It's been 10 years since Jill Meagher was murdered. We still don't feel safe walking the streets.

Warning: This post deals with murder and violence against women and may be triggering for some readers.

Listen to this story being read by Gemma Bath, here.

Light was dwindling on a May Tuesday, as I quickened my pace en route to my friend's house for dinner. 

I'd misjudged the time it would take. How quickly the light was fading. How many backstreets they'd be.

It was only 6:30pm, but it was practically dark as I found myself on the home stretch to her house. In the quiet, suburban streets of St Kilda, Melbourne, I felt a frog of fear sitting at the base of my throat. It was unfamiliar territory to me, and it was a bit eerie. I was too alone. 

My headphones paused, but on, and my head bowed, I swiftly power-walked the last 10 minutes to my destination. 

That prickliness I felt? It's not unique. 

As we commemorate and remember Jill Meagher this week, 10 years after she was stalked, raped and murdered on her way home from a pub in Brunswick, women still don't feel safe.

We polled 800 Australian women in the Mamamia community and asked them if, a decade on, they feel safer walking the streets where they live.

91 per cent said they didn't. Two per cent said they did. 

Source: Mamamia Outloud community.

Jill was attacked 400 metres from her home after 1:30am on the morning of September 22, 2012. 

The 29-year-old had been out with co-workers celebrating a birthday at an inner Melbourne venue, and declined the offer of an escort home given it was no more than a ten-minute walk.

The man who murdered her was a convicted sex offender who was out on parole when he killed her. He should never have been released. 

But we - we, being society - didn't learn our lesson. Despite the outpouring of anger and outrage. Despite thousands of Australians marching for change. It happened again, and then again.

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

Her killer stalked her from the city. She'd texted her boyfriend "I'm nearly home," minutes before her death.

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. 

She'd just hopped off a tram. It was about midnight, and she was on a video call to her sister when she was attacked.

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

We've seen examples abroad too; Sarah Everard was murdered by a passing police officer as she walked home on a Wednesday evening in 2021.

Zara Aleena - killed by a stranger walking home in the early hours of a Sunday in east London in June. 

Eliza Fletcher - abducted and murdered while out for a run in Memphis, Tennessee in the early hours of a September Friday. 

While we know the dangers for women are more likely to be in the home - with one woman a week killed in this country by a former or current partner - they also lie in the streets. In strangers. 

And the murders of these women are just the worst-case scenario. Women just out minding their business are also raped, harassed, followed, stalked and cat-called by men. 

We watch as women overseas, like Sarah, Zara and Eliza, suffer the same fate. Images: Facebook.

As I read through the comments on the post in the Mamamia Outlouders Facebook group where we conducted the survey in preparation for the anniversary of Jill's death, I was struck by women's experiences. 

One woman bought an American Staffordshire Terrier so she could go for walks without looking over her shoulder.

One woman spoke about declining an invitation to a show because she didn't want to put herself in the position of heading home from said show, alone.

One woman admitted she doesn't feel particularly safe in her own home, even when the windows and doors are locked.

This is the reality for Australian women in 2022. 

Our government says they're working on it - they've got a 10-year National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Children. 

But Jill died 10 years ago, and nothing has changed for those of us walking the streets.

We're still wary. We're still in danger. We're still afraid to walk alone at night. 

Last year, I wrote a story titled: Today marks 9 years since Jill Meagher's murder. Since then, 666 more women have been killed.

We've lost dozens more women since. And yet violence against women doesn't seem to be a desperate priority. 

We all know it's going to take more than some government initiatives. It'll be decades of cultural and societal pressure that will help us mould the minds of future communities. Future men. 

So we will not relinquish the pressure. We will continue to say the names of the women murdered by men in our country. 

Because there should never have been another Jill Meagher. 

Feature image: Facebook/Mamamia.

If this has raised any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service.