 | Detective Sergeant Natalie Antaw of Manning Great Lakes in NSW has motivated police and domestic violence support services to find new ways to raise awareness. "We decided we would attempt to knit Australia's biggest white ribbon, which I don't think has been done before, so I'm pretty sure we've already got that title." People are contributing sections to become part of this white ribbon [see details below], and these will be put to good use after the world record attempt is over as the ribbon will be pulled apart and stitched into individual blankets." Want to help? Here are the details you need to know:
Where to drop off your section: If you're in NSW, drop it to any police station and they will pass it on. If you're not in NSW, please post your contribution to the Taree Police Station at 26 Muldoon Street, Taree, NSW, 2430. Read the full article here. |
It is understandable that the world would dedicate considerable attention and resources to ending war, terrorism, and refugee crises. But it turns out that tackling the scourge of domestic violence could yield much higher returns, both in terms of reduced suffering and lost productivity.
Recent research conducted by James Fearon of Stanford University and Anke Hoeffler of Oxford University shows that domestic violence costs the world 25 times more than war and terrorism. Fearon and Hoeffler found that the global costs of conflict – including the economic toll of deaths from wars and terrorism, refugee-related outlays, and general pecuniary damage – add up to around 0.2% of global GDP each year. That figure is dwarfed by domestic violence which adds up to an astonishing 5.2% of global GDP each year. Nevertheless, the amount of research and funding directed at solving the problem of domestic violence is tiny compared to what is spent in pursuit of international peace. Read the full story here.  There's no standard way survivors talk about sexual assault or relationship violence. It isn't always a police phone call; sometimes it's years of silence. Sometimes it trickles out, little by little, and then all at once; like a dam that swells and breaks and floods.
Part of it is fear: Will I be believed, these women and men think. Part of it is doubt, sown by social mores that seem eager to excuse the inexcusable: Was it something I should just accept? When they do talk, sometimes years later, a question reflexively arises. It's a question that was posed, more or less, by the President of the United States, to a woman who alleges a current Supreme Court nominee held her down at a high school party and tried to assault her: Why didn't you speak up earlier? In response, people on Twitter have been sharing their reasons for not speaking up about their own assaults and it comes down to the following 8 main reasons:
Read the full article here  Support for domestic and family violence is severely under resourced. The agencies that exist are flat out. By the time women make the choice to leave a violent relationship, they are making a very brave choice and are choosing poverty.
Read the full article here.  The cultural practice of Dowry Abuse has been illegal in India since 1961 however a disturbing number of Indian and South Asian women experiencing domestic violence and even being killed by their partners in Australia as a result of dowry-related abuse is an "alarming" problem that requires an urgent national response, the first hearing of the Senate inquiry into dowry abuse in Australia heard on Friday.
Read the full article here.  In an Australian first, Eastern Domestic Violence Service (EDVOS) is teaching Melbourne hairdressers how to identify and address warning signs of domestic violence. The HaiR - 3Rs program guides hairdressers through how to recognise, respond and refer someone who may experiencing violence or controlling behaviour at home.
Read the full article here. Key points:
Read the full story here. New body-worn cameras are changing the way family violence is being dealt with by the justice system in Tasmania. Police are hopeful they may soon also be used to record on-the-spot statements that will take the place of victims having to give evidence later in court. To press charges, victims must give a formal statement to police and if it gets to the stage of a court hearing, the victim will have to retell their story in a court that is open to the public and in front of their abuser.
Read the full story here. How Indigenous women have become targets in a domestic violence system intended to protect them16/9/2018
A domestic violence protection order is the most common legal response to domestic and family violence in Australia. Every year, Queensland courts issue about 25,000 orders to protect people from domestic violence. While the system was originally intended to protect women from violence, research shows that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) women are being swept up in domestic violence-related offences in disproportionate numbers compared with the overall population. Many are ending up in prison as a result.
Read the full article here.
Leanne Ho, executive officer of NSSRN, says Australia's social security system is based on "outdated and gendered assumptions" about how finances work in relationships.
"The expectation that members of a couple will share income and assets ignores gendered power imbalances in many relationships and increases some women’s risk of domestic and family violence," she said. Ed Husic, Shadow Minister for Human Services, said the report shows Centrelink "desperately needs the staff and the necessary training to deal with the added complexities confronting income support recipients dealing with family violence". The report makes a number of practical recommendations for changing Centrelink’s rules and definitions to better acknowledge and accommodate domestic violence victims, and enable staff to more easily navigate family situations that don’t fit the assumed model. Read the full article here
Key points:
Read the full article here More than 1200 women responded to the survey with the aim of increasing knowledge of women's experiences of being both suicidal and a victim of intimate partner violence. All reported having had considered or attempted suicide, with feeling worthless consistently reported as the most common factor driving that. They also reported experiences at their partners' hands covering sexual, physical and emotional abuse and revealed other forms of self-harm, including depriving themselves of food and water, intentionally depriving themselves of activities that made them feel good, and burning themselves.
Read the full article here All modern award-covered employees, including casual employees, now have an entitlement to five days of unpaid leave to deal with family and domestic violence. The leave may be accessed in single days, in one whole period or, by agreement, for a period of less than a day. Further, an employer and employee may agree that an employee can take more than five days’ unpaid leave.
The leave entitlement is available in full and immediately every 12 months of service (that is, it does not accrue throughout the year) but employees cannot accrue the leave from year to year. Read the full article here. |
