It is time once again for another edition of the AWAVA Weekly Round-Up. This week, we have highlighted links which include a variety of responses to violence against women from all different sections of the community. We can take this opportunity to learn from both good and bad responses to gender-based violence and gender inequality. Violence exists on a spectrum, and it is the responsibility of every member of society to oppose violence against women in whatever form it takes.
Around the Country
- In Victoria, student leaders from Waverley College organised the Waverley College Violence Against Women Forum to bring together students and consider what they can do to prevent violence against women
- In New South Wales, a Nationals MP has used threatening and sexist language to attack a cabinet minister whose department made a decision he was not happy with [TRIGGER WARNING: Violent language, threats]
- Clementine Ford writes about the need to take ‘groping’ and assault seriously [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of indecent assault, sexual assault]
- In South Australia, the State Coroner remains highly critical of the Police’s handling of domestic violence
- Hannah Piterman writes that business must commit to addressing violence against women
- In Orange, NSW, the local Domestic Violence Action Group are working to increase awareness of domestic violence and public support for victims and survivors
Around the World
- In Nigeria, more than 60 girls and women have escaped from Boko Haram after having been abducted in late June
- In the UK, a judge has highly made inappropriate comments while attempting to comfort a man being sentenced for sexual assault [TRIGGER WARNING: rape apologism]
- Around the world, accusations of witchcraft and sorcery continue to serve as an excuse for gender-based violence
- In New Zealand, judges will be given more power to order 24 hour GPS monitoring of domestic violence offenders
- In Canada, the Supreme Court has ruled that defendants not be allowed access to the police records of victims when they are not related to the case in question
- In the lead up to Mandela Day, people across South Africa are working to support survivors of gender-based violence
- In the United States, Senator Claire McCaskill is raising concerns that colleges and universities areinadequately dealing with or outright ignoring incidents of sexual assault
- In Lebanon, for the first time a man has been convicted under the new domestic violence law passed in April [TRIGGER WARNING: descriptions of domestic violence, threats of violence]
- In Texas, a 16 year old girl is campaigning against sexual assault and online harassment after images of her being assaulted were posted online [TRIGGER WARNING: descriptions of sexual assault, use of social media to harass]
Research and Reports
- Submissions remain open for funding from the newly established Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety to conduct research into stemming rates of violence against women
- The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society has published Norma’s Project: A Research Study into the Sexual Assault of Older Women in Australia by Rosemary Mann, Philomena Horsley, Catherine Barrett and Jean Tinney
Get Involved
- The Take Back the Tech! campaign will be starting on July 21, in the hopes of encouraging large social media providers to better address violence against women on their platforms
- Theatre group Improvising Change have called for the submission of short plays on the topic of ‘Mothers and the Impact of Domestic Violence’
- A research project out of ANU is seeking people over 18, who currently reside in Australia, and who currently work with/on the issues of gender violence and the law/legal system in relation to Aboriginal women and girls in Australia, to complete a survey on Gender Violence and the Rule of Law in Aboriginal Australia
**Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of AWAVA and are included as items of interest only