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This week AWAVA has been supporting the launch of the joint National Women’s Alliances Project- Women Vote 2013. The six National Women’s Alliances have come together to encourage women to use their votes in the 2013 Federal election. We think that it is important that women’s voices are heard in this election. We want women to vote in a way that reflects the diverse lives and experiences of women in Australia.

AWAVA Chairperson Julie Oberin attended the EVAs on 19th July- Congratulations to all the winners of the EVAs Media Awards for excellence in the reporting of violence against women

Around the nation

• “Australian boys need to be taught an ”alternative way of being men” if the community is to break a cycle of domestic violence fuelled by aggressive and physical stereotypes of masculinity”
• In Victoria, the award-winning Bsafe program faces an uncertain future
• In Western Australia, “domestic violence laws will be put under the legal microscope as part of the first comprehensive review into how victims are treated by the WA justice system”
• In Campbelltown, pubs and bars “stand up to violence against women“
• In Victoria, a man with a history of violence “who subjected a woman to a “sustained and brutal” assault” has been jailed sending an unequivocal message against domestic violence
• “The New South Wales government is setting up a telephone hotline for men who perpetrate domestic violence in a bid to shift the focus to early intervention”
• Ross Honeywill, the national convenor of the of the Centre for Gender Equity, writes that  although “women are running neck and neck with their male counterparts in Australia’s universities. And they are dominating important professional categories…any semblance of equity appears a long way off“

Around the world

• In this article, Prof Nadje Al Ali writes that “women in Iraq bear the brunt of increasing levels of gender-based violence, inadequate infrastructure and poverty”
• In the UK, grocery shop chain Londis has apologised after one of its branches used the term ‘wife beater’ to advertise a brand of lager
• In India, the Supreme Court, in a bid to stop acid attacks on women, “has ordered national and state governments to regulate the sale of acid chemicals by classifying them as a poison”
• In Malawi, President “Dr. Joyce Banda has called on non-governmental organization to help the country in fighting against gender based violence”
• “A Norwegian woman has spoken out about the 16-month prison sentence she received in Dubai after reporting a rape incident to police”
• In Scotland, the prostitution and sex work criminalisation versus legalisation debate heats up

Publications and Resources

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) has published research on the “ Prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence“

Get Involved!

• Join the joint National Women’s Alliances Project Women Vote 2013 by participating in the “Women! Use your Vote” campaign

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

This week AWAVA heard news of the departure of Penny Williams as Australia’s Global Ambassador for Women and Girls. The position of the Global Ambassador for Women and Girls is responsible for high-level advocacy to promote Australian Government policies and activities regarding gender equality and the social, political and economic empowerment of women and girls. Ms Williams, a passionate gender equality advocate and a great supporter of AWAVA’s work,  finished her role on 12 July and will be sorely missed.

Around the nation

• The Royal Commission has announced that it will be releasing ‘Issues Papers‘ on a range of topics that are relevant to its work. Currently released are its first Issues Paper on the Working with Children Check and the second issues Paper Towards Healing 
• In this article, Mia Freedman notes that rape cultures and misogyny continue to thrive in popular music (note: *trigger warning*)
• According to Women’s Health East, “Women with disabilities who are victims of sexual assault in the east are going without specific support because their numbers are unknown…police have begun recording the number of assaults specific to women with disabilities but no figures are yet available”
• “A sexual assault expert who consulted the AFL on its Respect & Responsibility policy has lambasted the league for allowing Stephen Milne to resume playing while charged with rape, saying any player on such a charge should be stood down until the case is resolved”
• In this poignant article on the “Dark undercurrents of teenage girls’ selfies“, 11 year old Olympia Nelson urges us that “as feminists we correctly blame patriarchy because boys are securely at the top of the status game”

Around the world

• In this article, the author asks us to remember that “language matters” and  that we need to reframe “the conversation around domestic and sexual abuse to stop blaming victims”
• Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter believes “the most pervasive and unaddressed human rights violation” in the world is violence against women and girls, persisting as it does in most countries globally
• UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the appointment of Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka from South Africa as the new Executive Director of UN Women, the organization leading UN’s work on advancing gender equality and women’s rights
• The New York Times reports that an Afghan Court has reversed convictions in a case involving the torture of a young girl. The decision threatens to “reverse the strides made by women”  in Afghanistan
• Dr Meredith Nash argues that  “in spite of its (very effective) emotive appeal to female consumers to challenge beauty norms”, Dove’s “real beauty” advertisements  do not seek “to create awareness of the fact that body image and rising rates of eating disorders throughout the West are social issues that are intimately linked with the beauty industry”

Publications and Resources

• A new research paper from the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearing House has been released on ‘Reading Statistics: A Guide For Professionals Working With Domestic And Family Violence‘ 

Get Involved!

• The NSW Government recently released a series of documents relating to the NSW Domestic and family violence framework (reforms) for public consultation.  Response is by survey and is due 23 July 2013
• Make a submission on the Abortion Law reform proposed in Tasmania to decriminalise abortion here
• Nominations are now open for the 2013 Anti-Slavery Australia Freedom Awards. The Awards will recognise outstanding work and contributions to initiatives against slavery, slavery-like practices, including forced labour and forced marriage, and human trafficking. More details here 

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

This week, AWAVA have been following up on the joint National Women’s Alliances Campaign ‘Priorities for Women‘. As part of AWAVA’s ‘Priorities for Women’ activities, we sent letters to all major parties asking them about their policies for addressing violence against women and girls; their views of the challenges; their commitment to the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their funding commitments. Please follow the link to read party responses.

Around the nation

• The Women’s Law Centre of WA and Relationships Australia embarked on a joint venture to establish a centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander victims of domestic and sexual violence

• RSPCA NSW continued to kick goals with its Safe Beds for Pets program that was established (in 2010) to provide temporary housing for pets of people seeking refuge from domestic violence and to address the link between animal and human abuse and child protection

• In Ballarat, community leaders threw their weight behind the “It’s Up To Us” campaign from the Courier Mail to educate, inform and explore community opinions on domestic violence

• In Victoria, police will establish two family violence units in Wodonga and Wangaratta. Both units will have a dedicated sergeant and two officers to work with the victims of family violence.

• A new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare states that in the 6 month period from July to December 2012, more than 157,000 clients accessed specialist homelessness services and the “most common main reason given for seeking assistance was ‘domestic and family violence‘”.

Around the world

• In the US, Senator Claire McCaskill delivered a fiery but considered response to an alarming article in the Wall Street Journal falsely portraying feminsist analyses of sexual assault in the military as “histrionic” and “criminalising male sexuality”

• In Egypt, “human rights and women’s groups have condemned the “horrific levels” of sexual violence against women in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, with reports of 101 sex attacks amid the latest wave of protest”

• Lakshmi Puri,  Acting Head of UN Women and Assistant Secretary-General, writes that  the struggle to end violence against women and girls requires “strong efforts by civil society organizations and the global women’s movement to remind both national governments and international organizations that words are not enough, that a few actions are not enough, that we must aim high and keep on moving forward”.

• Violence against women: a global health problem of epidemic proportions – The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently reported that more than one third of all women are affected by physical or sexual violence.

• Social media giant Facebook has announced that “it will no longer allow ads to appear on pages with sexual or violent content“. Advocacy campaign, Women Action and the Media report that “this new policy will protect advertisers, but do nothing for users“.

Publications and Resources

• AWAVA member organisation, The Association of Women Educators (AWE) have published a resource for teachers on sexuality education called “Everyone is Special”
  

• Legal Aid NSW have published a resource for people experiencing domestic and family violence

• In the UK, The Crown Prosecution Service has published “findings from a four-month research project on domestic violence cases where the victim refused to engage or withdrew from the criminal justice process. The research aimed to identify further information as to why victims refuse to engage with the prosecution process; current measures taken to try to involve victims in this process and address their safety; the most effective way to ensure a successful conviction; and further steps that could be taken to improve conviction outcomes and victim safety”

Get Involved!

• UN Women Experts Roster– Please follow the link to register as an expert on gender issues and to register your interest in collaborating with UN women by taking part in evaluation assignments and thus contributing to “accountability and learning on UN Women’s mandate for gender equality and women’s empowerment”

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

This week, AWAVA Chairperson, Julie Oberin, presented a paper Women, Children And Homelessness: Taking The National Challenge Seriously and a workshop on Women And Homelessness at the National Homelessness Summit. Parliamentary Secretary for Homelessness and Social Housing Melissa Parke  met with key stakeholders at the National Homelessness Summit in Sydney to discuss approaches and innovation in tackling homelessness. “This summit is a great opportunity to share ideas and look at innovative projects underway to support some of our most vulnerable Australians,” Ms Parke said.

20-24 May, 2013 was National Cyber Security Awareness Week. National Cyber Security Awareness Week is an annual Australian Government initiative aimed at helping Australians using the Internet. For resources on cyber safety, do have a look at WESNET’s Safety Net resources, WESNET is the only organisation in Australia that delivers training developed by US sister organisation National Network to End Domestic Violence’s Technology Safety Project, also see Women’s Aid UK’s guide to technology risks and cyber stalking, and Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria’s technology safety planning guide.

Around the Country

• AWAVA supported the urgent appeal to the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women regarding the Victims’ Rights and Support Bill
• The Victorian Coalition Government has allocated $76,000 to improve the safety of women in mental health care at Mildura Base Hospital.
• National Centre of Excellence to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children (NCE) announcement of three eminent women to the NCE Board: Emeritus Professor Regina Graycar (NSW), Ms Victoria Hovane (Western Australia), and Ms Shirley Slann (Queensland)
• Hume Council joins forces with organisations across Melbourne’s north pledging action to combat violence against women and girls
• NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell has announced that the NSW government would draft proposed changes to the State’s provocation laws over the next few months
• NSW Attorney-General Greg Smith last week introduced changes to victims compensation laws: “victims of sexual abuse could be barred from seeking compensation”

Around the World

• An open letter to Facebook is currently circulating demanding “comprehensive and effective action addressing the representation of rape and domestic violence“. UK based writer Kira Cochrane replies “here’s hoping the message gets through this time”
• “The number of women jailed in Afghanistan for “moral crimes“ such as fleeing abusive husbands has risen sharply, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says
• In this article, Samuel CL Jones talks about his journey on becoming a ‘male feminist‘ and the ‘life-changing potential of feminism’
• In this article from the UK, Jane Martinson argues that Maria Stubbings’ murder “shows failure of society and officialdom in acting on domestic violence“
• In the USA, this article from the Washington Times says that “domestic violence is not only on the rise, it is pandemic“

Reports and Resources

• Women’s Health, Goulburn North East have launched a series of postcards, aimed at raising awareness of financial abuse that you can download, or order hard copies
• In this report from the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearing House, the researchers argue that “the gender debate is one of the enduring controversies in domestic violence research”
• The National Children’s and Youth Law Centre has completed their project Multi-Agency Response Guidelines on the Forced Marriage of Children. The research report and Guidelines are expected to be available shortly.
• On 21 May, 2013 the Australian Human Rights Commission launched the new online interactive toolkit, Women in male-dominated industries: A toolkit of strategies. The toolkit is complemented by an interactive website providing a forum for continued discussion and development of strategies for increasing women’s participation in male-dominated industries.  In launching the Women in male-dominated industries: A toolkit of strategies,  The Hon Julie Collins MP, Minister for the Status of Women said: ” This is about providing employers and businesses with the depth of talent needed to address skills shortages.  It is also about economic and social equity. Something this timely toolkit will help achieve”

Get involved!

If you haven’t already, please can you complete the Stop The Violence Project survey by 31 May.  The project is keen to hear from domestic violence and sexual assault services on how to improve service delivery for women with disabilities that experience violence.  It should only take 30 minutes to complete: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XHKDDVD.

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