Equality is back on the agenda

Two nationally momentous speeches have been made since the new Parliament was sworn in on the 26th of July 2022, signifying a sharp and welcome turn towards equality.

As is tradition, the Governor-General delivered a detailed address outlining the newly commissioned government’s program.  Australia’s most pressing inequality towards our First Nations people was identified as the first priority, with commitments made to Voice, Truth, Treaty and Closing the Gap. Importantly, it was also explicitly stated that ‘the government has set itself a goal to re-establish Australia as a global leader in gender equality’. The government’s program will include a new National Strategy to Achieve Gender Equality - geared at closing the gender pay gap and improving women’s economic equality, health and wellbeing - along with finalisation of the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-32.

Following the first week of Parliament, the new Prime Minister attended the Garma Festival of Traditional Culture in Arnhem Land. Prime Minister Albanese addressed the festival, re-affirming the government’s solemn promise to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart, in full. He detailed his intent to enshrine a Voice in the Constitution, and he suggested - as a starting point for further consultation - the three sentences that would go to referendum for change to the Constitution, in recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the First Peoples of Australia. Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney described this speech as ‘the most important speech by a prime minister on Indigenous Affairs since the apology to the stolen generations in 2008’.

Another point worth celebrating is that when federal parliament resumed this week, it was the most diverse in Australia’s history. Women now make up 38 per cent of the House of Representatives and 57 per cent of the Senate – a record for both chambers. The gains are not spread evenly across the chamber however: in the House there will be 58 women taking their seats, including 19 new female MPs, but the Liberal party lost four women, meaning just nine women will fill their benches.

Around the Country

• The Northern Territory's current Australian of the Year, Leanne Liddle, has spoken out against "racism in all its forms", highlighting its impact on both the criminal justice system and attitudes towards domestic and family violence.

• The new Government has moved to scrap cashless welfare card and introduce 10 days domestic violence leave.

• On the Parliamentary lawns in Canberra, Women gathered to acknowledge long-sought bill for paid domestic violence leave, supported by Anthony Albanese.

• It was revealed at the commission of inquiry into Queensland police responses to domestic violence a senior Queensland police officer reportedly told a co-worker that police did not investigate the suspicious death of a domestic violence victim because she and her husband were a “a pair of scumbags who live in a shit area in a shit house”.

• Queensland police are investigating social media posts on a private Facebook group for law enforcement personnel that belittled domestic violence victims and implied officers purposefully avoid responding to such incidents.

• The number of police recorded victims of sexual assault increased by 13 per cent in 2021, the tenth annual rise in a row, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

• Victim survivors fear NSW coercive control legislation could be used against them.

• The Northern Territory has experienced another jump in domestic violence cases, with those on the frontline warning it will take a "lot of work" to turn the situation around.

• Environmental activists in New South Wales have been banned from using encrypted messaging apps and ordered to hand over smartphone passwords to the police as part of “unprecedented” and “draconian” bail conditions.

• A proposal to turn an unfinished, 1,000-bed quarantine facility near the Brisbane airport into crisis housing for women and children escaping domestic violence has been met with a mixed response by the city’s housing and homelessness service sector.

• Police allege that a teenager living in the suburbs of Brisbane back in 2013 created and sold a sophisticated hacking tool used by domestic violence perpetrators and child sex offenders to spy on tens of thousands of people across the globe.

• Jacquie Petrusma, Tasmanian Minister for Prevention of Family Violence has resigned from Parliament. Minister Jo Palmer, Minister for Women, will take on the portfolio of Prevention of Family Violence.

• Save the Children is urging governments to ensure services and support that specifically meet the needs of children are outlined in the 2022-2032 National Plan. The leading child rights agency is also calling for a greater investment in child-focused support services.

Around the World

• UN Women have released Statement: Crises drive an increase in human trafficking – Here’s how we stop it.

• Despite significant progress that Türkiye has made over the last 15 years in advancing women’s rights, the country is now at a crossroads, and risks backtracking on its human rights obligations to protect women and girls from violence, a UN expert has concluded after her country visit.

• Recent quarterly crime statistics released by the South African Police Service show that 898 women were killed from January to March 2022, representing a 22.2 per cent increase. During these three months 10,818 women reported rapes, with almost half taking place at the home of the rape victim or the home of the rapist.

• The Council of Europe provided training to hotline operators, psychologists, psychiatrists and social work specialists throughout Ukraine to support sexual violence victims’ access to gender-sensitive and victim-centred social, psychological, medical and legal assistance.

• The Nigerian government has passed a bill for second reading, seeking to make teaching preventive skills against sexual and gender-based violence compulsory in high schools.

• Women in Afghanistan have faced an onslaught of violence and human rights abuses since the Taliban’s return to national power and the “scope, magnitude and severity” of violations are “increasing month to month,” according to a new report by Amnesty International.

• In the Republic of Ireland, over 50 prosecutions for coercive control have been taken since the offence was introduced in January 2019, figures show. Women’s Aid, however, has said that limitations on the level of sentencing for charges of coercive control may need to be reflected on in the future.

• Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid has said violence against women is “a stain on the country and it cannot continue.”

• Violence against women continues to rise in Pakistan, with reports that 157 women were kidnapped, 112 women were a victim of physical assault and 91 women were raped across Pakistan in the month of June.

• A new Bangledesh report by Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) reports that at least 476 women have been raped in the country in the first six months of 2022 - of these women 24 were killed after rape, and six died by suicide.

• In Pennsylvania, a bill to bar people convicted of domestic violence from the state legislature or holding any public office in state government is gaining traction.

• The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that refusing to wear a condom against a partner’s wishes, known as stealthing, may be grounds for sexual assault.

• The US has passed the Safe Connections Act, a bipartisan bill to help protect victims of domestic violence by allowing survivors of domestic abuse to separate their mobile phone line from any shared plan involving an abuser, without facing penalties.

Research and Publications

• An ANROWS research project Technology-facilitated abuse: Extent, nature and responses in the Australian community has concluded, finding that half of Australians will experience technology-facilitated abuse in their lifetimes.

• ANROWS has also released a research report Investigating the mental health of children exposed to domestic and family violence through the use of linked police data and health records.

• The World Health Organisation has published The gender pay gap in the health and care sector a global analysis in the time of COVID-19 finding that globally women face a 24 percentage point pay gap compared to men across the sector.

• A study published by the Royal Statistical Society used internet search data to measure domestic violence during the Covid-19 pandemic, finding an increase several times larger than that suggested in official police records.

• A partnership between UNSW’s Gendered Violence Research Network and Commonwealth Bank is raising awareness around groups at greater risk of economic and financial abuse, publishing the ‘state of knowledge’ reports identifying knowledge gaps in current research on economic and financial abuse. 

• Panos South Asia (PSA) has been studying trends in gendered online violence against women in politics and women aspiring to join politics. This study looks at how gendered misinformation and disinformation impact women and society.

• RAND Corporation has issued a report Identifying High-Priority Needs Within the Criminal Justice System for Programs Focused on Intimate Partner Violence Prevention.

• A new study sheds light on some of the risk factors for the development of psychosis, including the potentially causative role of sexual assault. Investigators conducted an exposome-wide association analysis on over 155,000 individuals.

• Hegarty, Kelsey L., Andrews, Shawana and Tarzia, Laura, Transforming health settings to address gender‐based violence in Australia. Medical Journal of  Aust, 217 (3): 159-166 (2022).

• Manouchehri, E., Ghavami, V., Larki, M. et al. Domestic violence experienced by women with multiple sclerosis: a study from the North-East of Iran. BMC Women's Health 22, 321 (2022).

Resources and Guidelines

• Harmony Alliance has developed a 2016 Census and Settlement Database brief to provide an understanding on migrant and refugee women's diversity in Australia and identify some of the challenges they face with a focus on the impact of English proficiency.

• The Business Council of Australia has released Domestic and family violence: a best practice guide for employers.

• The Supporting Women’s Financial Safety guide - published by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet - provides user-friendly checklists for financial service organisations to better understand, prevent and address financial abuse.

• Research by the United Nations shows that ‘home’ is the most likely place for women and girls to be killed worldwide. The Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre invites exploration of their interactive website that draws back the curtains to go inside homes affected by family violence during the first year of the COVID-19 lockdowns in Victoria. 

• Safe and Equal and the Expert Advisory Panel have developed a series of resources and templates to support other services and organisations in their engagement with survivor advocates. Safe and Equal has also released an issues paper, seeking to define and explore different sources of lived experience to inform the work of the family violence sector.

• As part of the Women with Disabilities Australia (WWDA) LEAD project, WWDA has developed a fact sheet to support women, girls, feminine identifying, and non-binary people with disability in understanding, applying for and navigating the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

• The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has uploaded a website article Family, domestic and sexual violence containing facts and data, drawing from a range of statistics and research.

• Harmony Alliance has developed a grant writing guide which includes the steps to prepare grant proposals, what a proposal should consist of, and a practical example. 

• The Victorian Women’s Trust has launched Rural Women Online for women living and working in rural and remote Victoria. The program is designed to provide online help with computers, phones, and the internet, and is also a place to learn new digital skills, find a nearby workshop, access technical support, and sign up to be mentored.

• CARE has released guidelines relating to Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies.

• Our Watch and Senior Rights Victoria have produced a new resource for practitioners seeking to build their knowledge and practice on preventing violence against older women.

Media

• The Conversation writes Refugee and migrant women are often excluded from mainstream domestic violence services and policy.

• The Canberra Times considers Abortion access is an issue in Australia. Ministers for women can end postcode lottery.

• Al Jazeera writes how Stereotypes, violence keep women out of politics in Zimbabwe.

• ABC News discusses Why fighting back in violent relationships is not mutual abuse.

• The Lowy Institute writes US abortion bans unleash state-sanctioned violence against women.

• ABC News considers Manly's jersey predicament taught sport an important lesson about inclusion, just not the one the club intended.

• Spanish paper, El Pais, discusses In the fight for gender equality, what is not in the budget is demagoguery.

• Refinery 29 writes There’s Not Much We Can Legally Do About Sexual Assault In The Metaverse.

• A Radio Liberty article and podcast discuss how Central Asian Women Fight For Their Rights Through Social Media.

• El Tecolote writes about how California courts start penalising psychological domestic abuse.

• The Independent in the Republic of Ireland asks What is coercive control? Expert says it ‘is a liberty crime... takes away people’s equality and dignity’.

• Irish radio station RTE discusses stories of coercive control.

• Al Jazeera presents a video story on The Femicide Detectives: Investigating an epidemic of violence against women in Mexico

• The Conversation writes Canada’s shadow pandemic: Femicide.

• The New Arab conducts analysis on Why Arabic media coverage of violence against women needs to change.

• The People’s Dispatch writes about Quilombola women sharing their organising experiences and their priorities in the struggle in Brazil.

• The Harvard Business Review writes We Can’t Fight Climate Change Without Fighting for Gender Equity.

• Nigerian newspaper, Premium Times, conducts Analysis: Social media can change actions that drive gender-based violence.

Calls for Submissions, Surveys, and EOIs

• Have you experienced tech-facilitated coercive control? Has a partner abused you using text messages or Facebook? Have they tracked you using GPS tracking apps? If you have experienced this type of abuse and sought safety and justice support, researchers from Monash, RMIT and WESNET would like to speak to you. Contact: [email protected]
• If you work in family violence or other related services, such as legal and family services in Victoria, the Australian Institute of Family Studies invites you to share your experiences of how your client service needs changed and how your services adapted to meet their needs during COVID-19. Take the survey: Future-proofing Safety Project Information Sheet (aifs.gov.au).
• The Melbourne Women’s Fund Grants Program distributes a Signature Grant ($75,000) and a Nurturing Grant ($40,000) each year to two bold, often smaller, non-profit organisations striving to do outstanding work in education, employment and economic empowerment, homelessness, family violence. Applications close on 4 August 2022 at 6pm AEST.
• Grants of up to $15,000 are on offer for community organisations who focus on initiatives that address the unique issues faced by Queensland’s women and girls. Submissions for round two close on 5 August 2022.
• Have you accessed or attempted to access an abortion in the ACT? Women’s Health Matters ACT is seeking participants in their anonymous survey so we they can better understand the experience of accessing abortion in the ACT and surrounding region. The survey closing date is Monday 8 August and takes around five minutes to complete!
• The Productivity Commission has released an issues paper supporting its inquiry examining the economic and social impacts of allowing informal carers to take extended unpaid leave from their work to care for older people who are frail and living at home. Initial submissions are due by Wednesday 24 August 2022.
• The Victorian Women’s Trust is looking for innovative social change projects that work to make the world a better place for women, girls, non-binary and gender diverse people. Applications for its Sub-Fund grants are open until 29 August 2022.
• The NSW Government seeks feedback on its exposure draft Crimes Legislation Amendment (Coercive Control) Bill 2022, with comments accepted until 31 August 2022.
• Now is the time to share your experience of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation with the Disability Royal Commission. Submissions close on 31 December 2022. Find more information on the DRC website.
  

Events

• SAVE THE DATE: WESNET will be convening the 4th Tech Summit on 20-22 September 2022. Register your interest here.
• The CultureShift Community of Practice will feature Veronica Gorrie, the award-winning Gunai/Kurnai author of Black and Blue: A Memoir of Racism and Resilience Friday 5 August 2022, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm (online).
• The AHURI National Homelessness Conference 2022 is being held in Canberra on 8 August 2022.

• A forum on the Misidentification of Predominant Aggressors is being held on Wednesday 10 August 2022, 10 am – 1pm, at the Moonah Arts Centre in Hobart. Representatives from Women’s Legal Service Tasmania, No to Violence, and Tasmania Police will speak at the forum.

• Padma Raman, PSM, & ANROWS CEO will speak on 'How a human rights framework challenges gendered perspectives' for the Alice Tay Lecture on Law & Human Rights on Wednesday 10 August 2022, 6–8pm, at the ANU.

• The 2022 Philanthropy Australia National Conference, ‘For the Love of Humanity: People, Place and Planet’ will take place from 6-8 September at the International Convention Centre in Sydney. The conference will explore insights emerging from First Nations philanthropy, impact investing, global funding, and more.

Training and Further Education

• WESNET has partnered with Forcibly Displaced People Network (FDPN) to launch a free online workshop on tips and tricks for Online dating and safety for LGBTIQ+ refugees and migrants on 11 August 2022, 6 - 8 pm. Register here.
• WESNET is offering Technology Safety Online Training for SADFV professionals, for dates and training descriptions please visit https://techsafety.org.au/training
• Harmony Alliance is collaborating with La Trobe University to support migrant and refugee women to start and further develop their careers through the Future Proof Career Development program. This free program will include educational, mentorship and networking resources.

• 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.
  

• 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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