Last week, there was a news report in the local Byron Bay papers saying that for the last seven months there has been a man assaulting women walking the lighthouse trail, in Byron Bay. The lighthouse walk is very popular, one of the most scenic in the area and highly recommended to our visitors, so why did it take seven months for this to be reported?
Why over the busiest times of the season did I not hear about this?
Think about how many women who were assaulted that could have been warned earlier.
A local journalist told me that the police only informed the media of this situation, this week.
Seven months of a man assaulting women is a big thing to keep quiet, and I’m appalled about the silence around this, so I have created a Facebook group to support women who want to walk in Byron Bay safely. The people in charge of keeping us safe, i.e., the police, are not doing the greatest job so we must support each other.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1729178607339266/
Walk Byron Safely is a closed group for women only because although men also are assaulted, it’s mostly men who are the perpetrators of assault.
Maybe if men feel strongly about supporting the safety of women, they can start their own group to address this. Women of Byron Bay would support this wholeheartedly.
This group does not condone violence or any vigilante activity; it is simply a space where women can connect to walk together in safety.
If you would like to be added to the group, please feel free to join and invite your friends, if you think it will be of help. Also, if you see a woman alone on your walks, maybe let her know of the situation and offer to walk near her, to keep her safe too.
We’re all in this together.
Here’s a wonderful Ted talk: