Cobram will once again make a stand against gender-based violence, with a rally against the national crisis organised for this Sunday at Federation Park.
In April, following a spate of lives lost to violence across Australia, many of those being women at the hands of men, community organisation What Were You Wearing co-ordinated a series of rallies across the country, demanding action from politicians and policy makers take action.
This weekend will see the second round of the ‘No More: National Rally Against Violence’ events, with Cobram’s just one of many rallies being held across the country.
“The rallies are happening nationally in response to the large loss to violence, particularly women’s lives lost to gender-based violence,” event organiser Ashleigh Ladgrove said.
“There’s been I think 53 lives lost this year and majority of those were at the hands of men, so we’re just trying to raise awareness.
“We had a loss here in Cobram earlier this year, and that kind of inspired the push for the last rally.”
Ms Ladgrove, who has lived experience growing up in a home with family violence, said the community response to the first rally was “way more than expected”.
“I had people say that they did a headcount and there was approximately 400 people that attended,” she said.
“So I think for a small community, that was a really large turnout, and the feedback that we got was pretty overwhelmingly supportive.
“I think one of the most humbling experiences afterwards was I had men coming up to me in tears, saying that they had no idea of experiences that women are having, and that was kind of the first time that they’re hearing of it in that context.
“So that was a really big thing for me, because it is men that we need to listen to us.
“We need men to take more of a stand, so that really pushed me more to want to do this more, because I really want to engage with men in this conversation.”
Ms Ladgrove also said the rally was a success in terms of directing people to the support they needed, with a large number of women disclosing their experience with violence.
With the second rally to be held this Sunday, Ms Ladgrove is hoping to see changes that will help alleviate some of the unique challenges that affect Cobram, being a border town.
What Were You Wearing has outlined two national demands — trauma-informed training for frontline workers and more funding for the national violence sector — however, areas such as Cobram have more specific needs.
“We have the issue of, if you live in Barooga, not being able to access Victorian services and vice versa,” Ms Ladgrove said.
“When you’re fleeing from a crisis, sometimes a woman who lives in Cobram, her ID is in Cobram, her address (is in Cobram), has to go to a safe place or a friend’s house in Barooga.
“Because their temporary address is now in Barooga and it’s not safe for them to return to their house in Cobram, they’re excluded from Victorian services.
“So just all those little nuances that happen, it’s difficult for services themselves trying to provide that, but it’s not fair for the person who’s in crisis trying to access supports, that shouldn’t be a barrier.”
A change.org petition was set up following the first rally, outlining recommendations to be made across the Moira Shire. It has garnered more than 1600 signatures so far.
Ms Ladgrove has handed out flyers to a number of Cobram businesses ahead of the weekend’s rally, and is confident of another good turnout.
“It’s sounding positive again, and a lot of people that came last time have said they’ll be coming again because of how empowered they felt last time,” she said.
The rally against all levels of violence will be held at 11am at Cobram Federation Park this Sunday, July 28.