A victory for women’s political voice

The Melbourne Women Will Speak (WWS) rally on 26 April was a triumph for women that saw a planned attack by masked trans-activists prevented from terrorising and silencing those in attendance.

Women have rallied for years across the western world, to speak about the erasure of their sex-based rights, and the reactions that have occurred have been depressingly familiar: women speak, and men attack them with impunity.

Organised counter protests of largely masked young men attend for the explicit purpose of terrorising and silencing women. The methods deployed include intimidation, physical threat and direct violence. But another more insidious tactic is the projection of noise using microphones, amplifiers, instruments and megaphones intended to overpower and drown out women’s voices.

The victory

It was a victory that, for the first time, formal proactive protections were officially announced by the Police Commissioner in advance of the Melbourne rally on the weekend, and that they were implemented. This was a result of advocacy by rally organisers.

In preparation for the rally, direct representations were made to Victoria Police operational staff, Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece and Minister for Police Anthony Carbines, calling on them to step up and finally take women’s safety seriously.

Rally organisers directly called for proactive measures to be taken to stop the violence before it could impact them. Evidence of prior conduct at women’s rallies, and its consequences was submitted along with the documented threats against the April rally that were openly publicised by trans activists.

In an important victory for women’s rights campaigners, two days prior to the rally the declaration of the Police Commissioner was gazetted, confirming additional powers were to be implemented to manage the violent response to the rally that was planned.

Although the trans activists still attended, the additional police powers ultimately prevented any direct impact on the WWS rally, which proceeded without incident or interruption. But after the women dispersed with police escorts, reports show that trans-activists moved through the Melbourne CBD engaging in violent incidents, that led to commuter and business disruptions, property damage and arrests.

This victory must be named for what it is and carried forward to future women’s speaking rallies.

No longer can the authorities be allowed to get away with ignoring the clear safety risks to women that occurred under their watch. Policing must consistently respond to evidence-based risks of violence against women.

This outcome would not have been achieved without the courage of every woman who has attended and faced down violent masked men, to speak about and uphold the sex-based rights of women and girls.

We celebrate this victory and will continue our political struggle towards a return of our sex-based rights.