December saw the Star Mail’s coverage of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, and its coverage of the story of an Inner Wheel Club of Wandin member was the article of the month.
When Maree Budweg wrote a letter sharing her experience with abuse as a child, she had no idea of the impact it’d have on hundreds of other women in the Inner Wheel community.
She shared the letter with the Inner Wheel president Kay Morland in October and it’d eventually be shared by the International Inner Wheel Committee during the global UN Women-led campaign.
Ms Budweg’s act, along with the advocacy of the Inner Wheel Club of Wandin, led to Parliament House in Canberra being illuminated in orange to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on 25 November.
With one in four women (2.3 million) having experienced at least one incident of violence by an intimate partner, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Personal Safety survey, Ms Budweg’s courage to share her story couldn’t be more important.
“The impact of that led on to it being shared with the International Inner Wheel Committee, who were coordinating it. They decided they needed to release the story internationally, and that’s pretty significant,” Inner Wheel Club of Wandin president Jill Lloyd said.
Federal member for Casey Aaron Violi, who helped push for the Inner Wheel Club of Wandin’s request to have Parliament House glow orange, spoke in Parliament on the International Day of the Elimination of Violence Against Women and called on men to call out inappropriate behaviour.
“The reason I’m standing here to speak is that it is not just the women of this parliament and the women of Australia who have a role to play. The leaders of the country, the men in this place and the men in communities have a role to play.”
Read the rest here: upperyarra.mailcommunity.com.au/news/2025-11-27/the-power-of-sharing-wandin-inner-wheel-member-speaks-for-16-days-of-activism-campaign/
