We’re in the middle of 16 Days of Activism to end Gender-based Violence. 3 women have been killed.

Every November since 1991, an international campaign has kicked off on the 25th day of the month. 

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence was started to try to bring awareness and encourage individuals and organisations to take a stand. 

We're currently on day 13.

In that time, three women have been allegedly murdered in Australia. 

On November 30, emergency services were called to a home in Melbourne where they found the body of a 51-year-old woman in the garage.

Her daughter had discovered her.

Her husband has been charged with murder. 

A few days later, on December 3, mother-of-three Nelomie Perera was found dead in a home in Sandhurst.

The 43-year-old had been stabbed, and her husband has been charged with allegedly murdering her. 

Their kids were at home at the time.

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On December 5, police in WA raced to a home in Perth after several triple-zero calls were made just before 9pm.

A 51-year-old woman was found dead with multiple stab wounds. A 55-year-old man, believed to be her ex-partner, is expected to be charged with murder. 

Neighbours described hearing the sounds of fighting that echoed down the street before a sudden silence. 

That's 43 women we've lost so far in 2022, with three and a half weeks to go. 

We lost 43 in total in 2021, according to Destroy The Joint.

Looking back at the lives and families shattered this year is almost too hard to bear. 

Poonam Sharma was allegedly stabbed to death in Melbourne in January. Her six-year-old daughter suffered critical injuries, and her 10-year-old witnessed the entire thing.

Her husband and their father was charged with murder. 

Mackenzie Anderson was only 21. She died in the front yard of her Newcastle home from stab wounds in March, leaving behind a young son. 

Her ex-boyfriend was charged with murder. 

Mackenzie Anderson. Image: Supplied.

Synamin Bell was 26. She was found dead inside a home in South Australia the same month, leaving behind a six, four and three-year-old. A 25-year-old man known to her has been charged. 

Chen Cheng died by her back gate in April. The 35-year-old was allegedly stabbed by her husband in their backyard.

Mother-of-two Shereen Kumar's body was found in Sydney bushland in July. Her boyfriend has been charged with allegedly killing her. 

Florrie “Kory” Reuben's body was recovered from a Queensland house fire in August. Police believe she was dead before it started. 

Nardia Louise Spice died from blunt force trauma to the head in September. Police believe she was lured to a dog park before being murdered.

In October, 18-year-old Emily Thompson was found in bushland in Queensland after allegedly meeting up with her ex-boyfriend in a carpark, and in November Vitorina Bruce was found in a Perth hotel with fatal knife wounds. 

That's only a handful. Only a glimpse at the horror these 43 women were subjected to.

It might sound callous writing about these women's final moments so abruptly, but now is not the time to soften or gloss over or bury detail. 

These women died in horrific circumstances, allegedly at the hands of - let's be frank, mainly men - and every month we write the same story. 

Not even the shocking details of these alleged crimes are enough to shake us into moving faster and we're sick of it. We also know you're sick of it. We see the comments on the social media posts and the articles we write month in and month out. 

'We need harsher penalities!' 

'When is enough enough??'

'No more lives!' 

So why isn't it changing?

Because change takes time. Frustrating, excruciating time. 

You can't change whole systems, government responses and cultural expectations overnight. In fact, the Albanese government's plan to end violence against women gives an exhausting and disheartening prediction. 

Their 10-year plan to end violence against women and children pledges to end this epidemic "within one generation."

A generation. So 100 years? 80 years? 

80 more years of dead women. 

For 30 years the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence has tried to rally change. 

5 every hour.

😢That's how many women and girls are killed by someone in their own family.

Let's stop this clock & take action to end violence against women & girls NOW.

👉 Find out more in this new report on femicide: https://t.co/1MPXTuZ3Kq#16Days @UNODC pic.twitter.com/pH0gMKUVj3

— UN Women (@UN_Women) December 6, 2022

They've started global petitions, done outreach in schools, organised enormous social media campaigns and garnered concrete national commitments from governments. 

All of it helps, of course. But at a grassroots level women are still dying. 

They're dying every week on average in Australia.

The Australian Human Rights Commission says the government's National Plan must be fully resourced to achieve the results it promises. 

"The plan, while positive in its aspirations, requires ongoing work to ensure the development and implementation of specific, evidence-based action plans," they said in a statement in October. 

Logically I know systemic change takes time. But at a human-level, it doesn't feel fair.

How many more women? 

How many more families?

Will it ever stop?

Feature image: Getty/Mamamia.