Weekly Round-Up* 21 September 2015

Around the Country

• The Federal Government will provide panic alarms and security upgrades to women under a new three-tiered strategy to address domestic violence.
• In NSW, a new women’s refuge has opened in Sydney’s west to provide short-term accommodation and crisis counselling to women.
• In Queensland, Premier Palaszczuk has announced a number of initiatives to address domestic and family violence. Changes include a roll out of body-worn cameras for police, the trial of a “one-stop-shop” for support services and reform of police reporting procedures.
• Also in Queensland, under the recent reforms Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath has introduced a bill to increase penalties for breaching domestic violence orders (DVOs).
• Again in Queensland, deputy anti-discrimination commissioner Neroli Holmes has said thatQueensland’s Anti-Discrimination Act needs reform to better protect vulnerable groups, including domestic violence victims and older workers.
• In Western Australia, the government has passed a new law under which burglaries involving sexual or physical assault will carry a mandatory sentence amounting to 75 per cent of the maximum sentence.
• Miki Perkins has written about relationship between domestic violence and homelessness.

Around the World

• In Pakistan, the country’s first Violence Against Women Centre (VAWC) was launched on Tuesday last week. The VAWC will provide multiple services from one location to women experiencing violence.
• In South Africa, the ANC Women’s League has called for action on gender-based violence, following the court appearance of Sindisiwe Manqele, the woman accused of killing former rapper Nonkululeko “Flabba” Habedi.
• In Chile, the Health Commission has approved the latest version of an abortion bill allowing access to safe abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.

Get Involved!

• Next Thursday 24 September Women’s Services Network (WESNET) is presenting the second of two free webinars on technology and safety for community legal service and domestic/family violence practitioners. Places limited.  Register here!
• The Damned Whores and God’s Police 40 Years On Conference on Anne Summers’ ground-breaking text of the same name will be held at the University of Technology Sydney, from 21 – 23 September 2015. Register here!
• British-Somalian activist Nimco Ali and Anne Summers will be discussing female genital mutilation in a public lecture in Melbourne on 28 September.
• The Women’s World Summit Foundation’s new campaign – 17 Days of Activism for the Empowerment of Rural Women and their Communities – begins on 1 October 2015. More information here!
• The 2015 National Indigenous Domestic Violence Conference will be held on 7 October 2015 in Carrara, Queensland.
• The Festival of THE Rural Woman, a free online global event, is running from 12 to 15 October 2015. Register here!
• The Canberra Community Sleepout will be held on 16 October 2015. Find out here how you can get involved and help raise awareness about homelessness in Canberra!
• The 3^rd World Conference of Women’s Shelters will be held in The Hague from 3 to 6 November 2015. More information here!