In this week’s edition of the Weekly Round-Up, we have highlighted a huge variety of programs, strategies, and research focussing on preventing and eliminating violence against women. From legal assistance to public marches, from educating school children to training doctors, and in so many other ways, our communities are stepping up to address gender-based violence.
AWAVA is also excited to announce that Sophie Hardefeldt will be joining the AWAVA team as Program Manager next month.
Sophie has a BA in Development Studies from Melbourne Uni, and a Masters of Social Science in International Development from RMIT. She has also completed some Human Rights courses in the US. She has most recently been working for the Centre for Social Research in India as the Campaigns and International Projects Manager. She has a strong background in human rights and gender and other social inequalities. She has undertaken internships for The Program on Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Human Rights Program in India, and for The United Nations Development Fund for Women South Asia Economic Security and Rights Program. Prior to moving to India she worked for the Department of Health in Victoria on the Victorian Data Linkages Project and Australian Catholic University as the Research Services Officer (Ethics).
We look forward to welcoming Sophie into our team. She is due to start work on 23rd June.
Around the Country
- A new pilot program is offering pro bono legal assistance to people in hospital, including victims of domestic violence
- The Court of Appeal in Victoria has firmly condemned violence against women in a judgement rejecting an appeal by an offender against an 8-year gaol term
- In Victoria, Premier Denis Napthine has committed $3 million for the construction of new facilities by the women’s crisis accommodation service Annie North in Bendigo
- In Queensland, a police officer has spoken out to support the teaching of programs in schools specifically focussing on gender-based violence
- Alice Williams writes about a day at a women’s crisis support centre [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence, sexual violence, stalking, financial abuse]
- In Victoria, the growing Indian community is being confronted with the issue of violence against women [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence, sexual violence]
- Support continues to grow for the No Excuse campaign started by Domestic Violence NSW
- Morning television presenter Samantha Armytage was the subject of an on-air ‘prank’ which many are describing as sexual harassment
Around the World
- In the UK, two conferences are being planned to mark the end of Project Mirabal – a longitudinal research project into domestic violence perpetrator programmes. The conferences will be free to attend, and further enquiries can be made to [email protected]
- In Zimbabwe, hundreds of women have marched in memory of Isabel Masuka who was killed by her husband last month. In response, the Government has affirmed its commitment to address gender-based violence
- In Germany, figures have been released showing that the number of convictions in rape cases across the country has fallen from 22% to just 8% over the last two decades
- In Indonesia, one of the Commissioners of the National Commission on Violence against Women, Andy Yentriyani, has spoken about her experiences of sexual violence in the context of racial prejudice [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of sexual violence]
- Taiwan’s Health Minister Chiu Wen-ta has described to the World Medical Association the steps his country is taking to address violence against women
Research and Reports
- Women with Disabilities Victoria (WDV), in partnership with the Office for the Public Advocate (OPA) and the Domestic Violence Resources Centre Victoria (DVRCV) have launched their research project ‘Voices Against Violence’
- A recording and transcript are now available from the Child Family Community Australia webinar ‘Sexual abuse and exploitation prevention: Effective responses’ which presented the current research on child sexual abuse in Australia
- The Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault has published ‘Bystander Approaches: Responding to and preventing men’s sexual violence against women’ by Dr Anastasia Powell
- The call for research grant applications into a range of areas aimed at stemming the rate of violence against women from ANROWS, Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety, is still open
**Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of AWAVA and are included as items of interest only