When I was in Year 12, I was invited to the National Schools Constitutional Convention, held in the Old Parliament House of Canberra, Australia, after attending the Victorian one the previous year. That year’s topic was a fascinating debate, on whether Australia needs a human rights charter (in short, yes, and the past three weeks show exactly why).
I was just getting into my interests in politics and human rights at that point, and hadn’t decided on going to law school just yet. But that experience was certainly part of the reason why I decided to in the end, despite the high marks necessary for it.
We had dinner in the buildings of the High Court with the Young Australian of the Year, Drisana Levitzke-Gray; we had hors d’oeuvres in Government House with the Governor-General; we walked through the Press Gallery of Parliament House; we took photos with various politicians.
Today, I am thinking about the women marching to Parliament House in Canberra today, and the women marching for justice across the country this weekend, and the women holding vigil for Sarah Everard in London and across the UK, and the one year anniversary of the murder of Breonna Taylor. And I am thinking about all this in a time of International Women’s Day, and Women’s History Month, and how we are still protesting against sexism and gendered violence.
Most of all, I am thinking about this photo of a girl, not yet 18, thinking about the sanctity of this place, where the laws of the land are created, where the highest offices are held, and wonder what I would tell that girl. Probably, not to give up hope, but rather, to mourn, to reflect, and most of all, to act.
