A new march for International Women´s Day was carried out in Sydney this Saturday 9th, in demand for rights and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Feminist and worker organisations, first nations peoples, independents, migrant communities, left-wing parties and the Labor, marched for gender equality and to end the genocide in Palestine, demonstrating the union of struggles that are facing the consequences of colonialism, capitalism and patriarchy.
That morning, Chaithanya ‘Swetha’ Madhagani, 31 years old, was found dead in a wheelie bin near Winchelsea, about 90 kilometres south-west of Melbourne.
In the heat of the fire. A brief chronicle
Feminisms are the bonfire that keeps us alive and points to the vanguard of current struggles. Once more the heat attracts me. I take two buses to the city centre, repeating the ritual to meet this sisterhood I yet don´t know, where we are all always welcome. I repeat the ritual that unites me with the crowd of women and disident identities who filled the streets in my country the 8th March, against the measures of Javier Milei´s far-right government, that attack women, feminism and working people; with the thousands of hundreds who took the streets all over the world. We share the same fury and the same hope, and that strength pushes us to the roads.
A strength that claims rights and stands against racism, exploitation and genocide. The three hundred-person rally that is taking place in the entrance of Sydney Town Hall when I arrive cannot be compared with the massive crowds I´ve been part of: but anyway, the fire is there, alive, glowing with its particular shine.
A woman whose name I won´t say here is a bit disappointed. She affirms the decision to move the march to the 9th was not a good idea, which may have halved people. Allegedly the city council didn´t give permission for its realisation; maybe that’s why the march only makes a short walk around the block.
However, voices are being heard: ‘Equal pay’, ‘Break the silence on sexual violence’, ‘Stop femicide’, ‘Free Palestine’. No matter how many of us there are, we are always a questioning and uncomfortable presence.
Some data
Already in 2024, 18 women were victims of femicide in the country.
According to Mission Australia:
-1 in 6 women have experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or former partner.
-75% of victims of domestic violence reported the perpetrator as male.
“We cannot change the stories of those who were lost to violence, but we can change the stories of those who follow”, states on its website the Australian Watch of Femicide.
A little fire 
Leave a comment