WHO Issue 12, 2021

Text me when you get home.” All of us have sent – and received – that text countless times before. The senseless murder of yet another woman has sent shock waves around the globe. Sarah Everard, just like Jill Meagher, Eurydice Dixon and Aiia Maasarwe, was walking home when she was kidnapped and killed. This week saw people unite to say“Enough is enough” and stand up against violence against women, which is endemic in every country and culture. Here in Australia one woman is killed every week – that’s unacceptable. Seeing people of all ages, backgrounds and genders take to the streets in protest this week filled me with hope for a brighter future for my daughter. Let’s not let Everard be another statistic. To read our WHO special report on…

1 George’s marriage drama Playing womaniser Doug Ross launched George Clooney to fame. But after his wife Amal binged ER during lockdown, it turns out she wasn’t a fan. “It’s getting me in a lot of trouble because I’d forgotten all of the terrible things [Doug] was doing [like] picking up on women,” he told the SmartLess podcast. 2 Matthew’s career change He’s declared himself the “Minister for culture” in Texas, but it turns out that actor Matthew McConaughey is seriously considering a career change to politics. While appearing on the Crime Stoppers of Houston podcast, he said running for governor in his home state is “a true consideration”. 4 Ken turns 60 Celebrating his 60th birthday this month, Barbie’s main man got a makeover by Berluti’s creative director, Kris Van Assche, who has styled…

Fans are used to seeing Taylor Swift reign supreme and it was no different at the 2021 Grammy Awards. The singer, 31, had a productive 2020 by releasing two albums – the first of which, Folklore, was recognised at the event on March 14 with her Album of the Year win. “You guys met us in this imaginary world that we created and we can’t tell you how honoured we are forever by this,” Swift gushed. It was also a fruitful night for her fellow female artists as well (see breakout), with Beyoncé, 39, becoming the most awarded woman in Grammys history after scooping up the trophy for Best R’n’B Performance – her fourth of the night. “I am so honoured, I’m so excited,” she gushed. The singer’s daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, 9,…

BILLIE EILISH The singer, 19, won Record of the Year for her track ‘Everything I Wanted’, but devoted the first half of her speech to Megan Thee Stallion, telling the rapper and singer, “You deserve this.” H.E.R. The R’n’B singer, 23, won the Song of the Year gong for ‘I Can’t Breathe’, a track inspired by the Black Lives Matter rallies. “I didn’t imagine that my fear and that my pain would turn into impact,” she shared. MEGAN THEE STALLION The 26-year-old, who won three gongs on the night, made history by becoming the first female rapper to win Best Rap Song for ‘Savage’. She also won Best New Artist and Best Rap Performance.…

After visiting a friend on the night of March 3, Sarah Everard did everything a woman is “supposed” to do when walking alone at night. The 33-year-old’s 50-minute journey through Clapham Common to her home in Brixton at 9pm saw her take one of South London’s most populated and well-lit paths. She wore bright clothing and rang her boyfriend to check in – ending the call by discussing their plans for the following day. But Everard never made it home that night. A week later, the police discovered human remains in bushland in Kent – roughly an hour away from where Everard was last seen. The body was formally identified as the marketing executive through the use of dental records on March 12. That same day, Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens,…

Everard’s murder isn’t an isolated incident. It’s happening in our own backyard as well. In September 2012, 29-year-old Jill Meagher was on her way home from a pub in Brunswick, Melbourne, at 1.30am when she was raped and murdered just 400m from her front door. In June 2018, Eurydice Dixon, 22, was walking home after performing a comedy gig when she was raped and murdered in Melbourne’s Carlton North. She had texted,“I’m nearly home. HBU?” to her boyfriend just minutes before her death. The following year, 21-year-old Aiia Maasarwe left a Melbourne comedy club just after midnight. Her sister in Israel, who she was on the phone to at the time, heard her screams as she was beaten, raped, murdered and set alight.…