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Around the country

• A recent report by Australia’s National Research Organisation on Women’s Safety (ANROWS) has found that there is an urgent need to involve Indigenous communities in family violence responses and programs. The report has also shown that rebuilding family and kinship ties is central to addressing family violence.
• So-called ‘pick up artist’, Jeff Allen, was forced to cancel seminars and left Australia  after a comprehensive campaign criticising him for promoting misogynistic and abusive attitudes and calling for his deportation. After Allen left, the Department of Immigration cancelled his visa.
• In South Australia, the first female magistrate of the City of Mount Gambier, Teresa Anderson, has introduced court-ordered domestic violence counselling for abusive men.
• In Queensland, Cairns Regional Domestic Violence Service and Cape York’s Goobidi-Bamanga Community Advancement Cooperative Society will receive $80 000 and $45 000 respectively as part of one-off state-wide funding.
• In Victoria, the City of Greater Bendigo has signed up for a plan to address high rates of family and domestic violence in the region.
• In the ACT, demand from domestic and family violence crisis assistance increased by more than 34 percent in the holiday period, with almost 5000 calls in the lead up to Christmas.

Around the world

• In Peru, a woman who was denied an abortion in 2001, has finally been compensated in a historic UN Human Rights case.
• In Zimbabwe, a landmark ruling has banned child marriage in the country after two former child brides took the government to court.
• In Ireland, the government’s new strategy to address gender-based violence includes the introduction of a specific ‘forced marriage’ offence.
• Fiona Hodgson from the Gender Action for Peace and Security has written about the importance of increasing the number of women in peace talks.

Get involved!

• The Melbourne Research Alliance to End Violence against Women and their Children (MAEVe) is hosting a public event on 10 February in Melbourne to discuss the intersection of technology and violence against women.
• For Purpose Australia is running a three day professional development workshop for people working in the not-for-profit sector. The workshop will be held in Canberra from 17-19 February, with the option of enrolling in individual seminars on each of the days.
• Domestic Violence Crisis Centre ACT is holding its annual ball on 19 March 2016 in Canberra.Register here!
• AWAVA, in conjunction with Our Watch and supported by WESNET, invite you to attend an international conference on violence against women. The conference will be held from 19 to 22 September 2016. More information here!
• The 21^st Nursing Network on Violence Against Women International Conference 2016 will be held from 26-28 October 2016. More information here!