Author: fem4admin39

Domestic violence half-yearly update: The numbers we need to know

The most dangerous place in Australia for a woman to be is at home with her partner on a Saturday night.

The most dangerous place for a man to be is out in public in the company of other men.

Men are seven times more likely to be assaulted by another man than by a woman. They are also five times as likely to be assaulted by a male stranger than by an intimate partner.

Women are almost twice as likely to be assaulted by an intimate partner or family member than by a stranger.

To forestall the inevitable whataboutery dance performed by men of the internet in response to any article about violence against women and children, let’s have a look at what’s happening to men.

Men’s violence against themselves and each other is far greater than the violence they commit against women and children.

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/news-and-views/domestic-violence-halfyearly-update-the-numbers-we-need-to-know-20170704-gx4dsv.html

Without the basics, Indigenous girls still can’t participate in society

Reports earlier this week that Aboriginal girls from remote communities had been missing school during their periods came as little surprise to me.

On reading these reports, I saw a number of charitable organisations devoted to the provision of menstrual products to those in need step up and encourage people to donate so these girls had supplies available for them to access. The work such organisations do with homeless women, low socioeconomic status women and Indigenous communities in need is to be commended. Yet in my opinion, the very fact that we have to rely on the work of charities to provide pads and tampons in the first place is incredibly troubling.

Around half the population will undergo the normal, natural process of menstruation throughout the course of their lives. It’s bad enough that there are corporations getting rich off that fact while producing ads about blue liquid. It’s even worse that the government sees fit to continue having a tax on these items, treating them as luxuries rather than necessities and effectively financially penalising those who dare to bleed. Yet combine capitalist gain and government greed with service provision in remote areas: suddenly women and girls are expected to pay $10 per packet for the privilege of menstruating.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/05/without-the-basics-indigenous-girls-still-cant-participate-in-society?
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jul/03/indigenous-girls-in-remote-areas-skip-school-because-they-lack-pads-and-tampons

Missouri Women Using Birth Control Could Be Denied Employment

Missouri’s Senate is considering legislation that would allow employers and landlords to discriminate against women who use birth control or have had abortions. The bill, which has the support of the state’s governor, Eric Greitens, was approved by the Missouri House Tuesday.

This would mean that landlords could refuse to offer housing to women based on their reproductive health choices, while employers could fire female staff members who were using birth control, or refuse to hire them. And while of course this isn’t information most landlords or employers have access to, under SB 5 they could ask women what forms of reproductive health care they are using.

http://www.nationalmemo.com/missouri-women-using-birth-control-denied-employment/?

The curious case of Christine Holgate being paid less Ahmed Fahour

She is a talented senior executive with a proven ability to drive success. The fact her ego obviously isn’t bolstered by pay only accentuates her personal integrity.

But the fact her predecessor can walk out the door with the equivalent of four (and a bit) years of her entire annual salary is hard to take.

It is living proof of the pay gap in action. She is doing exactly the same job for a quarter of the salary.

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/christine-holgate-being-paid-less-ahmed-fahour/

‘You’re not my type either’: Penny Wong’s Senate retort to Ian Macdonald

pennywong

And another great moment in the Australian Parliament this week . . .

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2017/jun/22/youre-not-my-type-either-penny-wongs-senate-retort-to-ian-macdonald-video?

Carly’s Law – New legislation to stop online predators is passed

Legislation to help protect children from on-line predators has passed through Federal Parliament on Thursday. The Criminal Code Amendment (Protecting Minors) Bill, known as “Carly’s Law”, was introduced by Senators Skye Kakoschke-Moore and Nick Xenophon.

The legislation imposes a penalty of 10 years imprisonment for individuals who use the internet to prepare or plan to cause harm, procure or engage in sexual activity with a child and is intended to make it easier for police to prosecute on-line predators. The Bill was first introduced by Xenophon in 2013 but there has been a lengthy process of negotiations to have it passed by both houses.

http://www.collectiveshout.org/carly_s_law_new_legislation_to_stop_online_predators_is_passed

Bill Cosby’s mistrial shows powerful men can still get away with anything

“When you’re a star, they let you do it.” Trump’s infamous brag about how he treats women was the first thing that came to mind when I heard that the sexual assault case against Bill Cosby had ended in a mistrial. The second thought I had was: they will never believe us.

To date, nearly 60 women have accused the former television star of sexual assault. Imagine what 60 women gathered in a room look like. That’s dozens of women, enough to fill several classrooms or form a few sports teams. But it seems there is no number of women telling their stories – not one, not 10, not dozens – that will convince Americans that rape and assault happen with impunity in this country.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/21/bill-cosbys-mistrial-powerful-men-still-away?

David Gonski is “diametrically opposed” to gender quotas.

Disagreeing with Gonski, Carol Schwartz stated that quotas are the “perfect” solution to this underrepresentation. In order to tackle the underlying belief systems and unconscious bias that keep women from leadership roles, Schwartz says there needs to be a “paradigm shift which will actually move the dial.” For that, “the only answer is quotas,” she says.

Schwartz says quotas need not aim for exact gender parity every time, “that is way too rigid,” she says. Instead, she proposes a “quota for men of 40 per cent, a quota for women of 40 per cent, and 20 per cent floating.”

In 2015, Independent Senator Nick Xenophon introduced a bill so that this 40/40/20 formula would become mandatory for all Australian government appointments, but it was rejected.

Professor Cordelia Fine of the University of Melbourne, put forward a social justice argument in favour of quotas. She said that based on U.S. data, women and minorities are more compassionate, other-minded and egalitarian, and also tend to take greater account of the welfare of employees, communities and the environment.

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/david-gonski-diametrically-opposed-gender-quotas/

Australian universities are failing sexual assault survivors. It has to change

Imagine that you are a university student who has experienced sexual assault; now imagine being told that you’ll have to wait weeks to talk to a counsellor. This week, End Rape on Campus Australia was contacted by a young woman from UNSW, who was sexually assaulted by a fellow student around a month ago – she has still not been able to receive trauma counselling.

Long wait times for counselling are typical at universities around Australia. Counselling services are stretched so thin that there are simply not enough sessions to go around. Almost uniformly around the country, they are understaffed, underfunded, and not adequately promoted to students. And while the International Association of Counselling Services recommends one counsellor for every 1,000-1,500 students, Australian universities have, on average, only one counsellor to every 4,340 students.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/21/australian-universities-are-failing-sexual-assault-survivors-it-has-to-change?