Welcome to the latest edition of the AWAVA Weekly Round-Up! This week, many of the links we feature concern the stories and experiences of women from Australia and around the world. Taking the time to truly hear women, especially survivors, is pivotal to our success in addressing men’s violence against women. These conversations, about our feminism and our activism, are what drive us to make effective change.
Around the Country
- Terms of Reference are now available for the Senate Standing Committees of Community Affairs Inquiry into violence, abuse and neglect against people with disability in institutional and residential settings, including the gender and age related dimensions, and the particular situation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability, and culturally and linguistically diverse people with disability
- The Australian Women’s Weekly have published the stories of five Australian women who have survived domestic violence [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence, violence against children]
- Australian employers who have introduced domestic violence leave have been identified as ‘world leaders’ in addressing violence against women
- Judith Lucy’s new television show, Judith Lucy is All Woman, is set to address feminism and violence against women in modern Australia
- UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Rashida Manjoo, was interviewed on RN Breakfast about violence against women in Australia
- Rosie Batty published a letter to her son Luke on the anniversary of his death [TRIGGER WARNING: Violence against children, death]
- In Victoria, there has been a sharp increase in numbers of sexual assaults reported on school and university campuses in the last financial year
- In Queensland, questions are being raised about the effectiveness of the current civil domestic violence order system
- In Victoria, the taskforce established by Former Chief Commissioner Ken Lay to investigate complaints of sexual harassment, serious predatory behaviour and sex discrimination by Victorian police has resulted in the arrest of a Protective Services officer for child sexual abuse
Around the World
- Frances Ryan has written about her experiences as a disabled feminist, suggesting that “when we see feminism and disability rights as separate campaigns and separate lives – we split a person down the middle”
- In Nigeria, a video has been released of 500 school girls being rescued from a violent attack by Boko Haram [TRIGGER WARNING: descriptions of violence, violence against children]
- In the United States, The University of Oregon has been accused of illegally accessing the medical records of a woman who they expected to file a sexual assault-related lawsuit against the school
- In the UK, there is community outrage after a court ordered a survivor of extreme domestic violence towrite to her ex-partner in prison [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence, graphic injuries, child abuse]
- In Namibia, the UK is continuing to fund a successful training course for Namibian police on “Community Policing and Gender-Based Violence”
- In the Solomon Islands, the government is seeking to raise awareness of the fact that domestic violence is now a criminal offense after the passage of the Family Protection Act 2014
- In the UK, Angelina Jolie has opened the UK Centre to Fight Warzone Violence Against Women at the London School of Economics [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence, sexual violence, violence against children]
- In the United States, law students are pushing for more in-depth coverage of the law around gender-based violence
- In Turkey, street protests have broken out demanding the government do more to address violence against women following the violent killing of a 20-year-old psychology student [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence, sexual assault, death]
- In Nigeria, United Nations Women in collaboration with Nigeria Women Platform for Peaceful Election (NWPPE) are working to build capacity to address violence against women in election environments
Research, Resources and Reports
- The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet has released their 2015 Closing the Gap Report
- The Together for Equality & Respect Action Plan 2013-2017 is now available to download. This Action Plan represents the implementation phase of Together for Equality & Respect: A Strategy to Prevent Violence Against Women in Melbourne’s East 2013 – 2017
- Rosie Batty has launched a new app, iMatter, to help women recognise the warning signs of abusive and controlling behaviour
Get Involved!
- The Foundation for Alcohol Research & Education (fare) have released the program for the launch of their report: ‘The hidden harm: Alcohol’s impact on children and families’ in Sydney, 24 February
- Registrations remain open for the 3rd World Conference of Women’s Shelters to be held in The Hague on 3-6 November 2015
- Registration remains open for the Australian Peacewomen Awards and Women’s Power to Stop War Conference in Canberra on 28-29 May 2015 presented by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)
**Articles published do not necessarily reflect the view of AWAVA and are included as items of interest only.