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Read AWAVA’s Weekly Round-Ups to stay up to date on news from the preventing and responding to violence against women sector.

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Advocates are concerned that the number of women survivors imprisoned for acting in self-defence is rising, and the increasing imprisonment of women generally is linked to women’s lifetime experiences of violent crime. In many cases, the law does not take into account the difficult circumstances of women victims of domestic violence who attack or kill their partner, making it more difficult to get an acquittal, as documented by Lorana Bartels and Patricia Easteal. According to a Women’s Legal Services Australia submission, “courts are not generally well informed about the pathways to prison for women as a result of family violence, including sexual assault and child sexual abuse”. WLSA’s submission also noted that “the issue of women in prison highlights intersectional discrimination based on factors including gender, race, disability, poverty and age”. Incarceration of Aboriginal women in particular has become more common in recent years. Elizabeth Grant and Sarah Paddick pointed out the correlation between Aboriginal women’s incarceration and violence in Aboriginal Women in the Australian Prison System, observing that the majority of Aboriginal women imprisoned were survivors of physical and sexual abuse and that the suffering of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women from physical, emotional and psychological abuse continued in prison. The case of Ms Dhu is a testament to this. AWAVA is committed to working with other advocates and survivors’ groups to influence policies and laws to protect the rights of women survivors of violence, including those caught up in the justice system.

• Rosie Batty has appealed to Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to revoke the cancellation of Sri Lanka-born doctor Chamari Liyanage’s visa to allow her to stay in Australia after the end of her sentence. Dr Liyanage is currently serving a four-year prison term for manslaughter of her abusive husband in 2014.
• In Canberra, the ACT government has launched this year’s Domestic Violence Christmas Program, which will provide services for people who are experiencing violence during this peak season of DV.
• In Melbourne, the Australian Centre for Human Rights and Health has led the first national anti-dowry summit, looking into the practice of dowry.
• ANROWS recently launched the Perpetrator Interventions Research Priorities 2017-19 program which comprises 11 research projects expected to be delivered in the next two years to address the key gaps in current evidence on perpetrator interventions. Click here for more information about the research projects.
• In New South Wales, Parke Quota Club has started distributing emergency packs containing basic essentials to survivors of domestic violence within the Lachlan local area.

• In the United States, the East Tennessee State University’s (ETSU) Women Studies program has received a grant from the Avon Foundation to join the 1^st National Leadership Institute: Changing the Narrative on Campus Gender-Based Violence, an action-oriented leadership program focused on preventing and responding to sexual assault on campus.
• The Correctional Association of New York report on Survivors of Abuse and Incarceration has revealed that majority of women in prison are survivors of extreme physical abuse in intimate relationship or have suffered serious physical and sexual abuse as children.
• In the UK, an Anti-Domestic Violence Bill has been passed, which is expected to improve provision of support services to survivors of violence.
• In Liberia, the Swedish government have signed an agreement with the Government of Liberia to build the capacity of the Liberian National Police in addressing gender-based violence.
• In Bangladesh, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has organised a discussion among policymakers, development partners, civil society and journalists that looked into the impact of gender-based violence on the country’s development.

• ANROWS has released Invisible women, invisible violence: Understanding and improving data on the experiences of domestic and family violence and sexual assault for diverse groups of women: State of knowledge paper.
• The World Health Organisation has released an easy-to-read version of its Global Plan of Action to Strengthen the Role of the Health System Within a National Multisectoral Response to Address Interpersonal Violence, in Particular against Women and Girls, and against Children.

• ANROWS is calling for research grant applications in a range of priority areas aimed at eliminating violence against women. Click here for more information.
• 1800RESPECT has developed a Digital Escape Bag Checklist and Technology and Safety videos, online tools designed to help women reach and establish safety. Download the1800RESPECT Frontline Workers Toolkit
• TheQueensland University of Technology (QUT) has established a new online Graduate Certificate Program in Domestic Violence which is designed for frontline workers, policy developers and professionals and is intended to provide them with specialised skills and knowledge on how to better respond to cases of domestic violence.
• The UN Women National Committee Australia invites everyone to the celebration of the 2017 International Women’s Day events in March happening simultaneously in 6 major cities around the country. For more information click 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 Victorian Government has sealed its commitment to protecting women and children and preventing violence with its newly released 10 Year Plan to End Family Violence. The Government has promised to implement the 227 recommendations made by Australia’s first Royal Commission into Family Violence. Specifically, the Plan commits the Victorian Government  to the following goals:

• Establish a network of Support and Safety Hubs across Victoria, where victims/survivors can access the support they need to stay safe
• Recruit new specialist family violence workers to support women and their children to access services they need to stay safe and get back on their feet
• Invest a further $218 million in social housing and private rental assistance, bringing housing investment to $600 million since the Royal Commission report
• Strengthen intervention orders, tighten up the bail process, and allow for the better sharing of information so a victim/survivor’s right to safety has priority over a perpetrator’s right to privacy
• Provide specialist training to Victoria Police officers who play a critical role in responding to family violence and upgrade courts to provide greater security for victims/survivors
• Initiate a Primary Prevention strategy, alongside a state-wide behavioural change campaign, to help stop family violence happening in the first place.

We will be watching closely as these significant commitments are implemented. As AWAVA noted in our response to the recent release of the Third Action Plan of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, we urgently need commensurate commitments of funding from the Australian Government, including security for services funded under the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness.

• Rosie Batty has launched 1800RESPECT’s 16 Days of Activism campaign, Stand Together, releasing a short video outlining four simple steps people can take to respond effectively to someone who is affected by domestic or family violence. The campaign was launched in conjunction with 1800RESPECT’s Frontline Workers Toolkit, which includes useful tools and resources.
• The New South Wales government has introduced plain-language domestic violence orders, meaning that offenders will no longer be able to argue that they could not comprehend the order due to legal jargon. Orders will also be translated into 29 different languages to encourage compliance.
• In the Australian Parliament, Labor MP Emma Husar has spoken  about her personal experience of domestic violence in a speech urging fellow parliamentarians to support efforts to prevent such violence.
• Also in national politics, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has proposed reforms to the Family Law Act that would protect victims from being cross examined by perpetrators during court proceedings.
• In New South Wales, Unions have launched the “We Won’t Wait” campaign, supporting the case before the Fair Work Commission calling for the inclusion of domestic violence leave in the National Employment Standards (NES).
• In Alice Spring, hundreds of people rallied on the street marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women march, while Northern Territory Police continued to respond to domestic violence calls during the day.
• Gold Coast Health Queensland has appointed a new Domestic and Family Violence Coordinator who will be responsible for the delivery of the agency’s support services to women and children.
• In the Gold Coast, Friends with Dignity has launched the Little Friends campaign, which will distribute free entertainment packs to children traumatised by violence.

• The government of Jamaica has proposed a National Strategic Action Plan to Eliminate Gender-based Violence in 2017 that is aimed at improving the implementation of laws and providing support services for survivors.
• In Bangladesh Marat Yu, project manager of HERproject, has been campaigning to end violence against women in the workplace.  He encourages companies to participate in the #16DaysOfActivism against gender based violence and adopt broader strategies to curb harassment and abuse of women in the workplace.
•  In Latin America, Latina women have rallied in the major cities of Bogota, Buenos Aires, Chile, Nicaragua and Montevideo wearing the orange colour in support for the global #16Days campaign against gender based-violence.
• The government of Nigeria with support from the United Nations Population Fund has developed a Standard Operating Procedures for Prevention of and Response to Gender-based Violence for humanitarian workers in Adamawa state.

• The Australian Housing and Urban Research Unit (AHURI) has released the research paper, The financing, delivery and effectiveness of programs to reduce homelessness, which shows that homelessness services cannot meet current demand, and concludes that future funding certainty is crucial  to continue providing services.  Moreover, AHURI’s Australian Homelessness Funding and Delivery Survey has also found that current levels of funding are estimated to be below levels required to meet client demand on homelessness services.
• In Ireland, Women’s Aid has published Behind Closed Doors, a report tracking “femicides” between 1996 and 2016. The report documents the ways in which women and girls were killed as well as the areas in which most killings occurred.
• Public Services International (PSI) with support from the International Labor Organisation (ILO) has published Tackling Violence in the Health Sector, presenting findings of country reports from Congo, the Philippines and Argentina.

• The International Organization for Migration, United Nations Information Centre Canberra and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees cordially invite you to celebrate International Migrants Day with a free screening of the new Australian documentary Constance on the Edge on Thursday, 15 December 2016. Click here to register.
• The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (ACT Branch) in association with ANU Gender Institute invites everyone to a talk by Libby Lloyd AM, former chair of the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, on “Australia’s Response to Violence against Women: Progress and Pitfalls”. It will be held on the 30^th of November in Theatre 2, Hedley Bull Building, ANU.
• In Melbourne, the Global Women’s Project will hold “Trailblazing Women of Herstory”, a fundraising feminist art extravaganza. The events began on the 25^th of November with a Gala launch and will culminate on the 10^th of December with performances of women in “Mother Tougue”. All events will be held at Neospace, 7 Campbell Street Collingwood, VIC 3066. For more information click here.
• ANROWS and the Tasmanian government invite everyone to the launch of ‘ASPIRE’, a Horizons Report on promoting community-led responses to violence against immigrant and refugee women in metropolitan and regional Australia. The launch will be held on 8 of December at the Henry Jones Art Hotel, 25 Hunter Street, Hobart. This event is free. Register here.
• The National Women’s Alliances, including AWAVA, are preparing our submission to the Australian Government on its priorities for the next session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW61) and we would love to hear from you. In 2017, the CSW’s priority theme is women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work. We have tonnes of information about this theme, but we need to focus our submission down to key areas… and we need your help! Please fill in our brief survey here. The survey closes on 30 November.
• The UN Women National Committee Australia invites everyone to the celebration of the 2017 International Women’s Day events in March happening simultaneously in 6 major cities around the country. For more information click here.
• 1800RESPECT will be holding a webinar on “Improving Cultural Understanding and Engagement with people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities” on 1 December 2016, 1pm AEDT. The presenter will be Craig Rigney of Kornar Winmil Yunti (KWY). Register 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.

Credits for the images used in this round-up:

Department of Social Services- National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Children cover image

1800RESPECT- Frontline Workers Toolkit cover photo

NSW Unions- “We Won’t Wait” campaign poster

HERproject- HER+project logo

Latin American Post- “Ni Una Menos” photo

Sharon Rose Dadang- Get Involved! header

The Global Women’s Project- TRailblazing Women of Herstory poster

UN Women National Committee Australia- UN International Women’s Day poster

Women’s Aid- Behind Closed Doors cover image

ANROWS- ANROWS logo

The rallying cry of women all around the globe will again be heard in this year’s commemoration of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.  Running from 25 November to 10 December, this annual event brings together campaigns in more than 165 countries.

Originally conceived by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991, this global event has demanded attention to the issues of violence against women, and has contributed to efforts to change the status quo in communities where women are subjected to inequality, exploitation and abuse. Here in Australia, campaigns are happening simultaneously in different areas, run by various groups.

AWAVA’s social media campaign will focus on the human right to effective services for people subjected to violence, and the central role of specialist women’s services in fulfilling this right. The Aboriginal Family Violence Prevention & Legal Service Victoria (FVPLS) has identified 16 actions that people can take to stand firm in support of Aboriginal women and children. Women’s Legal Service Australia together with the Luke Batty foundation will also run a social media campaign, focusing on the Five Step Plan for Safety First in family law. Another campaign, prosecute; don’t perpetrate, calls for an end to impunity for sexual violence in armed conflict. Join in!#16daysOfActivism #16days #EndGBV #prosecutedontperpetrate 

• Women’s Health in the South East (WHISE) together with Southern Melbourne Integrated Family Violence Partnership (SMIFVP) has distributed 60,000 coffees cups with anti-violence slogans printed on them as part of the global commemoration of the 16 Days of activism Against Gender Violence.
• Alex McKinnon has called on Australians to abandon the ‘white saviour’ mentality and adopt an intersectional approach to confronting issues of violence against women of colour and women with diverse cultural backgrounds.
• In Canberra, police records had revealed 1,000 charges of domestic violence in the past year, averaging eight to twelve incidents daily, including threats to kill, serious violent assault, attempted murder and murder.
• The inaugural Technology Safety Summit has been hosted by WESNET in Sydney this week. Speakers included Safety Net Australia Director Karen Bentley, AWAVA/WESNET Chair Julie Oberin, and experts from the US-based National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV). Those on Twitter can review the proceedings via #TechSummitAU.
•  In a major step forward for the Safety First in Family Law campaign, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has announced the ALP’s support for ending cross-examination of victims by their abusers in family court cases, proposing that judges be allowed to consider, when domestic violence is alleged, whether any vulnerable witness should be protected during proceedings.

•  UN experts have urged Switzerland to develop a comprehensive national gender strategy after it has reported on the barriers that have impeded the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), including deep-rooted patriarchal attitudes and stereotypes that are still widespread in Swiss society.
• In Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have officially launched the National Action Plan to address Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV), a multi sectoral approach engaging nine key ministries to end violence.
• In Papua New Guinea, UN Women has launched special bus services transporting women and children only, in response to the high rate of sexual assault of Papua New Guinean women in bus stations and on public transport. This initiative has allowed some women and young girls to have access to work and schools, forms of participation which are hampered by the prevalence of sexual assaults in public.
• Child marriage and violence has increased by 42 per cent in Northern Ghana.   Plan International Ghana has launched the “Girls Advocacy Alliance”, a five year strategic project that seeks to address the cultural and religious causes of violence.
• In Islamabad, concerned citizens have gathered at Al Babar Centre to demand government action to eradicate dowry and bride-price, which is a socially and culturally accepted form of gender based violence.

•   In Melbourne, The Global Women’s Project will hold “Trailblazing Women of Herstory, a fund raising feminist art extravaganza”. The events will start on the 25^th of November with a Gala launch and will culminate on the 10^th of December with performances of women in “Mother Tougue”. All events will be held at Neospace, 7 Campbell Street Collingwood, VIC 3066. For more information.

• ANROWS and the Tasmanian government invite everyone to the launch of ‘ASPIRE’, a Horizons Report on promoting community-led responses to violence against immigrant and refugee women in metropolitan and regional Australia. The launch will be held on 8 of December at the Henry Jones Art Hotel, 25 Hunter Street, Hobart. This event is free. Register here.
• ANROWS and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) will hold a free webinar on the Examination of the Burden of Disease of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women. The webinar which will be held on 30 November from 12:30 to 2:00pm (AEDT). To register, please email [email protected] and the login instructions will be sent to you.
•  The National Women’s Alliances, including AWAVA, are preparing our submission to the Australian Government on its priorities for the next session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW61) and we would love to hear from you. In 2017, the CSW’s priority theme is women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work. We have tonnes of information about this theme, but we need to focus our submission down to key areas… and we need your help! Please fill in our brief survey here.
•  The UN Women National Committee Australia invites everyone to the celebration of the 2017 International Women’s Day events in March happening simultaneously in 6 major cities around the country. For more information click here.

• 1800RESPECT will be holding a webinar on “Improving Cultural Understanding and Engagement with people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities” on 1 December 2016, 1pm AEDT. The presenter will be Craig Rigney of Kornar Winmil Yunti (KWY). Register here.
• Law Trobe Law School will be holding “Online/Offline: Sexual violence, activism, and justice”, a free seminar, on 25 November, from 4 to 6pm at the La Trobe University Franklin Streets Campus, Melbourne. Register here.
• The National Rural Women’s Coalition is launching “Brave Danny” a picture book for children on 24 November from 5-7 pm at Melbourne Ether Conference Centre, 265 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. The book was written by Robin Adolps for children and illustrated by Nicky Johnston. For more information, contact [email protected].
• 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.
• The University of Melbourne has created a website called ‘NotTheOnlyOne’ where women can anonymously read and share stories about experiencing family and domestic violence.

Credits
Artwork on the Get Involved! logo by Sharon Rose Dadang
Poster of Trailblazing Women of Herstory by The Global Women’s Project
Logos from Nation Women Alliances, ANROWS and Westnet