Category: Sexual Violence

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, are you listening? Here are our stories

We invited you to tell him your stories through the Herald and The Age. And the deluge began. Hundreds of women from across the country wrote of the traumas suffered, of feelings of shame, humiliation and fear they had endured, many for decades. They had been abused by friends, family, colleagues, strangers; in their homes, at their workplaces, on public transport, in taxis – anywhere and everywhere. Some women told of their experiences from 50, 60 years ago, for the first time. Grandmothers, mothers, daughters wondered what their lives would have been like had they not had to carry their secrets, their traumas, their shame through the years.They are united in their desire to be listened to for altruistic reasons – they want their stories to contribute to the movement towards change that has gripped the country. They are inspired by the bravery and strength of young women like Brittany Higgins, Grace Tame, Chanel Contos and those who responded to her petition, and have told of their experiences to build on the momentum created by younger generations. They are angry because every woman has a story to tell and injustices continue. And they want to be part of what they hope will be historic change in the treatment of women in society – because enough is enough.

Source: Prime Minister Scott Morrison, are you listening? Here are our stories

History repeating: the surprising link between toxic masculinity and Australia’s convict past

In our recent research, we argued strict masculinity norms can emerge when men vastly outnumber women. This is due to competition increasing and intensifying among men because there are fewer women to partner with.

This can intensify violence, bullying, and intimidating behaviours that, once entrenched in local culture, continue to manifest themselves long after sex ratios have normalised.

We tested this hypothesis using data the convict colonisation of Australia. In just under 100 years, between 1787 and 1868, Britain transported 132,308 convict men and only 24,960 convict women to Australia. Migrants were also mostly male. So, there were far more men than women in Australia until well into the 20th century.

We used historical census data and combined them with current data on violence, sexual and domestic assault, suicide and bullying in schools. From that, we were able to see the regions with significantly more men than women back in convict times still experience problems today. This is even when we account for the influence of the total number of convicts, geographic characteristics, and present-day characteristics of these regions, including education, religion, urbanisation and income.

Our research also shows assault and sexual assault are much higher today in parts of Australia that were more male in the colonial past. We also find much higher rates of bullying among boys in schools, as reported by parents or teachers.

There is every reason to think any place where males dominate can create these issues. Be it in parliaments, offices, schools, or sports teams. Recent allegations out of parliament house, petitions denouncing thousands of sexual assaults by private schools boys, and continued claims of sexual assaults by NRL players prove exactly the point.

Source: History repeating: the surprising link between toxic masculinity and Australia’s convict past

‘Surprising’ family court reforms rejected | 7NEWS.com.au

The federal government has ruled out key recommendations from a major review into the family courts.

The government has released its response to an Australian Law Reform Commission inquiry into family law.

The government rejected the commission’s call for the establishment of state and territory family courts and child protection laws.

The government acknowledged the recommendation proposed one way to fix the “broken” split court system.

“But the alternative structure it proposes represents radical change to the federal, state and territory court systems and in the best possible scenario, would take years to fully implement, and in the most likely case scenario would not succeed past the early stages,” it said.

The government also rejected a proposal to repeal laws requiring the courts to consider allowing children to spend significant time with each parent.

In its response, the government agreed wholly, in principle or in part with 35 recommendations.

It noted six recommendations and disagreed with six.

Source: ‘Surprising’ family court reforms rejected | 7NEWS.com.au

The March 4 Justice organisers hit back at suggestion PM would be unsafe

The organisers of Monday’s women’s rally at parliament have hit back at a Liberal MP’s claim that Prime Minister Scott Morrison couldn’t attend the march because of security issues.

Senior lecturer in politics at the Australian National University Maria Maley said Mr Falinski’s comments showed the government was trying to spin a new narrative on why he didn’t attend the protests.

“The government is desperately trying to change the narrative about what happened with the PM not attending or meeting the marchers,” Dr Maley said.

“What that implies though, is that the women who were gathering to raise these issues were posing a threat to him.

“It puts him in the position of victim.”

In the past week many commentators, including the ABC’s Laura Tingle, have juxtaposed Mr Morrison’s response to that of former PM John Howard, who fronted a crowd of angry pro-gun demonstrators in 1996 following the Port Arthur Massacre.

Source: The March 4 Justice organisers hit back at suggestion PM would be unsafe

Judges, MPs to held accountable for sexual harassment – Lawyers Weekly

If passed, the Sex Discrimination Amendment (Prohibiting All Sexual Harassment) Bill 2021 would essentially fill a gap in the law to ensure that judges and MPs would be both held liable for sexual harassment and protected from it. According to independent MP Zali Steggall, it would also restore confidence in these institutions.

In delivering this legislation to Parliament, Ms Steggall said the government did not take the opportunity to present it themselves, adding that if they failed to adopt this amendment, they “are endorsing sexual harassment in our workplace” and are supportive of the message that MPs are held above others when it comes to the law.

“The allegations we have heard this year from [Brittany] Higgins and others of the harassment and even assault here in Parliament House reinforces the need for a change to the legislation,” she said. “Creating legislation to make sure that MPs and judges are held to the same standard as others in the workplace is important.”

Source: Judges, MPs to held accountable for sexual harassment – Lawyers Weekly

‘Who here is angry?’: Jess Hill delivers rousing speech

Just before the attorney general gave his press conference a fortnight ago, I received a message warning that the media was about to be be backgrounded on Kate’s mental health.

This a is tactic called DARVO >

Deny, Attack and Reverse Victim and Offender.

It works like this:

The alleged perpetrator – and their supporters – denies the allegation, they attack the victim’s credibility, and then reverse the role of victim and offender so that it looks like the alleged perpetrator is the real victim.

The attack is intended to chill and terrify the victim and their supporters, and it often includes legal threats.

It took just THREE DAYS for this DARVO to be deployed against Kate.

Just before the attorney general gave his press conference a fortnight ago, I received a message warning that the media was about to be be backgrounded on Kate’s mental health.

This a is tactic called DARVO >

Deny, Attack and Reverse Victim and Offender.

It works like this:

The alleged perpetrator – and their supporters – denies the allegation, they attack the victim’s credibility, and then reverse the role of victim and offender so that it looks like the alleged perpetrator is the real victim.

The attack is intended to chill and terrify the victim and their supporters, and it often includes legal threats.

It took just THREE DAYS for this DARVO to be deployed against Kate.

But then something different happened. All of you were there. You saw what was happening. You called it out. You refused to let this narrative win.

The best response came from Leslie Cannold: There is something exquisitely screwed up about a society that abuses women in ways that cause trauma, and then uses the mental illness that trauma can provoke as evidence that they were never really abused in the first place.

Christian Porter deserves the presumption of innocence. But Kate’s allegations are credible, and they must be investigated. If he wants to hold public office, he must face an inquiry. There is no other option.

Source: ‘Who here is angry?’: Jess Hill delivers rousing speech

Former ‘slave’ speaks out about abusive sex cult being run from a rural property – ABC News

On an isolated rural property in New South Wales, a man has been keeping six women as sex slaves. One of his former partners is speaking out in a bid to help them and encourage others to come forward. Warning: This story contains descriptions of extreme violence and sexual abuse.

Davis was a prolific online writer, publishing dozens of lengthy posts on fetish websites describing his philosophy on “psychologically conditioning” his slaves “to be 100% dependant [sic]”.

He wrote about finding women willing to be “subjected to the abuses and traumas of the Stockholm syndrome like [sic] effects of enslavement” and described a “death protocol” which involved passing the “ownership” of his slaves to other men if he should die.

Sex worker advocate Lucy Price was shown some of the videos, as well as even more graphic content that wasn’t shared publicly.

Ms Price was so worried she messaged one of the women living at the Armidale house.

One of the women living with Davis responded that everything he did was consensual.

“We ensure that each person has autonomous, enthusiastic and informed consent,” she replied.

Ms Price was shocked at the response.

“Absolutely there’s no way, no-one would consent to being smashed in the head that violently, to the point where your head is like jolted. I don’t even know if she was even completely responsive,” she said.

Four Corners can also reveal Davis had a group of like-minded men who he was training to subjugate women.

The group used social media to recruit more female followers.

Cult expert Mr Ross said Davis appeared to be trying to “franchise” his sex cult.

Davis’s closest confidant and right-hand man was Joshua Clinch. He posted on social media about Davis’s mentorship and boasted of his plans to set up his own slave house.

Four Corners spoke to one woman Clinch tried to recruit to join a “chateau of submissive women in western Sydney” in late 2019.

Source: Former ‘slave’ speaks out about abusive sex cult being run from a rural property – ABC News

A terrible toll – Violence against women is a scourge on poor countries | International | The Economist

One reason domestic violence is more
common in poor countries is that money
worries are stressful, and men are more
likely to lash out when stressed. But there
are more fundamental reasons. There is
seldom much of a welfare state to fall back
on if women leave their husbands and cannot
find work. Family and neighbours may
judge them. In Africa the difference between
the share of women who have been
attacked in their lifetime and those who
have been attacked in the past year is relatively
small, suggesting many are trapped.

Education seems a promising avenue.
In the long run, it empowers women and
makes them less vulnerable to abuse. But
in the short run, it does not always help.

In sub-Saharan Africa women who attended
primary or secondary school are more likely to be abused
by their partners than those with no schooling.
Only university-level education correlates with a lower
likelihood of abuse. It may be that in countries
where universal education is relatively
new, a little schooling emboldens wives to
challenge their husbands, without giving
them the means to walk away. Work follows
a similar pattern. Women in Africa
who work are more likely to be abused by
their partners than those who do not.
Again, this may be because as women gain
a little more independence, their husbands
try extra hard to keep them down.

Source: A terrible toll – Violence against women is a scourge on poor countries | International | The Economist