Red Heart: The stories behind femicide

Content warning: This article discusses femicide, child death and gender-based violence. It may be distressing for many readers, particularly survivors of abuse, violence or trauma. If you need to talk to someone, please access the support resources below. 

After the headline, there’s a vacuum. Who steps in when the system doesn’t?  

When a woman is killed in Australia, there’s a moment where the nation pays attention. Her death fills the headlines, pops up on phone screens across Australia. Sometimes people speak her name. Sometimes they even remember it, for a while. But very quickly, the world moves on.  

But for the people who loved her, that’s just the beginning. There’s the grief. The shock. Police processes. Media intrusion. Court dates. Paperwork. Trauma that doesn’t follow a timeline and has no end.  

In Australia, there are some services available to families impacted by homicide. But they’re often stretched, difficult to navigate, or not built by people who have lived through this kind of loss.

That’s why Sherele Moody built something different. 

Her Red Heart movement started as a one-woman campaign to count and honour lives lost to femicide, but has since grown into something much bigger – a network of practical, deeply human support for the people left behind.

“I realised that we don't have great resources for people impacted by homicide,” she explains. "We do have a couple of not-for-profits, homicide support groups and the Victims of Crime Scheme.” 

They’re valuable services, she says, but not always led by people who have been through similar experiences. 

So Sherele expanded the Red Heart movement beyond documentation, creating support systems that respond to both the emotional and practical realities families face. 

When someone is killed, the impact ripples outward – across families, years, even generations – and most are ill-equipped to understand everything that comes next. 

One of the first gaps Sherele identified was mental health support that actually reflects lived experience.

Her Homicide Support Group brings together a team of three on-call psychologists, who have all been impacted by femicide in some way. 

“These are people who’ve walked the same steps as those we help,” Sherele says. As trauma-informed psychologists, she says they can offer different perspectives than normal psychologists. Clinical support matters, but so does the connection from being understood. 

For many families, contact with police and the justice system begins at the worst moment of their lives, and it can feel impossible to navigate. 

“I have a serving police officer on the team, ” Sherele says. “She’s great; she’s worked in homicide and violence, and explains police processes to families.” 

Police protocols, court processes and coronial systems can be an opaque maze at a time of unbearable trauma, so Red Heart’s officer is there to keep families updated and demystify processes and timescales.  

“She walks them through the processes,” Sherele says. “People have no idea that they can contact the coroner’s court to get the file on their person. You wouldn’t know that unless they tell you.” 

For many families, their first interaction with the media comes without warning. 

Sherele’s journalist skills shine through when helping victims’ families navigate the media that’s thrust upon them.  

“For most people who’ve lost someone to homicide, their first experience with a journalist will be a ‘death knock’ on the door. I help them prepare for that and take control of their person’s narrative  – their photographs, their social media. “ 

“How do you get photos you don’t want published offline? How do you get media on side? What complaint options do you have? I coach them in what to expect  in media interviews, what to say about their loved one, how to tackle rough questions.” 

If reporters zero in on negative aspects of the victim’s life, Sherele  helps families take control of their story and pivot coverage towards treating it with respect. The way a story is told can shape that person’s legacy – but too often, families are not the ones telling it. 

In some cases, this support extends into advocacy. Sherele is on hand to help families launch justice campaigns for their people. She coaches them through social media campaigning – how to use Canva, how to write a post.  

She’s been working with Nikkita Azzopardi’s family after her killer was found not guilty due to mental impairment. “They’re doing a Justice for Nikkita campaign where they’re looking at the interplay between mental health findings and the lack of legal outcomes for victims and their families,” she says. These campaigns can help expose gaps and push for change. 

Sherele is just one woman. And she only owns one property – a one-bedroom apartment in Melbourne. But instead of living there herself, she offers it to women from marginalised communities leaving violence.  

‘Stacey’s Sanctuary’ is designed intentionally, down to the details. There’s one bedside table, removing any suggestion of a partner. The décor uses calming colours and there’s secure, street-free access.  

“It’s packed with food and everything you could need,” Sherele says. “All she needs to do is move in with her clothes and her pet, if she has one.” 

The first tenant moved in recently; “a really strong Aboriginal woman, she's really grateful for the opportunity to be able to save money so that she can move into her permanent home down the track.” 

Sherele is deliberate about who Stacey’s Sanctuary supports, and why. 

While Aboriginal women experience disproportionately high rates of domestic violence, they face additional barriers when trying to access housing. 

“She has to have a rental history,” Sherele explains. “If that’s been harmed by lack of payments or a partner damaging the walls with his fist, she’s probably not going to get anywhere to live.” 

She also points out that Aboriginal women are more likely to be misidentified as perpetrators – a failure that can have long-term consequences. 

“Any jail time will change her whole trajectory. So doing something like this is my way of helping plug the gap.” 

Violence against women and its most extreme expression – femicide – sit within a broader pattern of control that often starts long before physical violence. 

One of the clearest examples is financial abuse, which affects one in six women at some point in their lives. 

Sherele shares Verve’s belief that it’s important for women to be able to make their own financial decisions, whether they’re in a relationship or not. 

She sees it constantly: women locked out of accounts, given just enough to survive but not enough to leave. 

“If your finances are being controlled by someone else… there is a very big chance that you’re going to end up in a situation that could have dir  consequences.” 

Research from Commonwealth Bank found financial abuse is present in up to 99% of domestic violence cases, and is central to coercive control because when someone controls your money they control your options. 

“You are essentially a prisoner,” Sherele says. 

Without financial independence, leaving violence – or any relationship – can be impossible.  

What Sherele has built is extraordinary, but it’s also desperately trying to plug gaps that shouldn’t exist.  

Families navigating the worst days of their lives  houldn’t have to rely on one person to access support, understand processes or protect their loved one’s story. And women leaving violence shouldn’t have to depend on a single apartment to find safety. 

This support is a lifeline, but support alone doesn’t stop femicide. Prevention needs to happen at a society-wide, system-wide level.  

In Part 3, we look at what needs to change – from government and media to the role men play – and what  it will actually take to end this. 

If this story matters to you, there are ways to show up: 

• Support the Red Heart movement by following and amplifying Sherele’s work  

• Listen to the She Matters podcast, supported by Verve Super  

• Share this article to keep these stories visible — because what gets ignored doesn’t get fixed  

• Check in on someone — support doesn’t always have to be systemic to matter 

If this article has raised concerns or you need support, you’re not alone: 

1800RESPECT - 1800 737 732 or 1800respect.org.au 
Lifeline - 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au 
Full Stop Australia - 1800 385 578 

If you are in immediate danger, call 000. 

 
Verve Super has previously supported Sherele Moody’s She Matters podcast. This article is not affiliated with that partnership.