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Most women identified high levels of sexual violence against women in their communities, as well as a conservative and judging culture that makes disclosure very difficult for women. A fear of 'feminists’, and in particular 'lesbians', leads to hostile and derisory behaviour towards women who speak out against male sexual violence. The police, politicians and media want simple explanations. Women also talked about the open support for Pauline Hanson that influences public opinion: "There are no feminist protest rallies here. It's an experience that women need here and they look forward to RTN each year. It's totally different in the country to the city." 9 "The idea of sexual assault was quite confronting to the community... it was quite confronting to have a march and confront attitudes." 10 "It has to be done on a smaller scale but the basics are still there... the focus is the march." 4 "It's much more public to be involved in a rural community than in the city." 11 "A lot of women are afraid of marching and don't want to be seen marching. Probably because they've never marched before." 12 "It's just a buzz being there. To see how many women and children there are, coming out to say that this is not OK is fantastic, particularly in a smaller, more conservative community." 11 "Where else can you walk down the main street and vent your rage! When else are women's voices allowed to be heard, especially in a country town? Where else can you walk down the main street yelling, 'No parole for rapists’" 12 "Community awareness is one of the most important things about RTN. Making a stand in the community, especially a community such as Wagga, being out west and traditionally not having women stand out in the community." 13 "The criticisms are of powerful women. A comment at a community meeting later was that '60 lesbians marched up the main street in Moruya! The worst thing you can be is a lesbian in a rural community. It's the most stigmatised." 12 These comments reflect the courage of women in rural areas, as well as their tenacity in acting publicly in their home towns. What they achieve for women and children's safety is bigger than any backlash they might experience
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