Letter I sent to the Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald editors, which has been ignored.
To The Sydney Morning Herald/ The Sun-Herald Editor,
Re: article The Sun-Herald …
***
Ethical choices!
After reading Ms … article … my heart goes out to all “Sharon’s”, to all women who are desperately trying to find ways to “speak their truth” and are being ignored and/or ridiculed, courageous women such as those speaking out about their treatment when experiencing the devastation of a miscarriage in our hospitals, those long ignored women who tried to get someone to listen to them when they talked about the “Butcher from Bega” and his maltreatment and mutilation of women. Who will speak up about the injustices and traumas women still experience? Who will respect and support women and allow them to speak their “truth”?
Ms … does not inform us what issue Sharon had contacted her in regards to, but the issue I brought to Ms … attention in April 2008 was the situation of Australian women and children trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial failures. The material I subsequently mailed her clearly described the traumatic experience of two Australian women and their children trapped in a foreign country by domestic violence and the subsequent and devastating systemic and judicial inequities and inadequacies which failed to protect them or ensure they experienced the safety, security and justice they needed and deserved. (Which I have been told by an academic is “not an unfamiliar story”.) The extensive documentation shared not only showed how traumatic and harmful this experience had been for these innocent and vulnerable Australian children and women but also gave contact details for clarifying and verifying the information. These women had been further traumatised by attempting and failing to obtain any assistance for their children or themselves from any Australian authority or the media that had assisted, advocated for, or acknowledged other Australians overseas including David Hicks, Schapelle Corby, the “Bali Nine”, and other innocent Australian victims of violence overseas, such as London and Bali bombing victims.
Part of Ms … justification for refusing “to help” Sharon is her subjective, pejorative, self-serving, and unsubstantiated assessment of Sharon’s “mental state”, which is something I also experienced in my dealings with Ms …. Making the whistleblower the problem and denigrating their “mental state” is a common way of negating those who are trying to “speak truth to power” as whistleblowers. Noticeably Ms … did not denigrate and negate Baz in this way in her article. Nurse Toni Hoffman also experienced this form of backlash when she tried to bring attention to Dr Jayant Patel’s actions in Queensland, a situation that similarly to domestic violence was resulting in great harm and the death of innocent and vulnerable people.
How many other women besides Sharon and myself have contacted Ms … because like me they read her articles in The Sun-Herald, or because like me they read the information on her website and believed that as a “feminist”, and “ethicist” she found violence against children and women unacceptable? What would Ms … have hoped or expected if she was either Sharon or me and we had the privilege, power, safety and opportunity that she has and we had chosen to publicly ridicule her while keeping the secret of her concerns, including domestic violence, when she had asked for our assistance?
Ms … conceptualises ethical choices in an either/or framework, I would like to emphasise that it is about “choice”! It is not an either/or situation, we can hold dear our personal relationships “and” make choices to role model social responsibility to our children and speak up about life and death issues! In the many months since I shared information with her, Ms … has had many, many weeks of writing articles and making choices in regards to time with family and for her relationships. Unlike the deadly fire and choice scenario she describes in her article, the choices she writes about actually having to make in regard to her family relationships are things such as attending her “child’s school play”.
Also like Sharon, in her contact with me Ms … attempted to portray me as someone who wanted “rescuing”. Unlike Ms …, I do not see women and children who have experienced domestic violence as pathetic victims who need “rescuing”. Women and children who have experienced the trauma and injustice of domestic violence are human beings who need and deserve human rights, safety, security, justice, support and advocacy! (Which is what I believe most women would hope for and expect if they had the misfortune to be the victims of domestic violence and systemic and judicial failures - or is Ms … the exception to that reasonable expectation?)
In her book The Ethical Imagination: Journeys of the human spirit. (Melbourne University Press 2006), Australian ethicist Margaret Somerville, in a chapter titled “Past Virtues for a Future World: Holding our humanness on trust”, mentions “hope” as one of the “human qualities” that she believes “will be essential in taking ethical paths into our human future.”(p 208) The five “old virtues” Margaret Somerville considers essential for these “ethical paths” and our future are “trust, courage, compassion, generosity and hope” (p 208), none of which I experienced in Ms … article.
If it was a life and death issue for Ms … child (as domestic violence has been shown to be for far too many children and women), I would miss my child’s school play – and have missed much, much more in all my children’s lives because Ms … is not the only person who calls themselves an “ethicist”, “journalist”, or “feminist”, not the only person who has privilege, power and opportunity, and chooses not speak up for and with children and women who have experienced domestic violence.
So Ms … , even though you have made it clear that you would not even miss your child’s school play to save my or anyone else’s child or any woman from the traumatic and too often fatal experience of domestic violence - I would miss much if it meant saving your or any other child’s life and contributing to them having a future free of violence and abuse, and as you know from the extensive material shared with you, I have already given up much to try and create a better and safer world for all women and children – you and your child included!
“The only thing necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing” Edmund Burke.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” Martin Luther King Jnr
Name withheld for safety considerations
***
(Name and contact details supplied …)
Dear Editor,
To have read the posted list of people I have asked for assistance on my online resource/blog www.womenwhowant2gohome.blogspot.com which Ms … was made aware of in April 2008, Ms … would have seen and have made a choice whether to read or ignore the adjacent posts “Situation Synopsis” and “To Whom It May Concern”.
Sincerely
(Name)
Despite a phone call to the editor from a highly respected academic who validated my information and recommended printing of my letter, and a letter to both the editor and Ms ... from a friend of mine the paper chose to ignore all of us and did not print either of the letters, comment in print, contact my friend or me.
Robin Bowles, quoting Graham Archer (Today Tonight, Channel 7, Adelaide) in her book Rough Justice: unanswered questions from the Australian courts (The Five Mile press Pty Ltd 2007)…
“The biggest threat to a properly informed public is the existence of media monopolies. Competition for the alternative view is essential to a properly functioning democracy. I believe there are times when the media should take a stand on issues of public interest and in particular, the accountability of our public authorities. Almost all of the miscarriages of justice that have been successfully resolved have had some form of media presence behind [the campaigns]. In some cases they have only been successful because of the pressure the media has brought to bear. In this sense, the media has a role to play beyond being just a passive and neutral information source.” P. 165
Take care ... take heart ... Merinda
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Monday, January 05, 2009
Correspondence sent begging for assistance before Christmas ... and still not answered ...
Ms ...
Department Foreign Affairs & Trade
....@dfat.gov.au
Dear ...,
Congratulations on your informative and entertaining address at the recent ... It’s great to have someone young and enthusiastic who grew up in ... come back to encourage and inspire local students. (Whilst I remember you from school, you might not remember me as I am a few years older than you, one of my ..., was in the same grade as your ...)
The reason I am contacting you is in connection with something you mentioned in your presentation - support and assistance to Australian citizens overseas (as well as the information you shared during your address at the recent ..., your mother had previously told me a story in connection with your visits to Australian victims of the London bombing while they were still in hospital in London) and the traumatic and desperate situation of Australian children and women trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial abuse.
On behalf of my children and myself, and another Australian women, “Jane” and her children, I am begging for assistance, support and advocacy for us as Australian women and children trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial abuse to ensure our safety, security and access to justice, so that we can all be safely home in Australia with our families as soon as possible, from anyone who believes that Australian children and women deserve safety, security, support and judicial fairness, especially in circumstances involving domestic violence.
This situation has been so traumatic that ... attempted suicide and I still cannot get any assistance. I am extremely concerned for my children’s welfare, wellbeing and safety, my wellbeing and safety, the wellbeing and safety of the other Australian woman and her children mentioned above and all other children and women in this traumatic situation.
My priority is for my children and I and “Jane” and her children to be safely home in Australia with our families immediately, and for others in similar traumatic circumstances, who are unknown to me, to also receive immediate assistance and intervention - to provide the safety and justice we have been denied for so many years.
As I have now used all my resources to fight the systems that should have protected us, to advocate for us and to try and sustain myself through this ordeal I no longer have the resources, finances or hope to continue unassisted, I continue to be concerned about our safety and wellbeing, and my personal possessions still in Canada in a rented residence and important stored documents still in Canada. Up until now the government has chosen to ignore our traumatic situation and refuse us the support and compassion so readily available to so many other Australians in traumatic, dangerous or even criminal difficulties overseas but we need and deserve support and assistance immediately.
A recent joint Australian Government Media Release, “Australia comes in from the cold on Women’s rights” dated 24/11/2008 from the Minister for Housing and the Minister for the Status of Women, Tanya Plibersek, and Robert McClelland, Attorney-General, announces the government is acceding to the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and states “Becoming party to the Optional Protocol demonstrates our commitment to the promotion and protection of the rights of women, both at home and abroad”. The media release goes on to say “It will also add credibility to our offers of support to women across our region”. These ministers have the political will and resources to offer support to women in our region but not for Australian women and their children trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial abuse. If there was the political will, "Jane" and I and our children could have all been in Australia with our families for Christmas many years ago. There was, after all, political will for government intervention for “judicial fairness” to bring David Hicks home before the federal election and to spend $10 million to rescue Douglas Woods from Iraq within 45 days!
How will it effect Australia’s credibility internationally when it becomes known through my information and complaint that at the time our government was preparing to accede to the Optional Protocol to the United Nations CEDAW convention the same government was refusing to provide Australian women and their Australian children who were trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial abuse any of the support, intervention, assistance or advocacy they deserved and needed to ensure they received safety, security and justice?
Refusing us any assistance, support or intervention ignores the dangers faced by women and children when leaving situations of domestic abuse, which we have had many reminders of through the deaths and attacks in our home state New South Wales just in the last twelve months. Refusing to assist us ignores the culture in (province), Canada, a province where a political party was abolished by court order due to corrupt practices while in government, police officers were eventually found guilty of dumping indigenous males on city outskirts where some froze to death and then conducted their own (exonerating) inquiry into these deaths, an innocent young man, David Milgaard, was decided to be guilty of a vicious rape and murder and served nearly thirty years in jail for this crime while the (province)Justice Department refused to respond to or investigate any of the information that would have proved his innocence and spared him many years of abuse and trauma (see www.milgaardinquiry.ca ).
Refusing to ensure we are safe and receive justice ignores the many letters written on our behalf by service providers, a doctor, a social worker, a psychologist, a counsellor and others all concerned about my children’s and my safety and the way information from professionals regarding the abuse we experienced and their concerns was misrepresented by a Justice Department employee in his report and court testimony. Refusing to assist us ignores the letter from a service provider to the (province) Justice Department expressing concern about the number of cases they were aware of where male assessors had disregarded the important and relevant information regarding women and children’s experience of domestic violence.
Refusing to assist us ignores our human rights and right to justice, safety and security. Refusing to address these issues not only deprives us of the safety, security and justice we need and deserve but also continues to leave other Australian women unaware of and unprotected from a similar traumatic experience and ignores the commitments Australia made when acceding to other United Nations conventions Australia is a signatory to such as The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (which Australia had a significant role in developing through Dr Herbert Evatt), the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (DEVAW) as well as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Extensive documentation regarding my attempts to obtain safety, security and support for us and deal with the problems encountered in a foreign justice system has been provided to many politicians, government departments, academics and organisations over many years in regards to our situation. This documentation shows professionals (doctor, social worker domestic violence support group, counsellor, heath nurse) concern about the domestic and family violence they believed we had experienced, their ongoing concern for our safety, their recommendation that I have sole custody of my three children and their concern and dismay that their information was misrepresented by a (province) Justice Department employee thereby denying us justice and safety. (See the online resource I created in the form of a blog www.womenwhowant2gohome.blogspot.com for information regarding some of this correspondence, including post “The Perils of Indifference …”, “Further out of view … further out of mind …”, “Dear Mr Prime Minister …”, “A letter to our new prime minister …”, “Waiting and hoping…”.) Further information can be obtained by contacting me, by viewing the online resource I created in the form of a blog www.womenwhowant2gohome.blogspot.com, from the many politicians, government departments, ministers/shadow ministers, academics and organisations this information has been shared with or by contacting Honorary Prof Tony Vinson, who has tried to assist us and been very supportive.
Honorary Professor Tony Vinson
Social Work & Policy Studies, Faculty of Education & Social Work,
The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006
Email: t.vinson@edfac.usyd.edu.au
Ph: 02-9351-6903 Mobile: 0412 035 077 Fax: 02-9351-3783
Or from Dr Peter Jaffe, an international expert on domestic violence who has knowledge of our situation and of Saskatchewan policy and practice, who knows me as being from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I can also supply you with the contact details for “Jane” the other Australian woman who with her four children is in a similar traumatic situation in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Dr Peter Jaffe
Director Emeritus
Centre for Children and Families in the Justice System
(formerly the London Family Court Clinic)
London, Ontario, Canada
And
Academic Director
Centre for Research in Violence Against Children and Women
Faculty of Education
University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
Ph: 01-519-661-2018
Email: pjaffe@uwo.ca or peter_jaffe@yahoo.ca
The implications for children and women when there is an ethical gap between what is said and what is actually done for children and women who have experienced domestic and family violence are very concerning. Despite begging for assistance from many who say they care about these issues (see post “The Perils of Indifference … ) we have been ignored or excuses found not to assist us - despite the willingness to intervene on behalf of David Hicks, Schapelle Corby, the “Bali Nine”, Australians protesting against the Canadian seal hunt, whales, the last asylum seekers on Nauru, and more recently a Chinese asylum seeker accused of corruption in her homeland. The Attorney- General’s Office, International Family Law section has informed me that as our situation is not a Hague Convention Abduction and is a “civil matter” as opposed to a “criminal matter” then there is no responsibility to assist Australian children and women in foreign jurisdictions who have experienced domestic violence and subsequent systemic and judicial abuse. More recently the reason given for the government ignoring us and refusing to intervene or assist was that this was not of “novel public interest” and that “alleged domestic violence” is a “private legal matter”. Many believed David Hicks (who abandoned his partner, daughter and son to go and fight for the Taliban, an organisation that believes in denying women and girls equality and human rights) deserved government intervention to insist he obtain “judicial fairness” but when we, innocent and vulnerable Australian girls and women, beg for the same assistance, advocacy and “judicial fairness” everyone has many excuses for ignoring us.
If you need a character reference there are many in ... who could provide that, including ..., who have know me since I was born and my parents prior to that, as well as other family friends throughout Australia and if provided with a mailing address I can forward you copies of relevant information and documentation.
As a mother who has lived overseas with her children I am hoping you can understand how traumatic these experiences might be for Australian women like myself who despite pre-wedding negotiations and commitments find themselves in a situation where they and their children are prevented from their expected future life with family, friends, safety and security in Australia. Any assistance, advocacy, suggestions or support would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
...
Department Foreign Affairs & Trade
....@dfat.gov.au
Dear ...,
Congratulations on your informative and entertaining address at the recent ... It’s great to have someone young and enthusiastic who grew up in ... come back to encourage and inspire local students. (Whilst I remember you from school, you might not remember me as I am a few years older than you, one of my ..., was in the same grade as your ...)
The reason I am contacting you is in connection with something you mentioned in your presentation - support and assistance to Australian citizens overseas (as well as the information you shared during your address at the recent ..., your mother had previously told me a story in connection with your visits to Australian victims of the London bombing while they were still in hospital in London) and the traumatic and desperate situation of Australian children and women trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial abuse.
On behalf of my children and myself, and another Australian women, “Jane” and her children, I am begging for assistance, support and advocacy for us as Australian women and children trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial abuse to ensure our safety, security and access to justice, so that we can all be safely home in Australia with our families as soon as possible, from anyone who believes that Australian children and women deserve safety, security, support and judicial fairness, especially in circumstances involving domestic violence.
This situation has been so traumatic that ... attempted suicide and I still cannot get any assistance. I am extremely concerned for my children’s welfare, wellbeing and safety, my wellbeing and safety, the wellbeing and safety of the other Australian woman and her children mentioned above and all other children and women in this traumatic situation.
My priority is for my children and I and “Jane” and her children to be safely home in Australia with our families immediately, and for others in similar traumatic circumstances, who are unknown to me, to also receive immediate assistance and intervention - to provide the safety and justice we have been denied for so many years.
As I have now used all my resources to fight the systems that should have protected us, to advocate for us and to try and sustain myself through this ordeal I no longer have the resources, finances or hope to continue unassisted, I continue to be concerned about our safety and wellbeing, and my personal possessions still in Canada in a rented residence and important stored documents still in Canada. Up until now the government has chosen to ignore our traumatic situation and refuse us the support and compassion so readily available to so many other Australians in traumatic, dangerous or even criminal difficulties overseas but we need and deserve support and assistance immediately.
A recent joint Australian Government Media Release, “Australia comes in from the cold on Women’s rights” dated 24/11/2008 from the Minister for Housing and the Minister for the Status of Women, Tanya Plibersek, and Robert McClelland, Attorney-General, announces the government is acceding to the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and states “Becoming party to the Optional Protocol demonstrates our commitment to the promotion and protection of the rights of women, both at home and abroad”. The media release goes on to say “It will also add credibility to our offers of support to women across our region”. These ministers have the political will and resources to offer support to women in our region but not for Australian women and their children trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial abuse. If there was the political will, "Jane" and I and our children could have all been in Australia with our families for Christmas many years ago. There was, after all, political will for government intervention for “judicial fairness” to bring David Hicks home before the federal election and to spend $10 million to rescue Douglas Woods from Iraq within 45 days!
How will it effect Australia’s credibility internationally when it becomes known through my information and complaint that at the time our government was preparing to accede to the Optional Protocol to the United Nations CEDAW convention the same government was refusing to provide Australian women and their Australian children who were trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial abuse any of the support, intervention, assistance or advocacy they deserved and needed to ensure they received safety, security and justice?
Refusing us any assistance, support or intervention ignores the dangers faced by women and children when leaving situations of domestic abuse, which we have had many reminders of through the deaths and attacks in our home state New South Wales just in the last twelve months. Refusing to assist us ignores the culture in (province), Canada, a province where a political party was abolished by court order due to corrupt practices while in government, police officers were eventually found guilty of dumping indigenous males on city outskirts where some froze to death and then conducted their own (exonerating) inquiry into these deaths, an innocent young man, David Milgaard, was decided to be guilty of a vicious rape and murder and served nearly thirty years in jail for this crime while the (province)Justice Department refused to respond to or investigate any of the information that would have proved his innocence and spared him many years of abuse and trauma (see www.milgaardinquiry.ca ).
Refusing to ensure we are safe and receive justice ignores the many letters written on our behalf by service providers, a doctor, a social worker, a psychologist, a counsellor and others all concerned about my children’s and my safety and the way information from professionals regarding the abuse we experienced and their concerns was misrepresented by a Justice Department employee in his report and court testimony. Refusing to assist us ignores the letter from a service provider to the (province) Justice Department expressing concern about the number of cases they were aware of where male assessors had disregarded the important and relevant information regarding women and children’s experience of domestic violence.
Refusing to assist us ignores our human rights and right to justice, safety and security. Refusing to address these issues not only deprives us of the safety, security and justice we need and deserve but also continues to leave other Australian women unaware of and unprotected from a similar traumatic experience and ignores the commitments Australia made when acceding to other United Nations conventions Australia is a signatory to such as The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (which Australia had a significant role in developing through Dr Herbert Evatt), the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (DEVAW) as well as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Extensive documentation regarding my attempts to obtain safety, security and support for us and deal with the problems encountered in a foreign justice system has been provided to many politicians, government departments, academics and organisations over many years in regards to our situation. This documentation shows professionals (doctor, social worker domestic violence support group, counsellor, heath nurse) concern about the domestic and family violence they believed we had experienced, their ongoing concern for our safety, their recommendation that I have sole custody of my three children and their concern and dismay that their information was misrepresented by a (province) Justice Department employee thereby denying us justice and safety. (See the online resource I created in the form of a blog www.womenwhowant2gohome.blogspot.com for information regarding some of this correspondence, including post “The Perils of Indifference …”, “Further out of view … further out of mind …”, “Dear Mr Prime Minister …”, “A letter to our new prime minister …”, “Waiting and hoping…”.) Further information can be obtained by contacting me, by viewing the online resource I created in the form of a blog www.womenwhowant2gohome.blogspot.com, from the many politicians, government departments, ministers/shadow ministers, academics and organisations this information has been shared with or by contacting Honorary Prof Tony Vinson, who has tried to assist us and been very supportive.
Honorary Professor Tony Vinson
Social Work & Policy Studies, Faculty of Education & Social Work,
The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006
Email: t.vinson@edfac.usyd.edu.au
Ph: 02-9351-6903 Mobile: 0412 035 077 Fax: 02-9351-3783
Or from Dr Peter Jaffe, an international expert on domestic violence who has knowledge of our situation and of Saskatchewan policy and practice, who knows me as being from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I can also supply you with the contact details for “Jane” the other Australian woman who with her four children is in a similar traumatic situation in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Dr Peter Jaffe
Director Emeritus
Centre for Children and Families in the Justice System
(formerly the London Family Court Clinic)
London, Ontario, Canada
And
Academic Director
Centre for Research in Violence Against Children and Women
Faculty of Education
University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
Ph: 01-519-661-2018
Email: pjaffe@uwo.ca or peter_jaffe@yahoo.ca
The implications for children and women when there is an ethical gap between what is said and what is actually done for children and women who have experienced domestic and family violence are very concerning. Despite begging for assistance from many who say they care about these issues (see post “The Perils of Indifference … ) we have been ignored or excuses found not to assist us - despite the willingness to intervene on behalf of David Hicks, Schapelle Corby, the “Bali Nine”, Australians protesting against the Canadian seal hunt, whales, the last asylum seekers on Nauru, and more recently a Chinese asylum seeker accused of corruption in her homeland. The Attorney- General’s Office, International Family Law section has informed me that as our situation is not a Hague Convention Abduction and is a “civil matter” as opposed to a “criminal matter” then there is no responsibility to assist Australian children and women in foreign jurisdictions who have experienced domestic violence and subsequent systemic and judicial abuse. More recently the reason given for the government ignoring us and refusing to intervene or assist was that this was not of “novel public interest” and that “alleged domestic violence” is a “private legal matter”. Many believed David Hicks (who abandoned his partner, daughter and son to go and fight for the Taliban, an organisation that believes in denying women and girls equality and human rights) deserved government intervention to insist he obtain “judicial fairness” but when we, innocent and vulnerable Australian girls and women, beg for the same assistance, advocacy and “judicial fairness” everyone has many excuses for ignoring us.
If you need a character reference there are many in ... who could provide that, including ..., who have know me since I was born and my parents prior to that, as well as other family friends throughout Australia and if provided with a mailing address I can forward you copies of relevant information and documentation.
As a mother who has lived overseas with her children I am hoping you can understand how traumatic these experiences might be for Australian women like myself who despite pre-wedding negotiations and commitments find themselves in a situation where they and their children are prevented from their expected future life with family, friends, safety and security in Australia. Any assistance, advocacy, suggestions or support would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
...
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Socrates on what makes life worthwhile ...
To Who It May Concern,
I recently came across the following paragraphs …
“…So what makes life worthwhile?
The life and death of Socrates is instructive in answering this question. Socrates himself chose to drink the poisonous hemlock when his fellow Athenians condemned him to death for disturbing the city’s good order by disseminating his beliefs and ethical teachings. He turned down the offer to escape the penalty and leave Athens for sanctuary because he judged that his life would not be worthwhile if he did not do what he believed to be the right thing, and stand by his moral principles publicly. Along with many others throughout history, Socrates demonstrated that that which is most worth living for may also be worth dying for.
The examples of Socrates and other great leaders such as Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Rachel Carson and Aung San Suu Kyi suggest that the life worth living is one that is lived for a worthwhile reason, one which goes beyond self-interest and ultimately, if necessary, beyond self-preservation. The ethical life then is part of what Peter Singer describes as the ‘great tradition of those who have responded to the amount of pain and suffering in the universe by trying to make it a better place’. ”
Understanding Ethics, Noel Preston (The Federation Press, Third Edition 2007) Chapter One - The Ethical Challenge, P7-8
As a culmination of many experiences I can relate to Socrates thoughts and feelings described above. Despite my best efforts to gain safety, security, advocacy and justice for my children, myself and other Australian children and women trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial failures another Christmas has gone by without my children and family ever being able to enjoy this celebration together, another year has ended without me having been able to bring any change to our dangerous and traumatic situation, another year has passed where I have done my best to share information with the those in government and the domestic violence “industry”, who despite the life and death consequences for children and women, and despite having the power, privilege and influence to demand and provide safety, security, justice and advocacy for children and women who have experienced domestic violence, refuse to assist us.
Over many, many years I have tried to remain hopeful and set worthwhile goals to believe in and work towards, tried to visualise safe, positive outcomes for my daughters and myself where we get to participate in collaborative, creative and meaningful activities together …sometimes to hold on to hope I imagined my daughters and I presenting to the United Nations … my eldest daughter and I have already presented together on the issues of family and domestic violence giving the last class to my University sociology class where she read her story “Emily Feels Left Out” and I showed the documentary I was involved with, “How Then Shall We Live: A Process for Developing a Plan to Escape Abusive Relationships”, and encouraged the students to expect respectful relationships in all area of their lives (see post “On being a student … and being a teacher” at www.womenwhowant2gohome.blogspot.com the online resource created in the form of a blog) … sometimes I just dreamt of us having fun together with my family in Australia (See posts “I have a dream..” and “Letter to the Prime Minister”, on my online resource/blog, as well as “Hope…”, “The Perils of Indifference…” and “Further out of view … further out of mind …” )
Even the most cursory glance at the list I have compiled of Australians I have contacted begging for assistance, support, advocacy, care and compassion for Australian children and women trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial inadequicies and inequities posted on my online resource/blog) will show how strategic I have attempted to be in whom I researched and selected to share information with and beg for assistance for myself and my children, the other Australian woman and her four children who had a similar traumatic experience in the same foreign jurisdiction - and all Australian children and women in similar traumatic and dangerous circumstances. The individuals and organisations listed include those many would recognise as having made public statements regarding their personal “zero tolerance” of violence against women and children, children and women’s right to safety, and our collective responsibility to provide children and women who have experienced domestic violence with the safety and justice they need and deserve.
Many would be familiar with some of these people’s very public and adamant insistence that the government was responsible for intervening on behalf or David Hicks (who chose to go overseas to support the Taliban, an organisation that believes in denying women and girls their human rights) and ensuring he experienced “judicial fairness”. These individuals and organisations have had many opportunities to, as Peter Singer describes, be part of the “great tradition of those who have responded to the amount of pain and suffering in the universe by trying to make it a better place” by assisting and advocating for us, and instead have chosen to keep the secret of this violence and injustice against children and women. Not only have these individuals and organisations ignored my pleas for support and assistance, but also have not used the information I have provided to prevent any other Australians experiencing a similar trauma.
All it would take is for those who “say” they find violence against children and women unacceptable to actually “do” something, for someone to speak up publicly in a way that would bring us safety while protecting our privacy, to bring these traumatic lived realities and issues into the public discourse, to encourage others to ask why this is allowed to happen to children and women and publicly advocate for and with us to make it safe for us to “speak our truth”.
Every day of not being able to protect my children is like a dose of poisonous hemlock; every day of not being able to get anyone to respond to my desperate appeals for assistance is toxic to my soul and spirit.
Experiencing domestic and family violence is very traumatic, experiencing systemic and judicial injustices is very traumatic, discovering that your country and government will not provide assistance for innocent and vulnerable Australian children and women is another indescribable traumatic experience.
As Australian children and women trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial failures are denied any assistance, support or compassion from Australian authorities, (unlike Australians overseas who choose to participate in criminal activities such as drug trafficking or Australians who are victims of other forms of violence) and are told we have to deal with this unjust and unsafe situation in a foreign country on our own, after the many years of fighting the systems that should have protected us, I no longer have the resources to continue. I no longer have the hope, capacity, finances or resources to continue to advocate for us or to continue to believe in a better, safer future for us. I am desperately concerned about my children, myself, the other Australian woman mentioned in my online resource/blog and her children’s safety and wellbeing, my personal possessions and documents, none of whom or which I have any resources or ability to advocate for or try to protect any longer.
Without immediate provision of compassion, resources, advocacy and support for my children and myself to obtain the safety and justice we need and deserve I can no longer do what I “believed to be the right thing” and speak up for our human rights, and there is no possibility of a “worthwhile” or “ethical life”- which is as intolerable a concept for me as it was for Socrates.
“Merinda”
www.womenwhowant2gohome.blogspot.com
“The only thing necessary for evil to prevail is for (supposedly) good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke (Statesman and political thinker)
I recently came across the following paragraphs …
“…So what makes life worthwhile?
The life and death of Socrates is instructive in answering this question. Socrates himself chose to drink the poisonous hemlock when his fellow Athenians condemned him to death for disturbing the city’s good order by disseminating his beliefs and ethical teachings. He turned down the offer to escape the penalty and leave Athens for sanctuary because he judged that his life would not be worthwhile if he did not do what he believed to be the right thing, and stand by his moral principles publicly. Along with many others throughout history, Socrates demonstrated that that which is most worth living for may also be worth dying for.
The examples of Socrates and other great leaders such as Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Rachel Carson and Aung San Suu Kyi suggest that the life worth living is one that is lived for a worthwhile reason, one which goes beyond self-interest and ultimately, if necessary, beyond self-preservation. The ethical life then is part of what Peter Singer describes as the ‘great tradition of those who have responded to the amount of pain and suffering in the universe by trying to make it a better place’. ”
Understanding Ethics, Noel Preston (The Federation Press, Third Edition 2007) Chapter One - The Ethical Challenge, P7-8
As a culmination of many experiences I can relate to Socrates thoughts and feelings described above. Despite my best efforts to gain safety, security, advocacy and justice for my children, myself and other Australian children and women trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial failures another Christmas has gone by without my children and family ever being able to enjoy this celebration together, another year has ended without me having been able to bring any change to our dangerous and traumatic situation, another year has passed where I have done my best to share information with the those in government and the domestic violence “industry”, who despite the life and death consequences for children and women, and despite having the power, privilege and influence to demand and provide safety, security, justice and advocacy for children and women who have experienced domestic violence, refuse to assist us.
Over many, many years I have tried to remain hopeful and set worthwhile goals to believe in and work towards, tried to visualise safe, positive outcomes for my daughters and myself where we get to participate in collaborative, creative and meaningful activities together …sometimes to hold on to hope I imagined my daughters and I presenting to the United Nations … my eldest daughter and I have already presented together on the issues of family and domestic violence giving the last class to my University sociology class where she read her story “Emily Feels Left Out” and I showed the documentary I was involved with, “How Then Shall We Live: A Process for Developing a Plan to Escape Abusive Relationships”, and encouraged the students to expect respectful relationships in all area of their lives (see post “On being a student … and being a teacher” at www.womenwhowant2gohome.blogspot.com the online resource created in the form of a blog) … sometimes I just dreamt of us having fun together with my family in Australia (See posts “I have a dream..” and “Letter to the Prime Minister”, on my online resource/blog, as well as “Hope…”, “The Perils of Indifference…” and “Further out of view … further out of mind …” )
Even the most cursory glance at the list I have compiled of Australians I have contacted begging for assistance, support, advocacy, care and compassion for Australian children and women trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial inadequicies and inequities posted on my online resource/blog) will show how strategic I have attempted to be in whom I researched and selected to share information with and beg for assistance for myself and my children, the other Australian woman and her four children who had a similar traumatic experience in the same foreign jurisdiction - and all Australian children and women in similar traumatic and dangerous circumstances. The individuals and organisations listed include those many would recognise as having made public statements regarding their personal “zero tolerance” of violence against women and children, children and women’s right to safety, and our collective responsibility to provide children and women who have experienced domestic violence with the safety and justice they need and deserve.
Many would be familiar with some of these people’s very public and adamant insistence that the government was responsible for intervening on behalf or David Hicks (who chose to go overseas to support the Taliban, an organisation that believes in denying women and girls their human rights) and ensuring he experienced “judicial fairness”. These individuals and organisations have had many opportunities to, as Peter Singer describes, be part of the “great tradition of those who have responded to the amount of pain and suffering in the universe by trying to make it a better place” by assisting and advocating for us, and instead have chosen to keep the secret of this violence and injustice against children and women. Not only have these individuals and organisations ignored my pleas for support and assistance, but also have not used the information I have provided to prevent any other Australians experiencing a similar trauma.
All it would take is for those who “say” they find violence against children and women unacceptable to actually “do” something, for someone to speak up publicly in a way that would bring us safety while protecting our privacy, to bring these traumatic lived realities and issues into the public discourse, to encourage others to ask why this is allowed to happen to children and women and publicly advocate for and with us to make it safe for us to “speak our truth”.
Every day of not being able to protect my children is like a dose of poisonous hemlock; every day of not being able to get anyone to respond to my desperate appeals for assistance is toxic to my soul and spirit.
Experiencing domestic and family violence is very traumatic, experiencing systemic and judicial injustices is very traumatic, discovering that your country and government will not provide assistance for innocent and vulnerable Australian children and women is another indescribable traumatic experience.
As Australian children and women trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial failures are denied any assistance, support or compassion from Australian authorities, (unlike Australians overseas who choose to participate in criminal activities such as drug trafficking or Australians who are victims of other forms of violence) and are told we have to deal with this unjust and unsafe situation in a foreign country on our own, after the many years of fighting the systems that should have protected us, I no longer have the resources to continue. I no longer have the hope, capacity, finances or resources to continue to advocate for us or to continue to believe in a better, safer future for us. I am desperately concerned about my children, myself, the other Australian woman mentioned in my online resource/blog and her children’s safety and wellbeing, my personal possessions and documents, none of whom or which I have any resources or ability to advocate for or try to protect any longer.
Without immediate provision of compassion, resources, advocacy and support for my children and myself to obtain the safety and justice we need and deserve I can no longer do what I “believed to be the right thing” and speak up for our human rights, and there is no possibility of a “worthwhile” or “ethical life”- which is as intolerable a concept for me as it was for Socrates.
“Merinda”
www.womenwhowant2gohome.blogspot.com
“The only thing necessary for evil to prevail is for (supposedly) good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke (Statesman and political thinker)
Ask and you shall receive ... those I have begged for assistance ...
Australians I have begged to provide assistance, support, advocacy, care and compassion for Australian children and women trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial failures …
Compiled December 2008,
**
Those I have begged for assistance include, but are not limited to, the following mentioned individuals and organisations - see also www.womenwhowant2gohome.blogspot.com letters and posts such as “The Perils of Indifference …”, “Further out of view ... further out of mind…”)
As I had tried my best to be as strategic as possible on our behalf this list includes those who:
- are considered “domestic violence experts” and advocates
- are offered and accept positions and opportunities of power, privilege and influence in the domestic violence sector/industry
- in their political/public life have made pubic statements condemning violence against children and women
- publicly advocated for and supported David Hicks (who left his partner, daughter and son to go and support the Taliban, an organisation that believes in denying women and girls their human rights) and demanded government intervention and advocacy to defend Mr Hicks human rights and insist Mr Hicks receive “judicial fairness” and be safely and immediately returned to Australia
- are considered human rights experts and advocates
- are considered defenders of social justice, responsible and ethical governance
- have used their media role/relationships to speak up about justice, human rights, violence against children and women and women’s issues
Information regarding my communication/contact, by phone, fax, email or mail, with these individuals and organisations can be found in my journal/diary, daily planner, note books where I kept mail details, Post Office receipts and express post tracing numbers, contact management file, mobile phone records, email account, copies of letters, emails, faxes and responses.
**
Dr Meredith Burgmann- former NSW Legislative Council President, self professed “political agitator and international busybody”, “The Ernies” organiser, contributor to “Ethics and political practice: perspectives on legislative ethics” edited by Noel Preston ad Charles Sampford with C-A Bois, Routledge Studies in Governance and Public Policy series, The Federation Press, 1998
Dr Leslie Cannold – Moral Maze, Sun-Herald, ethics website
Eva Cox – Women’s Electoral Lobby, University of Technology, Sydney
Susan Mitchell – journalist, author, “The Scent of Power: on the trail of women and power in Australia” Angus & Robertson, 1996
Anne Summers – Women’s Adviser to Prime Minister Bob Hawke, journalist, author, “Damned Whores and God’s Police”
**
Dr Lesley Laing – Senior Lecturer in Social Work, The University of Sydney, formerly Director of the Education Centre Against Violence, established Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse, recently appointed Deputy Chair, The Premier’s Council for Preventing Violence Against Women (I had also applied for a position on this council but was rejected), co-organiser/co-host “Towards Better Practice: Enhancing collaboration between mental health services and women’s domestic violence services” where the known suicide of women and children after leaving situations of domestic violence where these children and women had not been assisted or protected and had then also experienced systemic and judicial abuse was discussed.
Associate Professor Jude Irwin – Social Work, The University of Sydney, co-organiser/co-host “Towards Better Practice: Enhancing collaboration between mental health services and women’s domestic violence services” where the known suicide of women and children after leaving situations of domestic violence where these children and women had not been assisted or protected and had then also experienced systemic and judicial abuse was discussed.
Prof Cathy Humphreys, Andrew Felton Chair Child and Family Welfare, University of Melbourne, guest speaker “Towards Better Practice: Enhancing collaboration between mental health services and women’s domestic violence services” where the known suicide of women and children after leaving situations of domestic violence where these children and women had not been assisted or protected and had then also experienced systemic and judicial abuse was discussed and at which event Prof Humphreys informed me “female politicians will not speak up about these issues for fear of backlash” and “the government won’t do anything unless the media embarrasses them into it”. In a later correspondence Prof Humphreys informed me “The story you tell is not unfamiliar” and went on to say she would use the information I mailed her begging for her assistance (marked confidential) for “teaching purposes” but once again would not provide us with any assistance, support, suggestions or advocacy.
Thea Brown – Monash University, “Child Abuse and Family Law”, Allen & Unwin, 2007
Prof Dorothy Scott – Director, Australian Centre for Child Protection, University of South Australia
Dr Eileen Pittaway, University of New South Wales
Prof Chris Goddard – National Research Centre for the Prevention of Child Abuse, Monash University
Prof Paul Wilson – Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bond University
Patricia Easteal – Adjunct Professor in Law, University of Canberra, author “Real Rape, Real Pain: Help for women sexually assaulted by male partners”, “Less than Equal: Women and the Australian Legal System”, “Balancing the Scales: Rape, Law Reform and Australian Culture”, “Shattered Dreams, Marital Violence Against Women: The Overseas-born in Australia”
Regina Graycar, Professor of Law, University of Sydney
Prof Freda Briggs, Division of Education, Arts and Social Services, University of South Australia
Dr Meg Smith – Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, University of Western Sydney
Dr Sarah Maddison, Senior Associate Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of New South Wales, (see also online Leadership for Women www.leadershipforwomen.com.au )
Dr Ilsa Evans – PhD on the long tern effects of domestic violence, author “Broken”
Marie Hume – NAFCC National and International coalition of organisations formed to advocate on behalf of women and children in Family Court system with concerns about domestic violence and child abuse
Prof Elspeth McInnes – domestic violence advocate, researcher
Mary Crawford- Queensland University of Technology, research “Gender and the Australian Parliament”
Prof Linda Briskman – former head Australian Council of Heads of School of Social Work, human rights advocate
Prof Michael Flood – White Ribbon Ambassador
Prof Richard Henry & Prof Les Field – University of New South Wales, Ethics Committee
Justice James Wood, Special Commission of Inquiry into Child Protection in New South Wales
Prof John Dewar- Griffith University, wrote letter on behalf of Family Law Council concerned changes to Family Law Act did not protect children and women who had experienced domestic violence
Prof Margaret Alston, Charles Sturt University, 2008 Australian Government delegate to the United Nations 52nd Convention on the Status of Women
**
Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse - Rochelle Braaf, Gaby Marcus, Claire Sneddon
UNIFEM
WESNET (Women’s Emergency Services Network)
South Brisbane Immigration Legal Services
White Ribbon Campaign – Warren Mundine, Andrew O’Keefe, Dr Tanveer Ahmed
National Council for the Reduction of Violence Against Women and Children
- Heather Nancarrow, Queensland Centre Domestic & Family Violence, Central Queensland University
- Rachel Kayrooz, Shout Speak Out! Brisbane
- Lisa Wilkinson, TODAY Show
- Andrew O’Keefe, White Ribbon Campaign & SUNRISE Show
- Vanessa Swan, Yarrow Place Rape & Sexual Assault Centre, Adelaide SA
- Dr Melanie Keenan, Australian Football League, Melbourne
- Dorinda Cox, Aboriginal Liaison Officer, Sexual Assault Resource Centre, Subiaco, WA
- Maria Dimopoulos, MyriaD Consultants
- Libby Lloyd OAM, former president UNIFEM, Board Member White Ribbon Campaign
- Associate Professor Moira Carmody, member of the Social Justice and Social Change Research Centre University of Western Sydney, foundation member NSW Premier’s Council for Women
- Pauline Woodbridge, Chair WESNET (Women’s Emergency Services Network)
Y.W.C.A
Betty Green – NSW Domestic Violence Committee Coalition, NSW Premier’s Council on Preventing Violence Against Women, NSW Domestic Violence Homicide Review Team
CHILDWISE
Women’s Refuge Movement Resource Centre, Sydney
(Home community) Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Services
(Home community) Women’s Refuge
International Social Work Society
Australians attending world conferences on Child Witnesses to Domestic Violence, London, Ontario, Canada, 1997 and Vancouver, British Columbia Canada, 1999
Australians attending World Conference on the Prevention of Family Violence, Banff, Alberta Canada, 2005
Amnesty International
Liberty Victoria
Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne
Children’s Rights International, Sydney
GetUp - assisted David Hicks
Marie Coleman – National Foundation for Australian Women
Deborah Robinson – Australian Women Online
Transparency International
Andrew Fels - Australia and New Zealand Centre for Governance
(Home community) Women’s Health Centre
(Home community) social worker
(Home community) Mental Health Services
Jacqueline Pascal,
Donna Carson - Australian of the Year, Local Hero 2004, author “Judas Kisses: A true story of love and betrayal” Hardie Grant Books, 2007, (via VOCAL)
Dr Anthony Kidman – Director Health Psychology Unit, Royal North Shore Hospital
Ms Nicole Kidman – UNIFEM Ambassador, via Dr Anthony Kidman
Ms Therese Rein – Prime Minister’s wife, via Dr Anthony Kidman
Ms Hetty Johnston - Braveheart
Rachel Ball – Human Rights Law Resource Centre
Council for Civil Liberties
Michelle Penay – PILCH, Melbourne
Australian Social Inclusion Board
- Hon Prof Tony Vinson, Faculty Education & Social Work, The University of Sydney
- Patricia Faulkner, National Leader, Health & Social Policy, KPMG
- Monsignor David Cappo, Vicar-General Archdiocese of Adelaide
- Ms Elleni Bereded-Samuel, Community engagement Coordinator, Victoria University
- Dr Ngiare Brown, Telethon Institute for Child health research
- Dr Ron Edwards, Graham farmer Foundation, WA
- Mr Eddie McGuire, Channel Nine
- Dr John Falzon, COE St Vincent de Paul Society
- Mr Ahmed Fahour, National Australia Bank
- Ms Linda White, Australian Services Union
- Mr Tony Nicholson, Brotherhood of St Lawrence
- Dr Chris Sarra, Indigenous Education Leadership Institute
- Prof Fiona Stanley, Telethon Institute of Child Health Research
Dr Marie Leech, Australia 2020 Summit delegate
**
Janet Loughman – Women’s Legal Services NSW
Bill Madden, Slater & Gordon Lawyers, Sydney – assisted Melissa Hawarth
Stephen Page – Harrison Family Lawyers, Brisbane, author “The Australian Divorce” blog
David McLeod, Adelaide- David Hicks Lawyer
Prof George Williams – Gilbert+ Tobin Centre of Public Law, University New South Wales, advocated for David Hicks
Daniel Gilbert, Gilbert + Tobin Law Firm
Julian Burnside QC, - human rights advocate, “Watching Brief: Reflections on human rights, law and justice” Scribe, 2007, advocated for David Hicks
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights
Ross Ray- Law Council of Australia
Greg Reinhardt – Australian Institute for Judicial Administration Inc
Margaret Cunneen- - crown prosecutor
Sally Nichols, Nichols Family Lawyers, Melbourne - assisted Jacqueline Pascarl
Dr Ben Saul – Sydney Centre for International Law, The University of Sydney
University of Newcastle Legal Centre – Prof Neil Rees, Stuart McCarthy, assisted Cornelia Rau
Dr Sue Gordon -former Children’s Court Magistrate, Perth WA
Clare Martin, Australian Council Social Services
**
Margaret Somerville – Australian ethicist, author “The Ethical Imagination: journeys of the human spirit” Anansi Press, 2006
Dr Simon Longstaff – St James Ethics Centre
Prof A J Brown – Griffith University, ethicist, editor “Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector” ANU E Press, 2008
Dr Paul Mazerolle – Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance, Griffith University, contributed to “Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector” hosted recent symposium “Understanding and Preventing Domestic Violence: A One Day Symposium”
Prof Mirko Bagaric – legal expert, “The Moral Dilemma” online site, publicly advocated for David Hicks, Bali Nine, assisted Tony Mokbel, author “Future Directions in Human Rights and International Law”
**
Janelle Saffin MP
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young
Dr Carmen Lawrence, former WA Premier, Senator, Cabinet Minister, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women
Verity Firth MP - NSW Minister for Women, Chair NSW Premier’s Council on Preventing of Violence Against Women, lawyer, served on Law and Justice Foundation board
Senator Marise Payne,
Jillian Skinner MP, NSW Opposition deputy, former journalist
Malcolm Turnbull, Federal Opposition Leader, lawyer
Bob Brown, Leader Greens
Christine Milne, Greens Senator
Tanya Plibersek MP - Minister for the Status Women, former Shadow Minister for the Status Women, when in Opposition spoke publicly demanding for government assistance and intervention for ‘judicial fairness” and an immediate return to Australia for David Hicks, recently made a joint media release with Robert McClelland, Attorney-General regarding Australia acceding to the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
Kevin Rudd - Prime Minister and former leader of the opposition
Robert McClelland- Attorney-General, recently made a joint media release with Tanya Plibersek Minister for the Status of Women regarding Australia acceding to the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and a joint statement with other Australian Attorneys-General regarding domestic violence
Stephen Smith – Minister Foreign Affairs & Trade
Jenny Macklin - Minister Families & Community Services
Sen Chris Evans – Minister Citizenship and Immigration
Bob Debus – Minister Home Affairs, organised Indonesian prison transfer agreement for Schapelle Corby, “Bali Nine”, immediate finalisation of compensation for Cornelia Rau
Bill Shorten MP- Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities & Children
Sen Andrew Murray
John Howard, former Prime Minister
Senator Bill Heffernan,
Alexander Downer, former Minister Foreign Affairs & Trade, had been made aware of our situation by MP Danna Vale prior to his approval of government financing for Saskatchewan
Julie Bishop, former Minister for the Status of Women
Kaye Patterson, former Minister for the Status of Women
Senator Lynn Allison
Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja
Kay Hull, MP Riverina -had spoken publicly against her party for not intervening for David Hicks and taking responsibility for his need for/right to “judicial fairness” and government intervention
Maxine McKew MP,
Julia Gillard, Deputy Prime Minister, lawyer
Ms Cheryl Kernot - former politician and leader Democrats, currently Centre for Social Impact, The University of New South Wales, contributor to “Ethics and political practice: perspectives on legislative ethics” edited by Noel Preston ad Charles Sampford with C-A Bois, Routledge Studies in Governance and Public Policy series, The Federation Press, 1998
Phillip Ruddock, former Attorney General
Joe Ludwig, Senator, former Shadow Attorney General
Kerry Nettle – Green Party
Pru Goward, MP New South Wales, formerly director Office of the Status of Women and Sex Discrimination Commissioner
Ms Quentin Bryce, Governor General
Senator Nick Xenophon
Morris Iemma – former NSW Premier and Minister Citizenship
Dr Marie Bashir, NSW Governor
Dana Vale, former MP Hughes -had publicly spoken against her party for not assisting David Hicks, in maiden parliamentary speech talked about the “tyranny of silence” in regard to domestic violence
Brain Pullen – Department Foreign Affairs
Ms Teresa Hart – Department Foreign Affairs
Ms Julia Burns – Office for Women
Elizabeth Broderick – Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC)
Prof John McMillan - Commonwealth Ombudsman
Mary Lou Jarvis, campaign organiser for Malcolm Turnbull, organiser Sydney Women of Influence speakers sessions
George Newhouse, federal candidate 2007, lawyer who assisted Vivian Solon Alvarez
Kym Duggan - Assistant Secretary, Family Law Branch, Attorney-General’s Department
**
Adele Horin, Sydney Morning Herald
Paul Sheehan, Sydney Morning Herald
Tim Dick, Sydney Morning Herald
Ruth Pollard, Sydney Morning Herald, researcher/wrote series for White Ribbon Day 2008
Andrew Fowler, ABC Investigations
Deb Whitmont, ABC 4 Corners, journalist, lawyer, Walkley Award winner
Lisa Wilkinson, TODAY Show, Channel Nine
Andrew O’Keefe, SUNRISE, Channel Seven
Sophie Mullen, ABC producer “ Q & A”
Rachel Hill, New Matilda
Online Opinion
Australian Policy Online
Janet Fife-Yeomans - Daily Telegraph
Harriet Alexander, Sydney Morning Herald
The Walkley Foundation for Journalism
The Australian Women’s Weekly- Robyn Foyster (Editor-in-Chief) & Wendy Squires (Associate Editor)
“marie claire” – Jackie Frank (Publisher/editor)
Adam Doyle- researcher ABC 7.30 Report
Fran Kelly – ABC (producer “The Howard Years”), current affairs journalist and political correspondent
Susie Eisenhuth, Willa McDonald – “The Writers Reader” Cambridge University Press, 2007
David Marr
Richard Ackland
Michelle Grattan, Sun-Herald
Kerry-Anne Walsh- political commentator Sun-Herald
Hedley Thomas, The Australian, Brisbane – Walkley Award Winner for breaking the Dr Jayant Patel story, author “Sick to Death: A manipulative surgeon and a health system in crisis- a disaster waiting to happen”, Allen & Unwin, 2007
Irene Moss – Australia’s Right to Know Coalition, C/- News Ltd
***
Roland Ashby (media director), Anglican Diocese Melbourne – organised public advocacy and church service for David Hicks
Anglicare – Canberra
Vicar General – Bishop Allan Ewing – Anglican Diocese Canberra & Goulburn
Bishop Kay Goldsworthy, Anglican delegate to the United Nations 52nd Convention on the Status of Women
Meaghan Morrison, Anglican delegate to the United Nations 52nd Convention on the Status of Women
The Anglican (newspaper) – extensive article re Kay Goldsworthy and Meaghan Morrison’s attendance at UN Status of Women Convention, churches role and responsibility regarding violence against children and women, and male ministers, bishops etc involvement with the White Ribbon Campaign
Rev Graham Long – The Wayside Chapel, Sydney, assisted David Hicks, recently named one of the 100 most influential people in Sydney 2008
Rev Tim Costello - World Vision, Australia 2020 Summit, Chair Social Inclusion Working Group
**
Brain Kahlefeldt OAM – retired lawyer
Dick Smith – assisted and advocated for David Hicks
Francis Montil- formerly United Nations internal investigator
**
Compiled December 2008,
**
Those I have begged for assistance include, but are not limited to, the following mentioned individuals and organisations - see also www.womenwhowant2gohome.blogspot.com letters and posts such as “The Perils of Indifference …”, “Further out of view ... further out of mind…”)
As I had tried my best to be as strategic as possible on our behalf this list includes those who:
- are considered “domestic violence experts” and advocates
- are offered and accept positions and opportunities of power, privilege and influence in the domestic violence sector/industry
- in their political/public life have made pubic statements condemning violence against children and women
- publicly advocated for and supported David Hicks (who left his partner, daughter and son to go and support the Taliban, an organisation that believes in denying women and girls their human rights) and demanded government intervention and advocacy to defend Mr Hicks human rights and insist Mr Hicks receive “judicial fairness” and be safely and immediately returned to Australia
- are considered human rights experts and advocates
- are considered defenders of social justice, responsible and ethical governance
- have used their media role/relationships to speak up about justice, human rights, violence against children and women and women’s issues
Information regarding my communication/contact, by phone, fax, email or mail, with these individuals and organisations can be found in my journal/diary, daily planner, note books where I kept mail details, Post Office receipts and express post tracing numbers, contact management file, mobile phone records, email account, copies of letters, emails, faxes and responses.
**
Dr Meredith Burgmann- former NSW Legislative Council President, self professed “political agitator and international busybody”, “The Ernies” organiser, contributor to “Ethics and political practice: perspectives on legislative ethics” edited by Noel Preston ad Charles Sampford with C-A Bois, Routledge Studies in Governance and Public Policy series, The Federation Press, 1998
Dr Leslie Cannold – Moral Maze, Sun-Herald, ethics website
Eva Cox – Women’s Electoral Lobby, University of Technology, Sydney
Susan Mitchell – journalist, author, “The Scent of Power: on the trail of women and power in Australia” Angus & Robertson, 1996
Anne Summers – Women’s Adviser to Prime Minister Bob Hawke, journalist, author, “Damned Whores and God’s Police”
**
Dr Lesley Laing – Senior Lecturer in Social Work, The University of Sydney, formerly Director of the Education Centre Against Violence, established Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse, recently appointed Deputy Chair, The Premier’s Council for Preventing Violence Against Women (I had also applied for a position on this council but was rejected), co-organiser/co-host “Towards Better Practice: Enhancing collaboration between mental health services and women’s domestic violence services” where the known suicide of women and children after leaving situations of domestic violence where these children and women had not been assisted or protected and had then also experienced systemic and judicial abuse was discussed.
Associate Professor Jude Irwin – Social Work, The University of Sydney, co-organiser/co-host “Towards Better Practice: Enhancing collaboration between mental health services and women’s domestic violence services” where the known suicide of women and children after leaving situations of domestic violence where these children and women had not been assisted or protected and had then also experienced systemic and judicial abuse was discussed.
Prof Cathy Humphreys, Andrew Felton Chair Child and Family Welfare, University of Melbourne, guest speaker “Towards Better Practice: Enhancing collaboration between mental health services and women’s domestic violence services” where the known suicide of women and children after leaving situations of domestic violence where these children and women had not been assisted or protected and had then also experienced systemic and judicial abuse was discussed and at which event Prof Humphreys informed me “female politicians will not speak up about these issues for fear of backlash” and “the government won’t do anything unless the media embarrasses them into it”. In a later correspondence Prof Humphreys informed me “The story you tell is not unfamiliar” and went on to say she would use the information I mailed her begging for her assistance (marked confidential) for “teaching purposes” but once again would not provide us with any assistance, support, suggestions or advocacy.
Thea Brown – Monash University, “Child Abuse and Family Law”, Allen & Unwin, 2007
Prof Dorothy Scott – Director, Australian Centre for Child Protection, University of South Australia
Dr Eileen Pittaway, University of New South Wales
Prof Chris Goddard – National Research Centre for the Prevention of Child Abuse, Monash University
Prof Paul Wilson – Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bond University
Patricia Easteal – Adjunct Professor in Law, University of Canberra, author “Real Rape, Real Pain: Help for women sexually assaulted by male partners”, “Less than Equal: Women and the Australian Legal System”, “Balancing the Scales: Rape, Law Reform and Australian Culture”, “Shattered Dreams, Marital Violence Against Women: The Overseas-born in Australia”
Regina Graycar, Professor of Law, University of Sydney
Prof Freda Briggs, Division of Education, Arts and Social Services, University of South Australia
Dr Meg Smith – Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, University of Western Sydney
Dr Sarah Maddison, Senior Associate Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of New South Wales, (see also online Leadership for Women www.leadershipforwomen.com.au )
Dr Ilsa Evans – PhD on the long tern effects of domestic violence, author “Broken”
Marie Hume – NAFCC National and International coalition of organisations formed to advocate on behalf of women and children in Family Court system with concerns about domestic violence and child abuse
Prof Elspeth McInnes – domestic violence advocate, researcher
Mary Crawford- Queensland University of Technology, research “Gender and the Australian Parliament”
Prof Linda Briskman – former head Australian Council of Heads of School of Social Work, human rights advocate
Prof Michael Flood – White Ribbon Ambassador
Prof Richard Henry & Prof Les Field – University of New South Wales, Ethics Committee
Justice James Wood, Special Commission of Inquiry into Child Protection in New South Wales
Prof John Dewar- Griffith University, wrote letter on behalf of Family Law Council concerned changes to Family Law Act did not protect children and women who had experienced domestic violence
Prof Margaret Alston, Charles Sturt University, 2008 Australian Government delegate to the United Nations 52nd Convention on the Status of Women
**
Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse - Rochelle Braaf, Gaby Marcus, Claire Sneddon
UNIFEM
WESNET (Women’s Emergency Services Network)
South Brisbane Immigration Legal Services
White Ribbon Campaign – Warren Mundine, Andrew O’Keefe, Dr Tanveer Ahmed
National Council for the Reduction of Violence Against Women and Children
- Heather Nancarrow, Queensland Centre Domestic & Family Violence, Central Queensland University
- Rachel Kayrooz, Shout Speak Out! Brisbane
- Lisa Wilkinson, TODAY Show
- Andrew O’Keefe, White Ribbon Campaign & SUNRISE Show
- Vanessa Swan, Yarrow Place Rape & Sexual Assault Centre, Adelaide SA
- Dr Melanie Keenan, Australian Football League, Melbourne
- Dorinda Cox, Aboriginal Liaison Officer, Sexual Assault Resource Centre, Subiaco, WA
- Maria Dimopoulos, MyriaD Consultants
- Libby Lloyd OAM, former president UNIFEM, Board Member White Ribbon Campaign
- Associate Professor Moira Carmody, member of the Social Justice and Social Change Research Centre University of Western Sydney, foundation member NSW Premier’s Council for Women
- Pauline Woodbridge, Chair WESNET (Women’s Emergency Services Network)
Y.W.C.A
Betty Green – NSW Domestic Violence Committee Coalition, NSW Premier’s Council on Preventing Violence Against Women, NSW Domestic Violence Homicide Review Team
CHILDWISE
Women’s Refuge Movement Resource Centre, Sydney
(Home community) Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Services
(Home community) Women’s Refuge
International Social Work Society
Australians attending world conferences on Child Witnesses to Domestic Violence, London, Ontario, Canada, 1997 and Vancouver, British Columbia Canada, 1999
Australians attending World Conference on the Prevention of Family Violence, Banff, Alberta Canada, 2005
Amnesty International
Liberty Victoria
Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne
Children’s Rights International, Sydney
GetUp - assisted David Hicks
Marie Coleman – National Foundation for Australian Women
Deborah Robinson – Australian Women Online
Transparency International
Andrew Fels - Australia and New Zealand Centre for Governance
(Home community) Women’s Health Centre
(Home community) social worker
(Home community) Mental Health Services
Jacqueline Pascal,
Donna Carson - Australian of the Year, Local Hero 2004, author “Judas Kisses: A true story of love and betrayal” Hardie Grant Books, 2007, (via VOCAL)
Dr Anthony Kidman – Director Health Psychology Unit, Royal North Shore Hospital
Ms Nicole Kidman – UNIFEM Ambassador, via Dr Anthony Kidman
Ms Therese Rein – Prime Minister’s wife, via Dr Anthony Kidman
Ms Hetty Johnston - Braveheart
Rachel Ball – Human Rights Law Resource Centre
Council for Civil Liberties
Michelle Penay – PILCH, Melbourne
Australian Social Inclusion Board
- Hon Prof Tony Vinson, Faculty Education & Social Work, The University of Sydney
- Patricia Faulkner, National Leader, Health & Social Policy, KPMG
- Monsignor David Cappo, Vicar-General Archdiocese of Adelaide
- Ms Elleni Bereded-Samuel, Community engagement Coordinator, Victoria University
- Dr Ngiare Brown, Telethon Institute for Child health research
- Dr Ron Edwards, Graham farmer Foundation, WA
- Mr Eddie McGuire, Channel Nine
- Dr John Falzon, COE St Vincent de Paul Society
- Mr Ahmed Fahour, National Australia Bank
- Ms Linda White, Australian Services Union
- Mr Tony Nicholson, Brotherhood of St Lawrence
- Dr Chris Sarra, Indigenous Education Leadership Institute
- Prof Fiona Stanley, Telethon Institute of Child Health Research
Dr Marie Leech, Australia 2020 Summit delegate
**
Janet Loughman – Women’s Legal Services NSW
Bill Madden, Slater & Gordon Lawyers, Sydney – assisted Melissa Hawarth
Stephen Page – Harrison Family Lawyers, Brisbane, author “The Australian Divorce” blog
David McLeod, Adelaide- David Hicks Lawyer
Prof George Williams – Gilbert+ Tobin Centre of Public Law, University New South Wales, advocated for David Hicks
Daniel Gilbert, Gilbert + Tobin Law Firm
Julian Burnside QC, - human rights advocate, “Watching Brief: Reflections on human rights, law and justice” Scribe, 2007, advocated for David Hicks
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights
Ross Ray- Law Council of Australia
Greg Reinhardt – Australian Institute for Judicial Administration Inc
Margaret Cunneen- - crown prosecutor
Sally Nichols, Nichols Family Lawyers, Melbourne - assisted Jacqueline Pascarl
Dr Ben Saul – Sydney Centre for International Law, The University of Sydney
University of Newcastle Legal Centre – Prof Neil Rees, Stuart McCarthy, assisted Cornelia Rau
Dr Sue Gordon -former Children’s Court Magistrate, Perth WA
Clare Martin, Australian Council Social Services
**
Margaret Somerville – Australian ethicist, author “The Ethical Imagination: journeys of the human spirit” Anansi Press, 2006
Dr Simon Longstaff – St James Ethics Centre
Prof A J Brown – Griffith University, ethicist, editor “Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector” ANU E Press, 2008
Dr Paul Mazerolle – Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance, Griffith University, contributed to “Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector” hosted recent symposium “Understanding and Preventing Domestic Violence: A One Day Symposium”
Prof Mirko Bagaric – legal expert, “The Moral Dilemma” online site, publicly advocated for David Hicks, Bali Nine, assisted Tony Mokbel, author “Future Directions in Human Rights and International Law”
**
Janelle Saffin MP
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young
Dr Carmen Lawrence, former WA Premier, Senator, Cabinet Minister, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women
Verity Firth MP - NSW Minister for Women, Chair NSW Premier’s Council on Preventing of Violence Against Women, lawyer, served on Law and Justice Foundation board
Senator Marise Payne,
Jillian Skinner MP, NSW Opposition deputy, former journalist
Malcolm Turnbull, Federal Opposition Leader, lawyer
Bob Brown, Leader Greens
Christine Milne, Greens Senator
Tanya Plibersek MP - Minister for the Status Women, former Shadow Minister for the Status Women, when in Opposition spoke publicly demanding for government assistance and intervention for ‘judicial fairness” and an immediate return to Australia for David Hicks, recently made a joint media release with Robert McClelland, Attorney-General regarding Australia acceding to the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
Kevin Rudd - Prime Minister and former leader of the opposition
Robert McClelland- Attorney-General, recently made a joint media release with Tanya Plibersek Minister for the Status of Women regarding Australia acceding to the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and a joint statement with other Australian Attorneys-General regarding domestic violence
Stephen Smith – Minister Foreign Affairs & Trade
Jenny Macklin - Minister Families & Community Services
Sen Chris Evans – Minister Citizenship and Immigration
Bob Debus – Minister Home Affairs, organised Indonesian prison transfer agreement for Schapelle Corby, “Bali Nine”, immediate finalisation of compensation for Cornelia Rau
Bill Shorten MP- Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities & Children
Sen Andrew Murray
John Howard, former Prime Minister
Senator Bill Heffernan,
Alexander Downer, former Minister Foreign Affairs & Trade, had been made aware of our situation by MP Danna Vale prior to his approval of government financing for Saskatchewan
Julie Bishop, former Minister for the Status of Women
Kaye Patterson, former Minister for the Status of Women
Senator Lynn Allison
Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja
Kay Hull, MP Riverina -had spoken publicly against her party for not intervening for David Hicks and taking responsibility for his need for/right to “judicial fairness” and government intervention
Maxine McKew MP,
Julia Gillard, Deputy Prime Minister, lawyer
Ms Cheryl Kernot - former politician and leader Democrats, currently Centre for Social Impact, The University of New South Wales, contributor to “Ethics and political practice: perspectives on legislative ethics” edited by Noel Preston ad Charles Sampford with C-A Bois, Routledge Studies in Governance and Public Policy series, The Federation Press, 1998
Phillip Ruddock, former Attorney General
Joe Ludwig, Senator, former Shadow Attorney General
Kerry Nettle – Green Party
Pru Goward, MP New South Wales, formerly director Office of the Status of Women and Sex Discrimination Commissioner
Ms Quentin Bryce, Governor General
Senator Nick Xenophon
Morris Iemma – former NSW Premier and Minister Citizenship
Dr Marie Bashir, NSW Governor
Dana Vale, former MP Hughes -had publicly spoken against her party for not assisting David Hicks, in maiden parliamentary speech talked about the “tyranny of silence” in regard to domestic violence
Brain Pullen – Department Foreign Affairs
Ms Teresa Hart – Department Foreign Affairs
Ms Julia Burns – Office for Women
Elizabeth Broderick – Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC)
Prof John McMillan - Commonwealth Ombudsman
Mary Lou Jarvis, campaign organiser for Malcolm Turnbull, organiser Sydney Women of Influence speakers sessions
George Newhouse, federal candidate 2007, lawyer who assisted Vivian Solon Alvarez
Kym Duggan - Assistant Secretary, Family Law Branch, Attorney-General’s Department
**
Adele Horin, Sydney Morning Herald
Paul Sheehan, Sydney Morning Herald
Tim Dick, Sydney Morning Herald
Ruth Pollard, Sydney Morning Herald, researcher/wrote series for White Ribbon Day 2008
Andrew Fowler, ABC Investigations
Deb Whitmont, ABC 4 Corners, journalist, lawyer, Walkley Award winner
Lisa Wilkinson, TODAY Show, Channel Nine
Andrew O’Keefe, SUNRISE, Channel Seven
Sophie Mullen, ABC producer “ Q & A”
Rachel Hill, New Matilda
Online Opinion
Australian Policy Online
Janet Fife-Yeomans - Daily Telegraph
Harriet Alexander, Sydney Morning Herald
The Walkley Foundation for Journalism
The Australian Women’s Weekly- Robyn Foyster (Editor-in-Chief) & Wendy Squires (Associate Editor)
“marie claire” – Jackie Frank (Publisher/editor)
Adam Doyle- researcher ABC 7.30 Report
Fran Kelly – ABC (producer “The Howard Years”), current affairs journalist and political correspondent
Susie Eisenhuth, Willa McDonald – “The Writers Reader” Cambridge University Press, 2007
David Marr
Richard Ackland
Michelle Grattan, Sun-Herald
Kerry-Anne Walsh- political commentator Sun-Herald
Hedley Thomas, The Australian, Brisbane – Walkley Award Winner for breaking the Dr Jayant Patel story, author “Sick to Death: A manipulative surgeon and a health system in crisis- a disaster waiting to happen”, Allen & Unwin, 2007
Irene Moss – Australia’s Right to Know Coalition, C/- News Ltd
***
Roland Ashby (media director), Anglican Diocese Melbourne – organised public advocacy and church service for David Hicks
Anglicare – Canberra
Vicar General – Bishop Allan Ewing – Anglican Diocese Canberra & Goulburn
Bishop Kay Goldsworthy, Anglican delegate to the United Nations 52nd Convention on the Status of Women
Meaghan Morrison, Anglican delegate to the United Nations 52nd Convention on the Status of Women
The Anglican (newspaper) – extensive article re Kay Goldsworthy and Meaghan Morrison’s attendance at UN Status of Women Convention, churches role and responsibility regarding violence against children and women, and male ministers, bishops etc involvement with the White Ribbon Campaign
Rev Graham Long – The Wayside Chapel, Sydney, assisted David Hicks, recently named one of the 100 most influential people in Sydney 2008
Rev Tim Costello - World Vision, Australia 2020 Summit, Chair Social Inclusion Working Group
**
Brain Kahlefeldt OAM – retired lawyer
Dick Smith – assisted and advocated for David Hicks
Francis Montil- formerly United Nations internal investigator
**
Synopsis ...
Australian Children and Women Trapped Overseas by Domestic Violence & Systemic& Judicial Failures – Situation Synopsis
*Met my former spouse in Australia, late 1984 (his sixth trip to Australia, informed me he wanted to live in Australia permanently & thought Australia a better place to bring up children than Canada).
*Married in Australia, 1986, moved to Saskatchewan, Canada, where our children were born, supposedly for ten years.
*In 1995, because of his sustained abusive and controlling behaviour, I left my husband, taking my children with me
*1996 we divorced. Thereafter followed protracted adjudication of custody rights, judge ordered a custody and access home study, completed by Mr J C, assessor, Family Law Division, ... Department of Justice.
*A number of professionals and senior staff of advocacy groups expressed serious concerns regarding the custody and access report. The justice department assessor, Jeff Cain, not only misrepresented my children’s and my information regarding our family situation and the abuse we experienced, but also information from a doctor, social worker with the Domestic Violence Support Group, counsellor and preschool teacher. He also refused to speak with others including the social worker from the Child Witnesses Support Group one of my children attended and experts such as Dr Peter Jaffe, international expert on child witnesses to domestic violence. This child wrote a story, based on their experience of violence in our family which was used by counsellors and in the educational documentary “How Then Shall We Live: A Process for Developing a Plan to Escape Abusive Relationships”.
*Some concerns as articulated in a letter regarding our experience to ... Q.C. Director Policy Planning and Evaluation Branch, ... Justice, from ..., Psychologist, ... Family Service Bureau dated May 13, 1999 include …
“We want to take this opportunity to let you know, from our point of view, Ms …’s case is not unique except insofar as she has had the persistence and financial resources to pursue her dissatisfaction with the assessment process and its impact on her and her children. Members of our staff have worked with at least five (5) women who reported similar experiences to that of Ms …
Common themes among the women were as follows:
i Failure on the part of the male assessor to understand or believe the impact that spousal violence had on the women
ii Failure on the part of the male assessor to understand or believe the impact that their father’s physical and/or verbal violence had on the children
iii A propensity on the part of the male assessor to include as part of his report, those witnesses who minimized or denied the existence of violence and to minimize or exclude witnesses who reported violence as a factor that may contraindicate the advisability of joint custody arrangements.”
*The assessor’s actions were also in direct contravention of the ... Justice Department’s core standards of practice outlined in the “Model Standards of Practice for Child Custody Evaluations” in place at that time, and in our case despite the specific instructions from the judge to the assessor to investigate any evidence of domestic violence.
*Eventually, as a result of our concerns being continually raised with the Justice Department, parameters for a review of the case were cooperatively developed by myself, D F, B P Executive Director Policy, Planning and Evaluation and B H Executive Director, Family Law Division. The ‘parameters’ document (June 1999) clearly called for a check on whether the custody/access assessment accurately reflected the views of the professionals consulted and my children and myself, and whose views were included and excluded from the report. Appropriate coverage of these requirements necessitated re-contacting the sources of information cited in the report and the ‘parameters’ document clearly specified contact with the referees used for the assessment. None of these processes, all of which accord with the “Model Standards of Practice for Child Custody Evaluations” were observed. Instead, two individuals who were appointed to conduct the review based their findings solely on the Family Law Division employee’s notes and report. Illogically, and in bad faith given the earlier undertakings, the alleged bias and misrepresentation in the report was tested by using the material case notes being called into question.
*The failure to implement the comprehensive custody and access home study review in its negotiated and agreed form exacerbated the intense personal stress I was experiencing. My ongoing requests for assistance, support, safety and security for my children and myself were ignored and eventually my abusive former spouse gained custody of our children and used this opportunity to undermine my relationship with my daughters, alienating us and contributing to one of my children's attempted suicide.
*My former spouse set out to silence and destroy me because I left, wouldn’t come back when he insisted and spoke up about the abuse. The Justice Department condoned and colluded with my former spouse’s violence and abuse by having their employee misrepresent information about it, not dealing with this when they were made aware, having not dealt with this known problem previously (as Family Service Bureau letter said they had worked with at least 5 other women who had same experience).
*Neither my former spouse nor the Justice Department cared about the consequences for my children or me and the department obviously had not been concerned about the consequences for any other children and women that their employees had previously misrepresented information about in court in regards to the abuse they experienced. B P. Justice, said to me when she introduced herself at a Justice Department focus group on how to deal with domestic violence and custody and access, “What happened to you should never have happened to anyone”. Then she used all her department’s resources and power to fight me and not deal with, but cover-up the situation. Eventually I lost custody because I was no longer able to survive as a result of their joint efforts and my inability to get the assistance, safety, security and justice we needed and deserved. Like other “whistleblowers” I have been depressed, suicidal and unable to work as a consequence of the fight and the backlash.
*The new “Model Standards of Practice” for the Justice Department regarding custody and access home studies show the influence of my information; for example, they now state that the assessor must not directly contact the judge out of court. ... not only misrepresented information in his report and court testimony but he also contacted the judge out of court, behind the scenes, to share misrepresented information. I only found out about this a long time afterwards. None of the changes made assisted or applied to us.
*More recently I was put in contact with another Australian mother, originally from ..., who with her four children had suffered a similar, traumatic injustice in the same Canadian province.
*As Honorary Professor Tony Vinson, Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Sydney, states in a letter of support dated 27.7.2008, “From my reading of the documents surrounding this case I believe there is sufficient evidence of a factual basis to Ms …’s claims to warrant serious consideration by the Canadian Justice authorities.”
*These concerns, raised many times before and again in Professor Vinson’s and my recent letters to Canadian authorities have once again been dismissed. No one, including the Australian Government, is holding any Canadian authority publicly accountable to providing justice in our case – unlike the Australian governments provision of resources, advocacy and intervention to ensure “judicial fairness” for Harry Nicholiades, Annise Smoel, Angelita Pires, David Hicks, Schapelle Corby, the “Bali Nine”, Australians arrested in Canada while protesting against the seal slaughter/hunt, Australians who boarded Japanese whalers and many others. This lack of assistance is not congruent with public government statements regarding domestic violence or statements made in the recent government media release regarding acceding to the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
*Experiencing domestic and family violence is traumatic. Experiencing systemic and judicial failures, discrimination, inadequacies and inequities is traumatic. Discovering that your country and government will provide assistance and advocacy for criminals and other Australians overseas but not innocent and vulnerable Australian children and women is another indescribably traumatic experience.
*Have now used all my resources to fight the systems that should have protected us; I no longer have the resources, finances, hope or capacity to continue. I am desperately concerned about my children, myself, the other Australian woman mentioned above and her children’s safety and wellbeing, my personal possessions and some documents still in Canada, none of whom or which I have any resources or ability to advocate for or try to protect any longer.
*Despite Dr Peter Jaffe, (Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Children and Women, University of Western Ontario), telling me I have done more than any other mother he knows to try and protect my children, despite bringing information to ... Justice that made change (for others after us), despite being a woman who has taken on a justice department … I am now financially, physically and emotionally bankrupt, afraid, have no sense of success or accomplishment, not able to clearly articulate information, no longer able to be a creative problem solver, not sure how to proceed or what to do next.
*Ethics Counsellor at St Lames Ethics Centre, staff at the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, counsellors and many others all agree that I have done everything I could have and should have on my children’s and my behalf, are amazed at what I have done on my own, incredulous that I have survived myself and do not know what else to suggest.
*Despite contacting members of the National Council to Reduce Violence Against Women and Children to beg for their assistance and advocacy, none of these government appointed people would assist or advocate for us and agreed to the governments terms of reference for the committee and its recently released National Plan “Time for Action” that deliberately excluded mentioned or referring to Australian women and children who have experienced domestic violence overseas but does contain specific mention of the challenges faced in Australia by immigrant women and their children who experience domestic violence and makes specific recommendations to assist and protect them – while refusing to even acknowledge the same trauma and challenges for Australians in foreign countries. What other known aspects of domestic violence and systemic and judicial discrimination and failures did the committee, the government and Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse agree (collude) to exclude from public discourse and the National Plan?
Prepared July 2009,
“Merinda”
For further information please go to www.womenwhowant2gohome.blogspot.com the online resource I created in the form of a blog.
*Met my former spouse in Australia, late 1984 (his sixth trip to Australia, informed me he wanted to live in Australia permanently & thought Australia a better place to bring up children than Canada).
*Married in Australia, 1986, moved to Saskatchewan, Canada, where our children were born, supposedly for ten years.
*In 1995, because of his sustained abusive and controlling behaviour, I left my husband, taking my children with me
*1996 we divorced. Thereafter followed protracted adjudication of custody rights, judge ordered a custody and access home study, completed by Mr J C, assessor, Family Law Division, ... Department of Justice.
*A number of professionals and senior staff of advocacy groups expressed serious concerns regarding the custody and access report. The justice department assessor, Jeff Cain, not only misrepresented my children’s and my information regarding our family situation and the abuse we experienced, but also information from a doctor, social worker with the Domestic Violence Support Group, counsellor and preschool teacher. He also refused to speak with others including the social worker from the Child Witnesses Support Group one of my children attended and experts such as Dr Peter Jaffe, international expert on child witnesses to domestic violence. This child wrote a story, based on their experience of violence in our family which was used by counsellors and in the educational documentary “How Then Shall We Live: A Process for Developing a Plan to Escape Abusive Relationships”.
*Some concerns as articulated in a letter regarding our experience to ... Q.C. Director Policy Planning and Evaluation Branch, ... Justice, from ..., Psychologist, ... Family Service Bureau dated May 13, 1999 include …
“We want to take this opportunity to let you know, from our point of view, Ms …’s case is not unique except insofar as she has had the persistence and financial resources to pursue her dissatisfaction with the assessment process and its impact on her and her children. Members of our staff have worked with at least five (5) women who reported similar experiences to that of Ms …
Common themes among the women were as follows:
i Failure on the part of the male assessor to understand or believe the impact that spousal violence had on the women
ii Failure on the part of the male assessor to understand or believe the impact that their father’s physical and/or verbal violence had on the children
iii A propensity on the part of the male assessor to include as part of his report, those witnesses who minimized or denied the existence of violence and to minimize or exclude witnesses who reported violence as a factor that may contraindicate the advisability of joint custody arrangements.”
*The assessor’s actions were also in direct contravention of the ... Justice Department’s core standards of practice outlined in the “Model Standards of Practice for Child Custody Evaluations” in place at that time, and in our case despite the specific instructions from the judge to the assessor to investigate any evidence of domestic violence.
*Eventually, as a result of our concerns being continually raised with the Justice Department, parameters for a review of the case were cooperatively developed by myself, D F, B P Executive Director Policy, Planning and Evaluation and B H Executive Director, Family Law Division. The ‘parameters’ document (June 1999) clearly called for a check on whether the custody/access assessment accurately reflected the views of the professionals consulted and my children and myself, and whose views were included and excluded from the report. Appropriate coverage of these requirements necessitated re-contacting the sources of information cited in the report and the ‘parameters’ document clearly specified contact with the referees used for the assessment. None of these processes, all of which accord with the “Model Standards of Practice for Child Custody Evaluations” were observed. Instead, two individuals who were appointed to conduct the review based their findings solely on the Family Law Division employee’s notes and report. Illogically, and in bad faith given the earlier undertakings, the alleged bias and misrepresentation in the report was tested by using the material case notes being called into question.
*The failure to implement the comprehensive custody and access home study review in its negotiated and agreed form exacerbated the intense personal stress I was experiencing. My ongoing requests for assistance, support, safety and security for my children and myself were ignored and eventually my abusive former spouse gained custody of our children and used this opportunity to undermine my relationship with my daughters, alienating us and contributing to one of my children's attempted suicide.
*My former spouse set out to silence and destroy me because I left, wouldn’t come back when he insisted and spoke up about the abuse. The Justice Department condoned and colluded with my former spouse’s violence and abuse by having their employee misrepresent information about it, not dealing with this when they were made aware, having not dealt with this known problem previously (as Family Service Bureau letter said they had worked with at least 5 other women who had same experience).
*Neither my former spouse nor the Justice Department cared about the consequences for my children or me and the department obviously had not been concerned about the consequences for any other children and women that their employees had previously misrepresented information about in court in regards to the abuse they experienced. B P. Justice, said to me when she introduced herself at a Justice Department focus group on how to deal with domestic violence and custody and access, “What happened to you should never have happened to anyone”. Then she used all her department’s resources and power to fight me and not deal with, but cover-up the situation. Eventually I lost custody because I was no longer able to survive as a result of their joint efforts and my inability to get the assistance, safety, security and justice we needed and deserved. Like other “whistleblowers” I have been depressed, suicidal and unable to work as a consequence of the fight and the backlash.
*The new “Model Standards of Practice” for the Justice Department regarding custody and access home studies show the influence of my information; for example, they now state that the assessor must not directly contact the judge out of court. ... not only misrepresented information in his report and court testimony but he also contacted the judge out of court, behind the scenes, to share misrepresented information. I only found out about this a long time afterwards. None of the changes made assisted or applied to us.
*More recently I was put in contact with another Australian mother, originally from ..., who with her four children had suffered a similar, traumatic injustice in the same Canadian province.
*As Honorary Professor Tony Vinson, Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Sydney, states in a letter of support dated 27.7.2008, “From my reading of the documents surrounding this case I believe there is sufficient evidence of a factual basis to Ms …’s claims to warrant serious consideration by the Canadian Justice authorities.”
*These concerns, raised many times before and again in Professor Vinson’s and my recent letters to Canadian authorities have once again been dismissed. No one, including the Australian Government, is holding any Canadian authority publicly accountable to providing justice in our case – unlike the Australian governments provision of resources, advocacy and intervention to ensure “judicial fairness” for Harry Nicholiades, Annise Smoel, Angelita Pires, David Hicks, Schapelle Corby, the “Bali Nine”, Australians arrested in Canada while protesting against the seal slaughter/hunt, Australians who boarded Japanese whalers and many others. This lack of assistance is not congruent with public government statements regarding domestic violence or statements made in the recent government media release regarding acceding to the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
*Experiencing domestic and family violence is traumatic. Experiencing systemic and judicial failures, discrimination, inadequacies and inequities is traumatic. Discovering that your country and government will provide assistance and advocacy for criminals and other Australians overseas but not innocent and vulnerable Australian children and women is another indescribably traumatic experience.
*Have now used all my resources to fight the systems that should have protected us; I no longer have the resources, finances, hope or capacity to continue. I am desperately concerned about my children, myself, the other Australian woman mentioned above and her children’s safety and wellbeing, my personal possessions and some documents still in Canada, none of whom or which I have any resources or ability to advocate for or try to protect any longer.
*Despite Dr Peter Jaffe, (Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Children and Women, University of Western Ontario), telling me I have done more than any other mother he knows to try and protect my children, despite bringing information to ... Justice that made change (for others after us), despite being a woman who has taken on a justice department … I am now financially, physically and emotionally bankrupt, afraid, have no sense of success or accomplishment, not able to clearly articulate information, no longer able to be a creative problem solver, not sure how to proceed or what to do next.
*Ethics Counsellor at St Lames Ethics Centre, staff at the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, counsellors and many others all agree that I have done everything I could have and should have on my children’s and my behalf, are amazed at what I have done on my own, incredulous that I have survived myself and do not know what else to suggest.
*Despite contacting members of the National Council to Reduce Violence Against Women and Children to beg for their assistance and advocacy, none of these government appointed people would assist or advocate for us and agreed to the governments terms of reference for the committee and its recently released National Plan “Time for Action” that deliberately excluded mentioned or referring to Australian women and children who have experienced domestic violence overseas but does contain specific mention of the challenges faced in Australia by immigrant women and their children who experience domestic violence and makes specific recommendations to assist and protect them – while refusing to even acknowledge the same trauma and challenges for Australians in foreign countries. What other known aspects of domestic violence and systemic and judicial discrimination and failures did the committee, the government and Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse agree (collude) to exclude from public discourse and the National Plan?
Prepared July 2009,
“Merinda”
For further information please go to www.womenwhowant2gohome.blogspot.com the online resource I created in the form of a blog.
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