If you've watched the news at all in the last few years, you would have seen the horrible statistics around mens violence against women in Australia. One of the most horrific aspects, the rates of violence are undeniably going up year to year.

A recently report from the Australian Institute of Criminology shows that there has been an increase in intimate partner violence of 28 percent. According to femicide watch, 79 women have lost their lives to mens violence in 2024. Far more than the "1 woman a week" statistic that is typically quoted.

But this is not just an Australian problem, and it's not just limited to physical violence. Women of all nationalities, in all sectors, and in all classes are being killed and having their rights stripped away.

We watched at the women of Iran were subject to archaic rules of the "modesty police", forced to cover themselves upon fear of ending up like Mahsa Amini who was violently beaten to death by the modesty police after incorrectly wearing her hijab. We watched at Iranian men dragged women through the street and gassed school girls.

We've seen women in Afghanistan not just lose the right to an education and to go to park or gym - but women in Afghanistan are now banned from using their voices in public or from even speaking to each other.

The majority of suicide attempts in Afghanistan are committed by women.

We have also watched on as millions of American women have lost their right to bodily autonomy. We've heard horror stories of women bleeding out in carparks or dying after being refused life-saving health care thanks to brutal bans on abortion in many US states.

The feeling of helplessness has been compounded following the reelection of Donald Trump as the President of the United States of America. If you've been on social media, you would have seen hundreds of women crying out in frustration, shaving their heads and pledging to join the 4B movement.

But, for those who are unfamiliar, what exactly is the 4B movement, and why are so many women collectively turning to this as a channel for their pain?

Imagining a world without men - South Korea's 4B Movement

In essence, women who are part of the 4B movement are swearing off men entirely.

The name is a derivative: 4B for four Korean words that all start with bi-, or “no”.

The first no, bihon, is the refusal of heterosexual marriage. Bichulsan is the refusal of childbirth, biyeonae is saying no to dating, and bisekseu is the rejection of heterosexual sexual relationships. Together, 4B is the espousal of the growing movement in Korea.

4B is a stance as well as a committed lifestyle, practicing bihon has become a fast-growing pillar of the women's rights fight in the East. While practicing women are working to enact change society-wide, their approach is one that is not contingent on the government to act.

The 4B Movement has been seismic in shifting the politics, discourse, and lives of women in South Korea.

We first came across the 4B movement some months - or maybe even a year or more - ago after reading the exposé on The Cut. For many Korean women, 4B has been a way for them to opt out of the patriarchy. A way for them to say "no more" and that "this ends now".

What can we learn from the 4B movement?

South Korea now has one of the lowest birth rates in the world at 0.78 and it is threatening huge consequences for the country as we know it. Whether or not the birth rate is connected to 4B remains to be seen, but what we do know is that when women refuse to give birth, it can collapse a nation.

When women support each other, when we all strike together, when we all say enough is enough - we can influence change.

Women uplift economies. Our labour, whether outside or inside the home, supports the growth of nations. You may have heard of the disastrous - and hilarious - consequences when the women of Iceland went on strike in the 1970s. The supermarkets completely sold out of sausages, the only meal that men knew how to cook. And many men turned to bribing their older children to help them, unable to cook or look after the younger children without their wives. Iceland passed a law enshrining equal rights the following year.

The message: we have power when we work together.

What can we learn from other movements?

Envisioning femme-centric futures

Community is vital to the 4B Movement's success. Solidarity in the movement blossomed online, on digital forums like Twitter and Kaokao App which propelled movements like 'Escape the Tal-Corset'. The demonstrations were not only a rejection of a deeply patriarchal standards, but a paradigm shift in career and marriage has shifted a framework that historically centred men. What did Audre Lorde say? "Without community, there is no liberation...but community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist." In our ways of being, we must promote nonviolence within those around us.

Education and reporting

Gender-based violence in Australia is an endemic issue that requires the same attention and scope as other national crises. The issue requires supervision, development, and attentiveness that is long-term. The 4B movement's inception in 2018 has persisted up til today, trailblazing a global phenomenon that has reached parts of Japan and China in the convergence of the 64BT movement.  The role of the media is to instill education and and apply pressure on government institutions to address this incurrent femicide. Supporting the educators and spokespeople with the adequate tools to cover gendered violence is the first, and necessary step.

Tending to the margins

At the frontline of this crisis are the women who have disproportionately faced discrimination at a much higher rate. Fifty per cent of black trans and non-binary folk have experienced sexual assault in their lifetime, over 4 in 10 black women face physical violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime. For women with disabilities, the rates of violence is much higher than for able-bodied women. And these are just a few examples of the numbers from varying subgroups.

If you need help, please ask. You can access mental health services like the below:

• Lifeline on 13 11 14
• Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
• MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978
• Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
• Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36
• Headspace on 1800 650 890
• QLife on 1800 184 527