opinion

13 years ago, Jill Meagher was murdered 400 metres from home. We will never forget her.

It was a calm, still night when Jill Meagher, 29, set off home after celebrating a birthday with her colleagues at a Brunswick pub.

She would never make it.

Jill was raped and murdered 400 metres from her Melbourne home at 1.30am on the morning of September 22, 2012, in a dark, deserted lane.

Grainy CCTV footage captured her last walk — and her killer — as he stalked her.

That video would prove instrumental in putting Adrian Bayley behind bars. But the sad reality is Jill was killed, while making a 700 metre walk home.

She should've been safe.

Jill Meagher.Jill Meagher. Image: Facebook.

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Jill Meagher is not the only woman to face evil on the street.

In June 2018, Eurydice Dixon, 22, was on her way home after performing a comedy gig when she was raped and murdered in Melbourne's Carlton North.

"I'm nearly home", a three-word text, was received by her boyfriend minutes before her death.

Her killer had also stalked her relentlessly; he tracked her movements from the city.

Just 10 months later, in January 2019, Aiia Maasarwe, 21, was on her way home from a Melbourne comedy club just after midnight when she was beaten with a metal pole, raped, murdered, and set alight.

Eurydice Dixon and Aiia Maasarwe.Eurydice Dixon (left) and Aiia Maasarwe (right). Images: Facebook.

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Even just 5 months ago, the body of Audrey Griffin, 19, was found in Erina Creek, on NSW's Central Coast.

Her friends last saw her at about 2am on a night out at the Gosford Hotel, before she set off to her father's home.

She did everything right. She attempted to book an Uber. When unsuccessful, she tried to hail a taxi.

She stayed in contact with her friends.

She fought back.

Audrey was reported missing a few hours before her body was found.

Adrian Torrens, her alleged killer was arrested but found unresponsive in his cell at the Silverwater metropolitan remand just days later. He died in custody.

Audrey Griffin. Audrey Griffin. Image: Supplied.

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Audrey is one of 51 Australian women killed this year, according to Sherele Moody's Australian Femicide Watch.

We've lost hundreds of women to violence since 2012, the majority of these a result of intimate partner violence, but it can also happen in the streets. By strangers.

Jill Meagher was just walking home.

Eurydice Dixon was just walking home.

Aiia Maasarwe was just walking home.

Audrey Griffin was just walking home.

They should have been safe.

It doesn't matter if it's 13 years. 7 years. 6 years. 5 months.

We will never forget them.

— with AAP.

Feature image: Facebook/Supplied.

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