14 October Weekly Round-up

Welcome to this week’s Round-Up! Originally conceived to make sense of the racialised experiences of black women, ‘intersectionality’ is a term expressing the understanding that gender inequality is not the same for all women: racism, homophobia, colonialism and abelism all combine to affect women’s different experiences of gender inequality and violence. At the recent Prevalent & Preventable conference, participants sought to explore what ‘we’ actually mean when we use the term ‘intersectionality’. This required recognising and acknowledging that as individuals and individuals within groups, there are multiple sites of oppression, and simultaneously, multiple sites of privilege and power. To learn more about what happened at the conference, read the Storify wrap-up here and Yvonne Lay’s reflections here.

Around the Country

• In the Northern Territory, a specialist domestic violence court will be trialled  in response to coroner Greg Cavanagh’s findings on the deaths of two Aboriginal women.
• In Western Australia, the family of Ms Dhu, a 22-year old Aboriginal woman who died in custody from medical conditions arising from previous domestic violence, has criticised the coroner for reserving her decision about whether to release footage of the final days and hours of Ms Dhu’s life. More information at the Deaths in Custody Watch Committee page here.
• Also in Western Australia, the Peel Alliance Interventions for Teen Anger and Violence (PAITAV), an alliance of organisations within the Peel region, has been launched to increase community awareness and provide assistance for families experiencing violent behaviours by teenagers at home.
• The International Labour Organisation has sought Australia’s advice and participation in developing a global convention on the impact of domestic and other forms of violence in the workplace.
• Channel 7 Sunday Night program has conducted the largest ever Freedom of Information (FOI) investigation into rape and sexual misconduct in Australian universities. The investigation targeted all 39 universities and found hundreds of complaints resulting in very few disciplinary actions.
  [This links contains descriptions of abuse that are likely to be distressing. If you need or someone you know needs support, please call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732]
• Michael Brull has refuted Warren Mundine’s claim that there is widespread silence about violence in Aboriginal communities, documenting the many reports and widespread advocacy over decades by Aboriginal women in particular.

Around the World

• In India, Hindustani Times has started an eight part series of open letters written by eminent Indian writers to discuss the reality of the rampant sexual assault of women in India. Actor, poet and film director Farhan Akhtar started the series with an open letter to his 16 year old daughter.
• In Pakistan, ‘Gender Sensitive Guidelines for Women in Media in South Asia’, a consultation meeting has been held between UNESCO Pakistan and Uks to review guidelines for women practitioners in the media as well as discuss the balance in gender balanced representation in media institutions especially at decision-making level.

• In the United States, President Barack Obama has signed into law the Sexual Assault Survivors Act that will protect survivors’ access to the initial forensic medical examination and ensure the preservation and testing of more than 100,000 rape kits in police warehouses and crime labs.

• Also in the United States, following a report by The Washington Post on his 2005 vulgar video recording,  GOP presidential nominee, Donald Trump has explained that his comments were mere “locker room banter”. In this article, University of Pennsylvania professor Shaun R. Harper examines how the endorsement of sexual assault under the guise of banter contributes to cultures that enable violence.

• In Africa, Einice Musiime has reported on the long term benefit of teaching boys that crying is normal in expressing emotions, arguing that conversations about social norms of masculinity should be encouraged.

Research and Reports

• Women’s Foundation of Oregon has released a comprehensive report on the issues, experiences and status of the current generation of Oregon women and girls. Count Her In has collected baseline data from 1,000 women and girls across the state emphasizing on eight pressing issues requiring immediate action, among them violence against women and systemic racism.

Get Involved!

• Join friends and colleagues working for women’s rights and gender equality at the National Women’s Alliances’ International Engagement Forum to hear about updates and new inputs on the Sustainable Development Goals from the government and civil society. Forum will be held on the 19^th of October , from 10 AM to 4 PM on level 3, 175 Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW. Invite and agenda here.

• WESNET is hosting the InauguralTechnology Safety Summit in Sydney on 21 November 2016. This one-day conference will focus on the various complex issues and concerns that come from the intersection of technology and domestic and sexual violence, and stalking. The Tech Summit will bring together those working with women and their children experiencing violence and other stakeholders from government and corporate Australia. Attendees of the Tech Summit will learn how technology can be misused as a tactic of abuse, how women experiencing gender-based violence can use technology to improve their safety and privacy, how digital evidence can be collected to hold perpetrators accountable, and how agencies can strengthen policies and practices to improve service delivery, and what other support technology and telecommunications companies can provide.  To find out more and register please visit the conference website. Early bird rates close on 21 October.
• Ruby Gaea Darwin Centre Against Sexual Violence Inc. invites you to join us for the annual Reclaim the Night March to end sexual violence against women and children on 28 October 2016 starting from at 6:45pm at Bicentennial Park (Corner of Daly Street & The Esplanade). For more information email [email protected]or visit the website here.
  The Adelaide White Ribbon Breakfast will be held on 25 November at the Adelaide Convention Centre from 6:45 am to 9:00 am. The guest speaker will be the honourable Marcia Neave, chair of the recent Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence. Book here.

• Lucy’s Project is hosting the second annual conference on Domestic Violence and Animal Abuse-International Perspective to be held from 5-6 November  at the Portside Conference Centre, level 5 Symantec House, 207 Kent St., Sydney. Book here.
• The University of Melbourne has created a website called ‘NotTheOnlyOne’ where women can anonymously read and share stories about experiencing family and domestic violence.
• The National Multicultural Women’s Conference will be held on 3 and 4 November 2016 in Parkroyal Parramatta, Sydney. Find out more here.
• Soroptomist International Australia is sponsoring the Rosie Batty Roadshow from 5 October to 7 November 2016, travelling from Brisbane to Sydney, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne and Adelaide. Proceeds will go to the Women’s Legal Services in each capital that Rosie will visit. To buy your tickets click here.