‘Not Safe For Women’: Speakers Pull Out of Women Rights Rally in Canberra Over Fears For Safety

Women's rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull speaks during a “Let Women Speak” rally in opposition to government legislation making it easier for people to self-identify their gender, fearing it would allow sexual predators to gain access to women-only spaces, in Glasgow, Scotland, on Feb. 5, 2023. Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images

Australian campaigners for women’s rights have cited safety fears as the reasoning behind their decision to pull out of the Let Women Speak rally in Australia’s capital city Canberra on March 23.

The Australian Let Women Speak rallies, organised by women rights advocate Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull (also known as Posie Parker), have been plagued by controversy over the past week after a rally in Melbourne was marred by violence and gatecrashed by a group of protesters who performed a Nazi salute. Another rally in Hobart was drowned out by LGBTQIA+ protesters.