Category: Australia

Indigenous women are most affected by domestic violence but have struggled to be heard. It’s time we listened | The Conversation

According to recent research led by Kyllie Cripps, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are 32 times more likely to be hospitalised for injury associated with violence than non-Indigenous women. They are eight times more likely to be a victim of homicide. This figure is higher in some areas, such as Western Australia, which recorded Aboriginal mothers as 17.5 times more likely to be a victim of homicide.

There are also concerns a significant investment recently announced in Western Australia will not support Indigenous women. They’re based largely on an expansion of existing services, police, child protection and corrections, and non-Indigenous service responses. These decisions were made contrary to the states own Aboriginal family violence policy and in the absence of research or evidence base.

However, as was identified in the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Queensland Police Service’s responses to domestic and family violence, reforms are often reactive and short lived. Key recommendations have been ignored, while governments have made services mainstream.

White feminists have pursued a law and order agenda that has been proven not only to be ineffectual, but potentially even harmful to Indigenous women. For example, coercive control laws risk misidentifying Indigenous women as the perpetrators of violence for not presenting as “ideal victims”.

When it comes to sexual assault, there are virtually no culturally appropriate services available to Indigenous women and girls, who are at high risk of such violence. According to the World Health Organization, one in three Indigenous women globally will be a victim of rape in their lives. This is certainly true of First Nations women and girls in Australia.

Source: Indigenous women are most affected by domestic violence but have struggled to be heard. It’s time we listened

Man accused of ‘escalating’ sexual attacks on strangers repeatedly bailed | SMH

Police warn nothing will stop Geoffrey Postle from allegedly sexually and physically menacing women, teenagers and even children in Sydney’s streets, trains and shopping centres for his own gratification.

In just six months, the deeply disturbed man allegedly offended eight times, often in breach of bail, with police claiming he threatened and exposed himself to strangers, and, on one occasion, stuck his hands down his pants in front of a little girl – before licking his fingers and staring at her mother in the face.

Police warn nothing will stop Geoffrey Postle from allegedly sexually and physically menacing women, teenagers and even children in Sydney’s streets, trains and shopping centres for his own gratification.

In just six months, the deeply disturbed man allegedly offended eight times, often in breach of bail, with police claiming he threatened and exposed himself to strangers, and, on one occasion, stuck his hands down his pants in front of a little girl – before licking his fingers and staring at her mother in the face.

Prosecutors on Friday told the Downing Centre Local Court that Postle needed to be forced into treatment because there is a “sexual aspect to the majority of offences and that may pose a significant risk to the community”.

Defence lawyer Heidi Heathcote argued Postle needed to be released for assessment, which wasn’t available in custody, so he could ask the court to dismiss the charges under mental health laws.

“I’m going to be compliant with any medical conditions, and I’ve had an injection today which would cover me for the next month,” Postle told the court.

Postle said he would see a counsellor and had a “relapse prevention plan”.

The matters were adjourned until June 20 at Downing Centre Local Court, when Postle’s lawyers are expected to apply for his charges to be dealt with under mental health legislation.

Source: 12ft

Protect the rights of Biological Females Eligibility : Residents of Western Australia Only

To the President and Members of the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Western Australia in Parliament assembled. We the undersigned …

1. Are deeply troubled that the Cook Labor Government are pushing legislation that will allow any male, but most alarmingly male perpetrators of violence against women, to legally change their sex to female and access female-only spaces;
2. Remind the Government that the United Nations Rapporteur on violence against women and girls has recently highlighted the potential for sexual predators to abuse such laws;
3. Call on the Government to acknowledge the vulnerability of biological females and their right to freely assemble and associate in spaces exclusively with one another should they wish to do so for safety, sport, recreation or any reason;
4. ⁠Urge the Legislative Council to refer the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment (Sex or Gender Changes) Bill 2024 to the Standing Committee on Legislation for a public inquiry to ensure this right is protected rather than undermined or destroyed.

And your petitioners as in duty bound, will ever pray.

https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Parliament/LCePetitions.nsf/petitions/24-0019

Source: LC e-Petitions

Women in rich countries are having fewer kids, or none at all. What’s going on?

A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows US fertility rates dropped 2% in 2023. With the exception of a temporary increase in the fertility rate at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the US fertility rate has been falling steadily since 1971.

Australia exhibits a similar pattern. Fertility has declined since 2007 despite government attempts to invest in a “baby bonus” to encourage Australian women to have more children.

Taking a more global perspective, we can see similar patterns across other industrial nations: Japan, South Korea and Italy have some of the lowest global fertility rates.

Because the reasons behind declining fertility are not simple, the solutions can’t be simple either. Offering baby bonuses, as Australia and other nations have done, is pretty ineffective, because they don’t address the complexity of these interlocking issues.

If we are serious about supporting care, we need better career and housing pathways for young people, more investment in child and aged care infrastructure, technological innovations to support an ageing population, and workplaces that are designed with care at the core. This will create a culture of care to support mothers, fathers, children and families alike.

Source: Women in rich countries are having fewer kids, or none at all. What’s going on?

Blind to autism – by Bernard Lane – Gender Clinic News

England’s Cass review has revealed that the fast-growing gender clinic of an Australian children’s hospital does not screen new patients for autism.

In an international survey commissioned by the British paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, one of five unnamed Australian clinics reported that it does not screen for autism because it claims such screening is “not accurate in [the] trans population.”

Clues in survey responses suggest this is the gender clinic at the Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane, which also has the quickest fast-track to puberty blockers for children as young as age 8-9.

Patient numbers there reportedly rose from 190 in 2017 to 922 in 2022. In 2019, the Queensland clinic had more than 200 minors on puberty blockers1. Also in 2019, a concerned member of the public asked the clinic how many girls with autism were on blockers and was told no such data was kept.

Source: Blind to autism – by Bernard Lane – Gender Clinic News

Andrew Tate’s extreme views about women are infiltrating Australian schools. We need a zero-tolerance response

Earlier this week, two students were expelled from a Melbourne private school for their involvement in creating a spreadsheet that ranked girls using sexist and violent categories (from “wifeys” and “cuties” to “unrapeable”).

Our ongoing research has found sexism, sexual harassment and misogyny are rife in Australian schools.

This is influenced by the rise in popularity and ubiquity of figures from the “manosphere” (an overlapping collection of extreme men’s communities that are anti-women and against women’s empowerment) on social media. This includes Andrew Tate, the “misogynist influencer” who is facing trial in Romania on charges of human trafficking and rape (which he denies).

At the same time, Australia is confronting shockingly high rates of violence against women. Last week, the federal government announced a range of measures to respond to the crisis and quell the public’s understandable anger.

Although the package contains measures aimed at preventing young people being exposed to misogynistic content online, it largely overlooks the crucial role of education in tackling sexist attitudes that enable and drive the current high rates of violence. To make real change, schools must be included.

Source: Andrew Tate’s extreme views about women are infiltrating Australian schools. We need a zero-tolerance response

Friday essay: our culture sees women’s bodies as faulty machines, but there are other birthing possibilities

[I]n Australia the cultural messaging around birth seemed to dwell on its uncertainties and dangers. The few births I had close knowledge of before having my own children seemed drawn out and vexed, typically beset by high drama, angst, and epic time scales (by Lao standards at least). This, despite maternal deaths being, statistically speaking, rare in Australia.

In Australia, at least one in three women who give birth experience birth trauma. One in ten develop signs of post-traumatic stress.

[P]eople approaching their first birth who have received cultural messaging about birth as trauma, perhaps through the rituals of worry that are so common during pregnancy, or perhaps through the Hollywood movies that dwell on birth trauma, may then be predisposed during labour to pull the trigger on the “cascade of interventions”, one leading to the next. This stream of interventions may itself be traumatising and perhaps life-threatening.

Yet the statistics suggest that birth does not have to be a horror show. In Australia, women on average have a 60% chance of undergoing an episiotomy or caesarean section, while those who plan a home birth experience these at a rate of less than 6%. Yet less than 1% of women who give birth in Australia plan a home birth. More women give birth on the side of the road each year. There are possibilities for better births.

A small but determined and wonderfully committed Australian birth activism scene is campaigning for continuity of care for women who birth in hospital, and for access to home birth for women who want it. By keeping open the possibility of birth outside hospitals, birth activists may (intentionally or not) be throwing open much wider horizons of possibility.

Comparing planned hospital and home births through their existing mortality rates is comparing apples and oranges. Yet major systematic reviews reveal no significant statistical different in infant death rates and lower rates of maternal mortality among non-hospital births.

Source: Friday essay: our culture sees women’s bodies as faulty machines, but there are other birthing possibilities

‘Groundhog Day’: 40 years of Australian government responses to domestic violence reveal a bumpy road to change

This is not the first time domestic violence has been declared a national crisis. Australian governments first got seriously involved in 1985. What can the past 40 years teach us?

It has been almost 40 years of national talk fests, plans and initiatives. The feminist knowledge accrued in a fledgling but impactful women’s refuge movement was core to the 1985 national conference that started the Australian government’s move towards a national domestic violence policy. The expertise of victim-survivors and those who work closely with them – in a sector often stretched to near-breaking – has been central since. It continues to be a crucial resource for decision-makers.

[Ed: but since then DV campaigners and decision-makers have forgotten how to define the word woman.]

Source: ‘Groundhog Day’: 40 years of Australian government responses to domestic violence reveal a bumpy road to change

Interview with Kirsha Kaechele about the Ladies Lounge – Blog | Mona

In a recent ruling by the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, artist and curator Kirsha Kaechele was ordered to allow men entry to the Ladies Lounge, her artwork at Mona. On a recent flight to Milan, Kaechele sat down to discuss the court’s decision and the future of the artwork.

Source: Interview with Kirsha Kaechele about the Ladies Lounge – Blog | Mona

Katy Gallagher says only 30 of 500 frontline gendered violence jobs filled – ABC News

Federal Minister for Women Katy Gallagher defends the government’s eligibility criteria for its leaving violence payment and says states and territories have only filled 30 frontline gendered violence roles ahead of a target to fill 352.

In 2023, the federal government pledged $169 million over four years to fund 500 new frontline workers to assist people who had experienced family, domestic or sexual violence.

Last week, the ABC reported that with only weeks out to the deadline, no state or territory was on track to meet the target for workers.

The minister for women and finance said the last figure she saw for the number of workers was 30, noting staff recruitment issues.

“So the money is there. I think the states’ view is they’re having issues with recruiting. But [Minister for Social Services] Amanda Rishworth has been working with her state and territory colleagues to really try and get these workers in place as soon as possible.

“They’ve signed on to [an] agreement to have the vast majority of them employed in the first half of this year, but they are saying that staff and recruiting staff is an issue.”

[Ed: All this money wanting to be spent and yet FLC continues to be unfunded, without an office and operated entirely by volunteers stretched to the limit. Furthermore, the Women’s Court Support Service has been defunded and now evicted from its office by the Sydney Family Court at the end of last year after providing its free service for well over a decade. The Court says they need the space for Judges although when we last looked in March the space was still vacant and unused.]

Source: Katy Gallagher says only 30 of 500 frontline gendered violence jobs filled – ABC News