Acacia Ridge, Brisbane, continues to be free of the unwanted commodification and overt sexualisation of women with the Australian Christian Lobby yesterday receiving formal notification that an application for an adult strip club had lapsed.

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Today, March 8, Australia joins the world in a celebration of International Women’s Day with the 2017 theme “Be Bold For Change”. 

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Breeders: A Subclass of Women? - Trailer from CBC Network on Vimeo.



The Centre for Bioethics and Culture has produced a film called Breeder: A subclass of women? which explores the issue of surrogacy and the implications it has on women, children, and families. They talk to surrogates, physicians, psychologists, and activists across the political and ideological spectrum to find out more about this complex and sensitive issue.



You can watch the trailer above.



The film is now available to rent online. You can also purchase a copy through the official film website.



In 2011, ACL's Katherine Spackman interviewed Jennifer Lahl from the Centre for Bioethics and Culture about another one of its films, Anonymous Father's Day, which explores the experience of three donor-conceived people. Follow this link to listen to the interview.

This year's March for the Babies will be held on Saturday 12th October.



The March has been held each year in Victoria since 2009, and is in response to the Abortion Law Reform Act passed in 2008 in Victoria, which makes abortion available for any reason up to 24 weeks. After that time a woman can obtain an abortion if two doctors agree – the reasons that can be used not only cover life and health issues – they include “social circumstances” as well.



Last year, over 3,500 people marched through the Melbourne CBD calling for a change of culture for the unborn and a repeal of the Victorian legislation, considered to be one of the most extreme abortion laws in the Western world.



If you are in Victoria, we encourage you to join in the March for the Babies this October.



Details:



When: Saturday 12th October 2013



Time: 1pm



Where: meet at Treasury Gardens, corner of Spring Street and Wellington Parade, Melbourne



Wear: pink and blue



For more information, please visit the official March for the Babies website.

MEDIA RELEASE



For release: Friday, 9th August 2013



The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has today welcomed the decision by the Melbourne City Council to push for the banning of ads that sexualise women.



ACL spokesperson Wendy Francis says the initiative is a much-needed step towards dealing with the objectification of women in outdoor advertising.



“ACL congratulates Lord Mayor Robert Doyle for his stand against offensive and sexist imagery in Melbourne’s public spaces.



“This sets an example for other city councils around Australia to crack-down on sexualised advertising that threatens our children’s innocence and promotes negative representations of women and girls,” Mrs Francis said.



Apart from advocating for a ban on advertising that sexualises and objectifies women, the Council will also encourage the community to report such material.



The plan also includes creating special safety zones for women in the inner city with CCTV surveillance, strong lighting and security patrols.



“It is encouraging also to see the Brisbane City Council this week pass new legislation around flashing billboards so they don’t cause distraction to drivers.



“We urge other city councils and state governments to follow suit; there is currently an inquiry into sexualised outdoor advertising in Queensland to provide greater regulation around this issue.



“These are the types of measures we need to ensure our public spaces are made safe for all, especially women and children,” Mrs Francis said.



 

A brief summary of some of the issues currently facing Papua New Guinea, the role of the churches and possible responses.







Australia’s nearest neighbour Papua New Guinea (PNG) has inspiring terrain, unique flora & fauna and beautiful people. However, there are significant challenges in PNG concerning women, children and families which impact its society. This document provides a brief overview of the situation. It contains a number of hyperlinks to enable further research into the issues raised.



The issues

For women

The United Nations (UN) has stated that that violence against women in Papua New Guinea occurs at almost pandemic levels, with two in three women aged 15-24 providing sex in exchange for money, food and shelter. Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) has estimated that 70 percent of women in PNG will be raped or physically assaulted in their lifetime - potentially the worst place in the world for gender violence.



Recently an American woman was gang-raped. She said,

“This story should not come out just because I am white. My story should come out in the hopes that it empowers Papua New Guinean women to stand up and say no more violence against women in this country. I hope my story can make a change.”

Following the burning to death of a woman in the Highlands of PNG, many people, particularly women, have said enough is enough. The Remembering Kepari Leniata (Leniata Legacy) is one of the many campaigns now underway. The documentary film Papua New Guinea: Battered and Bruised provides further information. Note the important work of the City Mission PNG and Haus Ruth.



For children

Tragically many children are involved in sex work in PNG. A committee, including the PNG Trade Union Congress and the Young Women’s Christian Association noted that there is even child trafficking involving parents and guardians who sell their children to clients. The International Labour Organisation in Papua New Guinea found that children living in Port Moresby are being driven to prostitution, as the main bread winners for their families.



It is reported that in relation to child sex abuse, the statistics coming out of clinics in Lae are disturbing and that something needs to be done to address such high rates. The United Nations Children's Fund has noted that children in Papua New Guinea remain some of the most vulnerable children in the world. Many suffer from domestic violence or are victims of sexual assault.



Social media is reported as facilitating a growth in pornography for PNG youth. A Facebook page has been created to share knowledge and ideas to fight pornography in PNG, "a disease which is affecting adults and the younger generation in PNG”.



Concern by the church and others has been raised regarding drugs and pornography coming in from PNG’s western border.



The responses

National Haus Krai

Following the above serious incidents, a National Haus Krai was organised on 14 May 2013, to highlight increasing violence against women through rape, murder and allegations of witchcraft. There was a prayer vigil held throughout the night.



The churches of PNG played a significant part in organising the Haus Krai. Much of the proceedings involved church presentations and prayer.



During the Haus Krai the PNG Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill apologised for the violence against women and vowed to toughen penalties for offenders.  One of the toughened responses proposed was the reintroduction of the death penalty. The Catholic Church and others are opposed to that approach.



People have also marched in Brisbane's CBD to raise awareness of the violence in Papua New Guinea.



Sadly the violence continues with the recent torture and beheading of a female teacher.



What Australians can do

* Pray for the people of PNG

* Encourage PNG churches working in this area, including support for organisations such as the City Mission PNG

* Support the PNG Government through its High Commission and Consulates in Australia

* Seek that a portion of Australian Aid money to PNG be specifically directed towards these issues for the short, medium and long term

* Participate in, or organise, events such as the PNG800 Bike & Hike sponsored by the Christian Outreach Churches

* Visit PNG as a holiday and/or potential business destination

MEDIA RELEASE



Friday, 31st May 2013



The Australian Christian Lobby has welcomed the conviction of three men in Perth for purchasing women for sex but says there is still a need for law reform.



ACL spokesperson on prostitution and human trafficking Wendy Francis said the high number of cases of street prostitution highlighted a culture of belief that there is nothing wrong with a man purchasing a woman’s body for sex.



“In purchasing a woman’s body for sex, it allows men to see women as objects and to be used for their personal gratification. Women in prostitution are constantly at risk of violence and abuse from the men who use them,” she said.



“Many women in prostitution are vulnerable - which was shown in the 2010 study into the Sex Industry in Western Australia. For instance, it showed there are higher rates of drug injection amongst street prostitutes.”



Mrs Francis welcomed City of Vincent Mayor Alannah MacTiernan’s desire to see the demand for street prostitution dealt with but said further law reform was needed.



“The current system of criminalising prostitution in West Australia doesn’t encourage women to seek help and a better solution would be to make the purchase of sex, which focuses on the demand from men, illegal,” she said.



“This approach was implemented in Sweden more than a decade ago and street prostitution there is now almost non-existent.



“The Swedish or Nordic Model of prostitution regulation, has proven so successful that now Iceland, Norway, South Korea and Israel have some form of this model in their own countries.



“Legalising brothels has been a failed experiment in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria and led to increased demand for sexual services. It would be great to see Western Australia lead the nation in introducing the Nordic Model that deals so well with street and other prostitution,” Mrs Francis said.



ENDS

Melinda Liszewski from Collective Shout, the grass roots organisation against the objectification of women and sexualisation of girls, has released its annual 'Cross them off your Xmas list'. It's the third year the organisation has released a list of businesses its encouraging consumers not to buy from because the brands have excelled in sexploitation. ACL's Katherine Spackman spoke to Melinda about the list.

In response to a question in the Senate this week, Foreign Minister Senator Bob Carr referenced the government's recent pledge to increase to $50 million per year the amount of aid money for ‘family planning’ in third world countries, doubling the amount it gave in 2010.



ACL does not believe aborting babies is the answer to dealing with problems of maternal and child health in developing countries. Providing abortion services would be a failure of the government to properly support women and children in dire circumstances, and ACL is disappointed in Queensland Labor Senator Claire Moore's continual push of abortion as the answer. In an effort to reduce these problems, greater funding should be given to health support services, including improving birthing facilities and providing more midwives and doctors. This would save lives of women without having to abort their babies.



Senator Carr also announced this week that Australia will provide up to $70 million to the UN's Population Fund over the next four years, appears to be a better use of taxpayers’ money. This money is targeted at training midwives and doctors in remote areas of countries like Cambodia.



Soon after assuming Government, Labor over-turned the Howard Government’s long-standing ban on using overseas aid money for abortion. Sadly, the share of money going to abortion seems to be growing.



Click here to read Senator Carr’s comments to the Parliament.

Legislation to decriminalise prostitution in South Australia was withdrawn from parliament this week.  This follows the narrow defeat of a similar bill last week which would have decriminalised brothels and escort services, giving State sanction to the exploitation of women.



Family First’s two Upper House MPs, Dennis Hood and Robert Brokenshire worked hard to convince MPs to oppose this legislation. Click here to read the Herald Sun article on the issue.



This month, ACL presented a submission to a Parliamentary inquiry into slavery, including sex trafficking, arguing for the Australian governments  consider the Nordic model of prostitution policy which criminalises the purchasing of sex rather than having the law target prostituted women.



Click here to find out more.



The submission is also available.