As always, there have been a large number of news stories from around the sector during the last week. Footballer Adam Goodes was named Australian of the Year. His strong advocacy around preventing violence against women and in particular domestic violence is greatly welcomed by AWAVA, with the recognition that a strong commitment to eliminating violence against women is necessary from all parts of society. We would like to wish him our sincere congratulations on this award.
Around the Country
- The Federal Government has commenced consultations on the development of the Second Action Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Children
- The Foundation to Prevent Violence against Women and their Children has announced the appointment of their new Director, Policy and Evaluation
- In Kempsey, services directed at perpetrators of domestic violence are asking for funding from the NSW State Government
- Jacqui Lait, who runs the domestic violence wing of Fighters Against Child Abuse Australia , has spoken out about her experiences of domestic violence in an effort to help others
- Minus18 have developed resources on intimate partner abuse specifically catering to LGBTQI youth
- The Australian Institute of Family Studies have published a resource indicating “the potential long-term effects of child abuse and neglect that may extend into adulthood”
Around the World
- While on the red carpet recently, Cate Blanchett calls out the “subtle moment[s] of sexism that even the most successful women have to deal with”
- In the US, President Barack Obama has created a taskforce to combat incidents of sexual violence on college campuses and given them 90 days to draft a list of proposals
- In Nigeria, Nollywood stars have held a public walk in Nigeria to raise awareness of the problem of violence against women
- Half of all women serving in the German military have reported some sexual abuse during their military career
- Concern continues to be raised about the status of women in Afghanistan in light of the upcoming large-scale troop withdrawal
- Isis the Scientist has written a powerful response to her being outed as a trans*woman by Henry Gee, Editor of Nature, in retaliations for criticising the journal’s treatment of women
- In Nepal, “The Nepal Police headquarters said the number of VAW cases reported across the country increased from 1,774 in 2009-10 to 3,340 in 2011-12 Of the total gender-based violence cases from 2009 to 2012, domestic abuse topped the chart (55 per cent to 67 per cent), followed by rape (17 per cent to 21 per cent)”
**Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of AWAVA and are included as items of interest onl