A petition demanding more action in response to a number of recent killings of women by men across Australia has had more than 11,000 signatures in just over a week.
The change.org petition, Stop Killing Us: A petition from the women of Australia to stop violence against us, was launched on November 20 when it was reported a woman in Morphett Vale, South Australia was allegedly murdered by a man known to her.
It came in the same week that three other women were allegedly murdered by men in South Australia. Since then, the state’s peak body for domestic, family and sexual violence services, Embolden, is calling for a royal commission to investigate gender-based violence.
According to Destroy the Joint’s Counting Dead Women register, 54 women have been killed due to violence against women this year.
The petition was started by Melanie Arnost, who says she has not seen the media or politicians respond adequately to the crisis.
“Each time the number of women killed in Australia this year has increased, I have found myself waiting for the media and politicians to respond in the same way they did with the Coward Punch campaign a few years ago,” Arnost told Women’s Agenda on Wednesday.
“I’ve had conversations with friends, colleagues and the broader community about this – so I know I am not alone in wanting a large, coordinated and comprehensive campaign to stop what is, quite frankly, a national crisis in Australia.”
Arnost is scheduled to meet with MPs and Senator in Canberra on Wednesday to discuss the crisis of men’s violence against women and hopes to see more urgency from the governments across the country.
“Last week, when yet another woman was killed, something inside me snapped and in my frustration I started a petition,” she said.
“I felt like a it was the best way for us as a community to let our representatives and media organisations know we need so much more from them.”
Arnost said she was pleased to see recent announcements about violence against women by premiers in both Western Australia and South Australia.
“The WA reforms, based on recommendations of a Domestic and Family Violence Taskforce set up earlier this year, could be rolled out nationally,” she said.
“We need this same response around the country, and from our media outlets too.”
On Monday night, Parliament House in Canberra was lit up in bright orange to mark the United Nation’s 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, while former Australian of the Year Rosie Batty joined a number of independents at a press conference to bring attention to the epidemic of men’s violence against women and children and the urgent need for action.
You can find the petition here.