Victorians will vote in the state’s election this coming Saturday 26 November. There are many important issues to consider in terms of parties’ policy positions, but key on our radar is the question: Where do the parties stand on women’s sex-based rights?

Dear Premier of Victoria, Leader of the Opposition, Ministers, Shadow Ministers and Commissioners,

By Stassja Frei

On Sunday September 11, I – and around 30 other Victorian women – gathered on Parliament steps in Melbourne to protest one of the most abhorrent consequences of Victoria’s transgender laws: the housing of violent male sex offenders in women’s prisons.

The United Nations (UN) Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT) begins its first visit to Australia today, which will last for 12 days from 16 Oct 2022 – 27 Oct 2022. As part of its visit, Australian women’s advocates are calling on the SPT to investigate the human rights risks facing women when men who identify as women are allowed entry to female detention facilities.

Our campaign to remove a violent male sex offender from the Dame Phyllis Frost women’s prison in Victoria is heating up.

Last week, Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Magistrate Jane Campbell indicated that a man facing 72 charges related to child sexual abuse should be housed in a women's prison if convicted, due to his transgender identity.

In August 2022, it was revealed by the Herald Sun that a man convicted of serious sexual offences against women and children, who now identifies as transgender, is being housed in the Dame Phyllis Frost Correctional Centre for women.

A response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by the Department of Justice and Community Safety shows just how bad things are for women in Victorian prisons.