International Women’s Day 2025

And there is much to celebrate. We see daily, the incredible work, resistance and strength of the women and girls we meet, from our own family members, to friends and strangers in the street.

We see women represented at some of the highest levels of government, business, sport, the arts and the music industry. We see women and girls each and every day bringing to the table innovation, expertise and a determination to push forward and expand the possibilities for all of us.

Representation matters.

And yet, women are still largely underrepresented in leadership, women are still underpaid and undervalued in their jobs.

And women are devastatingly over-represented in gender-based violence. And for women and girls from diverse backgrounds, particular Aboriginal women and girls, their lived experience sees them more than 33 x more likely to be hospitalized as a result of family violence.

And as we gather today, in our thousands, spending time reflecting on the hard-won rights and advancements that the women who have walked before us, alongside us and are following in our footsteps have been fighting for, and continue to fight for, we are seeing, in very real time, the rapid rise of systemic and societal misogyny, the likes of which that we have not seen for many decades.

We are seeing again the normalisation of rigid, outdated gender roles and a rise in the public’s misconception that somehow, the advancement of women is a direct threat to men’s rights. That our right to say no, is a threat. That our right to walk away from a violent relationship a threat, that our right to choose our reproductive futures is a threat, that our right to lead is a threat.

And so it is, that as we advance, all around us the tables are turning, the landscape shifting and with it, the rules of the game. The shadow of far-right social media influencers are entering politics, the billionaires with sexual violence rap sheets are informing national policies and influencing global politics and trade.

Capital punishment for seeking an abortion. Abolition of diversity and inclusion positions and policies. The illegal stoppage of international aid. The forced removal of children to foreign countries, often without their parents. Bills to return to the days before ‘no fault’ divorces.

These changes are not outliers, they are part of sweeping reforms to dismantle the hard-won gains and rights of those most vulnerable to men’s violence. War does not start with a bomb.

It starts with a pen. And right now, we are at war. As women and girls in 2025, we are under attack like never before.

How easily our rights are stripped from us:

• Our right to self-determination.
• Our right to reproductive safety and planning.
• Our right to be decision-makers in our own right.
• Our right to work.
• Our right to equal pay.
• Our right to live in peace and without violence.
• Our right to be safe at home.

Dismantled.

Yes, we have come so far over the last several decades. But let’s be honest: the bar was always set far too low. Yes:

• She has the right, if she is granted it, equal pay.
• She has the right, if she can afford it, to access reproductive healthcare.
• She has the right, if she can access childcare, to go to work.
• She has the right, if he doesn’t kill her first, to leave her husband.

But what a woman does not have, and has never had, is the right to equality.

Not a single country has achieved gender equality. Not one. Not here, not there, not anywhere.

And we know that the only way to end violence against women, girls and diverse communities, is through equality. Equality is about respect and in its absence, we are left with disrespect. And for women and girls, that’s a dangerous place to be.

Every 10 minutes, a woman is murdered around the world because of gender-based violence.

Every week in Australia a woman is murdered as a result of gender-based violence. More than 80 per cent of the time, by a man she knew.

Every six minutes police in Victoria respond to family violence incidents.

In our own region we are seeing across all LGAs where CNV operates, a rise in reported family violence incidents, a rise in the number of breaches, but concurrently a decrease in the number of convictions.

We also know that these numbers do not reflect the reality facing families in our region, where family violence too often occurs in the home, away from public eyes, still hidden behind closed doors, unreported. Not believed.

She makes it up.

She’s exaggerating.

It was just a joke.

For 100 women last year in Australia murdered as a result of gendered violence, for the thousands of women and children hospitalised last year as a result of family violence, and for the thousands of women and children experiencing homelessness as a result of family violence:

She was not making it up. She was not exaggerating. It’s not a joke.

We know that the experiences of family and gendered violence in Australia is not unique. We know the rise of violence is not isolated. Globally, across every country in every town and city, women and girls are experiencing higher rates of inequality and violence than in previous years. The rise of misogyny is increasingly leading to extremism. We need to pay attention.

We must, as part of our conversations of celebration today, remember that for millions of women and girls around the world today, as it was yesterday and as it will be tomorrow, that inequality is the very definition of our collective lived experience.

We must continue to fight for our voice to be heard.

And we will continue to push forward, to demand change, and reclaim our future. Our lives depend on it.