A CAMPAIGN highlighting the effects of gender-based violence is underway.
Anti-violence campaigner Phil Cleary launched Frankston’s “16 days of activism against gender-based violence” campaign last week. Cleary’s sister Vicki was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 1987.
“Women are still being murdered in situations where we could have stopped the killer. Each year around 60 families still grieve,” Cleary said. “I think women today are more likely to tell people about men’s violence. Vicki didn’t tell us that she was experiencing violence.
“I had a life of football. I was a known person. If I had known about his harassment in the months before her murder, we would have dealt with him. We would have stopped him.”
Cleary says that the 16 days of activism campaign is about preventing stories like his from ever happening again. “It is about convincing people that violence is real, systemic and has a history,” he said.
For more information on the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence visit frankston.vic.gov.au