Leading Issues Journal

Patricia Hughes was born in Brisbane and has become a full time writer after having started her career six years ago with her best selling narrative, Daughters of Nazreth. She followed her success with another non-fiction named Enough and now has moved onto crime thrillers, something she has always wanted to do. Patricia now lives on the Gold Coast where she has based her new crime novel, Out of the Ashes, released in October through Zeus Publishers. She has just completed a sequel to this latest thriller to be released next year.

"Up to HALF of you out there know someone who is in a domestic violence situation. Be aware of what’s going on around you and then reach out and help those women. It’s up to us as a society who really cares, to play an active part in the easing of this terrible situation."

If you are interested in helping someone who is experiencing domestic violence or if you are interested in gaining an awareness of the signs that lead to domestic violence, Ms Hughes article, Enough and her book also titled Enough is well worth a read.

To view her speech, see: Enough

To view CLW's interview with Patricia Hughes see: Interview with Leaders

MORE than a quarter of a million Australian children live in homes afflicted by domestic violence in an "expensive epidemic" costing $8.1 billion a year.

Each year 408,100 Australians are victims of domestic violence and 87 per cent of sufferers are women, says an Access Economics report prepared for Prime Minister John Howard.

The July 2004 report - Cost of Domestic Violence to the Australian Economy - released after a Freedom of Information request, also reveals the staggering toll on children who are raised in violent homes.

It estimates the second generation impacts cost about $220 million a year, including increased juvenile and adult crime, and costs government $125.5 million.

The total annual cost of domestic violence on children is estimated at $769 million.

"There is evidence that children who witness domestic violence grow up to be victims or perpetrators of domestic violence themselves," it said.

The research found women had less chance of becoming domestic violence victims if they were older, better educated and employed. Women receiving welfare had a one-third increased chance of experiencing domestic violence.

Monash University National Research Centre for the Prevention of Child Abuse director Chris Goddard said the report was "shocking" but nevertheless underestimated the cost of domestic violence on children. "Domestic violence is an expensive epidemic in Australia. This report is valuable for bringing out the true cost and showing society the cost of ignoring the problem," said Associate Professor Goddard.

The report found 263,000 children lived with family violence, with about 181,200 children witnessing domestic violence in 2002-03. The report, commissioned by the Office of the Status of Women in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, found the largest component of the $8.1 billion bill was the $3.5 billion cost of physical and mental suffering as well as premature mortality.

"The total lifetime cost of domestic violence is estimated to be $224,470 per victim experiencing domestic violence in 2002-03. Total lifetime costs are once again dominated by pain and suffering costs incurred by the victim," the report said, while the annual cost to perpetrators was $555 million.

The report also found that in 2002-03, there were 37,437 years of healthy life lost associated with female victims. "The suffering and premature death associated with domestic violence against male victims is estimated to have cost $938 million in 2002-03, with total victim costs of $7 billion. Perpetrator costs were estimated at a further $177 million and costs to children an additional $330 million."

Research also showed that total health costs for female victims were $314 million, with hospital costs accounting for $145 million of that total.

Violence Begins at Home

IN Europe right now the statistics of male violence against female partners are terrible. For European women aged 16-44 violence in the home is the primary cause of injury and death, more lethal than road accidents and cancer. Between 25% and 50% of women are victims of this violence. In Portugal 52.8% of women say that they have been violently treated by their husbands or partners. In Germany almost 300 women a year - or three women every four days - are killed by men with whom they used to live. In Britain one woman dies in similar circumstances every three days.

In Spain it is one every four days. In France six women die this way every month: 33% of them are knifed, 33% shot, 20% strangled and 10% beaten (1). In the 15 member states of the European Union (before enlargement to 25), more than 600 women die every year because of sexist brutality in the family (2).

The profile of the aggressor is not what you might imagine. There is a public perception that these types of killers tend to be from poor backgrounds and with little education. That is not the case. The death of the actress Marie Trintignant, who was killed on 6 August 2003 by her partner, a famous artist, is an example.

A report from the Council of Europe (3) says that "it is even proved that the incidence of domestic violence seems to increase with income and level of education". It stresses that in the Netherlands "almost half of all those who commit violence against women hold university degrees". In France attackers are usually men whose professional status gives them a degree of power. A sizeable percentage of the attackers are management personnel (67%), health professionals (25%) and officers in the police or army (4).

Another misconception is that violence of this kind is more common in the macho cultures of southern Europe than in northern countries.

Here too the image needs adjustment. Romania is the European country with the worst record: every year almost 13 in every million women there are killed by their male partners.

However, next on the dismal honours list come countries where women’s rights are highly respected. In Finland more than eight in every million women are killed in the home every year: the list runs on down through Norway (6.58), Luxembourg (5.56), Denmark (5.42) and Sweden (4.59). Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland in fact come at the bottom of the list.

Such violence is worldwide: it happens in all countries, on all continents and in all social, economic, religious and cultural groups. Women of course may also be violent in their relationships with men; we didn’t need the images of women soldiers from the United States torturing detainees in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq to confirm that there are women torturers (5). Homosexual relationships are not exempt from violence, either. But mostly women are the victims of violence.

This violence - to which feminist groups have long drawn government attention (6) - is so virulent globally that we must regard it as a major violation of human rights. It is a major issue of public

health: not just the physical attacks, however murderous, but also psychological violence, threats and intimidation, and sexual brutality. In many cases all these forms of violence coincide.

The fact that this violence happens in the home of the victim has always been a pretext for author ities to wash their hands and declare that it is a private domestic matter. Such an attitude is a collective refusal to help people in danger. It is also shocking hypocrisy since by now we have learnt that the private is also political. This kind of violence is a reflection of historically unequal power relations between men and women, the result of the institution of patriarchy, a system based on the idea of a natural inferiority of women and a biological supremacy of men.

This system generates such violence. It needs to be eliminated by appropriate laws. Some may object that this will take time. So why not start immediately, as many feminist organisations have demanded, by setting up a permanent international tribunal on violence against women?

(2) See: It’s in our hands: Stop violence against women, Amnesty International, London, 2004; Les violences contre les femmes en France: Une enquête nationale, La Documentation française, Paris, June 2002; the World Report on Violence and Health, chapter 4, "Intimate partner violence", World Health Organisation, Geneva, 2002.

(3) Olga Keltosova, Report on Domestic Violence, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, September 2002

(5) See Gisèle Halimi, "Tortionnaire, nom féminin", Libération, Paris, 18 June 2004.

(6 ) See "Demands to Eliminate Violence Against Women", text presented by the Women’s World March to the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, January 2002

On August 31, 2004 the Senate's Legal and Constitutional References Committee, chaired by Senator Nick Bolkus, finally released the Report, The Road to a Republic based on its inquiry into the Australian republic issue.

The Committee recognised that the 1999 constitutional referendum had left many Australians with mixed feelings. They had felt disengaged from the process, and the fundamental question of Australia’s future as a republic or as a constitutional monarchy had not been answered.

With the view that Australians need the opportunity to properly address that question, and they need to be able to do so in a way that is fully informed, the Committee considered and examined a number of proposals for republic models, and concluded that the decision regarding a preferred republic model should be one for the Australian people.

To view Chapter 8 of this Report which focuses on the processes of the various models, see:

The Road to a Republic

Senior Women Executives and the Cultures of Management

This research project involved interviews with 255 female and male senior executives from higher education, the public service and 2 financial institutions. Interviews took place in 19 organisations in 5 Australian states.

The project described the experience of women executives; characteristics of cultures that sustain and support women; how cultures change when women are in senior positions; and the challenges still to be faced.

By getting into the ATN WEXDEV web-page www.uts.edu.au/oth/wexdev and following the lead to major research project findings you will find a summary report providing data comparing the three sectors where interviews took place and a number of papers on detailed findings in higher education. .

The forthcoming conference, Senior Women Executives and the Cultures of Management from 29 - 30 November 2004, will provide an unparalleled opportunity to debate and discuss the impact of women on senior management cultures in contemporary organisations, bringing together leading researchers, senior executive women, male executives committed to change, with both Australian and international speakers. It is presented in partnership with the UTS School of Management, Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency and Chief Executive Women.

Glass Ceiling on the Boards of the World's 200 Largest Companies

A report released in October 2004 by Corporate Women Directors International on Women Directors in the Fortune Global 200 found only 10.4% of board seats are held by women in the 200 largest companies in the world. This first-ever report looked at corporations based in 21 countries, which were ranked by Fortune in 2004 by revenues.

The U.S. leads all other countries with all of its 78 companies in the Fortune Global 200 having women on their boards, for a total percentage of 17.8% of directorships held by women. Japan, the world's second largest economy, only had 3 companies out of the 27 on Fortune's Global 200 list having women on their board. Each of these companies only had one woman director for a total percentage of 0.7%. In Europe, the U.K.'s 20 largest companies had the best record in the region with 12.5% of board directors being female, while Italy had the worst record with only 1.7%.

Ranked number one in the world with the highest percentage of women directors on its board is Albertsons, a U.S. chain of food and drugstores, which had 5 women directors out of 10. At the October 8th launch of the report, Albertsons CEO Larry Johnston announced the addition of another female director, resulting in a female majority board of directors. "With 85% of our customers being women, it is simply good business for Albertsons to have women on its board and its senior management," stated Mr. Johnston. The number two ranked company was Norway's Statoil with 44.4% of its board directors being female.

Log on to http://www.globewomen.com/ for additional findings and to secure copies of the 2004 CWDI report.

Training a Spotlight on Urban Citizenship: The Case of Women in London and Toronto

Sylvia Bashevkin is Vice-Principal of University College in the University of Toronto and a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto. Best known for her research contributions in the field of women and politics, Bashevkin served in 1993-4 as President of the Canadian Political Science Association and in 2003-4 as President of the Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association. She is a senior fellow of Massey College in the University of Toronto, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Sylvia Bashevkin's article, Training a Spotlight on Urban Citizenship: The Case of Women in London and Toronto is among the first to assess the urban citizenship implications of disparate metropolitan governance changes. Using the concept of citizen representation as its main conceptual anchor, the study examines longitudinal patterns in London and Toronto, two cities that underwent divergent institutional and political leadership experiences during the late 1990s and following. The empirical analysis addresses three dimensions of citizen representation in each location : the election of women to urban public office, the status of city “femocracies,” and the inclusion of feminist discourse in official spatial plans. It reports women’s citizenship status according to all three measures was considerably more robust under the GLA arrangement in London than the amalgamation scheme in Toronto . Within cities, representation on two of the three measures declined over time in both London and Toronto . The article concludes that institutional and leadership shifts can hold immediate and meaningful consequences for urban citizenship.

To view CLW's interview with Professor Sylvia Bashevkin see: Interview with Leaders

Portrayal of Women Within the UK's Media

Jennifer Drew is Chair of Object, (www.object.org.uk), a UK voluntary organisation which challenges the sexualisation of women as commodities. She is also a member of The Sexual Violence Action and Awareness Network, a London based group which has arisen in response to lack of awareness concerning male violence perpetrated upon women and girls. Ms Drew is actively involved in challenging embedded rape myths and the legal system which is still male-defined and male-dominated. Jennifer Drew is also an active of member of several women’s organisations, including Womankind, Unifem, Coalition Against The Trafficking of Women and Rights of Women. She says of these groups:

"All these organisations seek not only to empower women, but also support and demand Women’s Rights globally are a basic human right, not a gendered one."

Ms Drew has written a number of articles about sexual violence and female sexuality, which have been published in academic journals. She has considerable expertise in areas such as “domestic violence,” gender, trafficking of women and also sexual violence.

In her article, Portrayal of Women within the UK's Media, Drew begins by commenting that, "A deadly malaise exists in the

wherein the portrayal of women as sexual commodities, whose bodies can be exploited, ridiculed and degraded for hegemonic male sexual pleasure, is perceived as “light hearted” or “humorous.”

She asks: "for whom is this exploitation aimed at? Why are men’s bodies not routinely displayed in sexually submissive positions for women’s pleasure? "

To view Jennifer Drew's article concerning the on-going and increasingly negative and even misogynistic portrayal of women within the UK ’s media see:

Fourth Howard Ministry

Parameters for the report to the National Executive on the 2004 Federal Election result for the ALP

The 26 November meeting of the ALP National Executive will receive a report and recommendations on the outcome of the 2004 federal election.

The report will draw on extensive analysis by people with expertise and campaign experience from outside the campaign headquarters.

A final report will be prepared by the members of the National Executive Committee for presentation to the November 23 National Executive meeting.

Party units, affiliated unions, candidates and caucus members will be invited to make submissions to the report by Friday 12 November 2004.

Nobel prize for an environmental activist breaks new ground

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded this year to Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmental activist and human rights campaigner. Maathai is the first African woman and the twelfth woman to win this prestigious award. Her work to preserve Africa's environment has spanned a period of around three decades. In the late 1970s, Maathai led a campaign called the Green Belt Movement to plant millions of trees across Africa to slow deforestation. The movement grew to include projects to preserve biodiversity, educate people about their environment and promote the rights of women and girls. Maathai was chosen from among a distinguished pool of 194 nominations, including former chief United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, this year's favourites for the Peace Prize. As always, the announcement of the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize this year has kicked up some dust. Critics of this year's choice are arguing that while conservation of the environment is a worthy cause, it is not as urgent a concern as is war, terrorism or nuclear proliferation. They are pointing out that awarding the peace prize to an environmental activist at a time when the world is reeling under violence, bloodshed and war is deflecting attention away from the bloodletting in Iraq, for instance, and undermining the potential of the Peace Prize in conflict resolution. While there is some truth in this, such arguments are based on a narrow understanding of issues like security and conflict.

The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to an environmental activist is a long-overdue recognition of the fact that wars are being fought not just over borders and boundaries but also over resources. It underlines the need to re-define security, keeping people as the main referents of security, not just the state. Those who are criticizing the Nobel Prize Committee for its decision to honour an environmental activist would do well to look closely at wars across the world. Deforestation, erosion and climate change have contributed to drought, food and water scarcity, which in turn have created tensions and conflict between populations and countries and displaced millions of people across the world. Maathai's laudable work shows that enhancing security for people will come not by investing more in weapons and armies but in ensuring food security through protecting our environment.

Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to her should focus the attention of governments on human security.

Leading Issues Journal

November 2004 Issue

Enough

Speech by Patricia Hughes

Delivered in Perth at the Amnesty International Conference for Violence against Women as well as The Queen Street Mall launch, sponsored by The Body Shop as an advocate against Domestic Violence.