Sleeping Dragon: The Unfinished Business of Abortion Law Reform in Australia

For Your Diary

The 2011 Pamela Denoon Lecture will be given by Dr Leslie Cannold, Adjunct Fellow, School of Philosophy, Anthropology and Social Inquiry, University of Melbourne

When: Monday 7 March 2011 8pm – 9pm, followed by light refreshments
Where: Manning Clark Lecture Theatre 3 Union Court Australian National University (ANU)

For those not in Canberra, ABC Radio National "Big Ideas" will be recording the lecture.

A 19 year-old Cairns woman and her 20 year–old partner are charged with procuring an abortion and hauled into court. This did not take place in the 19th century when the laws were framed. The couple were tried in late 2010. In this lecture, Dr Leslie Cannold will argue that abortion law reform in Australia is unfinished business. Only in the ACT and Victoria is abortion not a crime. She will discuss why abortion is still a fundamental issue for women and how we can - and must – campaign for change.

Dr Cannold is an author, commentator, ethicist and activist. She is an adjunct Fellow at the School of Philosophy, Anthropology and Social Inquiry at the University of Melbourne and senior lecturer at the Monash Institute of Health Services Research. She is President of Reproductive Choice Australia, a national coalition of pro-choice organisations that played a key role in removing the effective ban on the abortion drug RU486. Dr Cannold is also President of Pro Choice Victoria which was instrumental in the decriminalisation of abortion in Victoria in 2008. Her books include The Abortion Myth and What, No Baby? She has a chapter on abortion in The Australian Book of Atheism (Scribe 2010) and her first novel, The Book of Rachael, will be published by Text in April 2011.

Women of Egypt Rise Up

The fight of the Egyptian people and the liberation of their nation from the regime of (now ex) President Mubarak has been inspirational. Women of the Middle East have been key to the protests and made their voices heard.  

How can we not be moved by these amazing and powerful women in action...

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TEDWomen - Why we have too few women leaders...

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Check out this TEDWomen talk from Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook – she shares her thoughts on why we have too few women leaders.

Her advice for women:

1. Sit at the table.

2. Make your partner a real partner.

3. Don't leave before you leave - keep your foot on the gas pedal.

Thought provoking, yes? Interesting that the focus is on what women can do to stay in the game and not on recommendations to organisations for change...

NB: If you are not familiar with the amazing on-line resource TED, please pay a visit to www.ted.com

UN Women and International Women's Day

1^st January 2011 saw the official launch of UN Women.  UN Women is a new entity merging and building upon the work done by four previously separate parts of the UN system that focused on gender equity and women’s empowerment.

The latest news from the Australian Committee for UN Women explains that the entity will officially work on two fronts:

1.     It will support international political negotiations to formulate agreed standards for gender equality.

2.     It will provide support to UN Member States to implement those standards through technical expertise and financial support.

The Australian National Committee for UN Women will be launched on the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day (March 8th 2011) by the Governor General, in Canberra.  The Australian group will work to engage the support of the Australian Government in gender and development issues, raise awareness of the need to achieve gender equality in the Australian Community and raise funds for UN Women projects across the world.

At a local level, the UN Women WA Chapter is chaired by Anne Banks-McCallister. Anne, the Shire of Peppermint Grove Chief Exectuive, is well known to the Bickley Blog and was a speaker at the Maureen Bickley Centre Women’s Leadership Forum “Personal Reflections on Leadership Journeys”.  Anne and her volunteer team focus on projects in Australia, Asia and the South Pacific and will play a leading role in the upcoming International Women’s Day Centenary celebrations. Last year's breakfast was a sell out - stay tuned for details!