In this double edition of the weekly round-up, we are delighted to inform you that registration remains open for a six-part webinar series on online safety in a digital world called ‘From Faxes to Facebook’ to be delivered by AWAVA’s lead agency, the Women’s Services Network (WESNET), as part of its Safety Net Australia Project. Collectively, these webinars offer “a comprehensive understanding of how technology may be misused by abusers as well as best practices for agencies in using technology to enhance their support services for women experiencing gender-based violence…”. Information on the individual topics each webinar addresses in-depth, and free registration, is available via the WESNET website.
Around the Nation
- From Canberra, a victim/survivor of domestic violence shared their story of struggle and hope in this powerful personal testimony
- Intersections between racially-motivated and gender-motivated violence frequently emerge. The Australian Race Discrimination Commissioner published this piece providing a snapshot of casual racism in Australia and why taking a stand matter
- Results from a national survey on the sexual harassment of women doctors by patients has uncovered results that experts describe as “disturbing“
- In Sydney, a former director of the Vagina Monologues is working on a new theatre project that aims to bring the lived human element of domestic violence to the forefront of community consciousness
- From Melbourne, the Herald Sun reported on the increased prevalence of stalkers using mobile technology and social media to terrorise victim/survivors of domestic violence
- ‘The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse’ held more face-to-face consultations with Commissioners in both Melbourne and Perth this week. Over the next month, they will also be visiting Darwin, Brisbane and Canberra.
Around the World
- The Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister blasted the United Nations General Assembly with a speech renouncing early and forced marriage, saying “Canada’s government doesn’t seek to have our values or principled foreign policy validated by elites who would rather ‘go along to get along…”
- President Barack Obama announced that October 2013 is America’s first National Domestic Violence Awareness Month
- Erin Hogeboom unleashed this response to the US Government’s recent announcement of $10 million in new funding to protect women and girls from violence, saying that “in not yet ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)… the U.S. is sending a clear message…that it will set the moral compass but not be held accountable to the same standards”
- Panellists at a United Nations ministerial meeting advocated for violence against women and girls to be a pivotal focus of the post-Millenium Development Goals agenda, with the new Executive Director of UN Women saying that “violence against women is one of the most pervasive human rights violations during times of peace and conflict…”
- At the 2013 Social Good Summit, the Executive Director of UN Women also said that with your tweets, social media has the potential to end violence against women
- Remarks at the Tanzania Media Women Association (TAMWA) encouraged women to speak out to ensure the inclusion of gender-based issues in the country’s new Constitution
- In India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said there is a need to change public and private mindsets to stop violence against women
- Extreme cases of street harassment motivated columnist Soraya Chemaly to discuss the “gendered asymmetry in violence”
- From Canada, one journalist covered the annual ‘Take Back the Night’ march and reflected on the challenges and achievements that have typified the thirty years since the first iconic march took place, and another journalist featured a separate ‘Take Back the Night’ march in Chatham
- Fears that stoning may be on the rise in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq led to women’s rights activist groups launching a new international campaign, with a spokesperson saying stoning is “one of the most brutal forms of violence perpetrated against women in order to control and punish their sexuality and basic freedoms”
- Experts say that the dearth of current statistics on violence against women in Canada contributes to the issue’s invisibility in both communities and in public policy
- Panama passed new legislation in an attempt to counter-act rising trends worldwide of femicide, which can be defined “as an extreme manifestation of human rights violation in which the murder of the woman is based in gender biases”
- In the US, an appeals court ruled that military personnel who are victim/survivors of sexual assault are eligible for disability pay for psychiatric trauma even if they did not report incidents
- From the UK, The Guardian published an article on the importance of employers creating safe and supportive spaces for victim/survivors of domestic violence.
- The Guardian also recounted the story of Raven Kaliana who was trafficked by her parents into child pornorgraphy and now works as a passionate advocate for victim/survivors through her campaign ‘Outspiral’
- In Nairobi, a local NGO called Maishi e. v. reported extremely high levels of prevalence for gender-based violence in Kenya and identified the dire need for more support services to become available
- From Tennessee in the US, a spokesperson for Voice for Victims focussed on the importance of education in combating domestic violence, stating that “A woman who leaves an abusive relationship increases her chances of being murdered by 75 percent”
- The lack of adequate trigger warnings included in the controversial depiction of sexual violence in the popular British television series ‘Downtown Abbey’ was condemned by many viewers
Get Involved
- Amnesty International’s blogging competition is open and will be taking submissions until 1 Nov 2013 on articles with a human rights theme
- Women’s Health Victoria will be holding a free seminar on Tuesday 19 October called ‘Beyond the Sext: Technology – facilitated by violence and harassment’. To register, please follow this link
- In Melbourne, US trainer and consultant David Mandel is presenting two workshops hosted by No To Violence and the Domestic Violence Resource Centre. The first is ‘Safe Together: a child-centred approach to the intersection of intimate partner violence and child maltreatment’ on Thursday 14 November. The second is ‘Safe engagement and assessment: working with fathers to support safe, positiver fathering’ on Friday 15 November. For more information, follow this link.
- Lifeline Australia provides a free domestic violence training program ‘DV Alert’ which teaches social service professionals how to recognise, respond and refer cases of domestic and family violence. This is accredited training program is available in all Australian states and territories. Find out if you are eligible.
- The Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse will be holding a national workshop together with the Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault on 8 November in Adelaide for “advanced practitioners and clinicians working in the men’s behaviour change and therapy field”
**Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of AWAVA and are included as items of interest only