antiviolence.info

Gay overseas student still missing in Melbourne

// October 16th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Incidents, Media discussion, Within Victoria

Update: 11 November 2009 – Missing student Timothy Wing Keung has been located in Sydney and is returning to Melbourne today. Police investigating his disappearance have spoken personally to him and he is safe and well. The Anti Violence Project thanks the GLBT and extended community for actively networking to ensure this man’s whereabouts became known and safety was ensured.

Update: 22 October 2009 – The location of missing student Timothy Wing Keung remains unknown. Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officer Acting Sergeant Gabby Tyacke and AVP head Greg Adkins joined JOY 94.9 “Conch” host today to request anyone within the GLBT community with information about Tim’s whereabouts to come forward and assist in locating his whereabouts.

Please contact Knox Police on 09 9881 7000 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or www.crimestoppers.com.au

Previously:
Distraught parents of missing student plea for help
Courtesy of The Age (Andra Jackson), October 14, 2009

Missing student Timothy Wing Keung.

The distraught mother of a Hong Kong student missing in Melbourne has begged him to get in touch.

Timothy Wing Keung, 29, was last seen at his Ferntree Gully home about 6.30am last Monday.

Mr Keung, who is studying IT security at Deakin University’s Burwood campus, left behind a number of personal items he usually carried with him.

Police are concerned for Mr Keung’s wellbeing.

His mother Sau Ying Ng said she spoke to her son regularly over the internet but when she last rang him about noon on the day he disappeared, he did not want to talk.

‘‘Tim sounded really tired. He didn’t want to talk. He just hung up the phone,’’ she said speaking in Melbourne through an interpreter and family friend Koonju Wang.

Two days later, his family in Hong Kong was contacted by police and told their son was missing.

‘‘He just walked out and didn’t bring anything with him. He didn’t bring a jacket or money. I am really worried,’’ Mrs Ng said.

She has visited the house where Mr Keung lives with two other students but found nothing amiss.

Mrs Ng appealed to her son to make contact saying, ‘‘Mum just wants to know that you are safe and well.’’

She asked her son to leave a message on the internet to reassure his family that he is safe.

Mrs Ng was accompanied to Australia by one of her two daughters Lai Wah, 26, who described her missing brother as ‘‘really helpful’’. When family friends sent their son or daughter to Australia to study, Mr Keung would look after them.

They affectionately called him ‘‘Uncle Tim’’.

Mr Keung, 29, had been in Australia a year and loved his new home.

‘‘He was really confident and studied hard,’’ his sister said.

Mr Keung is described as Asian, 176 centimetres, 60 kilograms, with straight black collar-length hair, dark-coloured eyes and of thin build.

He speaks Cantonese and reasonable English and was believed to be wearing tracksuit pants and runners.

Anyone with information has been asked to contact Knox police on 9881 7000 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or go to www.crimestoppers.com.au

Click here to link to associated article from The Age & view a picture of Timothy Keung.

Click here to reach related article from The Herald Sun.

Alert: Organised and targeted violence in Maribyrnong (updated)

// October 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // Incidents, Within Victoria

Update: following the posting of this report and the Gay and Lesbian Liaison police then discussing this matter on-air Thursday 15 October 2009, a caller provided information to police about the alleged perpetrators of these assaults. Armed with this information, Police are now further investigating these matters. PLEASE CONTINUE TO BE AWARE and report any information to “000” or via the AVP’s online violence reporting service (click here)

Males in the Maribyrnong area are requested to be on alert for three man acting together who have targeted individuals on-foot and individuals in motor vehicles for five months. Victims are people that these perpetrators perceive to be gay, regardless of their actual sexual orientation. The outcome is violence against the person and damage to property.

Three reports of violence in the Maribyrnong area have now been received by the AVP in addition to information about a further three and definately more incidents – and all are linked.

The violence involves the throwing of eggs at people and vehicles, in and around a local park by what appears to be the same group of men. Language used by the perpetrators is anti-gay and possibly on occassions, racially motivated.

The AVP are investigating a possible connection between these incidents and recent local newspaper publicity which has:
(1) identified the location where men socially meet each other, and flagged to the perpetrators when to find gay men to act out against them, and
(2) relayed to the perpetrators that they may escape consequences of their violent actions towards others.

The AVP has requested the Victoria Police Gay & Lesbian Reference Group address these reports urgently at their next meeting.

Stonnington Council and GLBT community renew their relationship addressing violence

// September 15th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // AVP news, Incidents, Within Victoria

AVP head Greg Adkins and Stonnington Council staff today met to renew the relationship between Stonnington and the GLBT community. Manager of the Police Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit, Scott Davis, was also in attendance.

The AVP had requested this meeting following documentation of violence against the GLBT community in the Chapel Street precinct of the South Yarra/Prahran area. Initial GLBT community concerns stemmed from a delay in information of the Stonnington Assaults making its way through Council processes. Council staff then initiated today’s meeting. The AVP will now present at the local Liquor Accord agenda meeting in October with a view to them meeting with the full Accord committee a week later.

AVP head Greg Adkins said that he looked forward to introducing the Accord to a trial project commencing later this week in partnership with local gay venues. “Heaven’s Door” owner Brian Frewin and the “Market” manager John Wain are part of a trial which will look at providing training for security staff to encourage and support patrons to report violence to police and then, when safe, to the Anti Violence Project via their online violence reporting process.

“The AVP is trialling signage for the venues supporting the reporting of violence and identifying the GLBT training that staff have undertaken. We hope to extend this into the current Brunswick hot-spot also as part of the trial,

“We will then encourage local government to come on board to take the initiative further to its next stage.”

GLBT community urged to report violence; Stonnington Council told to clean up their act

// September 10th, 2009 // No Comments » // Incidents, Within Victoria

In his article “Speak out against violence”, Andrew Shaw (MCV, Thursday, 10 September 2009) writes that violence against our community should be reported to the authorities.

The City of Stonnington incorporates a large slice of Melbourne’s gay community south of the river, including Prahran and South Yarra, and it’s also an area prone to violence against gays.

Victoria’s Anti Violence Project (AVP) has found recent bias and hate-crime against the GLBT community parallels public experiences of alcohol-fuelled street violence and bashings around Melbourne, recently publicised in the mainstream media. With one significant difference: gay men and lesbians continue to not report violence to police. They’ve urged the GLBT community to become active in reporting violence and sent a clear message to Stonnington Council to clean up their act.

Read Andrew’s article in full here.

Community gets proactive about homophobic violence in Brunswick

// August 31st, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Incidents

Brunswick’s Victoria Hotel was the location for a well attended public meeting (Friday 4th September) where recent experiences of homophobic violence in and around queer night spots were discussed and local community responses canvassed.

Distribute of stickers and posters to help spread the message about homophobic attacks in Brunswick will take place Bambi (at Noise Bar on Albert St in Brunswick) on Wednesday 9 September to create a greater awareness of the need for people to be safe and to report their experiences of hate-motivated violence and crime.

Sam from “Orlando” advises that the Melbourne Times is running an article about violence in Brunswick and the meeting in their 9 September issue. Additionally the Moreland Leader has also picked up the issue and will be covering this in their next edition.

Snr Const Gabby Tyacke (Region One GLLO) and the Anti Violence Project’s Greg Adkins were both participants in the Brunswick meeting and emphasise that reporting violence is a number one priority which helps stop further attacks and ensures police resources are deployed to the times and places where systematic violence and hate-motivated, targeted crime occurs.

Media Coverage

Check out Rachel Cook’s article in the (MCV 10 September, 2009) here.

Additional updates will be posted to this page. In addition please also check out Orland’s site here.

Violence mapped!

// August 17th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Incidents

The Anti Violence Project has commenced mapping violence reports of bias and hate motivated crime targetting the GLBT community and made to us through our online reporting service, received since the International Day Against Homophobia (May 17th). The map reveals strong links between alcohol driven violence in the so-called entertainment precincts of the Stonnington local government area, and the targeting of the GLBT community through bias and hate crime here and in other places as far and wide as Shepparton and Wodonga.

Glass thrown at gay man in East Brunswick

// July 27th, 2009 // No Comments » // Incidents, Within Victoria

A 26 year old gay man had a glass thrown at his head an an East Brunswick Hotel on Saturday June 27th.  Police have an image of the woman alleged to have thrown the glass, obtained through video footage from the venue.  The incident came after the victim challenged members of the band which was on-stage about homophobic remarks used by one of the band.  Contact details for the police will be updated here, however in the mean time please contact Brunswick Police.