AWAVA's Election Report Card

This will be the last Round Up prior to the federal election on 21 May 2022. AWAVA has however produced its election report card which will be updated right up until election day when and if new and relevant policies are released by the major parties.

The report card compares and contrasts ten key policy areas, including women’s specialist services, housing, the NDIS, the caring workforce and the just use of power.

AWAVA does not endorse candidates or parties, but we do encourage our friends and supporters to consider party policies and the impact these might have on the various dimensions of equality and on the safety of women, children and non-binary people. 

When casting a vote it is worth remembering that each voter decides their own preferences. You can accept or reject ‘how-to-vote’ cards, and you do not have to follow their suggestions. The Australian Electoral Commission has excellent online resources including practice ballot papers.

Your vote is important, and is both a right and a privilege. We are again including a special section on election policy analysis to help well-informed decision-making.

2022 Election Policy Analysis

• Rosie Batty speaks on The Project about Labor & Coalition Silent On Domestic Violence During Federal Election Campaign.

• Jess Hill writes for Primer Women’s Safety Was A Hot Topic Last Year – And Now? Nothing.

• Key women’s safety and equality organisations are speaking out over ongoing rhetoric against transgender women, fearing it could lead to greater violence and hostility. Fair Agenda has led the joint statement, endorsed by more than 40 groups including AWAVA. The statement can be accessed and signed here.

• Women with Disabilities Australia (WWDA) has released its election platform.

• Change the Record’s election platform calls on the incoming government to choose to end the inequality that is driving mob into prisons, and instead fund affordable housing, social security and services for everyone, including adequately funding family violence prevention and legal services to meet community need.

• Harmony Votes offers in-language information to support migrant and refugee women to make informed decisions in elections and actively participate in political life.

• The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) is developing a range of briefings on key issues around critical policies for women that need to be addressed and part of the dialogue in the lead up to the 2022 Federal Election.

• The Women’s Electoral Lobby (WEL) has developed a comprehensive policy platform on a range of issues affecting women’s lives.

• The Victorian Women’s Trust is running the Matters That Count initiative that calls on people to get together with friends and screen 1-3 of their federal election candidates, asking them to declare their hand on 8 core matters.

• Fair Agenda scores the major parties’ track records at Election 2022: Together for women's safety.
  

• Women’s Agenda identifies which candidates have signed on to Fair Agenda’s Pledge for a Safer Future.

• Women’s Agenda has also published The 2022 Federal Election Guide, researching female candidates running for the House of Representatives for major and most minor parties, as well as independents, to track who is running for election in 2022.

• The First Nations Housing - Election Priorities calls for further funding to the states and territories to ensure existing public housing stock is retrofitted and properly maintained as the climate crisis worsens.

• No to Violence has identified five key initiatives that must be included in the National Plan Ending Violence against women and children 2022-2032 to keep more women and children safe by enabling the sector to work effectively with more men – and achieve a vision of a world free from male violence.

• Communicare and White Ribbon Australia are encouraging all Australians to reach out to their local political candidates and urge them to make women's safety a key election priority. Resources are available here.
  

• Mamamia writes about where the major parties stand on the issue of violence against women.
  

• The Guardian confirms a substantial gender split in attitudes towards the prime minister, with men at plus six approval and women at net 13-point disapproval. This is also translating into a 10-point difference in gender voting intention.

• Lloyd and Sue Clarke talk about what they want to see being done to address family violence.

• The ABC reports Northern Territory Senate hopefuls promise a 'shake-up' in fight against family violence.
  

• In the context of US politics, MSNBC discusses how victim blaming and gaslighting has become the routine response from Republicans accused of harassment, abuse and violence, and that the idea that we should “believe women” is something only Democratic voters say and believe.

• The Conversation asks: Women have been at the centre of political debate in the past two years. Will they decide the 2022 election?
  

• Women’s Agenda writes Stop claiming gender pay gap credit when you’ve done nothing to narrow it.
  

• Women’s Agenda also discusses the Labor pledge to enable the Fair Work Commission to order pay rises for female dominated workforces.

• Pro Bono News has gathered together the main policy wants from across key pillars of the charity sector, as well as other key areas of interest from charities, peak bodies, and advocacy groups.

• Half a dozen domestic violence and homelessness support services in the NSW Hunter Valley have called for more to be spent on safe, temporary accommodation, saying that the domestic violence policies of both major parties fall short of what's required, as the housing crisis makes the situation worse.

• Pedestrian asks How Do The Major Parties Measure Up On Women’s Policy?

Around the Country

• The Queensland government says it will fully implement all 89 recommendations of a landmark women’s safety taskforce, including introducing new laws to criminalise coercive control and holding a four-month inquiry into “widespread cultural issues” within the state’s police service.

• The ACT Legislative Assembly has passed reforms of sexual consent laws in the ACT, ensuring that consent to sexual activity must be actively and affirmatively communicated.

• The South Australian Women’s Domestic Violence Court Assistance Service assisted 303 new clients in the first three months of this year, compared to 209 clients over the same

• The Victorian Government announced the fifteen Victorian councils that will share more than $3.5 million to implement and deliver primary prevention initiatives under the Free from Violence Local Government Program.

The Victorian Government has also announced an investment of more than $240 million as part of the Victorian Budget 2022/23 towards addressing women’s safety and family violence. Specific allocations included:

1. A $69.1 million boost for two refuges, six new crisis accommodation properties and support for three organisations to bolster crisis accommodation options.
2. More than $43 million to family violence services including crisis assistance, specialised therapeutic support for children and young people, funding for Victoria’s 24/7 crisis service, and support for women on temporary visas.
3. $30 million in funding to expand the Central Information Point – allowing consolidated information about perpetrators of family violence to be shared with frontline family violence services.
   $33.4 million to support sexual assault victims with specialist sexual assault services, an expanded Sexual Assault Crisis Line, and interventions for children and young people displaying sexually harmful behaviours.

Around the World

• The US Supreme Court is preparing to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that protects the right to an abortion, according to a draft opinion leaked to the media. While the decision could still change, if it becomes the ruling of the court, the decision would dismantle nearly 50 years of precedent and usher in a new era for reproductive rights in which the legal status of abortion is decided by individual states.

• On 1 May 2022, the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention), entered into force in the Republic of Moldova, with Moldova becoming the 35th member state to ratify the convention.

• Canada has provided 10 Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers to help gather evidence of rape and sexual violence by the Russian military in Ukraine that could be used in a case at the International Criminal Court.

• The European Parliament has adopted a resolution strongly condemning the use of sexual and gender-based violence as a weapon of war. They express their deep concern about the growing number of reports of human trafficking, sexual violence, exploitation, rape, and abuse faced by women and children fleeing Ukraine.

• Marking Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day in the US and the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), otherwise known as Red Dress Day, in Canada, Indigenous rights advocates have renewed longstanding calls for concrete action to stem disproportionate rates of violence against Indigenous women and girls in both countries.

• The Taliban has ordered Afghanistan’s women to cover their faces in public – one of the harshest restrictions imposed on them since the Taliban seized power last year and an escalation of growing restrictions on women that is drawing a backlash from the international community and many Afghans.

• Minister of Women affairs in Nigeria has called for stronger measures to tackle gender-based violence which continues to threaten gender equality in Nigeria.

• More than 800 Iranian filmmakers have signed a declaration against sexual harassment, coercion and violence in their industry.

• A lack of legal regulation and the inefficiency of the Bosnian justice system mean Bosnian women in politics face little or no protection against gender-based abuse online.

• In India, the National Family Health Survey-5 has found that nearly one-third of women have experienced physical or sexual violence. 

• Marking World Press Freedom Day on 3 May the Governments of the United States of America, Australia, Denmark, Republic of Korea, Sweden, and the United Kingdom - as members of the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse - issued a statement calling attention to the pressing need for enhanced safety of women journalists and media workers.

• In the US, the Biden administration is planning to overhaul how schools respond to sexual misconduct complaints and extend federal protections to some of the most vulnerable students, including the codification of safeguards for transgender students for the first time.

• Last month Indonesia’s parliament passed the Sexual Violence Crimes Law, the nation’s first dedicated law for addressing cases of sexual violence against men, women, and children. But what does this law actually mean for the almost 120 million women and girls in the deeply religious country?

• The Global Network of Women’s Shelters (GNWS) has launched Lila.help, a directory about direct services for women and girls fleeing from violence, listing accurate, vetted, and safe helplines and shelters for every country and territory in the world. GNWS wants every organisation that provides trustworthy direct services to people experiencing gender-based violence included in their directory. Organisations can fill in their information via this link.

Research and Publications

• The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability has released a research report Changing community attitudes to improve inclusion of people with disability.

• A new report by the Sentencing Advisory Council highlights data regarding responses to family violence, noting yearly increases since 2011 in the number of incidents attended by police, protection orders issued and breaches of orders sentenced. One in 11 of all cases sentenced in the Magistrates' Court each year now involves a breach of a family violence order.

• Per Capita’s report for the V&F Housing Trust, Housing Affordability in Australia – Tackling a wicked problem, sets out an evidence base to demonstrate that housing costs are reaching a crisis point for too many Australians.

• A Rapid Gender Analysis, carried out by UN Women and CARE International, seeks to draw attention to the gender dynamics in the humanitarian crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine. It also proposes recommendations for humanitarian leadership, actors, and donors to ensure consideration of the gendered dimensions of risk, vulnerability, and capabilities in response to this crisis.

• The Nordic Policy Centre report Homes for People suggests that Nordic nations’ widespread provision of public housing and housing co-operatives, priority for homes to live in rather than invest in, and effective reduction of homelessness, provides a pathway out of Australia’s housing crisis.

• CAEPR’s No more business as usual: The need for participatory Indigenous development policy and skilled practice explores what is needed to enable First People to genuinely participate and make meaningful decisions about their own development, own the outcomes and take responsibilities with governments and others, where appropriate, for their implementation.

• Joyce Wu, a Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences in Global Development, in UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture, discusses violence against women in this video from a new series from the UNSW Centre for Ideas in which UNSW academics and researchers challenge us to think about key issues.

• Sociology of Health and Illness journal has open published Men, suicide, and family and interpersonal violence: A mixed methods exploratory study examining men in rural Australia.

• Statistics Canada has recently released Violent victimization and perceptions of safety: Experiences of First Nations, Métis and Inuit women in Canada.

• Two discussion papers on user-of-violence behaviour change program exit reporting to courts and to other mandated referrers - including a detailed paper on proximal indicators/signposts in behaviour change work - have been published by the RMIT Centre for Innovative Justice and Stopping Family Violence. 

• The Alaska Criminal Justice Commission announced the release of its new report which focuses on Alaska’s exceptionally high rates of domestic violence, and how the state responds to this type of violence and tries to prevent it in the future.

• The Asia Foundation has conducted a multicountry qualitative research study to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of screening and service provision to victims of trafficking in persons and gender-based violence in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

• AWAVA, WESNET, NATSIWA and WWDA have launched the ‘Report on Young Women and Non-Binary People’s Experiences of Gender-Based Violence across Australia‘. The report is available now on AWAVA’s website here.

The Monash Gender and Family Violence Centre have recently published:

1. When staying home isn’t safe: Australian practitioner experiences of responding to intimate partner violence during COVID-19 restrictions. (Pfitzner, Fitz-Gibbon & True, 2022, Journal of Gender Based Violence) 
2. Re-imagining the measurement of femicide: from ‘thin’ counts to ‘thick’ counts. (Walklate & Fitz-Gibbon, 2022, Current Sociology) 
3. Responding to women experiencing domestic and family violence during the COVID-19 pandemic: exploring experiences and impacts of remote service delivery in Australia. (Pfitzner, Fitz-Gibbon & Meyer, 2022, Child and Family Social Work).
   
   

Resources and Guidelines

• Elder abuse awareness bookmarks and posters have been translated into 15 languages by the Australian Human Rights Commission to increase community awareness of the National Elder Abuse phone line. Additional languages will be rolled out this year.

• Violence against women increases at times of disaster. Gender and Disaster Australia have compiled some useful resources to ensure first responders consider violence against women as they set up staff evacuation centres and work in communities impacted by disaster. Find the interactive webpage here.
  

• Preventing Violence against Women: A Primer for African Women’s

• Business Queensland have launched a website listing resources for business relating to domestic and family violence.

• The International Student Principles were developed by the Human Rights Commission to address the human rights concerns of international students living in Australia. They have recently been updated in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international students including the experiences of racial discrimination and race hate.

• Organizations, developed with the African Women’s Development Fund, explores a feminist approach to preventing violence against women in Africa, outlines current evidence and unpacks key controversies in VAW prevention programming.

• The International Student Principles were developed by the Human Rights Commission to address the human rights concerns of international students living in Australia. They have recently been updated in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international students including the experiences of racial discrimination and race hate.

• A training manual for police officers on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence was developed for the Police Educational Complex of Armenia and is available online.

• Preventing Violence against Women: A Primer for African Women’s Organizations, developed with the African Women’s Development Fund, explores a feminist approach to preventing violence against women in Africa, outlines current evidence and unpacks key controversies in VAW prevention programming.

• To draw attention to all the forms of domestic violence that go unnoticed Swayam, a Kolkata-based organisation that is committed to advancing women's rights and ending inequality and violence against women and girls, has released a set of three short films in Hindi and in English.
  

Media

• The Trap is a harm prevention podcast, created by the Dugdale Trust for Women & Girls and the Victorian Women’s Trust. It is a series about love, abuse and power, hosted by Jess Hill, looking deeply at abuse that happens in private, and in public, searching the world for answers to the questions that continue to confound us. 

• In the New Yorker article The Making of a Femicide, a Mexican novelist explores how murderous male rage flourishes in an ailing society.

• The Takeaway podcast discusses The Long History of Violence Against Asian Women in the United States.

• The Conversation writes Perpetrators of family violence sometimes use threats of suicide to control their partner.

• The Guardian has compiled ‘It’s a hell of a scary time’: leading US feminists on the threat to Roe v Wade.

• Time Magazine writes The World’s Most ‘Pro-Life’ Nations Offer a Grim Preview of America's Future.

• The Cut discusses The Most Infuriating Lines in the Supreme Court Draft Opinion That Would Overturn Roe.

• Ms Magazine writes The Anti-Abortion Movement Has a Long History of Terrorism. A Roe Repeal Will Make It Worse.

• Ms Magazine also highlights The backlash against feminist progress that’s overtaking the U.S. is part of a global trend. Free and empowered women are a threat to authoritarianism worldwide—and the autocrats know it.

• The Conversation examines How colonialism is a major cause of domestic abuse against women around the world.

• Salon writes Forced pregnancy and childbirth are violence against women — and also terrible health policy.

• Read an interview with Nazir Afzal: The UK's national expert on violence against women and girls who will never stop fighting for their rights in the New Arab.

• The webinar launching the AWAVA, WESNET, NATSIWA and WWDA Report on Young Women and Non-Binary People’s Experiences of Gender-Based Violence across Australia can be watched here.

• AWAVA’s own Karen Bentley, CEO of Women’s Services Network (WESNET), features in episode 3 of There’s No Place Like Home - FF new podcast that puts survivors of family violence at the centre of the story. Learn more by heading to the podcast website.

Calls for Submissions, Surveys, and EOIs

• The Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre Centre has launched a study on LGBTIQ+ family violence victim-survivors' experiences with Victoria's intervention order system. The focus of this study is on access to justice and safety outcomes. To complete the survey, click this link. Please feel free to share the survey widely.

• The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is inviting manuscripts for a special issue ‘Engaging Men and Boys in the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls’. Deadline for submission is 31 July 2022.

Events

• DVNSW is hosting their 2022 Conference live and in-person in Sydney on the 12th and 13th of May 2022 at the NSW Teachers Federation Conference Centre. The theme of the conference is Reconnect, Re-energise, Redesign.
  

• Local organisations are encouraged to register as exhibitors at the 2022 Together We Can Community Leadership Summit on 17-18 May. The annual summit is an opportunity for community members and organisations to come together to discuss ways to stop, prevent and end family violence in Cardinia Shire.

• The STOP Campaign is launching their Safe Response Toolkit in the ACT on 22 May 2022. The toolkit is a comprehensive resource for sexual violence victim-survivors and their supporters within the ACT community. When registering, any guest can opt to have their ticket subsidised (paid for) by The STOP Campaign by using the promo code ‘STOP2022’.

• The 2022 Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre Seminar Series is presenting Imperfect Victims: Criminalized Survivors and the Promise of Abolition Feminism by Professor Leigh Goodmark on 1 Jun 2022, 9am to 10am (AEST). Details and registration are here.

• The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) 2022 Conference on 15-17 June 2022 in Melbourne will imagine a future where putting families at the centre drives the work of researchers, policy-makers and service providers.

• No to Violence Conference 2022: Shifting the Burden is on at the Adelaide Convention Centre from 1 to 4 August 2022.

Training and Further Education

• Project Respect is delivering 'Supporting Women in the Sex Industry' Capacity Building Training courses and has an e-Learning course starting on the 24th of March and an Introductory Workshop on the 19th of May. Project Respect’s Training & Courses webpage has more information and their Supporter Update mailing list has training updates.

• ACON has recently launched three online training modules: The Trans Vitality: Trans Affirming Practice eLearning; Trans and Gender Diverse Sexual Health ELearning, in collaboration with ASHM; and Recognise and Respond, in collaboration with the Black Dog Institute.

• The RACGP Family Violence GP Education Program assists GPs in developing skills and knowledge to respond to domestic and family violence. The program is open to all Victorian GPs and practice staff and offers two training pathway options – beginner and intermediate/advanced.
• WESNET is offering Technology Safety Online Training for SADFV professionals, for dates and training descriptions please visit https://techsafety.org.au/training
  
• The Council of Europe has launched a new, free online course on Violence Against Women for Law Enforcement Professionals.
  

• RMIT’s Graduate Certificate in Domestic and Family Violence provides an exciting opportunity for current and future family violence practitioners, with subjects in gendered violence, responding to family violence, primary prevention of violence against women and specialist case coordination and management. The program is offered online and part-time to support work/life/study balance. Applications can be made online here, or for more information, visit the Program Overview.

• Harmony Alliance has developed a free online course on 'Financial Literacy for Women' available in English, Arabic, Dari, Simplified Chinese, Vietnamese, Nepalese, Punjabi, Hazaragi, Thai, Karen, and Korean.

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

If you would like to submit a particularly topical piece of news, research, report, etc. please e-mail to [email protected]. We cannot guarantee this will be included.