Spike in murders of women prompts Australian reckoning with male violence

Thousands attend public vigils, and calls are rising for a royal commission into the deaths

- Jonathan Pearlman

In the early hours of April 22, Ms Molly Ticehurst, a 28-year-old Australian mother, was allegedly killed at her home in New South Wales (NSW) by her former partner who was out on bail despite being charged with sexually assaulting, stalking and intimidating her.

Ms Ticehurst was the 27th woman murdered in Australia in 2024, according to media reports, with at least seven more such deaths reported since then. That works out to one woman killed every four days on average in the country so far this year.

Ms Ticehurst's former partner had been granted bail by a court, even though police warned that he posed a threat to her and her family. Sixteen days later, she was found dead. The case has galvanised the country and thrown a spotlight on the appalling levels of violence against women.

Australia was still in shock from an earlier brutal massacre when the murder of Ms Ticehurst occurred.

On April 13, a 40-year-old man with mental health problems went on a stabbing attack in a shopping centre in Sydney. The motive behind the attack remains a mystery, but police quickly pointed to an unmistakable clue: five of the six fatalities were women, with the sixth being a male security guard.

Of the 17 people stabbed by Joel Cauchi who was shot dead by a police officer - 14 were women.

Discussing the attacks, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb told ABC News on April 15: "It's obvious to me, it's obvious to detectives that... the offender focused on women and avoided the men." The growing toll has galvanised the nation and led to a push for action by state and federal governments to combat the troubling levels of violence against women.

Thousands have attended public vigils, and calls are mounting for a royal commission into the deaths in NSW, Australia's most populous state.