The murder of British tourist Grace Millane has shone a spotlight on violence against women in New Zealand, according to a woman organising a vigil for Grace.
Candlelight vigils will be held across the country tonight for Grace.
Elouise Quigan, the organiser of tonight's vigil in Federal Street, central Auckland told TVNZ1's Breakfast Grace's death strikes a chord with many of us because we can indentify with her.
"I think, to be really honest, that we've all seen a little bit of ourselves in Grace, you know? People have travelled, or we’ve gone out late, or we've just lived, or are living, a bright, young, vivacious life".
Ms Quigan says Grace's life will be celebrated in tonight's vigil.
"We want to recognise and kind of see that she died very tragically and ... want to celebrate her life."
Ms Quigan says Grace's death has made Kiwis look in the mirror about the number of women who've experienced violence.
"We have some of the worst statistics about violence against women. I'm sure that everybody's aware that someone else tragically was murdered this week ... she’s going to be part of our thoughts and every other woman who's died this year during these candlelight vigils across the country tonight."
Ms Quigan said she got the idea to organise a vigil after reading an article posted by Villainesse founder Lizzie Marvelly.
She described the statistics on violence against women as "absolutely horrifying".
"There was a report released yesterday that is one every four minutes – it's absolutely tragic. I think I read a stat yesterday that was around 35 per cent of New Zealand women will have some kind of violence or sexual incident in their life.
"It's absolutely horrifying and I just really feel that we need to do something to stop violence against women."
"I see it (the vigils) as a real opportunity for us all to connect and get together and make this conversation an even bigger one that it's ever been before.
Grace's body was found in a bush area on Scenic Drive, in the Waitakere Ranges, following an extensive search on Sunday.
A 26-year-old man charged with the murder of the 22-year-old appeared in the Auckland District Court Monday where he was given interim name suppression.
A vigil in Queenstown was held last night, while vigils have been organised tonight for Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, New Plymouth, Nelson, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Blenheim.
Photo tributes to Grace Millane have also been posted on social media under the hashtag #herlightourlove.
Vigils being held across the country tonight:
Auckland - St Patrick's Cathedral Square at 6pm & Federal Street at 7pm
Hamilton - Memorial Park at 7pm (pending confirmation)
New Plymouth - Puki Ariki Landing at 7pm
Wellington - Civic Square at 7pm
Nelson - 1903 Square at 7pm
Christchurch - Cathedral Square at 7pm
Dunedin - Lower Octagon at 7pm
Blenheim - Taylor River Amphitheatre at 7pm
Rotorua - Tutanekai and Hinemoa Streets at 7pm
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