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Agenda for the videoconference
"Domestic Violence in Indigenous Communities,
and Related Housing Issues."Philadelphia: Monday, April 15, 7:30pm.
Brisbane: Tuesday, April 16, 9:30am.
1)
General greetings and introductions:
each participant introduces her/himself and gives
a brief overview of her/his field.2)
The Women's Justice Network -- and its the work in
Australian indigenous communities -- is introduced
by people (especially women social workers of
aboriginal descent) in Brisbane.3)
Further discussion of related:
a) Cultural issues.
b) Legal issues (including housing issues).
c) Communication issues.4) Parallels with other communities (such as Native-
American, African-American, etc.).5) Questions for and from the people in Brisbane.
6) Concluding thoughts from all.
(Note: topics 3, 4, and 5 need not occur in the order
given above.)
***
Details regarding topics 2 and 3:
***
2)
Introducing the work of the Women's Justice Network --What is the Women's Justice Network?
How and why was it created?
What is its relation to Queensland Legal Aid?What are some of the successes and failures
of the Women's Justice Network to date?
What are some frustrations experienced
by its social workers fighting DV?How might the Women's Justice Network be improved?
How might Australian indigenous communities be improved?
How might Australian DV laws be improved?
3)
a)
Cultural issues --How and why does DV destroy traditional culture?
What cultural factors (including the history of
colonialism) have brought about present conditions? --
that is, the proliferation of DV in indigenous
communities in Australia.How do cultural values (of Australian government
workers, and others) shape the legal responses to
the problem of DV in indigenous communities?What were/are traditional methods in aboriginal
communities of preventing and punishing domestic
violence? (Shaming the offender, physical punishment,
exile, other?) What has happened to these traditional
methods and why?What can be said about the conflict a battered
aboriginal woman might face -- of whether or not to
report to the (state-run, primarily white) police that
she has been battered by an aboriginal man (especially
a husband or boyfriend)? Is pressure sometimes felt
by her, and/or applied to her, to "keep things within
the community"?b)
Legal issues --Property rights of DV victims and the difficulties
of obtaining housing and benefits while the woman
is considered part of the same household, and what
steps can be taken to legally declare the woman
independent on a more expedited basis.Two legal approaches:
criminal law (prosecution of DV offenders).
vs
civil law (a wider range of types of remedies).How can domestic violence lead to housing
difficulties for the battered woman? (This is
pre-supposing that the man leaves or is put in
jail.) What are possible ways of responding
to these difficulties?c)
Communication, education, and media issues --What services have been, and are, being provided
via videoconference? How has videoconferencing
worked so far, as a means of fighting domestic
violence and the resulting difficulties? Aside
from face-to-face contact and videoconferencing,
what other media does the Women's Justice Network
use?***
Please feel free to add to this agenda during the
videoconference!For all practical purposes, this event has now begun!
Please send in e-mail comments and questions starting
now and continuing throughout the videoconference-webcast,
either to this list <BrisbanePhila@ccat.sas.upenn.edu>,
or directly to me <emiller@sas.upenn.edu> --
some of such e-mails will be read aloud from the Phila
room during the videoconference.If you can attend in the Phila televideo room, please
do so, with friends and colleagues -- Towne 317 (between
33rd an 34th Sts., between Spruce and Walnut Sts.).
If you cannot attend in-the-flesh, please try to receive
the live webcast stream -- the link will be at
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/videoconference/series/BrisbanePhila.html --
and send in e-mails.Many thanks!
- Eric
emiller@sas.upenn.edu
212-614-1294