Religious education in NSW schools ‘inappropriate’ but government vows support

A long-awaited review of the scripture and ethics programs was released on Wednesday, more than a year after it was handed to government.

It recommended that the default position of secondary school enrolment in scripture be changed, meaning parents would opt their children in, rather than having to opt them out. That recommendation was rejected by the government.

. . . the review identified concerning examples of inappropriate content being taught to children. That included a teacher workbook that contained “negative passages about abortion”, described cancer as a “consequence of sin and a gift from God”, and said people should “die for their faith, if necessary”. “The text also contained messages about sex education, which is not appropriate or the role of [special
religious education],” the review found.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/apr/12/nsw-rejects-some-religious-education-review-findings-but-will-scrutinise-material

http://atheistfoundation.org.au/article/women-in-the-bible/

‘Visit violent dad in prison – or join him’

University of Sydney Faculty of Education and Social Work Associate Professor Lesley Laing said although laws were amended in 2011 to put children’s safety above equal parenting rights, it was not being put into practice in the courts.

“The law has changed to say that exposure to domestic violence and child abuse should be the top consideration, but for many women that’s very hard to prove,” Ms Laing said.

“I spoke to women who have had to drag screaming children to meetings with their fathers but are worried if they don’t do that then they’ll lose the children altogether for defying court orders.”

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/visit-violent-dad-in-prison-or-join-him/news-story/330624f801f389f6da5c7b174e53fefe

Abortion Pill Telemedicine – At-Home Medication Abortion Safety

In Australia, where laws regarding the administration of abortion pills are different than in the United States, telemedicine looks to be an effective and convenient way to surmount the access barriers to safe abortion. Women in extremely remote areas, without a clinic nearby to perform an ultrasound or blood test, may still face difficulty, even with telemedicine. But the ability to terminate a pregnancy at home, without traveling to a designated abortion clinic, stands the chance to drastically improve access for women in Australia and the United States.

It would currently be illegal for women in the U.S. to receive abortion pills with a simple, over-the-phone consultation, like the 1,800 women in Australia were able to do. But relaxing those restrictions would radicalize access to an evidentially safe procedure for the millions of women who live far from abortion clinics. And with more and more anti-abortion laws being introduced in states every day, the number of women living far from abortion clinics is only increasing.

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/a9241182/abortion-pill-telemedicine/

OK for Muslim men to hit therir wives, say Hizb ut-Tahrir women

Muslim men are allowed to hit their wives — but only gently, and not with fists, instead using short sticks and pieces of fabric, according to a new video produced by the Australian women’s branch of radical Islamic political movement Hizb ut-Tahrir.

The video, posted to Facebook by the Women of Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia, features a Muslim woman, who identifies herself as Sydney primary-school teacher Reem Allouche, demonstrating the appropriate ways by which Muslim men may discipline their disobedient wives.

The women on the panel agree that “Islam is not gender-biased”. At the same time, they acknowledge that a Muslim wife is not given the option to hit her husband, or refuse sex, only to “ask one of the family members” for assistance in times of strife.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/its-ok-to-hit-wives-say-hizb-uttahrir-women/news-story/52dd838887cb0a0c32686c7a31cb96d8

The magazine cover women surgeons around the world are recreating.

While these replications are testament to the fact there are hundreds and thousands of female surgeons around the world, the reality is they remain a distinct minority.

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/eds-blog/the-magazine-cover-women-surgeons-around-the-world-are-recreating/

Henrietta Augusta Dugdale: Australian suffragist honoured by Google

Henrietta Augusta Dugdale, a founder of the first female suffragist society in Australia, has been honoured by Google with a doodle on the search engine’s homepage.

In 1883 she wrote a short book titled A Few hours in a Far-off Age, in which she described “male ignorance” as “the devil” and the “greatest obstacle to human advancement; the most irrational, fiercest and powerful of our world’s monsters”.

The book, a utopian allegory, imagines a society where women have equal rights.

Dugdale also attacked Victoria’s court system for failing to take action on violence against women, writing that “women’s anger” was being “compounded by the fact that those who inflicted violence upon women had a share in making the laws while their victims did not”.

She was credited as one of the women who led Australia to in 1902 become the second country to grant women the right to vote.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/13/australian-suffragette-henrietta-augusta-dugdale-honoured-by-google?

David Schwimmer’s sexual harassment films are good. But this is women’s work

It’s a good thing that Schwimmer’s done to assist the broadcast of Avin’s message. But it’s so hard as a feminist to shake a conviction based on so much accumulated evidence that these films have received the positive reception they have because their identification with Schwimmer lends masculine validity to their analysis. I’m reminded of the infamous headline in the Onion, “Man Finally Put in Charge of Struggling Feminist Movement”, that summarises this cruel phenomenon.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/12/david-schwimmers-sexual-harassment-videos-are-good-but-theyre-womens-work?

Constant housework: Census 2016 reveals women still doing the bulk of it

The first release of data from the 2016 Census shows the typical Australian woman spends between five and 14 hours a week doing unpaid domestic housework. For the typical Australian man it’s less than five hours a week, suggesting women still assume the lions’ share of the housework.

Women spend more time in housework even when they are single and working full-time. Although single women do slightly more housework than single men, it’s during singlehood that housework time is most equal by gender. When women start to cohabit, their housework time goes up while men’s goes down, regardless of their employment status. These gender gaps in housework linger over time and widen even further when children enter the picture.

This means women’s total lifetime earnings are reduced, it also shortens their career ladders and results in superannuation earnings that are significantly less than their male counterparts. In fact, one in three Australian women retire with nothing in their superannuation.

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/soapbox/constant-housework-census-2016-reveals-women-still-bulk/
https://womensagenda.com.au/uncategorised/time-buy-house-anyway-stress-debt-hard-work-ahead-22-year-old-woman/
http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/2016+Census+National

This Easter, it’s the Catholic Church that needs redemption

Jesus said that children are special, that they are holy. The royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse says that there have been nearly 4,500 reported cases of alleged abuse of children in Catholic institutions over the past 35 years. No doubt many more remain unreported.

I know I am not alone among Australian Catholics in finding it near impossible to reconcile these despicable statistics with the church’s claim to be a special mediator of God’s grace and a place that I should attend in order to understand more deeply God’s love.

I know because my fellow Catholics talk to me about these issues. I know because I can look around Catholic parishes and see the declining attendance.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/12/this-easter-its-the-catholic-church-that-needs-redemption?

When men talk gender diversity and the lies that are told to women

Denniss offered some “stinging” and hard truths, sharing his four tips on how to actually close the super gap:

“Step one, don’t go into the caring profession. Don’t. You will never ever match men’s super if you choose low paid work. Two. Don’t take time out of the labour market to care for children, if you understand the genius of compounding interest you’ll know the more you put away when you’re young the more you’ll have later on. Three. Don’t take time out of the workforce when you’re older to care for your parents or your partners parents.

“Four. This is the summary one. Be a man! We invented superannuation’s, it’s the last vestiges of the male breadwinner, harvester male model. It works well for well paid people like me who don’t take lots of time out of the workforce.”

https://womensagenda.com.au/uncategorised/men-talk-gender-diversity-lies-told-women/