Media this fortnight looks at family violence in the Northern Territory, links between domestic violence and homelessness, and Donald Trump’s comments about women, and more.

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Australia

The silent crisis of homeless older women
Women’s Agenda, 11/10/16
“The stereotypical image of a homeless person is a bearded man in dirty clothes, sleeping rough and rummaging through rubbish bins for unfinished cigarettes. But the stark reality of homelessness, however, is that it can affect people from all walks of life, at any stage of life. And increasingly, it’s affecting older women.”

Largest ever FOI request paints a dirty picture of sexual assault at Australian unis
news.com.au, 9/10/16
“As part of Channel 7’s report on the issue, Sunday Night conducted the largest ever Freedom of Information (FOI) investigation into rates of rape and sexual misconduct at universities. The FOI investigation targeted all 39 Australian universities. It revealed that hundreds of sexual misconduct complaints have been made to universities and that very few result in any disciplinary action.” 

We need to stop this shame
NT News, 8/10/16
“Crushed skull, shattered jaw, splintered ribs. Soaked in blood, a body lies on the ground, lacerated and bruised all over … the all too frequent result of countless beatings dished out to Territorian women behind closed doors by their grog-ravaged partners. The vast majority of these victims hail from our vulnerable Aboriginal communities. This week the NT Government committed to ridding the jurisdiction of the domestic violence scourge, first announcing it would trial a specialised court in Alice Springs.”

Govt to slash NT women’s centre funding
7 News, 7/10/16
“The federal government will axe $400,000 in funding for a Northern Territory women’s support centre, raising fears for domestic violence victims in the Top End.”

New data shows Gold Coast’s domestic violence crisis being fuelled by links to pornography
Gold Coast Bulletin, 8/10/16
“The Gold Coast’s domestic violence crisis is being driven by drug and alcohol fuelled men consumed by pornography, a community forum has been told.”

Confirmed: there’s domestic violence in your church
Eternity News, 7/10/16
“In the last five years, at least 333 cases of domestic violence have been reported to Anglican ministers in Sydney. These numbers stand in contrast to data showing that, on average, Australian police deal with 657 domestic violence matters every day – that’s one every two minutes. An Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012 survey into personal safety also discovered that 89 women were killed by their current or former partner between 2008-2010.”

Promoting gender equality in childhood ‘will help curb violence against women later on’
ABC News, 7/10/16
“It is a familiar scenario to many young girls while growing up with boys: being pushed by a boy at primary school, only to be told it’s because he likes you. The domestic violence Respect campaign released by the Federal Government in April this year suggested those attitudes were the starting point for disrespect for women, leading to domestic violence.”

If you think Aboriginal women are silent about domestic violence, you’re not listening
The Guardian, 5/10/16 (opinion piece by Amy McQuire)
“If your only access to Aboriginal communities was through the media, you might believe there is a devastating silence around the staggering rates of family violence in our communities.”

International

#NotOkay: Donald Trump’s vulgar comments spark barrage of sexual assault victim stories
9News.com.au, 9/10/16
“Tens of thousands of women have shared their personal stories of sexual assault following leaked video footage of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump making lewd comments about women.”

Honour killings are products of social prejudice against women
Hindustan Times, 8/10/16
“Fourteen painful years after the brutal murder of Nitish Katara, his killers were recently sentenced to 25 years in prison with the Supreme Court terming it an honour killing. In most such honour killings, the women are victims, one of the many violent crimes which make India one of the most dangerous places for women.’

Feminist icon Gloria Steinem: Trump’s leaked remarks reinforce “violence” against women
Policy.Mic, 7/10/16
“One of the most iconic figures in modern American feminism says Donald Trump’s crass commentary about women is tantamount to hate speech. Gloria Steinem, who supports Democrat Hillary Clinton for president, told Mic Friday night that Trump’s caught-on-tape objectification of women portends something much darker. Rape culture and sexualized violence are becoming so common that, as the United Nations tells us, there are now fewer females on earth than males.” 

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