Katie Harris: I'm sick of women being killed and nothing changing

Lena Zhang Harrap was found dead on Mt Albert. Photo / Starjam

OPINION:

A noticeable fatigue has invaded my social media milieu.

The influencers who normally share wellness briefs have turned into activists, politicians that usually debate policy are sending condolences and my friends, whose news diet usually only consists of TikTok, can't stop talking about it.

Women are being killed and it feels like nothing is changing.

The first time I felt like this was when the story of British backpacker Grace Millane was unfolding. We were similar ages, both liked travelling – it could have easily been me or one of my friends.

When her death was announced the whole country was rocked, there was a societal malaise, how could something so horrible happen here?

Grace Millane. Photo / Supplied

But the reality is this type of violence against women happens all the time.

On Wednesday we were greeted with another "sickening and senseless" killing of a woman in Aotearoa.

Aucklander Lena Zhang Harrap's body was discovered along a bush-lined walkway, barely a kilometre from her Mt Albert home, after she went missing while on her daily walk.

She should have been safe, she should have been protected, she should have been spared from yet another incident of unimaginable horror.

But she wasn't and we know Harrap is not the only one.

Lena Zhang Harrap is being remembered for her infectious smile and wicked sense of humour. Photo / Starjam

About a third of women in New Zealand will experience physical and or sexual violence from a partner in their lifetime – this is higher for Māori women as well.

Data from New Zealand police's 2018 homicide report shows that between 2007 – 2017 there were 737 people killed by homicide.

While males represented 62 per cent of all victims around 1 in 5 homicides were committed by a current or ex-partner – 75 per cent of those victims were female.

Just where I live, in Wellington, reports of sexual assaults earlier this year had increased by nearly 50 per cent in the past five years, with data showing sexual assaults and related offences had gone from 157 in 2015 to 230 in 2020.

Before we learned of Harrap's tragic death, another case of a woman's murder had transfixed the globe.

Content creator Gabby Petito went missing while on holiday with her fiance, and although he came back safe and sound, she didn't return alive.

The intense coverage of her case led some to question why the same level of attention isn't given to other missing women, particularly women of colour.

In the same state where Petito was found, at least 710 Native Americans were reported missing between 2011 and late 2020.

This photo combo provided by FBI Denver shows Gabrielle 'Gabby' Petito. Photo / AP

Similar allegations of "missing white woman syndrome" have been levelled about coverage of violence and missing people in New Zealand media.

In the aftermath of the death of Grace Millane, many wondered why missing or murdered people of colour hadn't received the same attention.

Thousands of women in Aotearoa are victims of intimate partner violence every year, if you visit a district court it's confronting just how many men appear on charges relating to assaulting women.

Most of which will never make headlines.

The sentiment surrounding these recent high-profile cases feels different though, it's not general discontent, it's not pity, it's anger and frustration.

Women are tired of following the rules, sick of not walking alone if we want to and exhausted of learning every few days that another woman has been killed.

The fatigue we feel isn't out of fear – it's frustration because we know Lena and Gabby won't be the last.