I hope you all have something lovely and restful planned for the Easter/ANZAC Day break! In case you are looking for something to do, here is some light reading to keep you going…

• The Sunday Age reports that there needs to be further reform in the prosecuting of sexual assault crimes
• The Age also offers an opinion piece on the achievements of the 2006 reforms.
• A woman alleging she endured almost 2 years of sexual harassment and abuse is taking action against a major company. Read the full article here
• The Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault has released a new fact sheet on the impacts of sexual assault on women.
• In Victoria, the the Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights was launched.
• In South Australia, women’s groups have supported a suspended sentence given to a survivor of Domestic Violence who killed her husband. Read the article here
• An opinion piece by Nina Funnell looks at the “just do it” attitudes towards sex in relationships.
• In an article in The Age, Simon Overland acknowledges some of the reasons for homelessness and crime among young women
  

Internationally:

• A UK report reveals that women between the ages of 16 and 19 are the age group most at risk of domestic violence.
• Also in the UK,  the long awaited Government report on reforming family law has been published by the Family Justice Review. A brief summary is available, with a link to the report.
• And as Freedom Day approaches in South Africa, Genderlinks asks whether South African women are really free?

The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission is currently undertaking a project to develop tools for young women in the workplace and for employers outlining their rights and responsibilities. The first step of the project is a survey for young women aged 15-30.

If you are a young woman aged 15-30, they would like to hear from you! Please take five minutes to click on the link below and complete their survey.

http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/504750/workplace-rights-young-women

Some interesting and varied news crossing our virtual desks this week, which has made for great rugged-up-reading, as the weather turned cold in our Southern States…

Making the news in Australia this week:

• The YWCA has shared the CEDAW Report: Doing better for women in Australia
• In Victoria, an anti-bullying campaign will be launched in schools next term
• New research on attitudes to sexual harrassment
• Libby Lloyd and Heather Nancarrow offer some context and insight on the ADFA news that made headlines this week
• A media release from the Minister for the Status of Women highlights Australian hip hop artists calling for respect in relationships
• Another media release from the Minister’s office told us more about Industry and Government working together to boost the number of women in science and engineering
• The Sex Discrimination Commissioner will be leading a review on the ADFA and the ADF – learn more here
• The Australian Federation of Medical Women has published it’s latest newsletter

Current Vacancies

• Genderlinks, a Southern African NGO, seeks a Director of Programmes
• ?Quantum Support Services are seeking a Family Violence Support Worker

Don’t forget, there is still plenty of time to register for the below events

• The Australian Women Educators’ White Ribbon Day Everyday
• The 2nd World Conference of Women’s Shelters
• The Mount Gambier Conference United Against Domestic Violence
  

Not a lot to share this week locally, but Internationally there have been a few happenings

• The age reports on India’s missing girls
• Namibian students take action to end gendered violence on campus

New Resources:

• Women’s Health Victoria has published a new resource ICT and Violence Against Women

Conferences and Upcoming Events

• NEW!!! United Against Domestic Violence conference in Mt Gambier – July
• A reminder that it is less than 12 months until the next World Conference of Women’s Shelters

Making the news this week:

• An article in the Herald Sun reports that a third of people convicted of a sexual assault do not receive any gaol time
• Following up from last weeks post on Rivers’ “Deadly” campaign, No To Violence Male Family Violence Prevention Association has published this letter.
• The Family Violence Bill was introduced to Federal Parliament by the Attorney-General.  You can read our media release here.

Internationally:

• A summit of the South African Development Community has called for and end to the epidemic of gender violence.

Also – just a reminder about the Australian Women Educators forthcoming conference White Ribbon Day Every Day

Another week, another round-up. The incoming across our virtual desks has been a little slower this week, but still plenty of news related to Violence Against Women

Making the news this week:

• The Hobart Women’s Shelter has launched new services to help women take control of their lives

• The Herald Sun reported a review into sentences for rape offences
• The Age reports on changes to the Family Law Bill
• The final Issues Paper has been released by the Australian Law Reform Commission on Family Violence and Commonwealth Laws
• The Age also reports on Rivers’ ‘Deadly Deals’ advertising campaign
• Still with The Age, and a report on women’s safety on University campuses
• Susan Metcalfe offers an opinion piece on sexual assault and reporting rates

New Resource!!

• Click here to go straight to the new AVERT online classroom and resource centre, that focuses on Collaborative Responses in the Family Law System
• Want to know more about WLSA’s response to the Family Violence Bill? Click here to see their campaign page

WOW! What a busy fortnight! I hope you all enjoyed your International Women’s Day celebrations, and have managed to find some time to read all of the media releases that have been circulating.

Here is a summary, in case you have missed any

• The Minister has announced the way forward for women in the workplace
• Kate Ellis has also named the new Director for the Equal Opportunity Agency
• The NSW Office for Women has published it’s Women’s Plan
• A joint media release from The Minister for the Status of Women and the Foreign Minister outlines a plan to help train leaders of the future
• Some news on Australia’s paid parental leave.
• And in amongst all  the IWD Media Releases, we couldn’t miss that the new national register for domestic and family violence orders has been agreed to
• Or the report showing changing attitudes in Australian homes

As for us, AWAVA was officially launched by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick, at a fantastic IWD breakfast hosted by the ACT Women’s Services Network (ACTWSN).  The event, mc-ed by Virginia Hausegger was held at the Kamberra Winery and had Her Excellency the Governor General Quentin Bryce as the guest of honour, with Commissioner Broderick giving an inspiring speech. She also launched our Timeline Project – “The Australian Women’s Timeline” check it out here

Issues of Violence Against Women making the Media in the last fortnight:

• The ABC reported on new research highlighting the economic cost of domestic violence
• The Bendigo Advertiser, a regional Victorian daily paper, reports an increase in the number of people fleeing domestic violence
• And a surgeon has been found guilty of maliciously inflicting harm on a 66 year old woman

Reports released in the last few weeks that have caught our eye:

• The Domestic and Family Violence Clearing House has a released a report on Women’s economic well-being following domestic violence

And don’t forget! There is still time to register for:

• WESNETs Technology Safety Training (Warrnambool and Tasmania)
• The Australian Women Educator’s Conference White Ribbon Day Everyday

This week making the news:

• The Australian Institute of Family Studies has released a new report on Supporting Women from CALD backgrounds who are victims/survivors of sexual violence
• The Age reports that Melbourne City Violence is up 3.7%, but read further into the story to see the high increase in reports of Family Violence
• And a sad passing this week of Edith Mary Hall AM – a life-long campaigner for Women’s Issues and advocate for people with disabilities. You can read more about her life and achievements here

COMING UP

NEW!!!! WESNET are pleased to bring to Australia Technology Safety Training, being conducted by experts from the USA. Click here to find out more and register for your place today!

A relatively quiet week in the media this week when it comes to reporting on Violence Against Women. Still, a few interesting articles made an appearance

• The NSW government has announced community grants to help tackle domestic violence
• The Age reports that the NSW government will be to granting leave to public sector workers who have been victims of domestic and family violence
• Another article from the Age, provides an Opinion piece on Why Don’t Women Leave?

Of course, the biggest news to cross our virtual desks this week, is that the The National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Children has been released.

Make sure you check out the details on conferences and training coming up in the very near future!

• The dates have now been announced for the 2nd World Conference of Women’s Shelters
• The Australian Women Educators are holding their White Ribbon Day Everyday conference on May 21st in Brisbane

The Centenary of International Women’s Day is fast approaching – the Queen Vic Women’s Centre have put together a list of events happening in Victoria and you can check out what is happening around Australia here . Share with us how you are going to celebrate IWD by commenting below. We would love to hear from you!

IT’s been a busy week in the media this week, with quite a few articles concerning Violence Against Women passing across our virtual desks.

• Some of you may be interested to read the Sydney Morning Herald’s recent article on Staying Home leaving Violence
• We also spotted an article in The Age this week, highlighhting the issue of Elder abuse in Australian Nusring Homes
• Medical professionals are also often victims of violence, as noted in this article that appeared in the Australian
• The Australian also reported on more funding for supporting Victims of Human Trafficking
• On the international scene, the first Russian Blog discussing issues of Violence Against Women has been launched this week

Reports and Papers released this week are:

• The Productivity Commission has released Volume 2 of the Report on Government Services: Health, Community Services, Housing and Homelessness.

• This issue of Family Matters No 86, 2011 includes a summary of the Australian Institute of Family Studies Evaluation of the 2006 family law reforms; care time arrangements after the 2006 reforms; post-separation parenting; child support; relocation disputes and work-family strain amongst mothers.

• The Australian Institute of Criminology has released three publications this week: one on the effectiveness of drug law enforcement, one on a model performance framework for community based crime prevention, and finally one on Public judgement on sentencing, which showed that more than half of the jurors surveyed suggested a more lenient sentence than the trial judge imposed in a study of 138 Tasmanian trials. All the publications are available on the AIC website

And don’t forget all the conferences and events coming up!

• The Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse would like us to remind everyone that early bird registration for their Intimate Partner Violence Forum is closing soon.  You can register online here and the program details and registration form can be downloaded here.
• Early bird registrations are also closing for the AIC’s Meeting the Needs of Victims of Crime being held in Sydney in May
• Another event that may be of interest is the AIC Conference on Young people, risk and resilience