"Stop killing us": Carrie Bickmore's emotional on-air plea
Carrie Bickmore has shared her emotional plea to the Australian government to put a stop to violence against women, with a powerful letter that she read on air during her radio show Carrie & Tommy.
She asked co-host Tommy Little to read out the letter she had written about the issue, in hopes that "it might mean more people will listen or it might just give a different perspective on what it feels like to be a woman in this country at the moment."
Little said he would happily stand by her side and began to read the letter to listeners.
“It’s taken me days to work out what to say about the crisis that our country is in at the moment," the letter began.
"Not because I don’t have things to say about the abhorrent amount of women dying every week in our country at the hands of a man, because I no longer know what to say because it feels like we are yelling into the abyss.
"We are exhausted."
She then shared the collective experience women share where they have to watch their every move from where to run to what clothes to wear in order to feel safe in the community, while being on constant guard from men that may pose a threat.
“No, not all men are monsters, but we live in fear of the ones that are,
“We change our behaviour to account for the bad ones, not the good ones because the risk is too high for us not to.
“To the good men out there, do something more. Just not killing us is not enough. Do something.”
Bickmore then pointed out that if men were killed by terrorists or a ground of male cyclists were run down on the road in Australia, “laws would be drawn up overnight to stop it from happening again”, but she said that nothing has been done to help women in equally violent situations.
“What we are asking for is not too much. We are simply asking to have the same basic right as you. The right to live, to be safe,’” her co-star read out while holding back tears.
“‘To the men who want control, the men who can’t handle rejection, the men who think the law doesn’t apply to them, to the men who think they can intimidate, manipulate, coerce, to the men who can’t regulate their emotions, can’t act with respect, your time is up.’
“To the PM, do something. We shouldn’t have to march to draw attention to his issue. You know what the issue is. Please do something more and now.
"Governments stop building another freeway for a moment. Build a safer future for our daughters.
"This is not political, this is not a matter of opinion. The facts speaks for themselves. Every four days a woman in Australia is violently killed.’”
She then urged for increased funding for safe houses, frontline centres and support services, and pleaded for the government to listen.
“If you think women are becoming shrill, think again. If you think we are being dramatic, think again. If you think we are sensationalising the issue, think again.
"We are scared and we are asking, pleading for help. Do something and stop killing us.”
Bickmore's plea comes just days after thousands of people attended rallies across Australia over the weekend calling out the government for their lack of action when it comes to violence against women.
Image: Carrie & Tommy/ news.com.au