Nearly six years ago, in the early hours of the 22nd of September, 2012, Jill Meagher left drinks at a pub in Brunswick street and began walking home.
It was late – or early, depending on how you consider it; perhaps around 1.30am.
In the short walk between the bar and her home, Jill Meagher encountered a man named Adrian Bayley. He did not know her and she did not know him. He raped her and then he killed her, burying her body in a shallow grave some 50 kilometres from where he first found her.
Australia was angry and defiant and sad and brimming with despair. They took their emotions to the streets.
On September 30, 2012, a 10,000 person-strong crowd walked the streets of Melbourne. Some held signs, none chanted and not one yelled. The message was quiet but deafening: Violence against women is not tolerated, and we’re willing to walk for it. A year later, some 30,000 people turned out to do the same thing on the anniversary of her death.
But of course, you know this already.
The case of Jill Meagher seized the nation, the country collectively and loudly horrified by the fate of the young 29-year-old. Women deserve to feel safe in their own city, we said. They should feel safe in their own suburbs and on their own streets. We despaired for a world where darkness was a woman’s biggest enemy, a world that encouraged her to avoid danger, to exist around and in spite of it, rather than crushing the source of it with all of our might.
Some five and a half years after our despair was a national conversation, 22-year-old Eurydice Dixon was walking home from a gig in Carlton. She was a comedian, an up-and-coming one.
As she bid her farewells to the cache of people who came out to laugh with her, Dixon began to walk home. Five hours later, her body was found in the middle of a soccer pitch between Royal Parade and Princes Park Drive.
She had allegedly been raped and murdered.
Two days later, a man by the name of James Todd was charged with her rape and murder. He would have been just 14 when Jill Meagher was killed, just 14 years old when scores of people pounded the streets of Melbourne and defiantly declared they would not stand for it. That they were angry. Not in their town and not on their watch.
Today, a woman is dead and a man is in custody. Today, we must get marching.
Today, we need to remind potential perpetrators that we won't stop fighting. That we will be vigilant in our fight against violence against women and we will be raucous in our riot. That we will unite as a force once again, and together, this time our voices won't quieten. They will not be dulled as our shock subsides.
We marched for Jill to make our fury known. Perhaps now it's time we did the same for Eurydice.
Top Comments
Oh look, I'm back just 7 months later, Aiia was killed in Bundoora a few short days ago. All these marches, all these comments on social media do diddly squat for women's safety. I don't know why we bother, the Adrian Bayleys, the Scott Allen Millers, the Jaymes Todds, the Codey Herrmanns are out there on bail, or having never offended and they will stalk and do this ongoing - not giving a stuff about the marching, the vigils, the social media comments, those "respect women' ads on the internet & TV. All they know is they have urges, and they feel powerless and worthless so they do this sh*t to make themselves feel powerful and important for a few terrible moments. Who is going to stop them? I remind you Bayley had a girlfriend, and likely a daughter (I know he had about 4 kids), Todd had a girlfriend, Herrmann has a sister he was close to apparently.
Here is an exerpt from an article on Renae Lau's killer (she has been forgotten in these lists):
' In an interview with police, Miller said he was "blind drunk" when he attacked Ms Lau, but could not remember how many times he struck her.
"I attacked a girl and didn't intend to kill her and, um, raped her. Um, I wasn't aware that she died from the incident and the whole thing was I just exploded," he told detectives.
Miller told police he heard God tell him he would be charged and that he was ashamed of himself, but was comfortable with being jailed.
"I am happy that I won't now be living on the streets and I'll be in jail and I'll have food and stuff like that," he said.
...Miller was with Lau for about 80 minutes after first interacting with her, as an electrician had walked past the pair at 6.45am while on his way to work and tried to look away, as he thought they were a couple having sex. '
I feel this is quite insulting. Marching does not achieve anything at all. It is a time waster. It isn't like rapists and murderers are going to see and suddenly stop and think 'oh, this is bad. I shouldn't do it'. Real action should be taken and that begins with harsher sentences/parole etc.