Today is the 56th International Human Rights day

A new report produced by the Council of Social Service of NSW (NCOSS) and the Women’s Rights Action Network Australia (WRANA) titled OUR Rights, OUR Voices was released today to coincide with International Human Rights day.
The report is part of a national project which documents the human rights experiences of women across Australia. It highlights a winding back of women’s structures in government at a time when violence and discrimination against women continue to escalate.

NCOSS deputy director Michelle Burrell is quoted as saying:

"[…]the report revealed a strong connection between violence, homelessness and poverty among women.

The failure to adequately prevent and respond to violence that occurs in institutional and other service settings is of particular concern to women with disabilities, indigenous women and women in prisons or juvenile justice systems.

Governments needed to provide more long-term support for women who were victims of violence. Until that is achieved, Australia will not comply with its International human rights obligations."

When I was at Uni I joined the Campus Feminist group called FLAPS (Feminists Laughing At Patriarchal Society).

Back then we thought that helping the sisterhood was as easy as meeting every week, sharing our experiences of being gorgeous and single, hearing about, or actually dating men who behaved with aggression and making a list of the serial offenders, and taping it to the back door of the last cubicle in the Ladies toilet in the Uni bar.

Our list included Men who we observed were:

  1. Predatory
  2. indulged in unwanted lewdness
  3. or unwanted groping
  4. were misogynists
  5. or made sexist remarks
  6. lied about being single
  7. or lied about their sexual health

We thought of ourselves as direct action grrrls that could save the world.
How naive we were.

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2 Responses to “Today is the 56th International Human Rights day”

  1. Absence, acceptance and optimism » Suki Has An Opinion Says:

    […] The girlchild marched next to me as I <em>reclaimed the night,</em> she saw me somber for <em>Thursdays in black. </em> She came along to the FLAPS meetings.  While I was studying at the Northern Territory University, she quietly sat next to me, drawing pictures of australopithecines when I couldn’t find childcare, but had to attend an Anthroplogy lecture. She understood the limitations. She is the outcome of sole-parent parenting and has seen discrimination of that first-hand. She is a strong, formidable person and under no illusions. […]

  2. Crypto-feminism » Suki Has An Opinion Says:

    […] The girlchild marched next to me as I reclaimed the night, she saw me somber for Thursdays in black.  She came along to the FLAPS meetings and listened to us laugh.  While I was studying at the Northern Territory University, she quietly sat next to me, drawing pictures of australopithecines when I couldn’t find childcare, but had to attend an Anthroplogy lecture. She understood the limitations and the unfairness.  She is the outcome of sole-parent parenting and has seen and felt discrimination of that first-hand. […]

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