Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Each year, I rise in this parliament to honour the lives of women who have died in the past year through acts of violence, often committed by someone known to them. Tonight, I stand to honour and pay my respects to the 48 women who have died so far this year. This equates to more than one violent death every week in 2023, and, regrettably, the actual number is likely to be much higher, as this list is limited to the deaths that have been publicly reported. Before I acknowledge each woman who is no longer with us, I'd like to acknowledge the researchers from Destroy the Joint, who do the heartbreaking and difficult work of maintaining the Counting Dead Women register in Australia, where this information is recorded.

In Australia in 2023, we have lost the following women: Lindy Lucena, aged 64; Dayna Isaac, aged 28; Wendy Sleeman, aged 61; Krystle Monks, aged 19; Janet Guthrie, aged 51; Anastasia Slastion, in her 30s; Margarette Smetheram, aged 56; Jacqui Purton, aged 37; Hannah Pringle, aged 41; Lisa Fenwick, aged 59; an unnamed woman aged 51; Emmerich Lasakar, aged 35; Lynne Wright, aged 65; Heather Ball, in her 20s; Tatiana Dokhotaru, aged 34; Monique Lezsak, aged 37; an unnamed woman aged 41; Kristy Armstrong, aged 36; another unnamed woman aged 81; Amira Moughnieh, aged 30; an unnamed woman aged 45; Christine Rakic, aged 50; an unnamed woman in her 30s; and unnamed woman aged 47; Aleksandra Vergulis, aged 51; an unnamed woman aged 74; Gypsy Satterley, aged just 25; Georgia Lyall, aged 32; Jean Morley, aged 92; Erin Mullavey, aged 42; Tiffany Woodley, aged 35; Tayla Cox, aged 30, and her 11-week-old baby; Drew Douglas, aged 31; Katherine Safranko, aged 67; Heather Dean, aged 73; Krystal Marshall, aged 38; Thi Thuy Huong Nguyen, aged 65; Lillie James, aged 21; Analyn Osias, aged 46; Alice McShera, aged 34; three other unnamed women; and Dee Folpp, aged 60.

Each of these deaths, through senseless acts of violence, is devastating. I don't want to stand in this parliament each and every year reciting the list of women who have been killed by the most violent means imaginable. But I do—and I will continue to—stand here because each and every one of these women needs to be remembered, and their deaths can never be in vain.

On 24 November the Newcastle community will come together to reclaim the night with a candlelit vigil that will launch the 16 days of activism against gender based violence and call for an end to sexual assault and violence against women. The vigil, which will remember the women who have been killed by violence in 2023, will be followed by a collective scream born out of both grief and frustration. While I can't be there in person this year, I want to commend the work of the family, domestic and sexual violence sector in Newcastle in delivering vital services to women and children. I'd also like to recognise the work of the Newcastle Domestic Violence Committee in bringing together the agencies, organisations and community members who are actively committed to preventing violence in all its forms.