Collective Shout in the News
We've rounded up some of the top media coverage of our campaign urging Melbourne's Yarra City Council to remove a gigantic fetish-porn themed street mural depicting a woman, bound and gagged. Since we launched the campaign, more than 1500 supporters contacted the Council.
The mural - painted on commission at a Cecil Street photography studio - was partly covered by a graffiti tag. The Council fined the property owner and/or occupant for displaying the mural without a permit. The Council is also reviewing its public art policies to prevent similar incidents.
Daily Telegraph
Collective Shout [is] leading a campaign to have the “chilling image” removed, arguing it glamorised violence against women.
Collective Shout director Melinda Tankard Reist said the artwork was “porn-themed, adult sexual fetishes imposed on a nonconsenting audience”.
“It depicts the public humiliation of women at a time when we’re expressing concern from rising rates of violence against women,” she said.
“We’ve just come to the end of domestic and family violence prevention month and to see this – this is the eroticisation of violence against women.”
Several sexual assault survivors have approached Ms Tankard Reist to inform her the mural is “triggering”, with some saying it “makes a mockery of the abuse done to them”.
“We’re pleased the council is investigating, we are pleased to hear that council did not pre-approve this and we look forward to this image coming down” she said.
“It has to be removed for women’s safety and child protection.”
Ms Tankard Reist said more than 1000 people have contacted the council to complain via Collective Shout’s website.
Full article here
ABC News
In a statement on social media, Collective Shout criticised the work as a "chilling image" that "eroticised violence against women".
"Responding to objections, the artist defended the mural as 'empowering' and told objectors to 'chill'," the group said.
"But there is nothing "empowering" or subversive about normalising or glamorising violence against women."
Full article here
Daily Mail - May 12, 2025
Controversial mural sparks wave of complaints as business faces fine
Collective Shout said the artwork 'eroticised violence against women'.
Movement director Melinda Reist said: 'This is porn-themed, adult sexual fetishes imposed on a non-consenting audience.
'It depicts the public humiliation of women at a time when we're expressing concern from rising rates of violence against women.'
Yarra Residents' Collective spokesman Adam Promnitz agreed: 'While that artwork may be great in a private space, in the street it is the wrong time and wrong place.
'Families and members of the public should not be subject to X-rated artwork without consent.'
Full article here
Red Flag - May 19, 2025
There is nothing edgy about turning violence against women into art
by Sarah Garnham
Every day we are bombarded with messages that degrade women. Sexualised images of women are used to attract attention to advertising, news stories, social media accounts, pop culture, TV shows and pretty much anything else you can possibly imagine. You only have to think of Bianca Censori attending the Grammys as Kanye West’s virtually naked accessory to appreciate how ingrained into celebrity culture the objectification of women is. Meanwhile, the spread and mainstreaming of horrifically sexist pornography and the sex industry is normalising violent sexual practices and the dehumanisation of women.
So imagine an artist is given a whole wall to make a statement, free from corporate influence, and the thing they choose to do is to add yet another demeaning, objectifying image of women to the world. This is exactly what happened in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, where a mural was recently installed depicting a bound and gagged female body in stilettos, a studded dog collar and cat ears. Rightly, the mural has been denounced by anti-violence group Collective Shout as “a chilling image of eroticised violence against women”. Many members of the public have likewise registered their outrage in emails to the council. And fair enough—are women entitled to no relief from this unrelenting reminder that we only have value when we’re being debased for the pleasure of someone else? (emphasis added)
Full article here
Our campaign featured in many radio broadcasts too - we'll share these here soon!
See also
Bound, gagged, degraded: The eroticised torture of women approved for a public audience
Strangulation to flog perfume: Goda Perfume trivialises male violence against women
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