At the Golden Globes, Oprah Winfrey assured girls that the harassment scandals of 2017 will eventually lead to a brighter future. But deep workplace issues will have to be addressed first.
The royal commission has handed down its final report – now the real work begins.
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The royal commission has performed its task with distinction – now it is up to governments and institutions to ensure those efforts are matched with a redress scheme.
The royal commission has presented a socially and historically contextualised understanding of child sexual abuse.
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By placing institutional abuse within its larger context, the royal commission has made the prevention and identification of child sex offending a collective responsibility.
In light of the church’s catastrophic failures of care, documented in this report, its survival as a public institution is dependent on responding adequately to this historic commission.
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There are some online child sex abuse offences in Australia for which a defendant’s claim that they were purely fantasising could excuse criminal liability.
Actor Rose McGowan was recently offered $1 million to agree to keep her settlement with Weinstein secret. She declined.
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Nondisclosure agreements are getting a bad rap these days because they’ve been used to prevent victims of sexual harassment and abuse from speaking out. But not all are nefarious.
A scene from The Crossing, a project on human trafficking.
The Crossing.
After Fifty Shades of Grey there was debate about its romanticisation of an abusive relationship. The sequel confirms that this wasn’t a misconception.
I conducted interviews with 26 young women in alcohol and drug treatment services in Victoria. More than half of them disclosed a history of sexual abuse and 20 spoke about cutting themselves.
Testimonies at the royal commission highlighted the age-old military tradition of initiation ceremonies and their place in building morale.
AAP/Richard Wainwright
Military institutions and militarised cultures seek to generate a unity of people and purpose. Initiation rituals have been a historically stable strategy to achieve this.
It will take a whole-of-community effort to challenge child abuse material and prevent such sexual violence and abuse before it occurs.
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The Victorian government will bring its laws up-to-date with new forms of exploitation and abuse of children and young people that are associated with communications technologies.
Child sex offenders don’t have horns and tails. For the most part, they look and act like you and me.
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Church cover-ups are extremely serious. Child victims are especially vulnerable and often suffer long-term psychological harm.
The last census revealed that just over 60% of Australians identified as Christian, but only one in seven of those attended church regularly.
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One of the most important lessons we have learnt from George Pell’s royal commission appearance is the Catholic Church was – and still is – in a state of denial over child sexual abuse.
Not all paedophiles act on their attraction.
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The sexual abuse of children is, understandably, a key concern for the public. But misperceptions about those who perpetrate it abound in public debate.