Author: fem4admin39

Its time to decriminalise abortion

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) has expressed its strong support for decriminalisation of abortion in NSW. The Abortion Law Reform (Miscellaneous Acts Amendment) Bill 2016 introduced by Greens MLC Dr. Mehreen Faruqi is due to be debated in the NSW Legislative Council this Thursday.

The current NSW laws are archaic and not reflective of community values or of internationally recognised human rights principles. According to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Australia has an obligation to protect the rights of women and girls to access health services, including family planning and to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these rights

https://alhr.org.au/time-decriminalise-abortion-nsw-protect-human-rights-3/

Time to Decriminalise Abortion

As law and criminology academics working at universities across NSW, we believe it is time for our Parliament to follow the lead of other Australian states and formally decriminalise abortion. Outdated abortion offences should be removed from the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) and privacy zones should be provided around abortion service providers and clinics.

Abortion is a health and welfare matter, not a criminal issue. People who have an abortion, and their doctors, should not face the risk of criminal prosecution.

Please support the Abortion Law Reform (Miscellaneous Acts Amendment) Bill 2016.

https://decriminaliseabortionnsw.squarespace.com/

We’re About To Have The Same Debate About Whether Abortion Should Be A Crime

Churches and anti-abortion groups have swung into action before legislation that would remove abortion from New South Wales’ Crimes Act is debated in the state’s parliament.

One of the bills, which could be debated as early as next week, was introduced by NSW Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi. It removes the procedure from the state’s Crimes Act and establishes safe access zones around hospitals and clinics where abortion is provided. It also requires doctors who conscientiously object to abortion to refer a patient to another doctor who doesn’t.

Legislation to decriminalise abortion was withdrawn from Queensland’s parliament in February after every single member of that state’s Liberal National opposition vowed to vote against it. Farqui said it was “disappointing but not entirely surprising” that the lobby was running a “scare campaign on abortion law reform based on inaccurate information”.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/ginarushton/were-about-to-have-the-same-debate-about-whether-abortion?utm_term=.gcWP1RgER#.yqzxv4754
[category: Aust, reproductive rights]

Australian politics explainer: how women gained the right to vote

Between 1894 and 1908 a wave of women’s enfranchisement swept across Australia. Beginning in South Australia in 1894 and ending 14 years later in Victoria, Australia’s six colonies allowed women to vote.

With the passage of the Commonwealth Franchise Act in 1902, Australia became just the second country in the world – after New Zealand in 1893 – to give women the vote. At the same time, the Commonwealth became the first country in which women could stand for parliament. It was this coincidence of voting and representation rights that made Australian women the “most fully enfranchised” in the world.

https://theconversation.com/australian-politics-explainer-how-women-gained-the-right-to-vote-74080

Further proof the pay gap is no myth, it’s a stubborn fact.

Whichever way you cut the ATO’s most recent release of data relating to taxable income, the gap between what men and women earn is stark.

Women in Australia are earning substantially less than men. The cost of this is compounded over the course of their working lives and it explains why the path to poverty is so crowded with women.

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/eds-blog/proof-pay-gap-not-myth/

Nations pledge to cut women’s unpaid work and close the gender pay gap

UN member states have pledged to close the gender pay gap and reduce and redistribute unpaid care and domestic work that falls disproportionately on women.

After two weeks of intense discussions in New York, the Commission on the Status of Women ended with commitments by states to advance women’s economic empowerment by implementing equal pay policies, gender audits and job evaluations. The gender pay gap stands at 23% globally, according to UN figures.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/mar/27/nations-pledge-to-close-gender-pay-gap-commission-status-women-un

‘Work hard. Be bold. Have fun’: Dr Anne Summers receives honorary doctorate

“We need to be open to ideas and opportunities that might lure us away from what we thought was our destiny.

“You need not be bound by convention or tradition or anyone’s expectations – including your own. All you need is to believe in yourself. Work hard. Be bold. Have fun.”

She also urged those in the audience to embrace the future with enthusiasm and optimism.

“The world is way more complicated and, in some ways, more scary than it was when I was graduating but it is also a more exciting place.”

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/work-hard-bold-fun-dr-anne-summers-receives-honorary-doctorate/

Should small businesses be required to have 40% female staff to land government contracts?

The issue of gender quotas for Australian businesses has again hit the headlines with a suggestion from the Human Rights Commission that the federal government use its procurement processes to become a “model industry” when it comes to improving representations of women in the workforce.

The HRC has proposed a model which would encourage organisations to reach a 40:40:20 gender balance comprised of 40% men, 40% women and 20% unspecified, to allow for flexibility.

Given women do, and have done since time immemorial, comprise half the population and yet still hold a minor proportion of board seats, is this such an outrageous proposition?

According to Abbott, yes. He suggested the federal sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins ought to “pull her head in”. (I mean, seriously, what exactly does Jenkins think she is doing mooting suggestions to minimise ‘sex discrimination’?)

https://womensagenda.com.au/business/entrepreneurs/small-businesses-required-40-female-staff-land-government-contracts/
https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/tony-abbott-blasts-anti-men-politically-correct-rubbish/

Why it’s time to march for women’s health and safety

In January this year five million men, women and children took to the streets around the world to stand up for the rights of women. What started in Washington as the Women’s March grew into a gigantic global event.

A follow up event to Women’s March Sydney, will be held this Saturday 29th of April 2017 at 11am at Prince Alfred Park.

Over 800 participants are expected to participate in the day of action and advocacy for women’s health and safety.

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/why-its-time-to-march-for-womens-health-and-safety/

petition: Reverse Decision to Allow Saudi Arabia on UN Women’s Rights Commission!

After a secret vote was held, the UN has elected Saudi Arabia to a UN women’s rights commission. Saudi Arabia is a country that an absolutely horrific record on women’s rights and continues to oppress women in many ways.

The Executive Director of United Nations Watch, Hillel Neuer, may have said it best: “Electing Saudi Arabia to protect women’s rights is like making an arsonist into the town fire chief.”

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/455/552/690/?z00m=29074452&redirectID=2390256742