The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre
Thursday 9 September 2004
Delivered by Ms Vicki Jacobs, Amnesty International SA/NT Branch
President
Distinguished women, fellow activists. I just want to start by
acknowledging the Kaurna people, the ancestral owners of the land upon
which we are meeting. I am feeling very privileged in being here for a
number of reasons. Firstly, sharing this stage with some wonderful women
talking on a huge range of issues facing women in the community. Having
Amnesty International Australia represented in a forum like this is just
a fantastic thing to have happen.
I am also feeling very privileged, because Irene Kahn was in Australia
and I was at the Hawke lecture last evening, which was very uplifting. I
think those in the audience who were at the lecture will also attest to
that. It was really heartening to feel the nod of the audience behind
you, because I was sitting up the front, when Irene was talking and
raising issues in relation to human rights, the global human rights
issues, and having the audience actually agree with that. It was just
such a good feeling, because often this does not occur.
The other thing that Amnesty has done in the last week is hold its first
human rights conference, and that was over the weekend up in Brisbane.
The conference had a focus on the Asia-Pacific region and we had numbers
of delegates from nations in the Pacific area.
In being at that conference for the two days, one of the things that
really hit me is how there is still a lot of violence in those
communities perpetrated against women. The issues that are confronting
women in those communities are enormous. It wasn't unlike what we were
feeling about 30 years ago here in Australia.
The other thing that struck me is how far we have actually moved in
Australia, and I think we need to acknowledge that as a community, but
not to the point where we actually discard what is still currently
happening in the area of violence against women in our country. Irene
has talked about that, both in her presentation this morning and last
evening at the Hawke lecture.
I really want to use the last couple of minutes, because I know time is
short, to just give an unabashed advertisement for Amnesty International
and what we are doing, particularly in relation to "Stop Violence
Against Women." You will find we have a table out there in the foyer
with some documentation on it. We have information that we have
developed in Amnesty International Australia on our campaign on "Stop
Violence Against Women."
This information covers the reason behind this campaign. I just want to
also say that it is a campaign that Amnesty International does not
normally take on for numbers of reasons. This campaign is not as
specific as our normal campaigns that we would regularly do, where we
are supporting a prisoner in conscience or fighting extrajudicial
executions, fighting against the death penalty. This is quite
conceptually different for us and rather a challenge.
It is also a challenge for us in Australia, because we can work in our
own countries. So not only are we looking at violence against women in
conflict and post-conflict situations; we are looking at violence
against women in Australia with one of the main focus points being the
Australian Government's obligations in the areas of due diligence. We
are focusing on violence in indigenous communities and more generally on
community education.
So we are seeking support from as many people as possible within
Australia to help us with that campaign. It is a 6-year campaign. So
Amnesty International is truly committed to stopping violence against
women not only in our own communities, but on the international stage.
So thank you.
