Category: Domestic Violence

Five Women Killed Every Hour – Why We Need to Speak Out on Domestic Violence

Five women are killed every hour by a partner or family member globally, according to new figures released by ActionAid ahead of International Women’s day tomorrow.

[D]omestic violence threatens the lives of women every day and the awful reality is that globally the killing of women by their partners or family members is so common that it rarely makes headlines.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/sarah-carson/speaking-out-in-domestic-violence_b_9399808.html
https://www.actionaid.org.uk/latest-news/domestic-violence-kills-five-women-every-hour

Don’t let feminism get hijacked for racist ends

While we all celebrate International Women’s Day in different ways, there’s one under-discussed issue I hope all of us will take up – the way racist policies across the globe are being enacted under the guise of protecting women.

Stoking racial hatred by invoking the protection of women – white women, in particular – is nothing new in the United States, of course. The fear of rape has historically been used to justify horrific violence against American black men

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/08/feminism-hijacked-migrants?

Family Court judges out of touch

The founder of child advocacy ­organisation Bravehearts says the group has been inundated with victims of the Family Court system wanting to tell their stories and join the push for a royal commission into the institution.

The organisation’s mission is to prevent child sexual assault and Hetty Johnston said the court was failing to act on the information put before it by parents trying to protect their children.

She said the first premise upon which judges based decisions was often an archaic, dangerous and wrong presumption that allegations were false.

“This is despite the fact that we know one in five kids are sexually assaulted before they turn 18. But the courts won’t accept it, they see it as one parent trying to get an ­advantage over the other parent by coaching their children to tell lies.”

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/legal-affairs/hetty-johnston-attacks-family-court-judges/news-story/2241f5f69f7f301fa12ee79e65640768?

Calling for smarter approaches to violence, offending that address underlying causes of crime

Family violence is both a cause and a consequence of imprisonment. Our women are at the epicentre of the national family violence crisis. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are currently 34 times more likely to be hospitalised as a result of family violence than non-Indigenous women and 10 times more likely to be killed as a result of violent assault.

At the same time, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women also represent the fastest growing prison population in Australia and it is estimated that around 90 percent of our women in prison have previously been a victim/survivor of family violence.

https://croakey.org/calling-for-smarter-approaches-to-violence-offending-that-address-underlying-causes-of-crime/

Male Violence Is The Worst Problem In The World

It is everyday terrorism against women, but it is not recognised as such because the targets are women, and the perpetrators are the very people who claim to love us. While many of us have been directly harmed by male violence, the threat alone is enough to keep women as a class in a state of fear, controlled, pliable.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/caitlin-roper/male-violence-against-women_b_14982898.html

UN expert reminds Australia of obligations on gendered violence

The federal government has been reminded by the United Nations of its human rights obligations to women fleeing from family and domestic violence, and is being advised to provide appropriate funding for Australia’s community legal centres.

Wrapping up her two week examination into the “scourge” of violence against women, the UN special rapporteur Dubravka Simonovic gave her preliminary findings of a problem which takes the lives of one or two Australian women every week.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/02/27/un-expert-reminds-australia-obligations-gendered-violence

How the court system allows domestic violence perpetrators to continue abuse

The experience led Ms Hadchiti to create a petition calling on state and federal governments to change legislation so that alleged perpetrators of abuse are banned from cross-examining their victims. It has so far received almost 19,000 signatures. Former Australian of the Year Rosie Batty, the Productivity Commission and legal aid groups have called for change.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/we-were-terrified-how-the-court-system-allows-domestic-violence-perpetrators-to-continue-their-abuse-20170219-gug6hv.html

Salim Mehajer threatens estranged wife and her family with rape

First the extravagant wedding now the extravagant threats to rape his wife’s parents. Just shows how dreams can end up nightmares.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2016/aug/23/salim-mehajer-threatens-estranged-wife-and-her-family-with-video? http://www.mamamia.com.au/salim-mehajer-a-current-affair-video/
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/aug/21/salim-mehajer-dream-video-motivational-urges-people-success

Chief justice weighs in on Federal-Family courts merger

According to one theory . . . the government might abolish the family court completely.

“Having now set up two courts (the Family Court in 1976 and the FCC in 2000), which are competing for resources, with the same cohort of litigants, it may well be problematic.”

http://www.australasianlawyer.com.au/news/chief-justice-weighs-in-on-federalfamily-courts-merger-221770.aspx

Estranged husband stabbed Leila Alavi 56 times because 'she did not obey the rule of marriage'

Another woman killed – who was denied refuge accommodation in her time of need.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/estranged-husband-stabbed-leila-alavi-56-times-because-she-did-not-obey-the-rule-of-marriage-20160818-gqvjqd.html