Over 100,000 women across Australia join rallies against gender violence and misogyny amid sexual abuse accusations in Australia's government, media stated on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th March, 2021) Over 100,000 women across Australia join rallies against gender violence and misogyny amid sexual abuse accusations in Australia's government, media stated on Monday.
According to the SBS news agency, the March4Justice campaign was organized in response to recent rape allegations against a Parliament employee and Attorney-General Christian Porter, who firmly denies the claims.
"The anger and frustration welled up inside of me. Because ultimately these issues of sexual abuse are arising because of a fundamental systemic inequality that exists in our society," Janine Hendry, founder of the March4Justice protest, was cited as saying by SBS.
The protest has been organized in 36 locations around the country, gathering over 100,000 people.
The protesters have demanded independent investigations into cases of gender violence and the full implementation of the Australian Human Rights Commission's Respect at Work report.
Reportedly, all members of Federal parliament have been invited to join the demonstration. Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison refused to attend the rally in person and instead proposed a closed-door meeting with a delegation. The protest organizers declined the offer.
"More than 100,000 women and allies from every walk of life are standing up to speak. How could meeting with just three women be enough?" Hendry tweeted.
The March4Justice campaign came in the wake of two major cases of alleged sexual abuse in Australian government. On February 15, former political staffer Brittany Higgins publicly claimed that she was raped by a male colleague in a minister's office in the Parliament. Later in March, Australia's Attorney General Christian Porter was identified as a cabinet minister at the center of another rape accusation. He has since filed a defamation lawsuit.
Amid the allegations and growing outrage at the lack of investigations into the cases, Morrison's government has been faced with increased pressure to address concerns over workplace culture and gender violence in the country.
