Sentencing laws addressing hate and prejudice motivation start today

// December 2nd, 2009 // No Comments » // Media discussion, Within Australia

The Anti Violence Project today celebrated commencement of the Sentencing Amendment Act 2009 which received Royal Assent yesterday and came into effect today.

“This new Act of Parliament amends the Sentencing Act 1991 to require that a court must have regard to a motivation of hatred or prejudice against a group of people in sentencing an offender”, said AVP head Greg Adkins.

“On behalf of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community we congratulate Attorney General Rob Hulls on his continued support and advocacy with these latest legal reforms.

“The new Sentencing Amendment Act 2009 draws a line in the sand in our Victorian community to say that crime based on race, religion, gender or orientation won’t be tolerated and ensures that judges take into account during sentencing whether hatred or prejudice motivated the crime.

“This provides greater protection to all of us, gay or straight, those of us who enjoy ethnically and faith diverse lives, supporting our right to live and enjoy a diverse community where we can openly celebrate our sexual orientation, gender, culture, heritage or religion, knowing that under law any attack motivated by hatred or prejudice against these attributes deserves punishment for the hate or prejudice motivation alone.

“There are two steps that now must be taken – firstly the LGBT community must continue to respond to the AVP’s “Call-to-Action” on the reporting of hate and prejudice motivated violence and report each and every incident directly to police or through supportive processes like the AVP’s on-line reporting service at https://antiviolence.info .

“Every time LGBT individuals witness violence, whether its directed towards us or towards people of different races or faiths in the broader community, we have a responsibility to get on the phone and call the police”, Adkins said.

“The second step is that cultural change, underway within Victoria Police, which is working to eliminate a long history of indifference towards hate and bias motivated crime against gays and lesbians, has to continue with support of all levels of Victoria Police and must succeed”.

Brunswick Safety Roundtable

// December 2nd, 2009 // No Comments » // Within Victoria

Brunswick’s LGBT community found themselves with strong allies to address homophobia and safety fears when co-convenor of the Victorian Gay& Lesbian Rights Lobby (VGLRL), Hayley Conway, and Labor candidate for Brunswick, Jane Garrett today hosted a Safety Roundtable at Brunswick Town Hall (see them here)

They were joined by the LGBT’s Anti Violence Project of Victoria, representatives from Moreland Council, local businesses and the traders’ association, concerned residents, community health workers, queer venue management and Victoria Police with a simple but urgent agenda – to discuss initiatives to ensure the rights of LGBT people living in Brunswick are protected and they feel safe and secure, no matter what time of the day or night.

This meeting builds on previous local initiatives which responded to homophobic local incidents targeting lesbians, and brings together work undertaken individually by the VGLRL and the AVP. Further work is planned for this Roundtable that will build and strengthen community partnerships, at the same time lead to the development of responses that addresses homophobic violence in Brunswick, increase the reporting of violence and make a strong statement that being safe from hate or prejudice motivated violence is a fundamental right.

Contacts:
Hailey Conway, Convenor, Victorian Gay & Lesbian Rights Lobby – 0415 314 293
Jane Garrett, Labor Candidate for Brunwick – 0408 810 633
Greg Adkins, Executive Director, Anti Violence Project of Victoria Inc. – 0407 664 442

World AIDS Day, December 1st

// December 1st, 2009 // No Comments » // Around the globe, AVP news, Within Australia, Within Victoria

The AVP in Victoria has urge everyone in the LGBT and heterosexual communities in Victoria to commit to fighting prejudice and protect ourselves and others around HIV, this World AIDS Day.

The AVP marked the arrival of World AIDS Day, December 1st, by urging everyone in the LGBT community in Victoria to commit to three basic actions:-
(1) partner with the heterosexual community to fight prejudice and discrimination each time this violence rears its ugly face, and
(2) protect yourself and others around HIV.

“Our commitment, from today on, is to work more closely with People Living with HIV/AIDS (Victoria) to move these goals into strategies and to encourage discussions about ending HIV discrimination within our gay community and outside in the straight world”, said AVP head Greg Adkins.

“When one person living with HIV experiences discrimination, then that is one person too many.

“Likewise when one additional HIV negative person becomes HIV positive, that is also one person too many”, he said.

The AVP will be meeting with Positive Speakers Bureau Coordinator, Max Niggle next week to get discussions between the two organisations under way. The AVP has also invited PLWHA (Vic) to play an important role in a major LGBT Scoping Meeting for the 2010 International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) taking place next week, in which LGBT organisations and key groups from the broader community will meet on December 8th at 4pm in the Kulin Room, level 10, City Village, 225 Bourke Street, Melbourne. This meeting will commence planning activities for Victoria leading up to the next IDAHO on May 17th, 2010.

The AVP’s third action is to support calls for all gay and bisexual men and people living with HIV in the LGBT community to renew their support for ending HIV discrimination by investigating the Barometer Survey, launched today as joint project of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) and the National Centre in HIV Social Research (NCHSR). The Barometer Survey is an online questionnaire about stigma and discrimination related to HIV. It focuses on experiences of stigma by people living with HIV, and the potentially stigmatising attitudes of HIV-negative gay men. As participants navigate this site they will find themselves routed to different sets of questions based on their HIV status and sexuality.

The Barometer Survey is at www.afao.org.au/barometer

For further information about the AVP in Victoria, please contact Executive Director, Greg Adkins, 0407664442

World AIDS Day 2009 – Universal Access

// December 1st, 2009 // No Comments » // Around the globe

White Ribbon Day – 25 Nov

// November 25th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Within Australia, Within Victoria

AVP suggests male board members, paid staff, volunteers and paid-up members of Victoria’s many GLBT organisations take direct action to eliminate violence against women by getting on board the White Ribbon Day Campaign

White Ribbon Day, 25 Nov, marks the beginning of a national campaign for all Australian men and boys to take a positive action and put an end to one of the most widespread human rights abuses taking place in our country and Victoria’s Anti Violence Project (AVP) believes that the GLBT community has a key role to play in this.

The AVP wants gay men to join in this campaign where all men are being asked to swear never to commit, never to excuse, and never to remain silent about violence against women.

Direct action is suggested for the male board members, paid staff, volunteers and paid-up members of Victoria’s many GLBT organisations by them getting on board the White Ribbon Day Campaign.

“Silence about violence is far too prevalent in the GLBT community – amongst us and against us,” said AVP executive director Greg Adkins, “so if we as men we see ANY woman being subjected to violence regardless of whether the women are gay or straight or the people directing violence towards them are male or female, gay or straight, then we as men need to stand up and put an end to the abuse of women”.

The mainstream White Ribbon Day campaign has been reported as already having the support of high profile men such as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Lt Gen Ken Gillespie, Hazem El Masri, Rove, Keith Urban, Wil Anderson, David Koch, Adam Goodes, Shannon Noll, Jason Culina, Dicko, and many more men. The AVP encourages gay men around the state to get active and get on board with these men to prove that partnerships to end violence are valued regardless of sexual orientation.

As part of the White Ribbon Day campaign, the AVP suggests gay men can join the ranks of men supporting the campaign by swearing at www.myoath.com.au

“As a community we have a lot to learn from White Ribbon Day and through activities such as the White Ribbon Day Challenge.

“The Challenge is a chance for individuals, groups and communities to take action to end violence against women. It provides support, advice, tips and inspiration for creating real change in communities and offers an opportunity for supporters to communicate, network and share their knowledge.

“The AVP looks forward to the day when state-wide strategies and community initiatives such as this will one day extend into gay-straight partnerships directed at eliminating homophobia and transphobia. After all the people mostly committing violence against the GLBT community and against heterosexual women are in a majority of times, men”, Adkins said.

Transgender Day of Remembrance – 20 Nov

// November 20th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Around the globe, Within Australia, Within Victoria

This is an excerpt of a public talk given at Prahran Central on Transgender Day of Remembrance by the AVP Executive Director, Greg Adkins.

Transgender Day of Remembrance

Its well past the time we challenge the ignorance and violence that fuels transphobia. The AVP today recommits to this fight and urges all to join us in partnership.

The 20th of November is the Transgender Day of Remembrance and today the Anti Violence Project of Victoria Inc. commemorates transgendered individuals who have been killed or committed suicide worldwide due to discrimination, prejudice and hatred towards the community.

Today, within Victoria, we recommit to continue to raise awareness of the violence, brutality and murder of gender variant or non-gender conforming individuals within our GLBTI community.

Physical and sexual violence against transgendered individuals in Victoria continues to be a starkly brutal exercise of power perpetrated by heterosexual males against people they see as different and less important than them. This power is exercised individually or in groups and when it takes place in the workplace, women can often also be complicit in the violence.

This violence is fuelled by the ignorance in our society surrounding transgender, gender variance and non-gender conforming individuals. This ignorance drives transphobia and homophobia to new depths.

Ignorance and violence fuelling transphobia and homophobia must be challenged through all work undertaken by GLBTIQ community organisations, in all avenues of government activity and within the broader Victoria community, all the way through to every interaction within the gay and lesbian community where transphobia can and still does rear its ugly head, from within our GLBTIQ community.

We call for the positive lessons learned through Victoria Police’s successful community awareness diversity recruit training to drop into cross-government diversity policy. This police training sees the colour and diversity of the transgender community explored alongside all the other letters of GLBTIQ, and multicultural communities.

Today we re-commit to ignite a movement for social change in Victoria that once and for all time challenged the ignorance and violence fueling transphobia and its ugly partner, homophobia.

AVP joins GLLO police on “The Conch” JOY 94.9

// November 12th, 2009 // No Comments » // Media discussion

Live-on-air, the AVP joins Victoria Police gay and lesbian liaison officers and host Paul Anthony on “The Conch” – listen live here or if you are in Melbourne tune into JOY 94.9

Missing student located

// November 11th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Incidents, Media discussion

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. The AVP particularly acknowledged the work of Knox Police CIU, Crime Stoppers and the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officers.

Community Safety Month podcasts

// November 9th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Media discussion, Within Victoria

Community Safety Month podcasts are coming on-line. First up is the launch from the Victoria Police Media Centre on 1st October 2009, plus other podcasts from the Police Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officers segment of “The Conch”.

Check through the list of podcasts here!

Community Safety Month activities in the GLBT community were presented by the Anti-Violence Project of Victoria, JOY 94.9 and the Victoria Police.

AVP joins the national LGBT Health Alliance

// October 28th, 2009 // No Comments » // Within Australia

The National LGBT Health Alliance Board of Directors has approved the Anti Violence Project of Victoria Inc. as a full member.

The LGBT Health Alliance is a member-based organisation, providing a framework for members to work collaboratively to pursue their common objectives of improving the health and wellbeing of sexuality, sex and gender diverse people. The Alliance is its members.

Check out the National LGBT Health Alliance through its website here.