Human rights lawyers have voiced their grave concerns about the government’s continued relentless push to privatise essential specialist domestic violence services for women by awarding contracts to religious and other for profit agencies. The latest service facing possible closure, is Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia (RDVSA) – a vital service first established by the Women’s Liberation Movement in 1971.
A Brazilian soccer player who had his mistress murdered and fed to dogs claims he is “starting over.”
In his first major interview since being released from prison, 32-year-old Bruno Fernandes de Souza said: “What happened, happened. I made a mistake, a serious one, but mistakes happens in life – I’m not a bad guy.”
“People tried to bury my dream because of one mistake, but I asked God for forgiveness, so I’m carrying on with my career, dude,” he said,
NPIP is founded on the recognition that the prison system does not to function primarily in the interest of public safety, as we are lead to believe. Reoffending rates are high, and prisons are violent, not rehabilitative, institutions. They do not reduce crime rates – if that was their purpose, indigenous women would not be incarcerated at a higher rate than any other demographic.
Yet recently, NPIP’s activism has focused heavily – disproportionately, even – on transgender inmates. In 2015, NPIP successfully campaigned to move Jade Follett, a male who identifies as transgender, into a women’s prison after he was sentenced to 21 months for stabbing – it took just hours for the government to comply. Several NPIP spokespeople identify as trans themselves, and four of their abolitionist demands are specific to incarcerated people who identify as trans.
These demands seem to supersede any concerns NPIP has for women either in or outside of prisons. For instance, NPIP calls for the government to “End the practice of incarcerating trans people”, while it makes no mention of ending the incarceration of women, even though men who identify as transgender still exhibit the same pattern of violence against women as the general male population, and women commit only a fraction of all violent crime.
NPIP also calls on the government to “Allow for the immediate placement of all trans prisoners in a prison of their choosing”, with no concern for how this might affect women in (overcrowded) women’s prisons. Should Alex Aleti Seu, who committed sexual assault repeatedly, really have access to a women’s prison? Surely women in prison for “crimes” like benefit fraud should not be lumped with the extra punishment of sharing space with male sex offenders like Seu – just because those males might prefer it?
https://reneejg.net/2017/03/23/transactivism-in-prison-abolition/
The Northern Territory has decriminalised abortion and widened access for women, including use of the RU486 termination drug.
After a years-long public campaign and failed attempts during the previous administration, the Labor-led parliament voted 20 votes to four on Tuesday in favour of a bill to amend the NT Medical Services Act and the criminal code. Labor members were given a conscience vote.
http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/ru486-abortion-drug-laws-pass-in-northern-territory/news-story/17be5725f4eb9ce6a11b09821678abe0?
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-21/nt-abortion-debate-hears-from-all-sides-of-parliament/8374464?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/22/abortion-decriminalised-in-northern-territory-after-long-campaign?
Anyone charged with a serious domestic violence offence in Queensland will now have to prove why they should be granted bail and allowed back into the community before they face court.
The Opposition said the new laws also provided more safeguards for domestic violence victims, including provisions for courts to order alleged offenders to be fitted with GPS tracking devices as a bail condition, and urgent appeal rights for victims
“We’ve only seen 46 of the 121 recommendations in the Not now, Not ever report actually implemented.”
The State Government and crossbench . . . rejected the LNP’s bid to make it mandatory for victims and their families to be formally notified when perpetrators were granted bail or parole.
Australia’s world-renowned Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia (RDVSA) phone counselling centre is facing possible closure in July.
The suggestion that endometriosis is a form of mental illness or is somehow caused by poor mental health seems to be deeply rooted in the history of the condition, which is in many ways reminiscent of descriptions of “women’s hysteria”.
“It seems to be all about restricting and further limiting a woman’s right to exercise her choice as to what she’s going to do in the case of serious detects in the fetus, congenital defects in the fetus,” said Sen. Rodriguez.
On Monday, in front of a gallery that included a handful of activists dressed in costumes from “The Handmaid’s Tale, legislators passed Senate Bill 415, effectively banning dilation and evacuation, a safe and common procedure used in many second trimester abortions except when a woman faces a health emergency.
The UK drugs regulator is to examine new evidence about a pregnancy test used in the 1960s and 70s which hundreds of parents believe caused serious deformities in their children, often leading to early death.
A transgender weightlifter from New Zealand has sparked controversy after winning a competition in Australia.
Lauren Hubbard, 39, made her debut as a contender for the Commonwealth Games in the 90kg+ class at the Australian International in Melbourne on Sunday.
Ms Hubbard, who was born Gavin until she transitioned in her mid-30s, blew her rivals out of the water by winning her division by 19kg.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4329600/Outrage-transgender-weight-lifter-wins-comp.html
