Women against rape

Protest poster depicting three women walking side-by-side with a dog and bunch of flowers surrounded by text.

The poster was commissioned by the Sydney Women Against Rape Collective (SWARC), a group formed in the early 1980s 'in memory of all women raped in all wars'. The group began to march on Anzac Day to draw attention to the number of women raped in times of conflict. Its primary agenda was to both mourn those killed and rarely remembered, as well as raise awareness about how rape was used as a systemic tool of oppression in conflict. As written in the Collective's pamphlet, they chose to congregate on Anzac day 'because it has become a national day, a symbol of Australian nationalism, but which in reality only commemorates the experiences of men in war.' In 1983, the first year women marched in Sydney, 165 of the group were arrested and charged with causing serious alarm and affront. The charges were later dropped however various members of the Australian community remained divided on the issue.