Think surrogacy is all about cute babies, happy families and selfless women? Think again. In March I spoke on Mother Erasure at the ‘Broken Bonds and Big Money’ International Conference on Surrogacy, held at RMIT. Featuring a stellar line-up of international and local speakers – with input from two Australian women used in surrogacy – […]
I’m honored to be launching the latest book by a woman who is (with Susan Hawthorne) not only my own publisher but who I count as one of my dearest friends. Dr. Renate Klein, author, researcher, biologist, social scientist, and feminist activist of 30 years. Renate – whose work was my first introduction to feminist […]
Why Australia should adopt the Nordic Model International lawyers, Ruth Nordstrom and Rebecca Ahlstrand, are globally recognized legal experts on the Nordic model of prostitution regulation, first established in Sweden. They have been in Australia meeting with MPs in four states advocating for the Nordic Model to be adopted here. Ruth is President and Senior […]
I’ve only just caught up with this ABC 4 Corners program ‘A Journey into Hell’, screened two weeks ago. Please watch it and think about the plight of the persecuted, unwanted, stateless Rohingya peoples, trafficked, sold, taken hostage for ransom (there already destitute families give what little they have and when the money runs out […]
Feminism is a movement not a self-help book On Wednesday at Readings bookstore in Carlton, Melbourne, I’ll be emceeing the launch and Q&A for Freedom Fallacy: The Limits of Liberal Feminism (Connor Court publishing) a collected of 20 authors edited by writer and law tutor Miranda Kiraly and writer and RMIT research fellow Meagan Tyler. […]
‘Many women are reasserting that feminism is a necessary social movement for the equality and liberation of all women, not just platitudes about choices for some’ Editor, writer and law tutor Miranda Kiraly and writer and RMIT research fellow Meagan Tyler, have a new and timely book out. It’s called Freedom Fallacy: The Limits of […]
I wrote earlier how the sex industry went into overdrive over some fair questioning on ABC Lateline last week. The industry’s meltdown over the program demonstrated how hostile it is to any light being shed on the realities of the business of sexploitation which profits from the bodies of women. This blog post exposes the facts […]
The sex industry’s reaction to even mild questioning of its position demonstrates how any discussion about prostitution is shut down in Australia. When an industry is used to having its way day after day and rarely being called to account, it’s a rare moment when a serious national current affairs program such as ABC’s Lateline […]
MTR in conversation with Waleed Aly Have you seen the recent bus “gang rape-inspired” photo shoot in India? Or Vogue Italia’s video showing a woman killed by an intruder in her house? Or the Bulgarian makeup ad showing bruised women with the tagline “Victim of Beauty”? There appears to be a theme of fashion advertising […]
The human rights organisation has forgotten the importance of procedural human rights Prostitution is not just an intellectual concept to many participants in the debate; it comes with real memories, trauma, smells, sights and feelings. It is a ‘debate’ felt in the body, and survivors of all kinds of sexual violence can come away from […]
There is no excuse to deny or ignore the undeniable exploitation of countless human beings People have been asking me my thoughts on the recent and sad reports that Somaly Mam’s story of being trafficked into prostitution as a child are not true. I know many good people who have selflessly supported Mam’s work in […]
Indigenous women and girls will be more vulnerable to prostitution and trafficking if Amnesty’s draft policy is endorsed Petitioning International Secretariat of Amnesty International and Salil Shetty Recognise that Amnesty International’s draft Policy on Prostitution endorses condone and promote the violation of human rights if passed at the Australian National AGM. Petition by Abolish Prostitution […]
