{"id":603450,"date":"2026-04-13T05:29:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T05:29:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/603450\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T05:29:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T05:29:16","slug":"she-matters-memorial-to-women-allegedly-killed-by-men-removed-from-hosier-lane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/603450\/","title":{"rendered":"She Matters memorial to women allegedly killed by men removed from Hosier Lane"},"content":{"rendered":"

A memorial in Melbourne’s Hosier Lane featuring the faces of women who allegedly died because of male violence has been removed due to building renovations at the Forum theatre.<\/p>\n

The “She Matters” mural contained the names, photographs and artistic images of more than 200 Australian women allegedly murdered or who have died due to violence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The She Matters mural in Hosier Lane before it was removed. (Supplied: Australian Femicide Watch)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The mural was taken down on Friday. (ABC News: Toby Hussey)<\/p>\n

She Matters was established in the lane, which is famous for street art, on International Women’s Day in 2024.<\/p>\n

It had since been maintained<\/a> by the Red Hearts Campaign and Australian Femicide Watch founder Sherele Moody.<\/p>\n

Ms Moody told ABC Radio Melbourne on Monday she was devastated to watch it being torn down late last week.<\/p>\n

“[I’m] heartbroken, just absolutely crushed \u2026 it was really devastating to see,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I’d actually gone down to hang the 204th woman on the mural killed since January 1, 2025, and they had totally annihilated it.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Volunteers help repair the She Matters mural in 2025 after it was vandalised. (ABC News: Jesse Thompson)<\/p>\n

Marriner Group, which owns and operates the Forum Melbourne, said rectification works on the building’s exterior now had to move to the Hosier Lane side of the building.<\/p>\n

“Hosier Lane has historically been an evolving space where street art comes and goes. However poster installations are not permitted,” said a Marriner Group spokesperson.<\/p>\n

\"Hosier<\/p>\n

Hosier Lane runs adjacent to the Forum theatre off Flinders Street. (ABC News: Toby Hussey)<\/p>\n

Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece said council was last week made aware that materials used to maintain the mural were “blocking emergency exits to the Forum, which is a significant safety risk for patrons”.<\/p>\n

“The restoration of the theatre comes with operational and heritage considerations and these need to be accounted for.”<\/p>\n

Council seeks ‘new home’ for She Matters<\/p>\n

The Marriner Group spokesperson said: “We let the artist know in advance, to give them an opportunity to move or document the installation any further.<\/p>\n

“This is clearly a very sensitive issue. We understand the significance of the installation.”<\/p>\n

Mr Reece said that the City of Melbourne would work with the mural’s artists to find “a new home” for She Matters.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The laneway is a popular photography destination for Melbourne tourists. (ABC News: Nicole Mills)<\/p>\n

“We are treating this as a priority, balancing the theatre’s restoration with ensuring the mural remains visible and impactful,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The She Matters mural is a powerful reminder of the scourge of violence against women in our society.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It is one of the most impactful and poignant art works on Hosier Lane \u2014 and it would be extremely disappointing if it was permanently removed.”<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Forum theatre is currently under renovation. (ABC News: Toby Hussey)<\/p>\n

A 2024 heritage report warned that parts of the Forum’s facade were at risk of collapse<\/a> and that urgent work was needed for “public protection”.<\/p>\n

“The duration of these works is currently undefined,” the Marriner Group spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

The Forum theatre first opened in 1929, at the time boasting the largest seating capacity of any theatre in Australia.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A memorial in Melbourne’s Hosier Lane featuring the faces of women who allegedly died because of male violence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603451,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,293881,162393,134,116010,293879,647,293883,57481,293880,293882,101671],"class_list":["post-603450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-femicide-watch","tag-city-of-melbourne","tag-entertainment","tag-forum","tag-hosier-lane","tag-melbourne","tag-merriner-group","tag-mural","tag-she-matters","tag-sherele-moody","tag-violence-against-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}