The heartbroken sister of murdered Melbourne schoolgirl Masa Vukotic, who was stabbed 49 times by a man on a walking track, has weighed in on violence against women in the aftermath of the Bondi massacre, stating: “Enough is enough.”
Masa was just 17 when she was killed by Sean Price while out for a walk near her home in Doncaster, in Melbourne’s southeast, in March 2015.
The next day, Price raped a woman in a Christian book shop.
He was sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 38 years, which he later successfully appealed, resulting in a year being shaved off his sentence.
The horrific attack sent shockwaves around the country, largely due to the brutality of it, and Price’s disturbing confession after being arrested.
In light of the deaths of another five women in Saturday’s Bondi mass stabbing — and almost a decade on from Masa’s tragic death — her younger sister Nadja Vukotic has spoken out about Australia’s ongoing epidemic of violence towards women.
In a tear-filled video, Ms Vukotic called for more to be done to stop “hatred towards women”, stating this “shouldn’t be happening”.
“Enough has been enough for so long now, even before my sister passed away. Something really needs to be done,” she said in the viral video.
“I really don’t understand the hatred towards women. We all came from a woman.
“My sister went for a walk, about 500m from our house, and she was killed. It wasn’t even night time, it was 6.50pm. She just went to get a bit of a break and lost her life.”
Two in five women (39 per cent) in Australia will have experienced male violence by the age of 15, according to Our Watch. It’s crucial to note that they face the greatest risk of this in the home and other private locations.
Yet in Masa’s case, she was attacked by Price — a complete stranger, on bail at the time as well as under a 10-year serious sex offender supervision order — who had described himself to police as a “ticking time bomb”.
“Masa Vukotic was 17 years old, she wanted to be a lawyer, she wanted to get married and have a big family,” Ms Vukotic said.
“She was the best person that I have ever known. She’s more than just a victim of a man, and she’s more than just a victim of knife violence, and she could have been so much more than she was.”
Ms Vukotic went on to state her sister was “just a kid” when her life was cut short, adding since then she feels like “nothing’s been done” to prevent senseless deaths at the hands of men.
“One (life) is one too many. This shouldn’t happen to anyone,” she said.
“What I go through now and what these people (the families of the Bondi victims) – they’re never going to get over that, they are always going to have that hole in their hearts.”
Pikria Darchia, Yixuan Cheng, Jade Young, Dawn Singleton and Ashlee Good – along with security guard Faraz Tahir – were murdered by Queensland man Joel Cauchi during his rampage at Westfield Bondi Junction on Saturday afternoon.
While a motive has not been stated, police on Monday morning said it was “obvious … the offender had focused on women and avoided the men”.
In the aftermath of the shocking killings, women have described the crime as an “attack on women”, with some calling for it to be labelled an act of terrorism.
Mia Findlay, an eating disorder recovery coach, shared a poem which has “perfectly articulated” how many women are feeling in the wake of the Bondi stabbings.
In it she describes how violent crimes against women feel “normalised” compared to incidents where men are victims, and drastic action is seemingly taken, noting how Sydney introduced strict lockout laws in 2014 following the death of one-punch victims Thomas Kelly and Daniel Christie.
“I’ll never forget Masa, on a run at 17, stabbed 49 times by a man she’d never seen,” Mia states in a video that has been viewed over 1.2 million times.
“The barrier still applied though, when Detective Hughes said, not that men shouldn’t kill, (but that) women be vigilant instead.
“Two young men murdered, and they shut down a city. For young men with futures, have action, have pity.
“But for us, just silence, victim-blaming advice. No short skirts or drinking. Don’t go out at night.”
Response on TikTok to Mia’s words has been huge, with many stating “this gave me shivers”.
“The ENTIRE country needs to hear this in full,” one commented.
“It’s like screaming into a void. Thank you for your incredible words,” another shared.
As another commended: “For all the women who have been told ‘you should’ve reported it on the day’ and ‘why didn’t you just leave ?’ … thank you for speaking loudly, eloquently.”
News.com.au has contacted Nadja Vukotic for further comment.
Mia’s poem in full:
“What’s the barrier to entry to being believed? How short was your skirt? How long were your sleeves? Did you drink? Were you drunk? Were you rude, or polite? Did you go home with someone, or walk alone at night?
“There’s also a barrier that exists before dark, on an afternoon run in your safe local park. I’ll never forget Masa, on a run at 17, stabbed 49 times by a man she’d never seen.
“The barrier still applied though, when Detective Hughes said, not that men shouldn’t kill, women be vigilant instead.
“Two young men murdered [one punch attacks], and they shut down a city. For young men with futures, have action, have pity.
“But for us, just silence, victim-blaming advice. No short skirts or drinking. Don’t go out at night.
“If it happened, report it but only right away. Forget trauma, or terror, even one day’s too late. “If you report it, be perfect. Sober virgin til the end, not a blemish on your record, not perfect – even if you’re dead.
“Two young men murdered, and they shut down a city. 27 women in 24, no action, no pity. “Two young men murdered, and they shut down a city. 64 women in 23, no action, no pity. “Two young men murdered, and they shut down a city. 50 women in 22, no action, no pity. “Two young men murdered, and they shut down a city. 61 women in 21, no action, no pity. “We know you can do it – make laws consequential and tough – and for two boys with futures, you cared just enough.
“What’s the barrier to entry to being believed, to being considered human, to being safe and free? You tell us ‘be cautious’, and we’ve tried it all. That ‘I’m in a cab x’ message, that ‘I’m home safe!’ call.
“We cover open drinks of girls we don’t know, cross streets and fake phone calls so we’ll be left alone. We stay home with our partners because surely we’re safe, but when nobody’s looking, one of us dies every five days.
“All of a sudden we care when it blows up in our face, a knifeman in Bondi, a terrorist in a cafe. What do they have to do with our country’s great shame? Because the core of their crimes were both one and the same.
“‘He had a problem with women,’ the knifeman’s father said. He targeted a woman, until a woman shot him dead.
“Then there’s Man Haron Monis, who terrorised Sydney while on bail for 40 counts of assault – just against women, so, no jail. Two young men murdered, and they shut down a city.”
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