This week, AWAVA brings news from the National Plan Implementation Panel (NPIP) with regards to the National Centre of Excellence. The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) has announced:

“”Helen Freeland has been appointed as the interim CEO of the National Centre of Excellence. Helen has a long history with the NSW Department of Community Services, and has been working closely with Emeritus Professor Anne Edwards towards getting the NCE up and running””.

In other news Around the Country:

  • The Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department has developed a short survey to map awareness-raising initiatives and service provision in the anti-trafficking space, including forced marriage. The survey is available here
  • The Australian Government is undertaking a review of the Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme as required under the Paid Parental Leave Act 2010. FaHCSIA is encouraging interested individuals and organisations to contribute to the review by making a submission. You can make a submission by answering the questions in the downloadable submission form on the PPL review webpage
  • Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick calls for tougher sentences for domestic violence cases
  • In Hobart, women will be marching to Parliament House to show solidarity with victims and survivors of rape, in an attempt to end rape culture and vicitim blaming. This is particularly in response to last week’s verdict and comments as delivered by Justice Peter Evans.
  • This op-ed by Shantha Rau Barriga, senior advocate at Human Rights Watch, says that we need to protect the rights of women and girls with disablities
  • Aayan Hirsi Ali, who will speak at the All About Women Festival (Sydney) this weekend, says women’s safety is the top priority and is at the core of feminism.
  • In Sydney, a manager of a brothel has been found guilty of keeping 6 women in sexual servitude

Internationally

  • Forced abortions, sterilisations and female infanticide continue in China under the guise of ‘family planning’ and the one child policy.
  • In Canada, changes to the “”Welcome to Canada”” brochure for new migrants specifically state Female Genital Mutiliation and Honour-based Violence have no place and will not be tolerated. However, concerns have been raised that this may lead to ultimately unhelpful cultural stereotyping, says critic Jinny Sims.
  • In Guatemala, rape victims/survivors start to give evidence against a military regime that systematically raped indigenous women during the Guatemalan civil war.
  • Kate Muwoki, Program Officer, Africa Region, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), pleads for action in South Africa to end violence against women, but particularly for Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender women who are often the victims of ‘corrective’ or ‘curative’ rape which Muwoki says is often ignored by law enforcement.
  • Read this article from India, which looks at the impact on the family of an 8 year old rape victim/survivor.
  • From the UK, this article in the Huffington Post refutes claims that Female Genital Mutiliation is cultural and needs to be addressed as Violence Against Women and Girls
  • And still in the UK, an expanded definition of domestic violence will cover more types of abuse and more victims/survivors

 

Weekend viewing!

Soup du Jour Productions have now released their 4-part series online. Read an excerpt from their media release below, and click here to access the episodes

“”Inspired by Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by the husband-and-wife team Nick Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, ‘ˆ‡’ features a perspective of the opportunities that lie within the empowerment of women, examining the spectrum of attitudes held, and behaviours toward women from differing sexes and cultures.

The narrative laments the various forms of oppression women globally experience, from the cruel and often violent characteristic of some developing regions – including sex trafficking/forced prostitution, gender-based violence and maternal health – to a contemplation of the more implicit behaviours latent in Australian society. Blossoming from this moral challenge, the narrative develops to a consideration of the transforming powers held within the empowerment and education of women.””

*Articles published are not necessarily representative of the views and opinions of AWAVA, and are published as general information only