Women aged from 34 to 71 have been arrested and charged after a statue of a women’s rights campaigner was vandalised in Melbourne.
The statue of Jewish Australian woman Zelda D’Aprano was targeted earlier this month with black and red spray painted messages written around the statue.
An apron with the words “difficult woman” was also put on the statue. Ms D’Aprano’s depiction is holding a placard with the words “No more male and female rates. One rate only”; the alleged vandals defaced the placard with black paint, images posted online show.
Born in Carlton, Ms D’Aprano was a persistent activist from the 1950s to 1980s, and with five other women founded the Women’s Action Committee in 1970, which led to the creation of the Women’s Liberation Movement in Melbourne. Her statue outside the Victorian Trades Hall was unveiled in 2023.
On March 6, police alleged a group of seven women armed with spray paint, and umbrellas to hide their faces, targeted the statue.
Seven women have since been arrested; 34-year-old Jemima Demanuele faced the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday and was bailed.
The other six women arrested, aged from 34 to 71, were bailed to appear in court in October.
They all face charges of criminal damage, behaving in a riotous manner in a public place, marking graffiti on a residence without consent, recklessly damaging part of a registered place without a permit and refusing to leave scheduled public place after a warning.
Police say they are looking for an eighth suspect who is also a part of the “activist group”.
A police spokesperson said the vandalism happened about 11am on March 6.
“Police will allege they changed their clothing and put the umbrellas up in an attempt to block CCTV cameras and avoid being identified,” the spokesperson said.
“The women then allegedly sprayed red spray paint across the statue and surrounding tiles.
“They were approached by staff members nearby before allegedly becoming aggressive and leaving the area,” the spokesperson said.
As well as Ms Demanuele and another 34-year-old woman facing charges, two women aged 48, and women aged 50, 55 and 71 have also been charged.
The statue commemorates Ms D’Aprano chaining herself to a courthouse in protest against gender inequality.
She was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2001, awarded an Officer of the order of Australia in 2004, and died aged 90 in 2018.
