This 22 year old police officer had her eyes gauged, her head bitten and her hair pulled out. She may wear the physical scars, let alone the psychological ones, for life. Her alleged perpetrator was on bail at the time of the attack. Read the full story here. |
What DROVE him to kill his wife? Really? It's the victim's fault? Victim blaming - either overtly or covertly - has to stop!!!
It's worth revisiting Our Watch's video first published a month ago at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayUlQQr2qOg&feature=youtu.be The University of Newcastle has launched a $5000 Scholarship in memory of Helen Maslen, a domestic violence survivor and died in 2018. The Scholarship aims to empower survivors to achieve their educational ambitions and independence.
The UON received "harrowing" applications from 32 women and 2 men most of whom were aged between 18 and 34. The applicants spoke of physical assaults, financial abuse, stalking, intimidation, harassment, threats to kill and constant fear. Many spoke of trying to leave and returning due to emotional blackmail, low self esteem or nowhere to go. Many talked about homelessness, living in refuges or government housing. Others spoke about severe effects on their mental health and seeking help for depression and PTSD and through trauma counselling. Read more here. There has been a huge public outcry at the perceived weak sentencing of Borce Ristevski for the death of his wife, Karen.
That the Department of Public Prosecution has only just now opened the door for a review of this sentence because of "public outrage", rather than because the sentence handed down appears to be grossly inadequate, speaks volumes. We already have mandatory minimum penalty of imprisonment with a non-parole period of 10 years for "one punch" deaths [as we should]. A Monash University Department of Forensic Medicine review of 'king hit' fatalities in Australia from 2000 to 2012 identified 90 incidents. Last year alone, 79 Australian women were killed, most by family members. We support the "one punch" mandatory sentencing and believe that family violence deaths [a far more frequent occurrence] also deserve mandatory sentencing. Do you agree or not? And if not, why not? We're interested in your opinion. ‘We see it & can’t always help’: Why doctors are campaigning against violence towards women17/4/2019
Earlier this year, Dr Karen Williams, a psychiatrist from the Wollongong, started the group called Doctors Against Violence Towards Women. Dr Williams specialises in trauma care and sees huge numbers of women who have experienced violence or other forms of abuse and is acutely aware of the gaps we have in the prevention, medical and legal support for these women as well as the longer-term consequences of intimate partner violence.
Read more here. A bold advert from Respect Victoria is condemning the behaviour of men making women feel uncomfortable in public spaces as sexual harassment and encouraging Australians to act if they witness it. See the video below. Read the full article here. Domestic and family violence and affordable home shortage pushes thousands into homelessness17/4/2019
Domestic and family violence is one of the main reasons women and children become homeless in Australia. More than 121,000 people experiencing domestic violence sought help from specialist homelessness services in 2017-18. Over three out of four people seeking specialist homelessness services due to domestic and family violence related issues were female.
Mission Australia’s latest report Out of the shadows: Domestic and family violence, a leading cause of homelessness in Australia released today calls for urgent action to improve responses to domestic and family violence to prevent people being pushed into homelessness. Read more here Despite being titled ‘Specialised Family Violence Services’, there is no requirement that organisations have specialist expertise in providing domestic and family violence responses, while specialist women’s domestic and family violence organisations are precluded from applying for the invitation-only grant. However, couples counselling and mediation from faith-based mainstream organisations are among its eligible services.
Read more here We all know mates who get into relationships and suddenly our friendship with them takes a backseat – sometimes people focus more energy on the potential loves of their lives (annoying, but accurate). But, what happens if your friend is dating someone abusive? How can you help them? How can you tell? It’s an incredibly complex situation for anyone to be in, as we don’t want to point fingers but we also don’t want to see our mates hurt – ever. So to ease into it, let’s start with acknowledging some signs that your mate might be in an abusive relationship.
Read the full article here. Advocacy groups have slammed the Federal Government decision to fund couples counselling and mediation for families dealing with domestic violence. According to the NSW Director of the Women's Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service, Hayley Foster, it is an ill-informed initiative that could risk more lives.
Read the full story here. The Federal Budget has allocated $7.8 million for a “name and shame” list giving us access to a wealth of information about convicted child sex offenders. The public database will be managed by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, with police agencies from each state contributing information.
Read the full article here |
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