FROM this week’s news ON: human rights and humanitarian aid [Note: Content Warning - links to distressing reports on this topic. Reader discretion is advised]

Note: CONTENT WARNING - some of this content is about upsetting, disturbing or triggering events & attitudes. Seek competent help - including professional - if you need it. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that linked articles may contains names and/or images of deceased people. READER CAUTION IS RECOMMENDED! For anyone distressed by anything in this post, or for any other reason considering seeking support, resources are available in Australia here, here, and here. In other nations, you will have to do an Internet search using terms such as “mental health support - <your nation>” (which, for instance, may lead to this, this, and this, in the USA, or this, this, and this, in France [biased towards English-language - my apologies]), or perhaps try https://www.befrienders.org/. 

Note: in my “from the news” posts, quotes are shown italicised and blue, my comments are in a different shade of blue, and “good” items are shown in green. I have loosely grouped the posts where such seemed reasonable, but that is subjective (i.e., my opinion - others are free to disagree), and challenging, as some posts belong in multiple “groups”.

Fromm this week’s news on human rights (note: I may continue to add links for a few days, possibly up to a week, after these are published), noting that many issues have probably not made it into the news that I see: 

• “US will require background checks for gun shows and online firearm sales”   https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/11/gun-show-internet-sale-mandatory-background-check   “‘Historic’ action by justice department closes ‘doggone dangerous’ loophole in Biden administration’s fight against gun violence”   A promising step  
  

 

• “Massive investment and financial reform needed to rescue SDGs”   https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/04/1148411   

 

• “EU passes asylum and migration pact after eight years of deadlock”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/10/eu-passes-asylum-and-migration-pact-after-eight-years-of-deadlock   “European parliament president says ‘history made’ with vote to pass changes, which have been criticised by NGOs”   “Analysis: EU asylum and migration pact has passed despite far right and left’s objections”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/10/eu-asylum-and-migration-pact-has-passed-despite-far-right-and-lefts-objections   “Long-awaited package of measures marks victory for Europe’s centre albeit with ‘doubts and concerns’ over implementation”   “EU asylum reform 'will lead to systematic detention of children' • FRANCE 24 English”   https://youtu.be/39vi5OEZnQY?si=KOMJqIRhDLl8DuP1      Europe once knew better ...  
  

 

• Fortunately, here in Australia we understand when free speech shifts in to hate speech:   “Trans man bullied further after X shares takedown notice over alleged hate speech”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/apr/09/trans-man-bullied-x-twitter-takedown-notice-hate-speech   “It was determined to be cyber abuse directed at an Australian adult, given it was found to misgender him, mock his gender identity and equated transgender identity with a psychiatric condition.   ...   A spokesperson for the eSafety commissioner said the type of content falling under the online abuse scheme must be both intended to cause serious harm and menacing, harassing or offensive in all circumstances.”   

• “Mother criticises ‘agenda from above’ after release of Cass report”   https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/10/mother-criticises-agenda-from-above-cass-report-trans   “Parent of trans girl says report promotes agenda that ‘things need to be made more difficult’ for children with gender dysphoria”   “Trans children in England worse off now than four years ago, says psychologist”   https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/11/trans-children-in-england-worse-off-now-than-four-years-ago-says-psychologist   “Transgender children are being left in a “far worse position” than before the Cass report, with a service that is “going backwards instead of forwards”, according to a psychologist who has set up a private gender service.”      This is likely to kill trans kids. Here are some links to rebuttals of the ROGD conspiracy fantasy    “Why ‘rapid-onset gender dysphoria’ is bad science”   https://theconversation.com/why-rapid-onset-gender-dysphoria-is-bad-science-92742   “Evidence Undermines ‘Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria’ Claims”   https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/evidence-undermines-rapid-onset-gender-dysphoria-claims/   “Fears of “social contagion,” used to support anti-transgender legislation, are not supported by science”   “What Are Puberty Blockers?”   https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-puberty-blockers-7107248   “New Study Undercuts the Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria [conspiracy fantasy]”   https://fenwayhealth.org/new-study-undercuts-the-rapid-onset-gender-dysphoria-[conspiracy-fantasy]/   “What is rapid onset gender dysphoria?”   https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/what-is-rapid-onset-gender-dysphoria   “ROGD is not a clinically recognized term.”   “ROGD is not a clinically recognized term”   https://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(23)00492-5/fulltext   “Rapid-onset gender dysphoria controversy”   https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rapid-onset_gender_dysphoria_controversy&oldid=1216743053   

• “Tickle vs Giggle: in a world where transgender people are under attack, this is a test case for Australia”   https://theconversation.com/tickle-vs-giggle-in-a-world-where-transgender-people-are-under-attack-this-is-a-test-case-for-australia-227702   If the haters win, this will be a major setback - as shown by the doxing and attacks already. If the finding is for trans people and decency,  the bigots will push back harder, but it will be easier to resist them. In any case, it shows the vitriolic flat-earth amathia of the haters, making this a contest of decency vs. gender flat earthers (GFEs) ...    
  

 

• “Compulsory income management doing more harm than good: Study”   https://theaimn.com/compulsory-income-management-doing-more-harm-than-good-study/   

• “Friday essay: ‘too many Aboriginal babies’ – Australia’s secret history of Aboriginal population control in the 1960s”   https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-too-many-aboriginal-babies-australias-secret-history-of-aboriginal-population-control-in-the-1960s-189249  
  

• “NSW to review child protection screening algorithm over concerns about racial bias”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/apr/08/nsw-child-protection-laws-indigenous-children-in-care   “Families minister says system is ‘not delivering the outcomes we want to see’ as almost 50% of children in care in NSW are Aboriginal”    

• “Cleveland Dodd inquest: detainees were denied medication if they exhibited violent behaviour”   https://nit.com.au/11-04-2024/10778/cleveland-dodd-inquest-detainees-were-denied-medication-if-they-exhibited-violent-behaviour   
  

• “Alice Springs curfew to be extended throughout school holidays”   https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/nt/2024/04/09/alice-springs-curfew-extended   “Alice Springs youth curfew to be extended by six days to cover Northern Territory school holidays”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/apr/09/alice-springs-youth-curfew-extended-nt-school-holidays    As reported last week, this is supposed to be a temporary, stop-gap measure   “Extension to Mparntwe youth curfew criticised by legal groups”   https://nit.com.au/10-04-2024/10750/extension-to-mparntwe-youth-curfew-criticised-by-legal-groups   “The extension of the youth curfew in Mparntwe/Alice Springs has attracted criticism as advocates fear it will do nothing to help alleviate the underlying issues it attempts to resolve.”  
  

• ““We cannot falter; we can't afford to”: First Peoples’ Assembly back Treaty at statewide gathering”   https://nit.com.au/07-04-2024/10681/we-cannot-falter-we-cant-afford-to-first-peoples-assembly-back-treaty-at-statewide-gathering      “Treaty not a ‘silver bullet’: Australia’s first Indigenous senior counsel advocates for Treaty but with ‘open eyes’”   https://nit.com.au/08-04-2024/10696/treaty-not-a-silver-bullet-australias-first-indigenous-senior-counsel-advocates-for-treaty-but-with-open-eyes   “... not a "silver bullet" with a poor colonial government track record, but remains the best avenue for pursuing greater outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people”   He spoke (according to the NIT article) also of the loss of wealth and the necessity for treaties of value addressing that   ““We are invisible in our own country" : Jill Gallagher calls for more support for Indigenous culture during Treaty negotiations”   https://nit.com.au/10-04-2024/10757/we-are-invisible-in-our-own-country-jill-gallagher-calls-for-more-support-for-indigenous-culture-during-treaty-negotiations  
  

• “We have a new way of looking at data that shows what’s working for Indigenous school kids and what isn’t”   https://theconversation.com/we-have-a-new-way-of-looking-at-data-that-shows-whats-working-for-indigenous-school-kids-and-what-isnt-225900   “We have developed a new way of analysing NAPLAN data. This compares Indigenous students with other Indigenous students. And in doing so, we get more nuanced information about what is working and where.    ...   “within-cohort, peer matching””   This is an excellent approach!    

• “Discovery of Australia’s oldest pottery rewrites understanding of Aboriginal maritime history”   https://nit.com.au/10-04-2024/10724/discovery-of-australias-oldest-pottery-rewrites-understanding-of-aboriginal-maritime-history   “Aboriginal people made pottery and sailed to distant offshore islands thousands of years before Europeans arrived”   https://theconversation.com/aboriginal-people-made-pottery-and-sailed-to-distant-offshore-islands-thousands-of-years-before-europeans-arrived-226391   and   “Great Barrier Reef discovery overturns belief Aboriginal Australians did not make pottery, archaeologists say”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/apr/10/great-barrier-reef-discovery-overturns-belief-aboriginal-australians-did-not-make-pottery   “Paper dates 82 pottery pieces found in single dig site at between 3,000 and 2,000 years old”  
  

• “The Harman Undertaking”   https://theaimn.com/the-harman-undertaking/   “In short, the text messages, phone records and diary extracts supplied by Ms Higgins to the AFP, included in the brief of evidence and not used in the trial, should never have been released to the media. To do so was to breach the Harman Undertaking.   In theory such a breach can lead to a charge of contempt of court and, if you are a lawyer, a complaint to the Legal Services Commission.   ...   There’s no shortage of salacious coverage of the content of the leaks, but considerably less commentary on the illegality of the act of leaking them.   Unless penalties are imposed on those who abuse their privileged access to police evidence such breaches will continue, to the detriment of victims, particularly in rape and sexual assault cases.”   The Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission decided not to do anything ...         “‘May have been drugged’: Higgins seizes on police ‘info’”   https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/people/2024/04/09/brittany-higgins-defamation-lawyer   “The suggestion that Higgins may have been drugged was contained in a note by AFP officer Leanne Cross in a ‘master chronology’ prepared by Lehrmann’s legal team.   ...   “In the context of a serious challenge to the honesty and accuracy of Ms Higgins’ account of the events of the night in question, the potential that her perceptive and recollective abilities may have been affected other than by ­alcohol and trauma is an issue that she would have wished to explore.””   Note that this is a submission: no decision has been made on it or the case  
  

• “Two Nigerians charged with sextortion after boy’s death”   https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/crime-news/2024/04/08/nigerians-sextortion-australian-boy  
  

My links for activism post may aid any activism you may decide to do on any/all of these. If you do, don’t get too fixated on specific instances of problems - important though they may well be: take a moment to also consider the broader issues these incidents and groups of incidents may suggest/reveal.

 

Assumptions / basis 

In writing this, I have assumed / started from the following: 

• this blog states quite clearly that it is about political and human rights matters, including lived experience of problems, and thus I will assume readers are reasonable people who have noted the content warning in the post header;

Possible flaws 

Where I can, I will try to highlight possible flaws / issues you should consider:

• there may be flawed logical arguments in the above: to find out more about such flaws and thinking generally, I recommend Brendan  Myers’ free online course “Clear and Present Thinking”; 
  
• I could be wrong - so keep your thinking caps on, and make up your own minds for yourself.
  

 

If they are of any use of interest, the activism information links from my former news posts are available in this post. 

 

If you appreciated this post, please consider promoting it - there are some links below.

Remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing, and all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering”.

Copyright © Kayleen White 2016-2024     NO AI   I do not consent to any machine learning aka Artificial Intelligence (AI), generative AI, large language model, machine learning, chatbot, or other automated analysis, generative process, or replication program to reproduce, mimic, remix, summarise, or otherwise  replicate any part of this post or other posts on this blog via any means. Typo’s may be inserrted deliberately to demonstrate this is not an AI product.     Otherwise, fair and reasonable use is accepted under Creative Commons 4.0 on an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike basis   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/