Australia condemned for violence against women (taken from The Age)

Australia has come under fire from Amnesty International over the level of violence against women and the country’s treatment of indigenous people.

The Amnesty International Report 2007 on the state of human rights around the world also highlights as “serious concerns” Australia’s low rates of prosecution of those who commit violence against women and low conviction rates in sexual assault cases.

The wide-ranging report criticises Australia in a number of areas including lack of action on women trafficked into the country, inadequate services for indigenous people – including poor housing, the three-year temporary-protection-visa system and new control orders.

The report – released tonight – echoes the United Nations’ Committee on the Discrimination Against Women’s concern last year about the violence and discrimination experienced by women in indigenous, refugee and migrant communities in Australia.

Alley Bailey from Victoria’s Domestic Violence and Incest Resource Centre said Australia had a long way to go in dealing with such issues.

“It is disappointing that for all that we’ve made some progress against making violence against women more visible, we clearly have a long way to go, particularly in terms of prosecuting and taking it seriously across all groups in the community,” she said.

The report refers to the “numerous cases” of sexual abuse and violence against women and children in remote indigenous communities, and a lack of both support services for women in such communities and appropriate government action.

The report also found that approximately 1100 refugees “remain in limbo” under the current three-year visa system and warned that new counter-terrorism measures in Australia posed a threat to human rights.

The report describes the human rights situation in Iraq as “deteriorating”, saying Iraqi security forces have committed “widespread human rights violations” including killings.

It criticises the United States-led multinational force for committing human rights violations, including holding thousands of people arbitrarily in detention without charge.

Full report available at http://www.amnesty.org or http://www.amnesty.org.au