The family of the 19-year-old Brunswick woman who was allegedly murdered have called for media reporting on victims to be more sensitive to the impact on loved ones.
The family of the 19-year-old Brunswick woman who was allegedly murdered have called for media reporting on victims to be more sensitive to the impact on loved ones.
By Wendy Tuohy
March 15, 2025 — 6.26pm
The family of Isla Bell, the 19-year-old Brunswick woman who police allege was murdered by a 53-year-old St Kilda man, and her body left in a refrigerator at a suburban recycling centre, has spoken of the trauma caused to families by some reporting of women’s violent deaths.
Kieran Dionysus, the uncle of the young creative and permaculturist, spoke after a Melbourne anti-violence rally about the harm caused by a focus on the alleged past of victims, rather than on the actions of perpetrators.
He said families were retraumatised when reports contained information that “dehumanise[s] and demeans victim survivors”, including making statements about the deceased that were not correct.
“Women [victims] are profiled, their mental health, their psychosocial position, their standing in society in the area they live, how they dress,” Dionysus, the brother of Isla Bell’s mother, Justine Spokes, told The Age.
“Their history’s brought up, and yet the history of the perpetrator isn’t discussed.”
He said a respected national news outlet had labelled Isla, who went missing in October 2024, as a sex worker, when she was not, and called for the reporting on women who had been allegedly murdered to be far more sensitive to the impact it would have on loved ones.
Bell’s mother, Justine Spokes, told the Melbourne arm of the She Matters: Stop Killing Women rallies held around the nation on Saturday that gendered violence represents a war on women “that’s being waged in parliaments, in the boardrooms, in the media, in our workplaces, our homes and even in our bedrooms”.
“It’s a widespread, toxic culture,” she said.
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“Isla’s desire to love and nurture all life forms ran so deep, she cared and was courageous – calling out abuse no matter how big or small in the moment as it occurred,” Spokes said.
“She took risks by stepping out of her comfort zone to support those in potentially unsafe situations, a baby herself.”
Isla Bell’s image was spread widely in public locations in and around Melbourne after she was discovered missing on October 4. Large numbers of Melburnians engaged with the campaign to find Bell in the six weeks until her remains were found on November 19.
Court documents allege 53-year-old St Kilda man Marat Ganiev murdered Bell in St Kilda East on October 7. Remains were discovered during a search for the 19-year-old at a Dandenong tip, in Melbourne’s south-east, more than a month later.
The She Matters rally, which was attended by about 150 people, displayed a 30-metre list of Australian women and children killed since 2008, including 117 since January 2024 and 14 killed this year.
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Other relatives of women allegedly murdered recently called for the introduction of ankle bracelets to monitor high-risk stalking offenders, and for closing “the mental impairment” loophole, which speakers said was being used by alleged perpetrators to plead for time in mental health care rather than jail.
Greater scrutiny of the deaths of women deemed to have committed suicide after or during exposure to serious family violence was also demanded, and the state government was singled out by loved ones for not having joined NSW and Queensland in outlawing coercive control.
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Wendy Tuohy is a senior writer focusing on social issues and those impacting women and girls.Connect via Twitter or email.
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