Thinking of the people of the towns of Mortlake, Edenhope, Swan Hill, Apollo Bay, Warrnambool, Inglewood, Ballarat and others. Of that grim map of the western districts of Victoria and all of the children who lived in those towns who were let down. There are hundreds and that is a national shame.

Women constantly do ‘safety work’ to avoid sexual violence, knowing odds are we’ll be blamed if that fails. We have to have the (impossible) ‘right amount of panic’. If you’re brown, and a lesbian, even less space is ‘right’; you have to be both right and scrupulously polite. #SamKerr #notguilty

Sitting around after a day inexpertly preparing for fire, discussing how at-risk we are, when we hear the un-ignorable fire-truck siren. Freeze. Panic. Then realise #Santa Claus Is Coming To Town & the kids up the road are about to get a present. #antipodean #surealism #truestory #grampians

If the fed government has a KPI for the percentage of country that burns while they continue their climate action go-slow, there should be bonuses for them at Christmas. Meanwhile, we watch with sickening dread the incineration of the glorious Grampians. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I've been on bsky too much today! Before I go, some posts about the importance of grass roots feminism. theconversation.com/squatting-ki...

@sasvic.bsky.social go.bsky.app/RjGuuMJ

Must read work on so called rape "victim withdrawals" and how recording practices undermine confidence of victims. "survivors are routinely described as ‘unwilling’, ‘uncooperative’, ‘reluctant’, ‘resisting’, and ‘disengaged’. This is a language rarely, if ever, used in descriptions of the suspect"

Devastating. And important questions to be answered about Ms Bell’s reference to #trafficking. What terrible violence. www.theage.com.au/national/vic...

It’s surprising how many people, who are strong advocates for #regulation of, say, carbon polluting industries, are all for self-regulation when it comes to social media. I think they 1) misread the level of parents’ anxiety about sm & 2) trivialise the way it’s used for #csa & other deep harm.

Thanks. I'd prefer that social media platforms are child safe. But they aren't, and they won't be for the foreseeable future. The people saying we should slow down, not rush into age verification, etc, are not the people at the frontlines of this issue, swamped by increased victims month on month.

Perhaps if academics and commentators had paid closer attention to the scale and hierarchy of online harms to children, they wouldn't have been taken by surprise like this?

The Australian govt is introducing legislation today to ban under 16s from social media, in the wake of calls for them to slow down the reforms and go through a more thorough policy development process. But it's too late. All state and territory govts have signed on and so has the opposition.

one problem amongst many, so that academics can move on to talk about the aspects of online sociality that they really want to study. But CSA is such an acute violation that it shouldn't be dispensed with in this way, and there are empirical, political and moral consequences for doing so.

Child sexual abuse raises such strong moral imperatives that it is often "bracketed out" of discussion, so that people can talk about other things that interest them. For instance, academic discussion of children's "digital rights" and "digital citizenship" often relativises the harms of CSA as just

Your 'bonus moment of doom' for today: "...the Australian Institute of Marine Science said one area around Cooktown and Lizard Island had lost more than a third of its live hard coral – the biggest annual drop in 39 years of monitoring." www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Heartening. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Do you work in the sexual assault sector or provide support to survivors of child sexual abuse? We want to hear about your experiences with survivors of online child sexual abuse and exploitation. Pls fill out this brief survey! (Just for Australians) unsw.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

A sobering dissection of the tactics used to try to silence and scare women who won’t dare to have opinions - try to get them sacked, threaten them and those they love, signal to your supporters that this person is to be punished. Sickening.

Back in 2012, a bunch of us decided we'd had enough of the way Alan Jones talked about women. We decided to #destroythejoint. Much love to all those women and men who helped. www.smh.com.au/national/i-t...

There’s been another arrest of a high profile Australian man accused of sexual violence. The legal process will unfold in its own way. But there’s a broader pattern to comment on. #mvaw #mvawg #csa

This is so interesting. Anyone on here involved in #avatar #psychosis #therapy? Or have interesting articles about it? I was surprised to learn clinicians commonly don’t ask what voices have to say. www.theguardian.com/news/2024/oc...

I don't think I've ever seen a 30yo victim of sexual assault described as "young" www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...

Following the High Court decision in Bird that found a Catholic priest was not technically an employee and so the Church could not be vicariously liable (causing despair in survivors across the country), Julia Gillard has urged states to legislate. www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

When someone comes along and puts into words the many reasons why so much internet discourse is repugnant. Worth a read. Y’all. theupheaval.substack.com/p/on-millenn...

Fighters ❤️ www.theage.com.au/sport/cricke...

Yep, too many Failed Fletcher Jones retail assistant - although never forgot the bloke who brought in a picture of his Mercedes to colour match to a tie Trekking tour leader Campaign manager Cleaner Electorate officer Fast food deliverer TAFE teacher

I wrote for @brisunipress.bsky.social on how Saoirse Ronan casually revealed the ways that something which seems so absurd to most men is part of most women's daily routine www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2024/11/13/w...

We’re looking at the High Court decision (Bird vs DP). I have yet to read it, but based on the reports, I can’t get over its ahistoricism. The idea that, in 1971, a priest’s power, and their role as church representative, was triggered only by, what, a contract issued following a job interview?

I’m now aware that I just wasn’t seeing a sufficient number of bollards on Twitter or coming anything quite as wonderful/mad as the #WorldBollardAssociation. Keep up the good work!

Small start pack on researchers, activists, journos, anyone really working on violence against women and girls. Message me to add yourself/others. Let's try to find folk on here! go.bsky.app/4u3Rk6g