In this double edition of the Weekly Round-up, AWAVA brings you news from the sector and from AWAVA Headquarters. We are delighted to announce that Tara Ashford has joined the team as Administrative Assistant. A passionate and committed youth advocate, Tara comes to AWAVA from the social justice sector. Welcome Tara!
The last two weeks have seen work from a number of different sectors of the community tackling violence against women. The diverse programs come from sources like Tasmania Police, the Western Region Health Centre, community and traditional leaders, political leaders, as well as academics and researchers around the world. The variety of different strategies and participants highlights the fact that all sectors of the community have a responsibility to prevent and eliminate violence against women. The Personal Safety Survey results were also released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics providing a stark reminder of the sheer scale of violence against women in Australia.
( WISHIN’s annual Women’s Car Sleepout which raises awareness and funds to help women and children affect by homelessness. For more information, follow the link.)
Around the Country
- The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has focussed its attention on the ‘Towards Healing’ process established by the Catholic church with victims leaving the room when the Church’s lawyer quoted from the Bible. The Commission has also indicated they will be investigating the Salvation Army next year.
- In Melbourne, hundreds of community leaders from around the country came together at the MCG “to discuss male responsibility for violence.”
- A proposal is being put forward in Murray Bridge, SA from a group of family support workers to hold a vigil in front of the local government centre any time a woman dies as a result of domestic violence in the state.
- A Tasmanian police officer charged over two incidents of domestic violence has been allowed to remain at work “in a non-operational capacity” before he faces the Magistrate’s Court in Hobart.
- Sydney Feminists have begun their Christmas fundraising drive with the charity ‘Mahboba’s Promise’, raising money for widows and orphans in Afganistan.
- In Queensland, Community Development Worker Michelle Dang writes, “Domestic violence isn’t an easy or comfortable issue to talk about, but we have discovered art has been such a fun, powerful and accessible way of connecting young people to this issue”.
- A new study from Monash University has highlighted the need for law reform to ensure justice for women who kill violent partners.
- “A community health centre in Melbourne’s western suburbs has launched a program to address domestic violence in the region’s growing refugee populations.”
- Matthew da Silva writes that violence against women is “a matter that all men must face,” in Australia and around the world.
Around the World
- The UN has reported that use of new laws protecting women in Afganistan has been ‘slow’ and ‘uneven’.
- Researchers from CREVAWC in Canada have launched a national survey to measure the impact of domestic violence on workers and workplaces, not just inside the home.
- In Al Fashir, North Darfur, over 500 people held celebrations under the theme: Together We Protect Women Against Violence
- In Canada, events were held around the country on the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women on Dec. 6. This day was put in place by the Canadian government in memory of the 14 women who were killed at Ecole Polytechnique in 1989.
- In Namibia, the connection between gender-based violence and HIV is continuing to be highlighted, including in an art exhibition, ‘Unite to End Gender-based Violence’, launched by First Lady Mrs Penehupifo Pohamba.
- In Columbus, experts have warned of increases in domestic violence incidents [Trigger Warning: descriptions of abuse] over the holiday season as anger and stressors rise, feeding into existing cycles of violence.
- In Kathmandu, calls have been made for activists to recognise the struggles of LGBTI women. “Lesbian and transgender women also come under the female category,” said LGBTI rights activist Sunil Babu Pant.
- Local Councils in the UK are struggling with how to deal with commissioning domestic violence services.
- The Higher Education Commission in Islamabad is being pushed to deal with growing levels of cybercrime against women.
- In Sierra Leone, “Paramount Chief of Pendembu in the Upper Bambara Chiefdom, Kailahun District has launched a strong campaign on violence against women and children in his chiefdom, saying it was the responsibility of traditional leaders to collectively address the menace in their respective chiefdoms and the country as a whole.”
- Women’s Trust, in Zimbabwe, is calling for the engagement of traditional leaders and the institutions they control in protecting women from gender-based violence.
- In the United States, Eugene R Fidell gives a summary of the proposals that went before the Senate for addressing the prosecution of sexual assault in the military.
**Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of AWAVA and are included as items of interest only