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Tens of thousands of women rally in Australia to demand gender equality, protest sexual violence

Tens of thousands of women rallied across Australian cites on March 15, 2021 to demand gender equality and protest against sexual harassment.

Tens of thousands of women have joined rallies in different cities across Australia to demand gender equality and protest against the sexual harassment of women in the country.

Protest marches erupted in 40 Australian cities and towns - including the major capital cities of Canberra, Sydney, and Melbourne - to express solidarity with victims of sexual assault.

The protests were in response to a series of sexual harassment claims against members of Australia's parliament, including a landmark rape accusation leveled at Attorney General Christian Porter, which he strongly denies.

Although the government has closed the case against the attorney general, demonstrators have argued for a separate inquiry into the allegation against him.

Furthermore, Brittany Higgins’ case, who was allegedly raped in a minister's office inside Parliament House in 2019, has erupted public anger over the government’s failure in addressing and investigating the issue.

The case inspired a flood of other women to come forward with their own accounts of sexual abuse in Australia's schools, workplaces, and other environments.

Higgins addressed the thousands of demonstrators, dressed mostly in black, who had gathered outside Parliament House on Monday.

She complained that there is a “horrible societal acceptance of sexual violence experienced by women in Australia”, adding that “if it can happen in Parliament House, it can truly happen anywhere”.


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