AUCKLAND, New Zealand — The killing of a young British tourist after a night out in Auckland has shocked and dismayed New Zealanders, who gathered by the thousands on Wednesday to mourn her death at vigils around the country.

But grief has given way to anger about the prevalence of violence against women — and about the lengths to which many women feel they must go in order to protect themselves — in a country often seen as progressive and safe.

The biggest gatherings were held in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, not far from where the backpacker, Grace Millane, was last seen on Dec. 1, the day before her 22nd birthday. She had spent the evening in the company of a 26-year-old man who has been charged with her murder. His name has not been released.

Police officers found her body in a forested area on the city’s western outskirts on Sunday.

“It could have been one of us,” said Tanith Carrington, 29, who had brought flowers to one of the Auckland vigils. Adding that a relative had been killed by a former partner when Ms. Carrington was a child, she said Ms. Millane’s death had “personalized” the risks of being a woman.