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Welcome to the latest edition of the AWAVA Weekly Round-Up. This week, many of the links we’re sharing relate to actions being taken to help prevent and eliminate violence against women. Across the country and across the globe, activists are working and building on the achievements of those who came before them to address gender based violence. Every action, however small, helps to counter the attitudes and culture that permit men’s violence against women to continue.

Around the Country

• Former Governor General and head of Queensland’s Domestic Violence Taskforce Quentin Bryce has said that men’s inaction is responsible for continued unacceptable rates of domestic violence
• The Federal Government has announced new measures to address human trafficking, slavery and forced marriage
• WESNET has partnered with Telstra to provide safe smart phones to women impacted by domestic violence
• Newly-elected Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is in the process of selecting a person to head the state’s royal commission into family violence
• Researchers from the University of Melbourne are advocating for responses to violence against women to be integrated into the medical, nursing and public health sectors around the world
• In Victoria, justices of the Court of Appeal have called for tougher sentences for vengeful former partners, saying domestic violence in Victoria has become an epidemic
  [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence, gun violence]
• Target and Kmart have both removed the video game GTA V from their shelves following pressure from people concerned about the game’s depictions of violence against women
• NSW Police assistant commissioner Mark Murdoch has named educating young men about respectful relationships as a key focus in preventing violence against women, pointing to violent pornography as a significant obstacle
• In the ACT, Attorney-General Simon Corbell has announced that almost $100,000 in proceeds from crime will be used to fund community organisations that campaign for the elimination of violence against women in Canberra
• The ‘No Gender December’ campaign has been an opportunity for researchers and activists to underline the connection between strict gender roles and violence against women
• Writer, comedian, and well known activist for women with disabilities, Stella Young has passed awayaged 32
• In New South Wales, new data has revealed that rates of domestic violence have remained stable, with close to 30,000 assaults during the 12 months up to September

Around the World

• In China, a draft has been released of the country’s first anti-domestic violence law [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence, financial abuse]
• Malaysia’s Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has called on young people to educate themselves and take action on violence against women [TRIGGER WARNING: Description of violence]
• In Ireland, a seminar organised by the Irish Consortium on Gender Based Violence (ICGBV) has heard from high profile activists, including Tom Meagher and former president of Ireland Mary Robinson, that gender equality is vital to addressing violence against women
• As Egypt marked International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, activists reflected on the many types of gender based violence experienced by women in the country [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence, female genital cutting, violence against children]
• The Pan American Health Organisations has pointed to Colombia as the worst country in Latin America or the Caribbean for violence against women
• In the United States, former Chief Airforce Prosecutor Col. Don Christensen has resigned citingretaliation for his efforts in prosecuting military sexual assault cases
• European Parliament has heard that immediate and significant action needs to be taken to reduce the number of women experiencing violence and being killed around Europe
• Performer Lady Gaga has spoken about her experience of being sexually assaulted as a 19 year old

Research, Resources and Reports

• The Journal of Technology in Human Services has published a study entitled, ‘Intimate Partner Violence: Modifying an Internet-Based Safety Decision Aid to a New Zealand Context’
• The University of New South Wales’ Gendered Violence Research Network has made their Good Practice Review: FSV and the Workplace Strategies Project – Papua New Guinea available for free download online
• The World Bank Group, the Global Women’s Institute at George Washington University, and the Inter-American Development Bank have published a new resource guide on violence against women and girls and accompanying website aimed at providing basic information on VAWG, and guidance on how to integrate VAWG prevention and the provision of quality services to violence survivors
• 1800 RESPECT continue to release resources for workers around the sector, including best practice resources for risk assessment

Get Involved!

• Our sister alliance, Equality Rights Alliance, is leading an advisory group of organisations interested in gender equality to prepare a section on gender equality for the Universal Periodic Review into Human Rights (UPR) NGO report. They need YOUR help to identify which issues should be prioritised in the report. You can do this by taking their UPR Gender Consultation survey

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