Weekly Round-Up * 3 March

Welcome to the latest edition of the AWAVA Weekly Round-Up. This week, we have highlighted a number of links dealing with research into violence against women. With the 59^th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW59) and International Women’s Day both fast approaching, the enormous expertise of our sector is on show. Sharing our knowledge and wisdom is the first step to taking effective action and eliminating men’s violence against women around the world.

Around the Country

• The Queensland Domestic Violence Taskforce has released its report, Not Now, Not Ever
• Researchers have called for more consistent performance or success indicators to measure the effectiveness of our responses to domestic violence
• The Australian Human Rights Commission has welcomed the Government’s recent changes to workplace gender reporting 
• Researchers and service providers have agreed that sexist attitudes contributing to violence against women first begin in early childhood
• Despite a drop in violent crime overall, domestic violence and sexual assault rates continue to risearound Australia with the vast majority of perpetrators still men
• In the lead up to International Women’s Day, a panel of experts has spoken on ABC Radio about how to bring about the cultural change required to address violence against women
• Around the country, women’s experiences of mental ill-health affect the impacts that street harassment has on them
  [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of street harassment]
• In Victoria, Marcia Neave, the Commissioner of the first Royal Commission into Family Violence, has spoken out to emphasise that violence against women is everyone’s responsibility
• In New South Wales, the Nowra Domestic Violence Intervention Service has reported that that a family were forced to sleep on the floor in the local police station after being refused crisis accommodation
• In Queensland, the domestic violence support service DVConnect have expressed concerns thatpolice are not adequately responding to domestic violence incidents
• In Darwin, a teenaged girl in immigration detention has harmed herself after alleging that she was sexual assaulted during her time in detention on Nauru [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of attempted suicide, sexual violence against children]
• In the ACT, federal budget cuts could affect the ability of the Domestic Violence Crisis Service to provide translators of victims

Around the World

• In Turkey, Nobel Prize winners have come together to condemn men’s violence against women in the country
• Canadian MP Sharon Hodgson has reflected on her attendance at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Women Parliamentarians’ Conference and the importance of addressing violence against women globally
• In the United States, actor Halle Berry has spoken about her experience of domestic violence as a child [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence]
• In Pakistan, a bill designed to address violence against women will soon be sent to the government for approval
• In Belgium, the cycling race E3 Harelbeke has come under fire for their sexist advertisement in the lead up to this year’s race
• In the United States, the story of the ‘Monty Hall problem’ and the ‘world’s smartest woman’ is a reminder that hate mail and harassment of women in public pre-dates the internet 
• In Ghana, Amnesty International has raised concerns about the country’s efforts to address violence against women
• In Iraq, both pro- and anti-government forces have been documented using sexual violence against women as a weapon of war [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence, sexual violence]

Research, Resources and Reports

• The Foundation for Alcohol Research & Education (fare)’s report, The Hidden Harm: Alcohol’s impact on children and families is now available online
• The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet has released its review of the Martin Place Siege, however the role of violence against women is not covered in any depth within the publication[TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence, gun violence, death]

Get Involved!

• A petition in Queensland calling for domestic violence death reviews, in line with Recommendation 8 of the Queensland Domestic Violence Taskforce Report, has already gained over 8,000 signatures

 

 

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