Anonymous for ABC News writes:
Thanks to the work of ABC journalists Julia Baird and Hayley Gleeson, a light was shone on the insidious problem of domestic violence in religious communities.
For the first time our stories as clergy wives were heard by a wide audience, and we felt hopeful that by speaking up, we could contribute to better outcomes for other women who were still suffering.
And yet so much has not changed.
We’re still struggling to survive. Many of us live in desperate poverty; housing insecurity and not knowing where our next meal will come from is our daily reality.
It can be difficult to access the specialised trauma counselling that we and our children need — few counsellors are trained to deal with domestic violence induced trauma, the cost can be prohibitive, and child minding can be almost impossible for those of us who have lost much of our support networks.
We struggle to find our way spiritually as we adjust to thinking for ourselves, after years or decades of being told what to believe and how to behave in order to please the God we had had presented to us through our husbands’ dictates.
And we still have no voice in the formal structures of the Sydney Anglican Church.
Over the past year there has been fierce pushback against the taskforce’s emphasis on the need to support victims seeking to leave abusive marriages.
In its report this week the taskforce noted it had received feedback from some who felt its domestic abuse policy had “inadvertently gone too far in undermining the intended permanence of the marriage covenant”.
The emphasis on the indissolubility of marriage in diocesan teaching has been a powerful factor in trapping women in violent marriages. Both victims and advocates have argued this must urgently be clarified, and the policy reflects as much.
But women are still reporting far too often being re-victimised by church workers and parish policies for leaving their abusive marriages.
Not long after I left my marriage, I was invited to meet with a group of other ex-clergy wives who had also recently left or were preparing to leave abusive marriages.
A woman with an influential leadership role in the diocese thanked us for coming and then said: “Now, I want us to think about how we can preserve our beautiful doctrine of submission in the face of these terrible experiences you have had”.
I listened in disbelief as she quite literally put the preservation of this doctrine, which is frequently interpreted as requiring wives to “submit” to their husbands, ahead of any acknowledgement of the horrific treatment we had endured, and were still suffering, at the hands of husbands who had used that very scripture to justify their violence.
Does the Bible really deserve more empathy than the human beings for whom it was written?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-22/what-i-want-the-church-to-know-about-domestic-violence-victims/10401752
Author: fem4admin39
Is sport a law unto itself?
Jerome Doraisamy for Lawyers Weekly writes:
Speaking to Lawyers Weekly in the wake of her appearance at the Victoria Law Foundation’s forum on sport and the law, Monash University Associate Professor Kate Seaar said sport can shape how we understand the value of men and women and what they are capable of.
“Where women are not treated equally or afforded the same opportunities as men, and where sport is culturally valorised, women may come to be understood as inferior to men,” she argued.
“Research from Our Watch also suggests there could be important links between sport and violence against women, and that offering women equal opportunities to play sport (including being paid equally) may help erode attitudes supportive of/linked to violence against women.”
fhttps://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/politics/24332-is-sport-a-law-unto-itself?
Queensland police misses defence deadline after domestic violence victim's details leaked
Ben Smee for The Guardian:
The Queensland police service has missed the deadline to file its defence in a breach of privacy case brought by a domestic violence victim whose details were leaked by a police officer.
Julie* was forced to go into hiding after a senior constable, Neil Punchard, accessed her address from the police QPrime database and sent it to her violent former husband, who has been convicted of domestic violence and faces another charge of breaching a domestic violence order.
Punchard then sent text messages to Julie’s former husband joking about the matter.
“Just tell her you know where she lives and leave it at that. Lol. She will flip,” Punchard wrote in one message that was later sent to the Crime and Corruption Commission.
The Queensland Government Insurance Fund has instructed the government legal service, Crown Law Queensland, to fight the case on behalf of the police service.
Julie is self-represented in the Queensland civil and administrative tribunal. The police service was required by the tribunal to file “the statements of evidence on which it seeks to rely” by Monday at 4pm.
The police defence to Julie’s claim is broadly that the state should not be held responsible for the actions of rogue individuals.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/23/queensland-police-misses-defence-deadline-after-domestic-violence-victims-details-leaked
myGov portal can be used by abusive partners to track down victims, Government warns
Megan Hendry for ABC News reports:
Parents fleeing domestic violence are being urged to deactivate their children’s myGov accounts, amid concerns abusive partners can use the portal to discover where spouses and children are living.
An email circulated by staff at the Queensland Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women has warned that a group of doctors had raised concerns about abusive partners being able to access the updated address details of their child through the Federal Government’s myGov portal.
“Perpetrators will seek to find and locate their partner or ex-partner because the nature of domestic violence is this intense desire to control or exert power over the other partner,” Professor Taylor said.
“Perpetrators try all sorts of means in order to try and locate [abused partners] so any system, including myGov, which may allow this to happen needs to be a concern to authorities in terms of risk and safety.”
She said the portal posed a significant risk to victims.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-18/mygov-portal-can-allow-abusive-partners-to-track-down-victims/10386708
Most Australians would not act if they saw sexism
Wendy Tuohy of The Age writes:
Only 14 per cent of Australians are likely to do something if they identify a woman being targeted with sexism or disrespectful treatment, research has found.
Forty-seven per cent said they could recognise disrespect but would be “unlikely to do something”, and 39 per cent said they would struggle to recognise it at all.
The national agency for the prevention of violence against women, Our Watch, which did research on 2000 people around the country, will launch a campaign today aimed at prompting those who witness disrespectful treatment to act.
Ms Kinnersly said it was important not to ignore such behaviour because accepting disrespectful treatment can set a tone in which violence against women is tolerated.
“Sexist attitudes and behaviours create an environment where violence against women is more likely; in an environment in which women are disrespected, some people take that right and don’t draw the line,” she said.
https://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/most-australians-would-not-act-if-they-saw-sexism-20181017-p50a69.html
Surrogacy: No Laughing Matter
Jennifer Lahl for Public Discourse writes:
On April Fools’ Day 2018, a German LGBTI website came under attack for announcing the raffle of a surrogate mother in Thailand and an egg donor for a gay couple. The ‘package’ was said to be worth over $44,000 US. Immediately this raffle draw attention on Twitter, where it was criticized for being a “tasteless,” “racist,” “sexist,” and extremely unfunny attempt at an April Fools’ joke.
What is taking place here in the US is a state-by-state effort to pass legislation enabling commercial surrogacy. Internationally, efforts to legalize commercial surrogacy are underway in places like the Hague, the United Nations, and several national governments. One thing you should know for certain is that all of these efforts are carefully orchestrated—and well-funded—by the fertility industry, their lobbyists and attorneys, and gay surrogacy agencies like the one run by Sam Everingham, “Families through Surrogacy” or the group “men having babies.”
One of the first steps in combating surrogacy, particularly in the consumer-driven developed, western world is by exposing big fertility. Surrogacy is big business, raking in billions of dollars worldwide each year.
When there is money to be made—particularly in a field that claims to be self-regulated—there are always bad actors eager to cash in. Theresa Ericson, a California-based surrogacy attorney who was convicted and sent to prison for leading a baby-selling ring, called herself the “tip of the iceberg, when it comes to people abusing the system.”
So no, there is no debate taking place on the ethics of surrogacy. What is happening is that a few of us, woefully understaffed and underfunded, are taking on an industry similar to the likes of Big Tobacco or Big Pharma, David vs. Goliath style.
https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2018/04/21343/?
NO TO G20
Information about the Week of Action against the G20 and the IMF
This year, the Argentinian government is hosting the G20, a one year process during which more than 80 meetings of G20-working groups, ministerial meetings and summits of the focus groups are taking place in our country. The Leaders’ summit, for which the presidents from the G20 countries will travel to Buenos Aires, will take place on Friday 30th of November and Saturday 1st of December 2018 at the Centre of Conventions “Costa Salguero”. The government of Mauricio Macri is already preparing for the mega event, buying airplanes, arms and what they call “anti-riot equipment” . In fact, one third of the budget for organizing the G20 is dedicated to “safety and defense”, which roughly amounts to 50 million U$S. And while the government is spending millions on the G20, it is cutting expenses for education and health andhas entered a dangerous spiral of indebtedness by asking the IMF for a loan of 50 billion U$S in order to assure the country’s liquidities and its capacity to pay speculative hedge funds.
This is why the Confluencia Fuera G20 – IMF (the “Confluence G20 – IMF Out)” is planning a massive Week of Action, from the 25th of November to the 1st of December and is inviting everyone to participate in the global repudiation of the G20, the IMF and everything these institutions represent.
https://noalg20.org/info-in-english/
Don't agree with trans ideology? UTAS will find a way to silence you …
Bronwyn Williams for the Tasmanian Times writes:
Universities present themselves as forums for robust debate, but when it comes to trans rights, it seems no dissent from the politically correct position will be tolerated. Those who argue against the favoured pro-trans ideology are shamelessly and vindictively silenced, with specious claims of defamation concerns, patently uninformed ‘legal advice’ and more buck passing than you’re ever likely to see, anywhere.
And, the censorship persists, based on a unilateral decision, with no consultation or information or proper advice offered to the author.
Below is the text of the offending article, as published in Togatus …
The Collective’s Facebook page posts the occasional useful feminist article, but the overall transgender/queer bias is patently obvious. Only those who agree with a ‘feminism’ that prioritises trans/queer interests are welcome.
I fully appreciate the emotional and social consequences gender identity issues must have for transgender and queer individuals, but I’m not prepared to cede my experience of femaleness to the overtly political agenda of some in those groups. I am a woman, not a cis-woman.
And, seriously, when a Collective member has a bitch about their ‘queerness’ not being taken seriously enough because they’re ‘low femme’ and they have ‘a long-term cis man partner’ we know we’re truly in the realm of privileged, white, first world problems.
Thousands of women are out there right now – being underpaid, and exploited, and trafficked into sexual slavery, and raped and beaten and killed. Most of them have XX chromosomes and bigger things to worry about than their gender identity. If feminism has to be a game of priorities, I prefer to prioritise their struggles.
https://tasmaniantimes.com/2018/10/dont-agree-with-trans-ideology-utas-will-find-a-way-to-silence-you/
'Soft porn' and Instagram: how plastic surgeons fuel body image anxiety
Professor Emerita Nichola Rumsey, a leading international expert on appearance psychology, delivered a scathing assessment of the cosmetic industry’s role in the unrelenting rise of poor body image.
Some were using “soft-porn images” on Instagram and other social media that “gives patients unrealistic expectations of the likely outcomes, contributes to negative body image and it should change,” said Professor Rumsey from the University of the West of England and honorary member of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.
Poor body image was linked to depression, anxiety, stress, eating disorders and disordered eating, drug and alcohol misuse.
A recent Melbourne study found a sharp rise in the number of girls – some as young as 11 – seeking vaginal cosmetic surgery.
The cosmetic industry was perpetuating the “beauty myths” that the more attractive a person is, the happier or successful they will be, Professor Rumsey said.
But research shows people who base their self worth on their looks are more insecure.
https://www.smh.com.au/healthcare/soft-porn-and-instagram-how-plastic-surgeons-fuel-body-image-anxiety-20181020-p50ax3.html
Yet Another Beautiful Black Woman Dies in Childbirth
Angela Helm for the Root writes:
Kira Johnson Spoke 5 Languages, Raced Cars, Was Daughter in Law of Judge Glenda Hatchett. She Still Died in Childbirth.
Kira is but one of the hundreds of black women who die in childbirth each year—at rates that dwarf those of their white counterparts—regardless of socioeconomic standing, education or marital status (see Serena Williams’ near-death experience in childbirth or the new report that black women in Illinois are six times more likely to die in childbirth than their white counterparts.)
11 Alive reports that for every 13 white women who die during pregnancy or within one year of giving birth, there are 44 black women. More than half of all deaths have been deemed preventable by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The reasons for this disparity, which has been studied and debated by researchers and doctors for more than two decades, is not definitely clear, but there is growing evidence that the toxicity of racism—both in the lives of black women and in the medical establishment—plays a large part.
https://www.theroot.com/kira-johnson-spoke-5-languages-raced-cars-was-daughte-1829862323
