Thousands of people have marched through Perth’s city centre to demand justice for women who’ve been abused and assaulted.
They took to the streets to take a stand, chanting the same three words in unison: “Enough is enough. Enough is enough.”
Today’s rally is the first in a series in support of a new Australian movement against gendered violence following recent allegations of sexual assault linked to Parliament.
“We want equality, we want to be treated equally and it’s beyond time for that to happen,” organiser Christine Cunningham told 9News.
Brave women took the stage to share their stories in Perth today, before marching side-by-side in a crowd that could be heard across the city.
“The young girl in Parliament house, I believe her, and I think she really did think she would lose her job if she spoke up, so things have the change,” one protestor told 9News.
Rallies are also set to be held in all state capital cities, as well as many regional centres including Wangaratta in Victoria and Lismore, Bega and Byron Bay in NSW.
The organisers are calling for sweeping action to stamp out sexual assault, with a long list of agendas including ensuring police investigations into all sexual assault allegations by members of Parliament, a federal ICAC investigation, and an independent review by the High Court of Australia into gendered violence within Australia’s parliaments.
They are also calling for mandatory gendered violence and sexual assault training for all federal MPs and their staff, the enactment of a federal Gender Equality Act, and more government funding for gendered violence.
According to the page, March 4 Justice was established to “protest the Australian Parliament’s ongoing abuse and discrimination of women”.
“Women have been struggling for our rights alone for too long, and enough is enough. We believe by being inclusive and all genders working together, we can achieve more,” the group ethos states.
The page states the group plans to a march on Parliament House in Canberra to “voice our anger at the Parliament’s ongoing arrogance in relation to their voices and rights to equality in Australia”.
This content first appear on 9news