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Voices for change arise as marchers Reclaim the Night

Reading aloud the names of the dead at a candlelight vigil was a powerful, pivotal point at last Thursday’s Reclaim the Night gathering at Flagstaff Hill

by Genevieve Swart

Published November 07, 2025

Reading aloud the names of the dead at a candlelight vigil was a powerful, pivotal point at last Thursday’s Reclaim the Night gathering, the first in almost a decade where organisers were invigorated by signs of judicial change.

“In 2025, 57 women and 22 children have been lost to gender-based violence," Reclaim the Night committee member Dee Blackman told a crowd of almost 200 at Flagstaff Hill.

“It is sickening to acknowledge that this number will continue to rise, and it actually rose this morning from 56 to 57 and unfortunately, I stand here to read out these names, and I had to check just before I came up again, in case it had changed. That's how fast, in the 44 weeks of this year, we have lost women.”

As dusk fell, the sky mirrored the mood of the marchers, who started with a lively gathering in Andrew Lysaght Park, with drumming, speeches and chants of ‘End the silence, stop the violence’. About an hour and a half later, the event ended in darkness, as people quietly came forward to place flowers and electric candles on a purple blanket on the grass below the lighthouse. There were bigger candles for the women, little ones for the children, ranging in age from “unnamed child, five days” to “unnamed boy, 17”.

In her Welcome to Country, Aunty Bev Armer called it a crisis: “We want to acknowledge and pay our respect to all our sister girls and their families whose lives have been cut short by violence. We light up the lighthouse purple again this year to raise awareness of gender-based violence and sexual harassment, which continues to increase an alarming rate to the point that we are in a crisis.”

Flagstaff Lighthouse was lit purple for Reclaim the Night, tributes were placed on a blanket for 57 women and 22 children.

10 years of Illawarra marches

Reclaim the Night began as a women’s protest in Leeds, England in 1977. Wollongong’s event was founded a decade ago by Lynelle Samways, of Women Illawarra, and Janine Westman, of Relationships Australia.

Janine said they had grown tired of attending White Ribbon events run by men, so started a march in Crown St Mall that later moved to Flagstaff Hill.

It has always been about more than marching, Janine said at the night’s start. “It's a movement of hearts. It’s about visibility. We do make some noise – we’ve got some chants that can get a bit rowdy. It's about solidarity. It's about the unshakable belief that every person has the right to safety, respect and justice.”

In 2016, the Reclaim the Night team took a petition addressing the epidemic of gendered violence to NSW Parliament but until recently they felt that all the years of marching, chanting and lobbying hadn’t amounted to much change.

Now, in the Wollongong march’s 10th consecutive year, Janine is feeling hopeful.

“The theme this year is Voices for Change, and it's right on time,” she told the Illawarra Flame. “There's been an introduction of a non-parole period of 25 years for the perpetrators of domestic and family violence for intimate or former partners. That just came through a couple of weeks ago – so that legislative change is massive.

“It's reinvigorated myself and other people who have worked in the sector for a long time; we were starting to feel pretty disillusioned in the number of women and children being murdered.

“It's a wonderful piece of legislation that's really going to help.”

Reclaim the Night committee members Janine Westman and Dee Blackman

Janine paid tribute to the night’s special guest, Tabitha Acret, for becoming a force for change after her daughter, Mackenzie Anderson, was murdered in 2022 at age 21.

“She's a woman whose courage and determination helped make this legislative challenge possible,” Janine said in introducing Tabitha ahead of the march.

“Tabitha has campaigned relentlessly for justice after the tragic loss of her daughter, Mackenzie, and she's refused to let her pain go unheard.

“Her voice, her persistence, has helped move this issue from the margins to legislation. Tabitha, your strength and advocacy embodies what ‘voices for change’ truly means.

“Let's celebrate this milestone and remember our voices have power. Our persistence has purpose, and together, we are voices for change.”

The night’s special guest was Tabitha Acret (in green), who gave a powerful speech at Flagstaff Hill.

Danger not from strangers, mother warns

Tabitha travelled from Newcastle to lead the march, walking alongside local politicians Lord Mayor Tania Brown and Wollongong MP Paul Scully. She told the crowd the night was “deeply personal”.

“The truth is, most of the danger for women face doesn't come from strangers lurking in the dark,” Tabitha said. “It comes from the people we trust, our friends, our partners and our family members, the ones who should have loved us, and that's what makes this kind of violence so heartbreaking and so hard to confront.

“I speak because my daughter cannot. I speak because every time another woman is taken, another child grows up without a mother, another family gets the phone call, that changes everything. And I speak because I know I'm not alone.

“Tonight is remembrance, but also about resistance. We remember those we've lost, and we resist the idea that this is inevitable. We resist silence and we resist fear, and together, we build something better. Because when a community comes together, when we speak, when we march, when we refuse to be silenced, change does happen, and that's what my daughter deserves, and that's what we all deserve.”

Drummers wore purple in solidarity and Circus Wow performed at sunset.

'Make things right, reclaim the night'

As well as policy change, awareness has been rising at the grassroots. This year Reclaim the Night was boosted by the presence of more local organisations, men and children, said committee member Dee Blackmore, who works as a domestic violence specialist at Women Illawarra.

“There is such an amazing turnout,” Dee said as people of all ages, many wearing purple in a symbolic act of solidarity, came together for the start of the march.

“It’s nice to see that we have all genders in the vicinity, not just women.

“I think that we've started to see more involvement from other community organisations. It's picking up momentum … we've got the Women's Health Centre who have joined us this year, as well as SAHSSI have joined us this year, and Relationships Australia, Wollongong City Council, Women Illawarra and the Salvation Army.”

At Flagstaff Hill, there were further signs of solidarity, with Circus Wow giving a sunset performance, local business Pro Sound and Lighting turning the lighthouse purple, and community members coming forward to share stories, poetry and songs. Counsellors from Relationships Australia were on hand for anyone who needed to talk.

“If you feel that you're a bit anxious or feeling emotional, or you need to talk to somebody, please just go over to these ladies over here and they'll have a chat,” said the night’s MC, Lynelle Samways.

All the placards – bearing slogans such as “Make things right, reclaim the night”, “A dress is not a yes” and “Women have the right to be safe” – were returned to a plastic box beside the lighthouse after the march.

“We recycle them every year,” Lynelle said.

The Reclaim the Night march will return in October 2026.