Australia

Australian Women Report Sexual Abuse in Victoria Psychiatric Wards

by Cara October 4, 2010

Trigger Warning for discussions of violence against women with disabilities, and discussions of sexual violence particularly within the context of psychiatric units. Last week, news broke in the Australian state of Victoria that women who are patients in psychiatric wards are being routinely sexually harassed and assaulted by men who are patients in those same [...]

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Rape is Not a “Timely Reminder”

by Cara September 21, 2010

Trigger Warning for rape apologism, brief descriptions of sexual violence. This morning I was reading about a rape that was recently committed in Perth, Australia, by an assailant who accosted a nanny answering the front door at her employer’s home. The details of the attack itself are, of course, horrible and distressing. That the assailant [...]

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Former Detective Tells of Intimidation to Drop Rape Charges Against Football Players

by Cara June 21, 2010

Trigger Warning for descriptions of sexual violence and rape apologism. Late last week, I wrote about how the tendency for police forces to engage in rape apologism or even sexual violence is not just an issue of individual officers engaging in bad behavior, but of a system that encourages police rape apologism and sexual violence [...]

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Defense Attorney Claims Convicted Rapist “Didn’t Realize” the Severity of Rape

by Cara May 18, 2010

Trigger Warning for discussions of sexual violence, rape apologism, and racism. In Adelaide, Australia, a taxi driver named Hajy Baba Rahmanian was found guilty of raping an unconscious passenger. The details of the rape itself are, of course, rather horrific: The court heard that in June 2006 the 19-year-old victim got into Rahmanian’s taxi after [...]

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Release of Innocent Man Shows Huge Flaws in Sexual Assault Prosecutions

by Cara May 7, 2010

In Australia, a man named Farah Jama was recently released from jail after spending 15 months there on a wrongful conviction for rape. Jama (pictured left) had an alibi for the night, was not seen by any witnesses at the scene of the alleged crime, and was not identified by the alleged victim, who was [...]

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Northern Territory Justice Comes Out Against Calling Rape “Rape”

by Cara April 16, 2010

Trigger Warning for rape apologism and discussion of victim grooming. Last year, a teacher from Northern Territory, Australia was arrested for engaging in sexual contact with a 13-year-old student. He was arrested because this contact, which he had willfully and knowingly engaged in, is illegal. It is illegal precisely because it has been determined in [...]

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Demand for Open Investigation Into Death of Aboriginal Trans Woman in Custody

by Cara April 12, 2010

One year ago, Veronica Baxter, an Australian woman who was both Aboriginal and trans, was arrested on drug charges. Less than one week after her arrest, she died in custody. On March 10, 2009, three days after Mardi Gras, 34-year-old Veronica Baxter was arrested by Redfern police. She was charged with six counts of supplying [...]

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Australian Survey Shows Dangerous Attitudes Towards Violence Against Women

by Cara April 7, 2010

A new survey of Australian attitudes towards violence against women reveals that a lot of those attitudes are incredibly disturbing. While the full study (pdf) certainly shows some good news — for example, only a very tiny percentage agreed that a man hitting a partner was ever “justified,” in a wide variety of presented circumstances [...]

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Judge Rules Daughters Must Have Overnight Visits with Sex Offender Father

by Cara March 18, 2010

Trigger Warning for discussions of child pornography and child sexual abuse. In Hobart, Australia, a family court has made a truly confounding and infuriating decision to require two girls to visit their father every other weekend, including an overnight stay — even though the father has been convicted on child pornography charges, the ruling also [...]

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U.S. Sailor Acquitted of Rape, Despite Admission of Physical Force

by Cara November 24, 2009

Trigger Warning for rape apologism and graphic descriptions of sexual violence In Sydney, a U.S. sailor has been acquitted on charges of raping a sex worker who told him to stop — even though he admitted, in court, to using a “lock down maneuver” to pin her to the bed. A New South Wales District [...]

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