Last week, the state government of Georgia released the findings of a project to uncover and analyse any untested rape kits collected in that state. The results were damning. The inquiry found that mo…
Another haunting example of how the law fails victims of rape
Earlier this week The Age reported a haunting story about two girls, Holly and Marissa*, victims of rape as teenagers, who have been denied justice, again and again, over the 21 since that have elapse…
‘Doctors thought I was exaggerating, lying or just weak’: Endometriosis & the politics of female pain
Seeing specialist after specialist, Lucia Osborne Crowley learnt the art of insisting her pain was real and that it mattered, before she finally found a doctor who believed her. She’s since had five l…
We need a Bill of Rights to end the political point-scoring
A resounding ‘Yes’ to marriage equality has politicians talking about human rights in the context of religious freedom. If only they would apply such discussions to fixing our dreadful and…
Those who dismissed #MeToo were (thankfully) mistaken
The poet Adrienne Rich once said that every time a woman speaks the truth, she creates the possibility of more truth around her. This captures the power of the Me Too movement perfectly, according to …
Meet the foreign correspondent who thinks we need more women writing about war
By the time Louise Williams was twenty-four, she was a foreign correspondent posted to the Philippines, witnessing the fall of the Ferdinand Marcos government. Within only a few years, she had also co…
Our Watch Awards celebrate the power of journalism in ending male violence against women
The issue of domestic violence is out of the shadows and into the light. That was the message from TV host Lisa Wilkinson, quoting family violence campaigner Rosie Batty, to a room full of journalists…
Meet the young Australian playwright using theatre to attack the epidemic of domestic violence
In Australia, intimate partner violence is the number one non-disease related cause of death, disability and illness for women aged 15-44. In the home, where women should feel safest, is actually the …
It’s not about this job, it’s about the next: Gillian Franklin
When Gillian Franklin started her career, she decided she wanted to become a general manager by the time she was 30. She was appointed to her first general manager position at age 24. Franklin, who is…
US marriage equality puts Australia to shame
Anyone following the news this weekend may rightly have been filled with sadness and despair on more than one occasion. Yesterday, at least 39 people were killed and 36 injured when a gunman opened fi…
