Weekly Round-Up * 13 October

Welcome to the latest edition of the AWAVA Weekly Round-Up. In this issue we have a bumper crop of interesting and in-depth articles and links after our few weeks of hiatus, not to mention some fantastic resources and reports.

 

In the last two weeks, AWAVA have been very busy. We attended both the Violence Prevention – It’s Everybody’s Business conference held in Bendigo last week, as well as participating in an extremely valuable training workshop run by Advocacy for Inclusion in Canberra on the violence experienced by women with disabilities. We always welcome the chance to share and learn from our colleagues, and we hope that you find some of the many resources linked to below as useful as we have.
 

Around the Country

• In Queensland, Dame Quentin Bryce, head of the recently formed Domestic Violence Taskforce, has stated her concerns that incidents of violence are becoming more common and more severe 
• In Victoria, the motorsport community are working to raise awareness of violence against women and children
• Muslim women have become the target of growing levels of islamophobic violence following increasing public rhetoric about terrorism in Australia 
  [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence]
• In Blacktown, NSW, police attribute a rise in reports of sexual and indecent assault to more women being comfortable reporting domestic violence
• In Queensland, a coronial inquest into the murder of Noelene Beutel by her partner is expected to hand down its findings this month [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence]
• After the gruesome murder of Mayang Prasetyo by her partner Marcus Volke, who then took his own life, a number of media outlets have used salacious language and slurs to describe her [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence, slurs, suicide]
• In Victoria, a group of women have raised over $1000 to support their friend who had been placed into an induced coma following a violent attack by her partner last month [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence]
• Amy Stockwell has written for Mamamia on the process of applying for intervention orders, domestic violence orders, and apprehended violence orders as they are variously known around Australia
• The Bankstown Sports Club has become one of the latest workplaces to offer paid leave and support to staff experiencing domestic violence 
• In Brisbane, a group of filmmakers have created The #YesAllWomen Project to look at gender equality, misogyny, harassment, assault, safety, and women’s right to speak freely in the context of social media [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence]
• In New South Wales, a system of cooperation between police and domestic violence services being trialled in Waverley and Orange may reduce fears felt by Aboriginal women in approaching police for assistance if they are experiencing domestic violence [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence]
• In the ACT, reductions in funding have contributed to a large number of women having to be turned away from refuges after fleeing family violence

Around the World

• In Myanmar, activists are calling for law reform on violence against women  [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence, victim-blaming]
• In Iraq, concern is increasing about violence against women being perpetrated by ISIS forces, however little attention is being paid to the high prevalence of gender-based violence already presentin the region
• In Poland, Catholic leaders are arguing that the country should not ratify the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence
• A heavily criticised ‘men only’ conference being held in Iceland on the topic of violence against women has announced that they will be including women as participants, but the conference will remain focussed on men and boys
• The World Bank has presented further research that violence is a contributing factor to women’s poverty in South Asia
• Queen Latifah has spoken about the importance of discussing domestic violence in all areas of the community
• Estimates suggest that violence against women and children in domestic settings around the worldgreatly outstrips the magnitude of violence and killing in civil wars 
• In Rwanda, mishandling of evidence is a key reason that many sexual assault prosecutions are dropped
• At a recent conference in Dhaka, Parliamentarians from 12 different Asia Pacific countries have been told to play the role of watchdog in preventing violence against women 
• In Winnipeg, Canada, two different women have been killed by their partners in the week following the annual Take Back The Night march 
• In South Africa, it has been estimated that violence against women costs the country between $2 and $4 billion dollars every year 
• On the island of St. Lucia, doctors and nurses are being trained in how to deal with victims of sexual assault at the urging of the local police force 
• At the United Nations General Assembly, South Korean President Park Geun-hye has used general terms to highlight the issue of sexual violence against women during wartime
• Lena Dunham has written about college sexual assault and her own experience of sexual violence in her new book
• Actress Jennifer Lawrence has spoken out about the theft and sharing of nude images of her

Research, Resources and Reports

• The 2014 Progress Report on the Australian National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security 2012-2018 is now available online
• A review of programs throughout the world that aim to prevent sexual violence has found only 2 have rigorous evidence to support their effectiveness, and ‘one-off’ interventions can be shown to be ineffective
• Presentations from the 8th National Homelessness Conference have now become available online for download 
• The Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare has published a review entitled ‘Safe at home’ programs in the context of the Victorian Integrated family Violence Service System Reform by Karen Crinall, Jenny Hurley and Lucy Healey

Get Involved!

• Our Sister Alliance, the National Rural Women’s Coalition (NRWC), is looking for a woman to represent South Australia on their Networking the Networks Advisory Group, which administers the National Rural Women’s Network! If you are a woman who wants to ensure that rural, remote and regional women’s voices are heard, be sure to check out this fantastic opportunity 
• Also from our Sister Alliances, economic Security 4 Women (eS4W) & NRWC are holding a community discussion about how the economic impact on women could be accommodated in approaches to natural and environmental disaster preparation, emergency management, disaster relief, recovery and mitigation policy and financial assistance. The forum will take place on Thursday 23rd October 2014 10:00am – 1:30pm in Marburg, QLD. Register online by Friday 17 October 
• The Challenging Responses to Family Violence Conference will be held in Ballarat, Victoria on 12-13 November 2014. The focus of the conference is how to work with the complex effects of family violence on women, men and children, to explore ideas and approaches for preventative work, and to challenge, explore and become innovative
• ANROWS is now taking Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the October 2014 Grants Round as part of ANROWS’s Research Program 2014-2016. Researchers from academic and research institutions, non-government organisations (NGOs) and community organisations are invited to apply 

 

 

**Articles published do not necessarily reflect the view of AWAVA and are included as items of interest only.