Tag: sexual violence
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Why Women’s Safety Must Be Central to Tasmania’s Prison Policy
Equality Tasmania welcomed the Custodial Inspector’s concern about the safety of LGBTIQA+ prisoners, following reports of assaults against gay men in Tasmanian prisons. In a December 2024 statement, Equality Tasmania spokesperson Rodney Croome said the organisation was “alarmed by repeated cases of abuse and violence against LGBTIQA+ people” and called for stronger policies and training…
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Women Speak Tasmania Calls for Consultation with Women on Transgender Prison Policy
Women Speak Tasmania has written to Attorney-General Guy Barnett expressing concern over the Tasmanian Department of Justice’s development of a Trans and Gender Diverse Prisoner Policy in consultation with its LGBTIQA+ Reference Group, but with no women’s organisations included as stakeholders. The group thanked the Attorney-General for his earlier correspondence of 12 March 2025, confirming…
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Consultation with Women on Transgender Prison Policy – Letter to the Attorney General
Letter sent to Tasmania AG Guy Barnett on 12 October 2025 Dear Attorney General Guy Barnett, We thank you for your letter of 12 March 2025 confirming that, for statistical purposes, data relating to rape crimes and victims is recorded according to sex, not gender. We note that the Department of Justice is developing a…
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Women Betrayed: How Sex Self-ID Laws Put a Child Rapist in a Women’s Prison”
The Victorian government has done the unthinkable: a male who raped his own five-year-old daughter is serving his sentence in a women’s prison. His “gender identity” was treated not only as justification for placing him among vulnerable women, but also as a mitigating factor that reduced his jail term. This is not just a shocking…
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Collection of Data for Statistical Purposes with Regard to Rape Cases – Letter to Guy Barnett
Women Speak Tasmania wrote to the Minister for Justice Guy Barnett and Minister for Women and the Prevention of Family Violence Jo Palmer in regard of how data is collected on rape cases. Letter sent on the 29 January 2025 Dear Minister Guy Barnett, Re: Questions concerning the collection of data for statistical purposes with…
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Reviewing Tasmania’s Prostitution Framework: Strengths, Weaknesses & How to Improve
Tasmania’s legal framework around prostitution offers a mix of protections, restrictions, and blind spots. Drawing on the recent UN Special Rapporteur report (A/HRC/56/48) on prostitution and violence against women and girls, here’s a breakdown of where Tasmania stands well — where it falls short — and how the UN’s recommendations could guide improvements. Pros —…
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Analysis of the UN Report by Reem Alsalem titled Prostitution and Violence against Women and Girls (A/HRC/56/48)
The Special Rapporteur’s report treats prostitution not as ordinary labour but as a system of gendered violence and exploitation driven by male demand, poverty and structural discrimination. It recommends the abolition/Nordic approach — criminalizing buyers and profiteers while decriminalizing and supporting victims — combined with strong measures against digital facilitation and AI-enabled pornography. How the…
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More than 70 per cent of transgender prisoners are in for sex offences or violent crimes
Violent offences among male prisoners who identify as women shows why they shouldn’t be in female prisons, say women’s rights campaigners More than 70 per cent of transgender prisoners in British jails are serving sentences for sex offences and violent crimes, government figures have revealed. At least 181 of the 244 transgender inmates, more than…
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Calls for Review of Tasmania’s Sex Industry Laws after Prostituted Woman Murderer in Launceston
The murder of prostituted woman, Jingai Zhang, in Launceston on Boxing Day 2020 should be a wake-up call for those regulating the sex industry in Tasmania. ‘We have been reliably informed that activities in the sexual services business in which Jingai Zhang was engaged were in contravention of the Tasmanian Sex Industry Offences Act 2005’,…