just a lack of discussion about violence against women but also a lack of leadership roles in the Liberal Party. There was a 50-50 split of female and male candidates running for Labor, but only 34 per cent of Liberal candidates were women. Outgoing West Australian senator Linda Reynolds also hit out at the Liberals and suggested they needed to 'understand why women have turned away from our party and change'. 'Until 2001, the majority of Australian women voted for the Liberal Party, and that seems almost inconceivable now,' she told ABC Radio Perth. Sage Advice founding coach Raffy Sgroi said it was 'time for a culture shift in this country'. 'One that's more than just tokenistic talk,' she told NewsWire. 'Women are undoubtedly still treated with age-old stereotypes when it comes to positions of leadership.' This year will mark a record-breaking number of women in the Australian parliament, but Ms Sgroi – a self-described 'staunch yet currently very dismayed' Liberal voter – said the election should be a wake-up call for the politicians leading the country who failed to address 'half the population who feel like an afterthought'. 'The election result sends a chilling message to the millions of women in Australia who are calling for change,' she said. 'We feel unseen, unheard and unprotected.' Now the 'dust has settled' on the election, Ms Sgroi said the country had 'fallen behind' and needed to start playing catch-up with the rest of the world. 'We need more women in leadership, more women preselected, more women elected, and more women empowered to lead without compromise. And not just in token roles but in positions of real influence and decision-making,' she said. 'We cannot achieve a truly representative democracy when half the population is still being treated as an afterthought. 'The lack of gender balance in government is not just symbolic – it shapes decisions, priorities and outcomes. When women are not at the table, our voices are missing from the decisions that impact our safety, our health, our careers and our futures.' As the Liberal Party is tipped to pick Sussan Ley as its leader, it would mark the first woman to take charge of the party. However, her leadership has already been likened to the glass cliff – where a woman is given a leadership position during challenging circumstances when there is a high risk of failure. Speaking to Sunrise on Friday, Ms Ley said taking the top job would 'send a strong signal to the women of Australia'.
Perth Now
03-05-2025
- Perth Now
‘War on men': Women's violence mural defaced
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. The She Matters mural was defaced on Friday. Supplied Credit: NewsWire 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.' The mural dedicated to women who allegedly died due to violence has been defaced in a famous Melbourne street, known for its street art. Supplied Credit: NewsWire 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'. The vandalism was slammed by the mural's creator. Supplied Credit: NewsWire 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.' Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
News.com.au
03-05-2025
- News.com.au
‘F**ing erased them again': Outrage as women's violence mural defaced in iconic Melbourne laneway
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.'
ABC News
03-05-2025
- ABC News
She Matters memorial to women who allegedly died by violence defaced in Melbourne's Hosier Lane
A mural in Melbourne's CBD honouring women who have allegedly died as a result of predominantly male violence has been defaced. The "She Matters" mural bearing the names, pictures and artistic images of more than 100 Australian women who were allegedly murdered or died due to violence has been spray-painted with the words "war on men". The memorial was erected in the street art space, Hosier Lane, on International Women's Day in 2024 and has been maintained by The Red Hearts Campaign and Australian Femicide Watch founder Sherele Moody, who said she had been making repairs and adding new photos to the mural "pretty much weekly". She said she received calls and photos of the damage on Friday, describing the vandalism as abhorrent and soul destroying. "I know most of the families who have victims on that wall and it's just heartbreaking for me to know that someone thought that these people were so insignificant that they could write that on top of it," Ms Moody said. Sherele Moody says the vandalism to the mural is soul destroying. ( Instagram: Sherele Moody ) She said the mural was regularly defaced, with individual images needing to be reprinted in the past. But Ms Moody said this act of vandalism was the worst damage since it was put up, with almost the entire mural needing to be replaced. "I don't know what was worse — I don't know if I was more devastated or more angry," she said. "The worst part was having relatives of women on there contacting me … equally as devastated that their people were erased like that. " These women have already been erased and someone's just gone down and erased them again. " A group of volunteers gathered in Hosier Lane on Saturday morning to help Ms Moody with the repairs. She said graffiti-protection paint would be used to try to stop it from being damaged in the future, and she was considering hiring a security guard to watch over the mural until the protective layer dried. A vigil for women who have died was due to be held at the She Matters mural on Mother's Day next weekend. 'That mural has sparked conversations around the world, footage of it has gone global," Ms Moody said. "I've sat down there some days and listened to the conversations from women mainly talking about their experiences of violence, talking about the red flags, talking about the things that saved them. "I've sat there and listened to men going 'wow, I had no idea this was happening. This is something I want to be a part of to fix' so it's really important.' Ms Moody pleaded for anybody who had any footage of those responsible for the damage to contact her. She said she was unsure if police could take any action because street art is allowed anywhere in Hosier Lane. 'I would really love for the Melbourne City Council to come down and look at the mural and actually recognise its importance and if they can't help me protect it there then help me move it to a wall where it can be protected.' Victoria Police said it was unaware of whether a complaint had been made. The ABC has contacted the City of Melbourne.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Simple message in nationwide rally: stop killing women
Protesters across Australia have a simple yet powerful message to share at the weekend: stop killing women. Violence has resulted in the deaths of 117 women since January 2024, including 14 killed since the start of 2025. "The women who have been killed are not statistics. They're individual lives," organiser Sherele Moody told AAP. "Tens of thousands of women experience abuse in Australia every day." ❤️LIDIA THORPE TO SPEAK AT MELBOURNE SHE MATTERS RALLY❤️Independent Senator, proud Blak woman and amazing warrior Senator Lidia Thorpe will speak her truth at the She Matters rally in Melbourne on rally has been moved to Treasury Gardens, near Spring St, due to the… — Sherele Moody (Femicide Researcher) 🌈 (@ShereleMoody) March 13, 2025 Rallies will take place in 14 cities on Saturday, organised and funded by Australian Femicide Watch and the Red Heart Campaign. They are intended to be memorials for the women lost, and a call for politicians to take more decisive action to combat violence against women. "These rallies are also about giving voice to people impacted by femicide and a giant memorial for the 117 women killed," Ms Moody said. "We will commemorate these women and show that their lives mattered. "We are doing everything we can to wake Australia up." Greens senator Dorinda Cox will attend the Perth rally and give a speech, intending to urge MPs to rise above politics to tackle the national emergency of femicide. "We expect the prime minister to fix this and for him not to attend one of the rallies is telling, because this should be a national priority," she said. "This is a state of emergency." While Australian Femicide Watch documents the number of female deaths to violence, advocates say a national register is needed to track the extent of the issue. "We don't have any good nationally harmonised data - we count the road toll but not the number of women who die in this country," Senator Cox said. Rally organisers hope the demonstrations will put pressure on all political parties ahead of the upcoming federal election. Men are encouraged to attend and be part of a supportive solution to the problem. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline 13 11 14
