Author: Zonta Club of Perth Inc

Here is a gift idea for your family and friends that will educate and entertain and also empower women and girls – give tickets to Diving into Boola Bardip! These fill fit into a stocking easily…

To celebrate the 2021 International Day of Women and Girls in Science, on 11 February 2021, the Zonta Club of Perth is hosting Diving into Boola Bardip. Boola Bardip is the new state-of-the-art WA Museum that opened in November.

There is so much more to the WA Museum that what you see on display. Behind the scenes there are many scientists who are exploring, collecting and immortalising the wonders of WA. Three of those scientists will be sharing their award-winning work from the world’s largest living laboratory—the ocean. 

• Dr Lisa Kirkendale—Head of Aquatic Zoology and Curator of Molluscs at the WA Museum (who took the photo of this blue lipped giant clam at the top of this page!)
• Dr Zoe Richards—Curator of Marine Invertebrates at the WA Museum and Senior Research Fellow at Curtin University
• Dr Nerida Wilson—Manager of the Molecular Systematics Unit at the WA Museum

Be inspired by what it takes to get the best jobs in WA!

Event Summary

Event: Diving into Boola Bardip

Date and Time: Thursday 11 February 2021, from 5.30pm to 8pm

Location: KPMG, 235 St Georges Terrace, Perth

Tickets: $50 each from Humanitix. Tickets include a welcome refreshment and canapes.

Proceeds from this fundraising event will go to Zonta’s health and education programs to empower women and girls. www.zontaperth.org.au

Many thanks to KPMG for their fantastic support of this event.

Due to Covid restrictions, there will be a limit on the number of tickets sold and contact details will be required on booking.

For more than 36 years, the Zonta House Refuge Association Inc. has supported women who have experienced, or are at risk of experiencing family and domestic violence.

Zonta House provides refuge and transitional accommodation, holistic support services and education to women over the age of 18. In the last financial year 2019-20:

• 343 women accessed supported accommodation
• 25 women were provided with specialist study and employment case management
• 52 community awareness sessions were delivered to 2493 people
• 134 education programs were facilitated with 507 attendances
• 105 women were provided with specialist mental health and alcohol and other drug appointments over 604 sessions
• 74 women were provided with parenting support in prison
• 109 coaching sessions were delivered
• 56 women were provided with support to reintegrate into the community from the adult justice system.

The Zonta Club of Perth is proud to support Zonta House.

Zonta Says NO to violence against women today and everyday!

Globally, 21% of girls are married before they turn 18, robbing them of their childhood.

Child marriage is globally recognized as a harmful practice and a human rights violation. However, despite laws against it, the practice remains widespread and can be found in cultures, religions, ethnicities and countries around the world.

Girls with no education are three times as likely as those with secondary education to marry by age 18. Early marriage is associated with a higher risk of intimate partner violence and social isolation.

The UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage, which Zonta has supported since 2018, was designed to address the issue over 15 years from 2015 through 2030. This video that shows the difference this program can make to girls’ lives.

Violence against women and girls is a global pandemic that must be stopped. Though it is just one piece of the puzzle, returning children to classrooms and educating them on their rights is taking a step toward ending this human rights violation.

Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women

Zonta Club of Perth

The International Labour Organisation Violence and Harassment Convention 190 is the first international labour standard to address violence and harassment in the world of work. It will enter into force in June 2021.

The Argentinian Netflix thriller movie The Crimes that Bind offers an in-depth look at gender violence in the work and domestic spheres – the areas that ILO C190 addresses. The film follows a family where a mother is blinded by her unconditional love for her 35 year old son and is unable to even consider the possibility that he could be guilty of assault, rape, stalking and violence against women…

Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women

Zonta Club of Perth

The Magistrates Court of Western Australia is failing to manage an increasing level of family and domestic violence-related matters, leaving victims exposed at a time when they are most vulnerable, a parliamentary committee has found. (ABC)

According to the report, in 2018 there were 37 family violence-related homicides in WA, the largest number reported of all states that year. Applications for family violence related restraining orders are up 38% in two years. Aboriginal women are 45 times more likely to be victims of family violence.

The report entitled Opening Doors to Justice – supporting victims by improving the management of family and domestic violence matters in the Magistrates Court of Western Australia, was released in August 2020.

The report’s recommendations included:

• the appointment of additional magistrates in the Magistrates Court of Western Australia and Children’s Court of Western Australia
• comprehensive and ongoing family and domestic violence training for all magistrates to assist them in their decision making in family and domestic violence related matters
• magistrates hearing family and domestic violence matters are supported to become experts in the area by participating in additional training
• magistrates and court staff participate in cultural awareness training as well as vicarious trauma training
• increase in funding for duty lawyer services to ensure that all applicants and respondents can access legal advice and representation.
• increase in funding to support delivery of services to victims of family and domestic violence
• funding a wide range of culturally diverse information materials for court users, with a particular focus on matters involving family and domestic violence.

Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women

Zonta Club of Perth

DV Assist is a new domestic violence support service for people living in regional Western Australia. It is designed to help those outside of cities to get better and more timely access to help.

DV Assist understands the challenges associated with domestic violence in regional areas, and how difficult it can be for a person experiencing domestic violence in a regional area to leave an abusive relationship. The DV Assist website can help you with:

• Information on domestic and family violence
• A checklist to create a safety plan and pack an escape bag
• Links to counselling services to help you better understand your situation and get support
• Crisis support information
• Emergency accommodation information
• Finding legal and financial advice
• An online directory that can connect you with local, state and national domestic violence support services

The service featured on a recent Landline program where founder, author and farmer Fleur McDonald, was interviewed by the ABC’s Pip Courtney.

Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women

Zonta Club of Perth

Aboriginal women are 35 times more likely to be hospitalised due to family violence assault compared to non-Aboriginal women. One in four of all children and one in two Aboriginal children are exposed to family and domestic violence during childhood.

Family and domestic violence takes many forms. It can include:

• Emotional/psychological abuse — mind games, manipulation, humiliation, insults, threats, put-downs, and making the person feel worthless or no good.
• Physical assault —  pushing, slapping, punching, choking, kicking, and any other behaviour that is intended to cause harm.
• Sexual assault — forced sexual contact/activity. ‘Forced’ in this context refers to individuals who are physically coerced to participate or who are not in a position to say no as a result of fear, threats or intimidation.
• Social isolation — keeping the victim away from friends, family, work and/or other social opportunities.
• Financial abuse — controlling the money and decisions around its use, taking or limiting money, stealing.
• Spiritual abuse — keeping someone away from places of worship or forcing them to participate in spiritual or religious practice that they do not want to be involved with.

There are many useful links to access support from this site.

Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women

Zonta Club of Perth

The degradation of nature can lead to gender-based violence including sexual assault, domestic violence and forced prostitution, according to a IUCN study .

The study finds that gender-based violence is primarily used as a systemic means to reinforce existing privileges and power imbalances over roles and resources. For instance, conflict over access to scarce resources can give rise to practices such as ‘sex-for-fish’, where fishermen refuse to sell fish to women if they do not engage in sex, which was seen to occur in parts of Eastern and Southern Africa.

As limited natural resources grow even scarcer due to climate change, women and girls must also walk further to collect food, water or firewood, which heightens their risk of being subjected to gender-based violence.

Zonta Club of Perth supports the District 23 initiative – Zonta Says Now to Gender Equity and Climate Action. This initiative advocates for gender-sensitive responses to the climate crisis – so we can create a fairer future for everyone.

Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women

Zonta Club of Perth

White Ribbon is the world’s largest movement engaging men and boys to end men’s violence against women and girls, promote gender equality and create new opportunities for men to build positive, healthy and respectful relationships.
 
The White Ribbon Australia movement works through a primary prevention approach in communities, schools and workplaces across the country. Through its programs and campaigns, White Ribbon engages with men to become active in the social change needed to stop men’s violence against women and children.

If you or someone else is worried about the impact you are having on those around you, there’s help available. White Ribbon encourages you to talk to someone trained in this area.

Zonta says NO to violence against women.

Zonta Club of Perth