Indigenous Tiwi women strive to improve their lot

03/11/2009 0 Comments read Gender, Indigenous

By Neena Bhandari

Tiwi Islands (Australia), 03.11.2009 (Women’s Feature Service): Lynette De Santis, 45, was surprised when in October last year, she became the first elected Mayor of the Tiwi Islands Shire Council comprising Bathurst and Melville Islands with a largely indigenous Aboriginal population of 1,495 and 434. She had conquered what had thus far been a male bastion.

“It had become the norm that men would be chairperson, mayor or president so I was amazed when I was elected the first female Mayor. I have always stood up for the interests of my people and I suppose this resulted in my victory”, says De Santis, who was born and bred in Northern Territory’s capital Darwin and returned home to the islands in 1985.

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Women’s courage help revive Outback community

15/06/2009 0 Comments read Gender, Indigenous

Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 15.06.2009 (Women’s Feature Service): Indigenous Aboriginal women from the remote Western Australian town of Fitzroy Crossing have saved their community from the scourge of alcohol abuse, domestic violence and foetal alcohol syndrome by successfully fighting for alcohol restrictions in the region. The town has a total population of 928 persons, with 67.3 per cent Indigenous persons.

In 2007, a group of courageous Aboriginal women in the outback town of Fitzroy Crossing decided enough was enough. Their community had experienced 13 suicides in 13 months and many premature deaths. Family violence and child abuse were rife and alcohol consumption was rising at an alarming rate.

“Growing alcohol consumption was decimating our community, which was numb with grief. So a group of us women, who feel strongly about social issues and want to improve the health and happiness of our community, supported by some men, made the hard decisions and collectively fought for alcohol restriction,” informs Emily Carter, Chairperson, Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre‘s (MWRC). The MWRC led this movement against alcohol from the front.

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Indian women, down under and tortured

25/09/2008 0 Comments read Gender

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 25.09.2008 (WFS): Pyali Shah, 40, had met her husband on the internet. Both hailed from Karnataka and had been previously married. It seemed a perfect match until she arrived on the shores of Australia and witnessed relentless mental and physical abuse.

“My husband, a widower with two children, just wanted a baby-sitter. He would lock me up and beat me. There was no money as I faced constant threat of being thrown out or sent back to India. He would surf the Internet for other women and compelled me to have an abortion”, says Pyali, a psychologist by profession, whose abuse was detected at the hospital when she went for the abortion. She was sent to a refuge and provided counselling and support.

The scourge of mental, physical and sexual violence in the sanctity of one’s own home started as a trickle, but has become a flood in recent years with more Indian immigrants coming to Australia.

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