CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Prime Minister of Australia Antonio Albanês on Monday described domestic violence as a “national crisis” after thousands of people demonstrated across the country against violence against women.
Thousands of people protested in cities around Australia on Sunday to draw attention to the deaths of 27 women this year, allegedly caused by acts of gender-based violence in a population of 27 million.
Albanese said on Monday the rallies were a call to action for all levels of Australian government to do more to prevent gender-based violence.
“Clearly, we need to do more. It’s not enough to just have empathy,” Albanese told Nine Network television.
“The fact that… a woman dies every four days, on average, at the hands of a partner is just a national crisis,” he added.
There were 17 demonstrations across Australia over the weekend, with around 15,000 people demonstrating in the city of Melbourne.
Albanese said he will host a meeting of Australian state and territory leaders in W
Wednesday to discuss a coordinated response.
Albanese, his Women’s Minister Katy Gallagher and Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth received a hostile response when they attended a rally in the capital Canberra on Sunday.
Protesters shouted to government leaders: “we want action” and “do your job”.
Albanese said more attention needs to be paid to perpetrators and violence prevention. “We need to change the culture, we need to change attitudes – we need to change the legal system,” Albanese said at the rally.
