Musicians Launch Anti-Violence Campaign

At launch, up to 50 acts had put their name on the initiative. These included singer-songwriters Courtney Bartnett, Suz de Marchi and Pete Murray, rock bands The Church, The Grates, Gotye’s act The Basics, Violent Soho, Boy & Bear, hip-hop MCs Urthboy, L-FRESH The Lion and Bliss N Eso, country performer Troy Cassar-Daley and jazz singer Katie Noonan.

The initiative was unveiled as the national music industry met at the March 30 Queensland Music Industry awards in Brisbane. “It’s so important to break the silence that surrounds men’s violence against women,” said the female-fronted The Grates in a joint statement. “Hearing musicians lend their voices to the campaign helps to expand the reach of our prevention work aimed at changing the attitudes and behavior that lead to such violence.”

Pete Murray pointed out, “As an industry with a huge fan base of young males, we are in a unique position to be able to start conversations about what is a real epidemic in our society.”

Official figures show partner violence as the leading contributor to death, disability and ill health in Australian women aged 15-44; and that one in five women experience harassment in the workplace.