Domestic violence experts call for specialised domestic violence courts and more: AWAVA Weekly Round-Up * 22 June
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Unions join call for domestic violence leave and more: AWAVA Weekly Round-Up * 1 June
Welcome to the latest edition of the AWAVA Weekly Round-Up. This week, the number of women who have been murdered by men across the country has risen to 40. However, we have also seen some positive steps in our response to this violence. The ACT Government has announced the appointment of Vicki Parker to the role of domestic violence coordinator-general. Ms. Parker will be responsible for coordinating the Territory’s response to domestic violence. In New South Wales domestic violence survivors will now be able to give evidence via audio or video link, meaning the no longer have to confront perpetrators of violence in court. AWAVA looks forward to ongoing action at the Commonwealth and State and Territory level to effectively address violence against women.
Around the Country
- In South Australia, a woman who was found murdered in a storeroom below the Business SA building was fleeing domestic violence.
- In Tasmania, the State Government has allocated an addition $800,000 to tackling family violence.
- Domestic violence survivor Angela Ivancevic has spoken out about husband’s domestic violence. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence against women, family violence]
- The Australian Council of Trade Unions has used its submission to the Victorian Family Violence Royal Commission to call for domestic violence leave to be made available to every worker.
- Bellinda Kontominas has written about the silent epidemic of domestic violence in lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender, and intersex relationships. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of domestic violence]
- In New South Wales, a 37 year old teacher is facing more than 30 charges of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated sexual intercourse after her allegedly has sexual relationships with two underage students.
- In Victoria, the AFL Western District Region facilitated a White Ribbon Round last weekend to increase awareness of violence against women.
- In response to the Government’s call for a conversation on citizenship rights of terrorists Jenna Price has called on the Government to shift its focus to the epidemic of ‘family terrorism.’
- Shannon Fentiman has written about 5 phrases that should not be used when discussing domestic violence.
- In the Australian Capital Territory, 40 year 9 and 10 students have participated in a program to promote healthy relationships and increase awareness of domestic violence.
- Laura McNally has written about pornography, violence and sexual entitlement. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence against women, sexual assault, threats of violence]
- The Equality Rights Alliance have launched their survey about young women’s views on sex education.
- Women’s rights activists call for tax reform to address the growing number of homeless older women.
- The Commonwealth Governments has released its Women’s Money Toolkit, a free online resource to provide women with knowledge and confidence to manage their finances and achieve their financial goals.
Around the World
- Ireland has become the first country in the world to introduce full civil marriage equality for all its people, regardless of their sexual orientation.
- In Bangladesh, NGO’s are working to break down the cultural norms that underpin high rates of domestic violence.
- In India, UN Women recently launched a pilot project that aims to train female military officers to prevent and address sexual and gender-based violence in armed conflict.
- A Swedish charity has developed ‘abused emoji’ in an attempt to help domestic violence victims to communicate their abuse.
- In India, a young generation of men want to address gender inequality and violence against women throughout the country.
Get Involved!
- The Light in our Lives candlelight vigil for victims of domestic violence will take place on from 5:45-8pm on Sunday 21 June at Queensbridge Square, Southbank, Melbourne.
- The Equality Rights Alliance is looking for women between the ages of 16-21 to complete their survey on young women’s views on sex education.
- Registrations are open for the International Feminist Journal of Politics Conference 18-19th June, which will take place at the University of Queensland in Brisbane.
- Anti-Poverty Week will take place from 11-17 October 2015. For more information on how to get involved visit http://www.antipovertyweek.org.au/.
- Registrations are open for The Australian Stop Domestic Violence Conference, which is being facilitated by the Australian and New Zealand Mental Health Association in Canberra on 7-9 December, 2015.
COAG Advisory Panel on Domestic and Family Violence Announced and more: AWAVA Weekly Round-Up * 18 May
Welcome to the latest edition of the AWAVA Weekly Round-Up. This week, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has announced its Advisory Panel on Domestic and Family Violence. AWAVA’s is pleased to announce that our Chair, Julie Oberin, has been appointed the Panel. We are encouraged by COAG’s leadership in tackling domestic violence and look forward to strong outcomes for women and children escaping violence over the coming year.
Around the Country
- In the lead up to the release of the 2015-16 Federal Budget The Project highlighted the need for increased funding for services supporting women and children experiencing domestic and family violence. After the release of the Budget Australian of the Year, Rosie Batty and key women’s organisations have questioned the lack of funding for primary prevention and specialist women’s services within the 2015-16 Federal Budget. The Project also followed up their pre-budget segment, confronting Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull about the lack of funding for domestic and family violence initiatives. [TRIGGER WARNING: Graphics depicting violence against women]
- The Federal Government has announced an extra $4m will be delivered to domestic and sexual violence hotline 1800RESPECT. Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, has also announced that GPS tracking will be considered for high-risk domestic violence perpetrators.
- In South Australia, there are now triple the number of men listed on the Domestic Violence Gateway Service that tracks perpetrators of domestic and family violence. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence against women]
- In the Australian Capital Territory, the government has announced that it will strengthen interim domestic violence orders by enabling women to extend interim protection orders without facing their violent partners in court.
- In Victoria, Melbourne’s Indian community has called for an end to domestic violence.
- In Tasmania, women’s rights activists have called on the Government to do more to respond to domestic violence.
- In Victoria, the Victorian Women’s Legal Service is using skype to connect with women in rural areas who are experiencing domestic violence.
- In New South Wales, Labor spokesperson for the prevention of domestic violence, Jodie Harrison, has criticised the New South Wales Government for failing to commit to the implementation of recommendations made by the NSW Domestic Violence Death Review Team. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of murder, violence against women, death threats]
- In Victoria, the State Government will develop the world’s first Family Violence Index, which will help direct policy and funding to adequately address family violence.
- Journalist Clementine Ford, has written about the disturbing backlash on speaking out about violence against women. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence against women, rape and death threats, explicit language]
- Reformed perpetrator of domestic violence, Jerry Retford, has called on abusers to take responsibility for their actions.
Around the World
- In Indonesia, the military has been criticised for carrying out virginity tests on new female recruits. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of sexual assault]
- In Brazil, tough laws on violence against women are being stymied by social norms.
- In Canada, UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people has criticised the Government for failing to protect Aboriginal women from violence.
- In Egypt, police adopt a new strategy for tackling domestic violence.
- In Russia, new shelters for domestic violence victims are enabling more women and children to escape domestic violence.
Get Involved!
- Registrations remain open for the Australian PeaceWomen Awards and Women’s Power to Stop War Conference in Canberra on 28-29 May 2015 presented by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).
- The Equality Rights Alliance is launching its new Survey on sex education at the Canberra Museum and Gallery on 28 May.
- Registrations are open for the International Feminist Journal of Politics Conference 18-19th June, which will take place at the University of Queensland in Brisbane.
- Anti-Poverty Week will take place from 11-17 October 2015. For more information on how to get involved visit http://www.antipovertyweek.org.au/.
- The YWCA Adelaide have launched their Rise above the Pack campaign, which aims to change the conversation around violence against women so that perpetrators rather than victims are held responsible for this violence.
Violence against women death toll continues to rise and more: AWAVA Weekly Round-Up * 4 May
Welcome to the latest edition of the AWAVA Weekly Round-Up. This week, as the violence against women death toll continues to rise, we are also hearing of the increasing demand experienced by services that support women and children escaping violence. Many telephone counselling, legal support and crisis accommodation services are unable to meet the increasing demands on their services that result from the growing awareness of domestic violence within the community. These services are calling for increased funding to ensure that those at risk of violence can access the services and support they require.
Around the Country
- An 18 year old women has allegedly been murdered by her 22 year old partner in the town of Brewarrina. The incident led community members to hold protests calling for an end to domestic violence and drugs in their town. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence against women, murder]
- A 51 year old women has been killed in the West Sydney suburb of Quakers Hill. Her 46 year old partner of 20 years has been charged with her murder.
- In Western Australia, a new $2 million crisis accommodation centre has started construction in Perth.
- The Queensland Government has launched a new campaign urging people to ‘’trust their instinct” and take action if they think domestic violence is occurring.
- In the Australian Capital Territory, Legal Aid ACT will continue to ramp up its domestic violence services to meet “unprecedented” demand from Canberra victims.
- Across Australia, domestic violence telephone counselling services are unable to keep up with demand and about a quarter of calls are going unanswered. In the ACT, Lifeline is calling for increased funding to ensure they can respond to calls from women and children experiencing domestic violence.
- Women’s rights activists are calling for refuge funding for women who are living in Australia on non-permanent resident visas. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence against women, sexual assault]
- Journalist Jenna Price has questioned why Qantas sacked a staff members for drug use but not for sexual assault. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of sexual assault]
- Journalist John Elder has looked into the experiences of women and children who are escaping domestic violence, but can’t access crisis accommodation. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence against women, domestic violence, sexual assault]
- In New South Wales, the Mayor of Albury, Kevin Mack, has been criticised for suggesting that women who walk alone at night are inviting attacks
- In Victoria, women fleeing violence can only afford to live in one Melbourne suburb.
- Journalist Josh Jennings has analysed the impacts of violent video-games and other media on young children.
Around the World
- In Afghanistan, dozens of men face trail over the mob murder of a 27 year old women who was accused of burning a Koran. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence against women]
- In Fiji, women’s rights activists call for real police action in domestic violence cases. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence against women]
- In the United States, female journalists who have reported on boxer Floyd Mayweather’s history of violence against women have allegedly been banned from attending his fights.
- In the UK, comedian Sandi Toksvig has resigned from her position with BBC Radio to establish the Women’s Equality party
- In Bolivia, cultural change is required to address the countries domestic violence epidemic. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence against women]
- In The Hague, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom have come together to set a new peace agenda.
Research, Reports and Resources
- Anglicare Australia has released its Rental Affordability Snapshot 2015, which outlines Australia’s affordable housing crisis.
Get Involved!
- Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety is hiring a Senior Research Officer (Project Management) and an Executive Assistant for their Sydney Office. Applications close on 7 May.
- Registrations are open for the YWCA Canberra’s She Leads Conference 2015. The conference will take place in Canberra on 19 May 2015.
- Registration remains open for the Australian PeaceWomen Awards and Women’s Power to Stop War Conference in Canberra on 28-29 May 2015 presented by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).
Violence against women death toll reaches 33 and more: AWAVA Weekly Round-Up * 27 April
Welcome to the latest edition of the AWAVA Weekly Round-Up. This week, we are again dismayed by the deaths of two women in the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales. In both cases a man known to the victim has been charged with the murder. This brings Australia’s violence against women death toll to 33 and highlights the need for urgent action from federal, State and Territory Governments to ensure women’s right to safety and security is upheld.
Around the Country
- In the Australian Capital Territory, a man has been arrested over the murder of 35 year old Daniela D’Addario on the New South Wales Coast last week. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence against women, death]
- In New South Wales, a 22 year old man has been arrested after an 18 year old woman was found dead in her home in Brewarrina on Saturday afternoon. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence against women, death]
- Employer groups have been accused of using ‘tricky legal tactics’ to avoid providing workplace protections for domestic violence leave.
- General David Morrison, has lamented the paucity of leadership within government and the corporate sector for tackling domestic violence.
- In New South Wales, whist a 14 year old girl continues to advocate for better domestic violence education in schools the Federal Government has cut funding for vital school education programs that teach students about healthy relationships and domestic abuse. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence against women]
- In the Australian Capital Territory, The Women’s Legal Centre, that supports women experiencing domestic violence, has called for increased funding to enable the centre to respond to increasing demands on the service.
- In New South Wales, a lack of women’s shelters in Sydney’s north shore means that women are unable to access vital services. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence against women
- In Western Australia, a new report has revealed the extent of domestic violence cases in which children are the perpetrators.
- In Queensland, an expert panel brought together by the Queensland University of Technology has addressed the need for judicial reform to tackle family violence.
- In the Australian Capital Territory, The Canberra Times Behind Closed Doors series has examined domestic violence perpetrators use of rape to control and silence their victims and has followed font line crisis workers as they support women and children experiencing domestic violence[TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence against women, domestic violence, rape]
- Australian men have been participating in the Red My Lips campaign throughout April, to bring attention to the issues of rape and domestic violence.
- In Queensland, the former partner of Cook MP Billy Gordon has denied allegations that her claims of domestic violence allegations were made for political gains.
- Journalist Van Badham has argued that we need to improve domestic violence services and responses in regional and rural communities.
Around the World
- In Pakistan, prominent human rights activist Sabeen Mahmud was shot dead in Karachi on Friday after she hosted a talk on the politics of the country’s troubled Baluchistan province. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence, murder]
- In India, actor Aamir Khan has called for a focus on redefining masculinity as the country addresses its violence against women epidemic.
- In the United States, actor and comedian Bill Cosby has been accused of sexual assault by a further three women.
- Organisations from Columbia, Syria, Nicaragua and Iraq are collaborating to develop prevention strategies to stop rape being used as a weapon of war.
- In Scotland, the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre was launched last week to ensure that women in Scotland who have or are experiencing gender based violence are able to access timely and appropriate legal advice and information.
- In Turkey, prominent women have participated in a production about violence against women.
- In China, human rights activists have cautiously welcomed a Chinese Court’s decision to grant a women who killed her husband after years of abuse a two year death sentence reprieve. Activists are hoping her sentence will now be commuted to a prison term.
Research, Reports and Resources
- JERA International has released its report Working Together for Equality: Beijing +20 Review 2014 (Australia) Report as a part of their ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the Australian Government and Civil Society commitments to the advancement of women through the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995.
Get Involved!
- 1800RESPECT are facilitating a free webinar on Improving Cross-Cultural Practice: Strategies and resources for working with women from CALD backgrounds on Thursday 30 April. Registration details are available here.
- Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety is hiring a Senior Research Officer (Project Management) and an Executive Assistant for their Sydney Office. Applications close on 7 May.
- Registrations are open for the YWCA Canberra’s She Leads Conference 2015. The conference will take place in Canberra on 19 May 2015.
- Registration remains open for the Australian PeaceWomen Awards and Women’s Power to Stop War Conference in Canberra on 28-29 May 2015 presented by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).
COAG domestic violence discussions and more: AWAVA Weekly Round-Up * 20 April
Welcome to the latest edition of the AWAVA Weekly Round-Up. This week, we look at the outcomes of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting on Friday, which included a focus on Domestic and Family Violence. The COAG Communiqué provides an overview of the discussions, which led to agreements on the development of a national domestic violence order scheme and a $30 million national campaign to reduce violence against women and their children.
Around the Country
- In the lead up to the COAG meeting 62 women’s organisations released an open letter to the Prime Minister calling for the $30 million earmarked for an awareness building campaign to be redirected to primary prevention initiatives and for robust, long-term funding for specialist women’s services.
- In the aftermath of the COAG meeting women’s organisations continued their call for increased funding for specialist women’s services and for the implementation of the Government’s National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children.
- The Hon. Scott Morrison, Minister for Social Services, announced more than $15 million funding for specialist family services nationwide that support children and parents experiencing family violence, alcohol and drug issues.
- Journalist Jenna Price has questioned why Australian Governments are cutting funding to services that are working to address violence against women.
- In New South Wales, a man has been charged with over 100 offences in what police describe as one of Australia’s worst cases of domestic violence. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence against women, rape, attempted murder]
- In the ACT, the Domestic Violence Prevention Council has recommended that the ACT Government create a portfolio dedicated to tackling domestic violence.
- In New South Wales, a 14 year old girl has called for better education to support young people wo are experiencing domestic violence.
- In Tamworth, a community action plan has been developed to address the town’s high rate of domestic violence.
Around the World
- In Canada, four member of the British navy have been charged with sexual assault while they were stationed at the Canadian Forces base in Halifax Nova Scotia.
- Clare Winterton, Vice President of Advocacy and Innovation, Global Fund for Women, has written about the reality of online violence and abuse. [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence against women, stalking, threats]
- In Mexico, activists from suburb of Edomex in Mexico City, which is the country’s most dangerous place to be a female, are calling on the Government to investigate the epidemic of violence against women.
- In Fiji, forty women from across the Pacific are taking part in a training program facilitated by the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre that will better equip them to respond to violence against women.
Research, Reports and Resources
- A report released by UNICEF titled Missing Childhoods: The Impact of armed conflict on children in Nigeria and beyond outlines the violence faced by children at the hands of ISIS insurgents.
Get Involved!
- JERA International is facilitating the event WORKING TOGETHERFOR EQUALITY: MOVING FORWARD On Beijing+20 National Issues, CSW 59th Session & Post 2015 Development Agenda in Melbourne on Thursday 23 April.
- Women’s Legal Services NSW is holding an afternoon tea presentation on Technology-Facilitated Stalking and Abuse in Sydney on 24 April, 2015.
- Registrations are open for the YWCA Canberra’s She Leads Conference 2015. The conference will take place in Canberra on 19 May 2015.
- Registration remains open for the Australian PeaceWomen Awards and Women’s Power to Stop War Conference in Canberra on 28-29 May 2015 presented by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).
