“[The] politics of pessimism defines the liberal consensus that prostitution should be regulated rather than abolished. This attitude is the antithesis of feminism. ‘We do not say, poverty will always exist, let’s build more poor houses,’ one survivor activist told me during the research for my book on the global sex trade. ‘Or ‘there will always be rape, so let’s focus on patching up victims,’ but we do say that about prostitution.”

Last month, after long deliberation, the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) handed down its decision on the appeal of radio newsreader, Beth Rep, partially reversing an earlier finding that she had unlawfully vilified former infantry Captain turned trans activist, Bridget Clinch. The ruling helps to remove lingering uncertainty about where the legal parameters of any public discussion of trans issues might lie, reducing the threat of vilification claims against individuals who venture upon this controversial topic.

As the South Australian parliament continues to examine legislation to decriminalise prostitution in the state, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said the South Australian Police could not support the current bill even though police do “not object to the decriminalisation of sex work per se”.

Warning: this blog contains content that may be particularly distressing to survivors of sexual assault.

Over the past couple of months, we have been working hard to raise awareness about the injustice done to the Feminist Legal Clinic (FLC), a charity providing legal assistance to disadvantaged women. The clinic had its tenancy grant revoked for posting links to articles about trans issues on its website; views which the City of Sydney Council considered to be discriminatory.

As more girls and young women present to gender clinics with gender dysphoria, serious legal questions are being raised about their treatment. And It seems that Australian doctors could find themselves in hot water if they follow the “affirmative model” of care favoured by trans advocates. As international trends veer away from this model and as “de-transitioners” − many of them women − come forward willing to sue for misdiagnosis, Australian doctors now have legal, as well as medical, dilemmas to resolve. 

You would think a city council trying to axe a women’s legal service for its politics would be one of the biggest stories in the country. Yet the fate of an organisation helping women and girls affected by domestic and sexual violence in Sydney has barely touched mainstream media.

You would think a city council trying to axe a feminist legal service for its politics would be one of the biggest stories in the country, but the fate of an organisation helping women and girls affected by domestic and sexual violence in Sydney has barely touched mainstream media.

By Rachael Wong

ABC’s Background Briefing has done an investigation on transgender women in men’s prisons. According to the investigation: