This week AWAVA has continued to follow media reports on victim-blaming and rape cultures in the aftermath of John Law’s comments and the US Steubenville trial. As the week draws to a close, it’s a good time to remember that the struggle to end all forms of violence against women and to challenge the everydayness of sexism and misogyny continues, both here and internationally.
Around the nation:
- Responding to John Laws’ comments last week, Kasey Edwards says that Rape Culture needs to be deliberately and systemically dismantled
- In Tasmania, a judge’s comments about a a teenage victim/survivor of sexual assault have been met with disgust and outrage
- In Victoria, concerns have been raised for lack of access for women to late-term abortions, which may particularly affect victims/survivors of family violence and rape
- The Australian Human Rights commission reports that changes to the Fair Work Act to include flexible working arrangements for people experiencing domestic and family violence are welcome additions
- This Herald Sun editorial says no civilised society can accept violence against women (AWAVA would say that NO society, anywhere, ever, should accept violence against women)
- More from the Herald Sun on Ricky Nixon – asking How did he avoid jail? Read the story of his guilty plea here
- This article, dripping with sarcasm and tongue-in-cheek quotes, looks at community attitudes towards Ricky Nixon and men who use violence against women
- Amy Cordroy looks at the understanding of consent when drugs and alcohol are involved. To access her original article click here
Internationally:
- More on Steubenville, with this article looking at debunking the myths of rape and rape culture
- Read this article and watch the video clip in response to Steubenville, which has gone viral with over a million views
- This article looks at the historical and cultural context of rape, and calls for a move to a new understanding of consent. In the same vein, this article wants us to go Beyond Consent
- In Cameroon, FGM is denounced as being “a wrong practice“ by Dr Jospeh Tabi Tabi
- FGM is being tackled in Nigeria by working working with tribal elders
- The Gender Institute at the London School of Economics organized a public event to explore the politics of female genital mutilation (FGM) on 18 March. A guest speaker’s paper estimates that “66,000 women residing in England and Wales had undergone FGM, while 24,000 girls under 25 are at high risk or may have undergone FGM”
- The UK foreign secretary William Hague says that rape as a weapon of war has been taboo, ignored and taken for granted for too long
- In Jamaica, the Information Minister calls for an end to violence against women
- Campaigners have called for a day of action to support a young Tunisian woman who appeared to post pictures of herself topless as part of a feminist movement in the country, and was subsequently threatened with death by stoning
- A group of Spanish-speaking domestic violence survivors/victims in New York have filed a lawsuit against the NYPD for not providing translators and putting them at risk
- Amanda Marcotte wants us to talk about abuse of women like we can about cats
- Soraya Chemaly says online threats to women aren’t trivial and looks at how they are used to maintain power and control over women
- This report looks at the decline in prostitution, violence and human trafficking since changes to Sweden’s sex-work laws in 1999
Reports and Resources
Policy Reports
- The Australian Institute of Family Studies has released a paper on child abuse and neglect in Australia
- The Australian Institute of Criminology has published a research report on forced and servile marriage in the context of
of Human Trafficking
Get Involved!!
Campaigns and Petitions
- AWAVA joined 30,000+ signatories to lend support to the joint Getup! and Destroy the Joint petition against victim-blaming; you can still show your support and tell John Laws that his questioning was irresponsible by signing here
- Join the calls demanding Facebook have a dedicated reported function for reporting child sexual abuse
*Articles published are not necessarily representative of the views and opinions of AWAVA, and are published as general information only