Author: fem4admin39

UN experts call for resistance as battle over women’s rights intensifies

A group of UN independent experts* has warned that women’s rights are facing an alarming backlash in many parts of the world. They said that it is critically important to press on with further setting of standards on gender equality, including through the repeal of all laws that discriminate against women on traditional, cultural or religious grounds and laws that exclusively or disproportionately criminalize action of behavior by women and girls.

“We feel it is time to reiterate the backlash against the progress which has been made in promoting and protecting women’s human rights. The polarization in the battle for rights is being demonstrated increasingly, and regressive positions have become a serious threat to the human rights legal framework.”

http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/un-experts-call-for-resistance-as-battle-over-womens-rights-intensifies/?

Needed to be ‘dealt with’: Court finds firm sacked employee because she was pregnant and took annual leave

The Federal Circuit Court has decided a commercial real estate firm unlawfully fired an administrative assistant in the last week of her probation period because she was pregnant and took leave days to deal with illness, despite the company arguing work performance issues led to the dismissal.

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/needed-dealt-court-finds-firm-sacked-employee-pregnant-took-annual-leave/

LNP politician cries ‘major gender imbalance!’ at 68% female board

Queensland’s new Parole Board has more women than men.

And the state’s Opposition Corrective Services spokesman Tim Mander is not happy with the lack of diversity.

During estimates last night, Mander asked how the board was “diverse”, given its “major gender imbalance.”

The board is 68% female and 32% male.

Mander’s upset at the pathetic 30% male representation on this board, but most boards (although admittedly government is doing better) have still never cracked the 30% female mark. Many have still never appointed a single female board member.

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/eds-blog/lnp-politician-cries-major-gender-imbalance-68-female-board/

‘Submit to your husbands’: Women told to endure domestic violence in the name of God

When we speak of domestic violence, and the cultural factors that foment it, one crucial element missing from the discussion has been religion.

While it is generally agreed that inequality between the sexes can foster and cultivate environments where men seek to control or abuse women, in Australia there has been very little public debate about how this might impact people in male-led congregations and religious communities, especially those where women are told to be silent and submit to male authority. . . .

Is it true — as one Anglican bishop has claimed — that there are striking similarities to the church’s failure to protect children from abuse, and that this next generation’s reckoning will be about the failure in their ranks to protect women from domestic violence? . . .

This is a particularly sensitive point in the Sydney Anglican Church, which is known for its robust advocacy of male headship. . . .

Those who uphold “egalitarian” views of marriage in this diocese report being sidelined, overlooked for jobs and ostracised.

Some told ABC News they could not publicly state that they believed in equal relationships between men and women, for they would lose their jobs.

And as domestic violence advocate Barbara Roberts points out, in conservative churches women are often taught that desire to overthrow male authority is a sign of sin — thereby making feminism innately wrong.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-18/domestic-violence-church-submit-to-husbands/8652028

Thanks for caring, now your Superannuation’s worth half as much as men

Can you guess how much unpaid childcare is worth in Australia?

An estimated $345 billion, according to a March 2017 report by PwC, which would make it the largest industry in the formal economy.

The majority of the work is being undertaken by women.

But don’t expect to get financially rewarded for it.

Such caring responsibilities, as well as the gender pay gap and other factors are contributing to a significant divide between the superannuation savings of women and men.

We are retiring with around half as much (53%) superannuation as men, according to new research today from think tank Per Capita and the Australian Services Union.

It’s not hard to see why.

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/eds-blog/thanks-caring-now-superannuations-worth-half-much-men/

Women outnumber men in legal profession

A report has found that women outnumbered men in the Australian legal profession in 2016 for the first time ever, although they still hold far fewer senior leadership positions.

The Law Society of NSW released the National Profile of Solicitors 2016 report yesterday.

Recent research from the Women Lawyers’ Association of NSW found that women made up just 18 per cent of equity partners, despite being equally represented at senior associate level.

Mr Tidball said that although most firms have flexible working policies, many fail to translate these policies into reality. He said this was cited as one of the biggest barriers to women’s career advancement.

“The legal profession must assist men and women to better balance their professional and other commitments,” he said.

https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/careers/21525-women-outnumber-men-in-legal-profession?
https://www.australasianlawyer.com.au/news/for-the-first-time-women-outnumber-men-in-australias-legal-profession-238952.aspx

Growing Pains

Whether puberty suppression is safe and effective when used for gender dysphoria remains unclear and unsupported by rigorous scientific evidence. This is especially worrying in light of the lack of understanding of the causes of gender dysphoria in children or adults. Conditions like precocious puberty, for instance, have a biological course that is relatively well understood. Hormone interventions that treat that condition are tailored to its causes. In the case of gender dysphoria, however, we simply do not know what causes a child to identify as the opposite sex, so medical interventions, like puberty suppression, cannot directly address it.

Puberty suppression as an intervention for gender dysphoria has been accepted so rapidly by much of the medical community, apparently without scientific scrutiny, that there is reason to be concerned about the welfare of children who are receiving it, as well as reason to question the veracity of some of the claims made to support its use — such as the assertion that it is physiologically and psychologically “reversible.”

http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/growing-pains

http://nypost.com/2017/06/20/hormone-therapy-is-a-horrible-risk-for-kids/

Jane Campion: my Top of the Lake research involved sneaking into brothels

The crime drama will once again centre around detective Robin Griffin, played by Elisabeth Moss, but this series will move from wild backdrop of New Zealand to Sydney, delving into the world of legalised prostitution.

“Sexual tourism in Sydney from Asia has always really annoyed me because I feel it’s so exploitative of people who don’t have the choices that we have and I felt like it should be something we should talk about or bring out,” said Campion. “The legalisation of brothels is not a simple issue at all. The ownership of someone else’s body is something very powerful to explore.”

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/jul/18/jane-campion-my-top-of-the-lake-research-involved-sneaking-into-brothels?

A woman ‘destroyed’ in big win for Seven

The woman who has caused such embarrassment to the board, the CEO, to the reputation of the entire company – a woman who publicly took on one of the most powerful boys clubs in business – was yesterday ordered to pay back legal costs to Seven after she lost her case against her former employer.

In the words of one commentator, Harrison’s been “obliterated”, another said Seven “destroyed” their former employee, who had dared to reveal she’d had an extra-marital affair with CEO Tim Worner. The journalist adds that “no company would want to go through what Seven went through”.

Harrison hit back at the legal system yesterday, alongside her former employer, saying that “too often, our legal system and courts are used by one party to exhaust the other, when one can’t afford the fight.”

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/eds-blog/woman-destroyed-big-win-seven/

Pornography has changed the landscape of adolescence beyond all recognition

A GP, let’s call her Sue, said: “I’m afraid things are much worse than people suspect.” In recent years, Sue had treated growing numbers of teenage girls with internal injuries caused by frequent anal sex; not, as Sue found out, because she wanted to, or because she enjoyed it – on the contrary – but because a boy expected her to. “I’ll spare you the gruesome details,” said Sue, “but these girls are very young and slight and their bodies are simply not designed for that.”

Her patients were deeply ashamed at presenting with such injuries. They had lied to their mums about it and felt they couldn’t confide in anyone else, which only added to their distress. When Sue questioned them further, they said they were humiliated by the experience, but they had simply not felt they could say no. Anal sex was standard among teenagers now, even though the girls knew that it hurt.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/11554595/Pornography-has-changed-the-landscape-of-adolescence-beyond-all-recognition.html