Wollongong Corps joins march for women's safety
Wollongong Corps joins march for women's safety
9 November 2022
In a marching frame of mind ... (from left) Wollongong Corps Officer Lieut-Colonel Lyn Edge with corps members Michelle Hackenberg, Kellie Phillips, Leonie Ainsworth and Karen Hutchinson.
On the march ... Kellie Phillips, Michelle Hackenberg, Leonie Ainsworth, Karen Hutchinson and other supporters.
“It was an absolutely gorgeous evening, and there we were, planning how to keep everyone safe,” said Wollongong Corps Officer Lieutenant-Colonel Lyn Edge after participating in the Reclaim the Night march in the NSW South Coast city.
Lyn explained that most women’s first instinct is to assume they aren’t safe, hence the discussion after the march as evening fell.
“Violence against women is not okay, and against everything the Salvos stand for,” she said. “Men need to take responsibility to change the situation.”
At short notice, Lyn assembled a group of corps members to support the march because of its importance in highlighting women’s safety on the streets and at home.
The Illawarra Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service organised the march from WIN Stadium to the lighthouse. The lighthouse was illuminated in purple for the event. Thirty-eight candles were lit in memory of the 38 women who were killed in domestic violence situations this year in Australia.
“It was great to have support from the corps at such short notice because we need to do anything to keep attention on the impact of violence against women,” Lyn said.
Wollongong Lighthouse was illuminated on the evening of the Reclaim the Night march.
Reclaim the Night is an international movement responding to violence against women. It began in the mid-1970s, partly in response to women being told by the police that they shouldn’t go out at night if they wanted to be safe. An important principle behind the movement is that everyone has the right to feel safe and to be safe.
Reclaim the Night is traditionally held around Australia on the last Friday in October, which is Sexual Violence Awareness Month.
According to the 2016 Personal Safety Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one in three women has experienced violence by a partner, another known person, or a stranger, since the age of 15. The statistics are even stronger for women who have experienced sexual harassment in their lifetime.
Michelle Glasgow from the Illawarra Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service said while the march had been held in Wollongong for several years, 2021 felt like a “cultural shift”.
“[And] I think this year has been a watershed moment, particularly with the incidents that have occurred even at the highest levels in parliament,” she said in an article that appeared in the Illawarra Mercury.
“There has been a cultural shift in the younger generation saying this is not behaviour we’re going to tolerate anymore. What we need is a shift around the mindset of how we treat women in our community.”
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