A Candle For Every Woman

In what feels like a revolving door of distress, yet another Australian woman has been killed at the hands of a man who once claimed to love her. When will our country recognise this crisis for what it really is? A national emergency.

By Jamila Rizvi

Culture

By Jamila Rizvi

Previous article Think Of Wealth Building Like Planting A Garden

Next article ‘Beyond The Breakfasts’: One Woman Bringing Men To The Gender Equality Table

In silence with heads bowed, we do not remember them. Instead, we imagine.

That’s because remembering requires prior knowledge, something only a few of those assembled to mourn on this day have. Dressed in black, we turn our faces to the sky. Beside me one woman grips her bag so tightly it makes the veins of her hand pulse. To my left stands a girl wearing her school uniform who is silently crying. As I arrived, I glimpsed a group of women who’d seen this all before, too many times to count. Their mouths formed tight, fixed frowns; creased at the edges. Their eyes were weary but determined. Together we mark the death of a woman we didn’t know and whose brutal murder means that we never will.

If this article brings up any issues for you, or if you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service.