Task 11 Human rights discussion script

Human rights… What are they to your average everyday Human being? Some may think it is a better standard of living, the freedom of religion, freedom of speech even the right to obtain an identity or a nationality. To the UN (United Nations) they are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document consisting of 30 articles stating the rights that all human beings around the world deserve to have. However, our topic today is not focused on what human rights are.

Rachel- Introduction

 Rather, the UN has commissioned my fellow colleagues and I to speak on the changing experiences of particular minority groups, mainly looking at Indigenous Australians and women within Australia with respect to their own legal and political rights. I have here with Elisha Hammond a world-renowned journalist who is commended for her most recent work regarding the right of women in male dominated cultures, exposing businesses that discriminate against and under appreciate the hard work that women put in. Dr Kelly Gracie, specialising in medical science and well known in her close encounters with finding the cure to the Zeika and Ebola viruses.

Apart from working with deadly viruses on a daily basis it is Dr Gracie passion to support human rights most especially in the area of women’s rights. She is also acknowledged for her speech at the ‘Free the Nipple’ protest in 2015. Lastly, Dr Monica Antolin, an esteemed Psychologist and also the world leading researcher into what goes on in the mind of a killer. She is involved in the Australian Psychological Society, addressing ways in which common perceptions and stereotypes of Indigenous Australians can be altered.

I, too, will be addressing the topic, mainly concerning the rights of the indigenous within Australia. My opinion is centred around the fact that despites there being rights for Indigenous Australians, such the Racial Discrimination Act and the Native Title Act, these rights are unable to be accessed correctly due to the fact that most Indigenous communities are unaware of the processes through which they can be accessed and that certain levels of discrimination from the larger Australian community and even the administrators of the law have supressed the will of these Indigenous communities to fight for their rights.

Kelly- Introduction

I couldn’t agree more Rachel.  Although in theory there are abundant rights present for women and aboriginals, practically this is just not the case. Women are half the world's population, woking two thirds of the worlds working hours, receiving 10% of the worlds income, owning less that 1% of the world's property. There is still improvement to be made to reach the standard of equity where every individual is treated equally – the question stands, why is this such a difficult task?

One aspect that significantly affects the practical action of ensuring rights is simply stereotypes which in a nutshell inhibit the rights of those who are discriminated against, again, such as both women and aboriginals 

Monica- Introduction

Elisha- Introduction

In the contemporary international political sphere, women only make up 22% of politicians, with only 6.9% in the position of world leaders or delegates. The statistics are even worse in Australia, where only 15.4% of CEO’s in businesses are female. It is evident that we do not have equal and adequate representation of women in our political circles, and additionally there is an unconscious bias prevalent in society today that is preventing women from embracing roles outside the domestic sphere. Although much has changed from the years before and there have been many democratic outcomes relating to the push for rights for women in Australia, there are still some changes that need to be made. It is interesting you mentioned stereotypes – How would you say that has developed over the course of history?

Monica- Aboriginal rights history

 Since federation in 1901, the Commonwealth government granted few, limited or no rights at all for Indigenous Australians. They only had few rights of movement, were not protected by the Rule of Law, were excluded from voting privileges up until 1949, were ineligible for all pensions and other social services and Aboriginal children were prevented by the QLD, WA, NSW and VIC legislation from attending normal schools. And although law also prevented them from serving in the armed services, large numbers of Aboriginal men served in both the first and second world wars. A source that reports the details about Indigenous Australian servicemen says that they were even found in the front line against the attackers. The Indigenous Australians were people who fought for their own country and yet they are treated as strangers, as non-citizens.

In the early to mid 1900s, there was a shift in the attitudes of the Australian community but conditions did not improve greatly. In the 1930s, Australia was no longer a ‘frontier society’, which meant that the segregation between Australians and Indigenous Australians began to minimise.  Instead of the segregation policy, where the Aboriginal people were forcibly removed from their own country and were being relocated on government reserves, the Australian government changed segregation to assimilation. Assimilation was a policy with aims of absorbing Aboriginal people into the dominant culture by suppressing differences of language, religion and way of life. However even with this attempt for change the policy of assimilation accelerated the destructions of Aboriginal culture and did not create equality. The denial of rights, discrimination and the segregation practices continued until the 1960s with the exclusion from ‘white race’ areas such as separate sections in theatres, separate wards in hospitals, refused entry to hotels and many other facilities. To be accepted as equal, Aboriginal people had to ‘become white’. In fact in 1943, under the Aborigines Act, they can apply to ‘cease being Aboriginal’ and have access to the same rights as ‘whites’. Now that’s absolutely disheartening and it does not seem to get better!

While you are on the topic of voting rights, it’s quite remarkable to note that the first election Australia wide that allowed a women’s vote was in 1902, the year after federation. During the 1980’s, women decided it was their right to have a say in the political system as the decisions made by colonial parliaments affected women just as much as it did men. Women themselves became powerful and strong advocates for woman suffrage, putting in such large efforts they were nicknamed the suffragettes

Kelly- Women's rights history

They began to form large societies which become positively overstated in every Australian colony using letter-writing, petitions, organising debates and public meetings all in the effort to allow women equal voting rights as men. Significantly two very brave and strong advocates, Mary Lee and Vida Goldstein collected and presented together 41 600 signatures on a petition to the Victorian Parliament. Today such voting rights are often taken for-granted but only just over 100 years ago women would not have had the right to vote – my mother’s grandmother would not have had the right to vote. 

Elisha- Women's rights history

Rights for women have always encompassed more than simply the right to franchise. Often activists, known as Suffragettes, have fought for the right to education, equal pay, the right to work and proper training. The right to vote was very important to many women, as achievement of such would give them a proper say and be a first step towards establishment of these other fundamental rights. In the political sphere, Australia has been a frontrunner in establishing institutions which are influential in promoting gender equality. In the legal sphere, it has been even harder to gain representation for women; Justice Mary Gaudron was the first female High Court judge, but it took Australia up until 1987 to promote a woman to the bench, and even since only a handful of justices have been female. 

Elisha- Legal issues and experience

Additionally, there are some issues surrounding the equity and accessibility of the legal system for women. Girls between 10 and 14 are the most likely group to suffer from sexual assault, with young women between 15 and 24 being the next highest category. What’s more is that in a study of 850 rape cases in Victoria, 26.5% of the victims identified as having a disability- 58.58% of these impairments being of a psychiatric nature. In cases that make up a large chunk of time in our legal systems and on our news, the victims are normally defenseless and very vulnerable, still relying on the help of parents, guardians or caretakers to properly function.  

Even as these sorts of cases are seen as indictable offences, our adversarial legal system works on the basis of establishing guilt or innocence through the ‘battle’ between complainant and defendant, a system that does very little to protect female victims. Often they are too scared to testify against the perpetrators because of the nature of our legal system and the privilege put upon their male counterparts. Additionally, it is only much more recently that societal perceptions of rape and sexual assault are beginning to change- it was not until recently that the courts officially recognized rape as existent within marriage. 

Many judges are quite senior and need to be to obtain the adequate legal experience necessary to assume a role on the bench, but it can also mean that their beliefs are inconsistent with evolving societal views. Contributing to this is the fact that judges are not elected, but rather nominated by the executive which is a good way to ensure that the role of judges is not politicised but kept sacred and those with the required experience acquire the position. Yet this means that the views of the community and their values are perhaps not reflected in judgements and precedents, a particular concern in higher courts of the hierarchy.

I mean against In terms of the legal system is proves a difficult tasks for women to gain legal advice and representation especially single mothers and those living in remote or rural areas such as indigenous women. Indigenous women often do not understand the legal system and rather see it as a disciplinary force than an institution that could offer benefits. To add to their misunderstanding, in remote areas there is little to no legal advice if women are caught in a legal matter, they take the blow and accept the punishment generally without any input from intelligent, high up legal representatives. 

Kelly- Legal issues and experience

Additionally the cost of legal representation is exorbitant, highly paid individuals struggle with the finances of legal representation, those who are poor have no chance. Together with the societal group of single mothers those living remotely are given funded legal representation by organization such as, The Woman’s Law Centre to help afford the cost of the legal system.  

Similarly as women With Indigenous Australians there is also many barriers that limit their access to the legal system which furthermore limit their rights. These barriers include, the different languages as many indigenous Australians do not understand the English language which results in a lot of misunderstanding of specific words which furthermore inhibits their ability to stand up for themselves as they do not know what they may be being accused of. Cross culture issues also create a barrier as respects, kinship and many other factors that are valued and important to the aboriginal culture may be overlooked by the legal system. Additionally in gaining legal services for aboriginal women and just for gaining representation for any aboriginal is difficult as many layers or private solicitors avoid such cases where they may be targeted a racists for supporting one particular group. Luckily overall there are institutions and avenues for assistance such as the ATISLS whose lawyer organization are well trained and experienced in the areas that concern cultural clashes and have an understanding of how to face these issues and overcome any clashing throughout the case. 

Rachel- Legal issues and experience

Monica- Cultural attitudes

Stereotypes are dangerous. Stereotypes are a generalised perception of first impressions that can lead to prejudice, discrimination and racism. I believe this is a factor that evidently influences the issues we are now face on the rights of Indigenous Australians. I mean, think about it, when was the last time you walked passed an Aboriginal person without judging with your eyes and criticising their outer appearance? ‘Lazy’, ‘drunks’, ‘un-educated’, ‘primitive’, ‘violent’, ‘inhumane’, ‘homeless’, ‘scary’, aren’t these exactly some of the words that come to mind? Or perhaps, “Hmmm, dark-skinned, wide-nosed, he must be a native.” 

This notion itself goes against the second right in the universal declaration of human rights by the United Nations. Article 2 states, “Everyone is entitled to all rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” 

Overall the cultural attitude towards women’s progressing rights is negatively associated. Many believe women’s rightful place is as a house maid. The women must look after the house, look after the children and look after her husband. This stereotype has been reiterated over and over throughout history, in films and even in today’s social media. Culturally women are not really given the opportunity to strive for any of their own dreams, or to put effort into their career, but instead should give their life to being a stay-at-home mother. The fact is there needs to be an understanding that there can be a balance, women can achieve success in her workplace as well as fulfilling her home duties. This idea does not only be need to understand by men but many women themselves do not believe they have the potential to reach their dreams or to pursue a career because their cultural has told them they cannot. It is so important when advocating for women’s rights that the cultural bias present against women is the first issue that must be considered and eliminated before any progress can be made towards gaining equity amongst all individuals  

Kelly- Cultural attitudes

Going hand in hand with cultural aspects Community attitudes towards women are gradually changing, but greater evolution of values is abetted by this continuing unconscious bias. The ‘glass ceiling’ analogy refers to the idea that women face greater difficulty or obstacles in climbing the corporate ladder and that there is an invisible barrier preventing their promotion to higher level employment. Complimenting this is the glass elevator theory, which says that more men are seeking employment in jobs normally associated with women, and are subsequently moving straight into higher order roles and surpassing their female counterparts. The fact that these factors still exist in our community today is evidence of prevalent attitudes that endorse the placement of women first in the home, and second in the workforce.  

Elisha- Community attitudes

Due to the heavy discrimination on the grounds of race sex, disability and age was not being upheld although the constitution involved the rule of law – that every individual is equal below the law, there had to be a change made to ensure that this was solved. In 1984 The sex discrimination act was introduced to ensure sex discrimination based on attributes such as marital status pregnancy, breastfeeding, and family responsibilities is unlawful. In 1993 the Speering v Ministry of Education case followed the sex discrimination act. The policy that temporary teachers had to work one year full time as a probationary period before becoming a permanent teacher was found into constitute indirect discrimination on the grounds of sex. The complainant was unable to comply with the requirements due to family responsibilities. The tribunal found the probationary period was unnecessary as a result the complainant was respondent $4 000. 

Kelly- Contemporary examples

Rachel- community attitudes

The issues of unconscious bias are definitely an aspect of the society outside the aboriginal community and sadly this starts with the law enforcers of the law, which are the police.  The role of the police is to not only enforce the law but also to develop strong relationships within the community. In this way not only is the law respected but also it is respected out of will, because there is a sense of respect toward the police but more importantly toward the aboriginal community. This, however, is not the case with the discrimination and racism still persisting and as a result deterioration of the respect of the law and for the officer as well. 

These are the actions that are publicised to the larger Australian community and because of this inaccurate perceptions and stereotypes are developed creating a bad reputation for Indigenous Australians, which is not true. Some of these perceptions are that the indigenous are drunk and disorderly, involved in crime and uneducated, dark skinned and wide skinned. The sad truth is that these impressions of the indigenous community are the underlying first impression of the early settlers that came to Australia. Form then and now little has changed in the treatment of the indigenous people.

the most important and probably most appreciated reform was the national Apology speech where the then Rudd labor government spoken by Kevin Rudd apologised for the tragedy of the stolen generation. Although the speech only symbolic it lead to a number of practically political and legal changes, for example the NATHF organisation that focuses on healing solutions that help those to heal from the events that took place over the stolen generation period. Hopefully in the near future more reforms will be exercise to ensure the appreciation and understanding of the aboriginals such as the inserting of a new preamble in which the aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are recognised would be one offering great value to the indigenous Australians .

Rachel- Aboriginal reforms

Monica- Contemporary examples

Enraged crowd attacks police at Kalgoorlie court after Indigenous boy’s death Alleged manslaughter of a 14-year-old Indigenous boy Teenager Elijah Doughty died on Monday morning  After the scooter he was riding, which was reported stolen on Sunday and was linked to the accused, was involved in a car crash with the 55-year-old accuser’s Nissan Navara

That being said, some reforms that have gone towards reversing these cultural biases and attitudes have been put in action. The women’s Legal Service works to develop a fair and equitable legal system for all women. Formed as a group whose main purpose was to work against gender bias in the law during the 1970’s, this community service offers legal advice and aid to women struggling with all manner of issues regarding the law and court system, from sexual assault and domestic violence to general affairs. Programs such as these are also part of larger community networks, like the National Association of Community Legal Centre’s, which work to represent minority groups in the legal system. 

Elisha- Reforms

Other groups act to raise awareness regarding inequality and important issues such as sexual assault. ‘Liberty from violence’ is a group run by men to promote women’s rights and freedom from issues such as domestic violence. Additionally, UN based non-for-profits such as ‘He For She’ work to promote women’s rights and reduce inequality and the gender divide. These types of groups are significant and impactful because of the way in which they raise awareness and promote wider social discussion of women’s issues and rights.

In conclusion, women may make up almost exactly half of Australia’s population, but they do not enjoy equal rights and privileges as their male counterparts in the political and legal spheres. Although legislation and reforms have been put in place, these are not often as effective as other community groups which seek to raise awareness and promote gender equality directly. 

The fact of the matter is that ingrained cultural attitudes and unconscious bias are what is holding Australia back from greater social change, and small social organisations work to raise awareness of how prevalent and harmful these existing opinions and values can be in an evolving community. Together, through continuing to talk about the representation of women and their position in the cultural hierarchy we can begin to initiate proper and significant social change.