Intersectional Discrimination
Paper prepared by Amrita Dasvarma & Evelyn Loh
Paper
presented by Amrita Dasvarma
Background
The
Women's Rights Action Network Australia (WRANA) has been working on
a Gender and Racism project since October 2000 as part of its preparations
for the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, held in Durban,
South Africa, September 1- 7, 2001. The project aims to highlight issues
of discrimination at the intersection of racism and sexism as experienced
by women in Australia.
In
the lead up to the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR), WRANA members
worked voluntarily with other organisations and interested individuals,
to create a space for issues of intersectional discrimination to be
raised and discussed. Using data collected from women through public
consultations, submissions and existing research in the area, WRANA
produced a report depicting intersectional discrimination issues in
Australia. The following paper is based in part on this report.
WRANA
has planned a second phase to the gender and racism project as a follow-up
to the WCAR the production of a Gender and Racism Kit, to develop practical
strategies for women's organisations to address issues of sex / race
intersectional discrimination. It is envisioned that the Kit will be
used by a diverse range women's organisations across Australia to define
and apply race and gender intersectionality in the Australian context.
Materials for the Kit are being developed using both international and
domestic resources.
What is intersectional
discrimination?
At
its simplest, intersectional discrimination means recognizing that a
person may be subject to discrimination based on several aspects of
their identity. In the case of women, it means that the way in which
women experience life in Australia differs according to a variety of
factors, including gender, race, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation,
ability, age, language, and religious beliefs. As each of these are
common avenues of discrimination in our society, women may experience
discrimination via one or more of these avenues.
Discrimination
is not just one isolated category; it can be many categories all at
the same time
Very
often it is some or all of these factors together that contribute to
a human rights violation. Discrimination on any one of these grounds
can violate a person's human rights, and in any instance of discrimination,
a range of factors could be at work to influence a person to commit
an act of discrimination. This combination of specific or single causes
of discrimination - such as race and gender for example - is called
'intersectional discrimination'. [1]
The
United Nations, in its preparations for the World Conference Against
Racism held in September 2001 in Durban, South Africa, used the analogy
of a traffic intersection to illustrate the meaning of intersectional
discrimination:
To
use a metaphor of an intersection, we first analogize the various axes
of power, for instance, race, ethnicity, gender and class, as constituting
the thoroughfares which structure the social, economic, or political
terrain. Racialised women are often positioned in the space where racism
or xenophobia, class and gender meet. They are consequently subject
to injury by the heavy flow of traffic along these roads.
Although
our identity cannot be defined as only one thing - for example, our
gender - the human rights system to date has formally recognised discrimination
on the basis of only one factor at a time, rather than a combination
of several factors at the same time. [2]
Example:
The United Nations Convention Eliminating All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW), also known as the 'Women's Convention', does
recognise that other forms of discrimination exist, but is generally
perceived to deal primarily with gender discrimination. Similarly, the
Convention Eliminating Racial Discrimination (CERD) addresses discrimination
based on race and, most often, racism experiencedin the public arena,
usually dominated by men, rather than all forms of racism experienced
by men and women.
Why does this
matter?
The
historical way of dealing with discrimination one factor at a time has
important implications in practice, as aspects of our identities such
as gender, ethnicity, sexuality and age, cannot be neatly divided. In
order to fit this segregated system of human rights, women who experience
discrimination based on multiple factors must inevitably fragment their
identities as human rights violations based on both their gender and
their race, remain invisible and cannot be named.
Example: The 'trafficking in women', which has always been defined as a gender
issue, ignores the race aspects of trafficking. This interpretation
then loses sight of which women are most at risk, and what their treatment
may be in their host countries because of their race. Women are most
often trafficked from a poorer country to a wealthier one. The Asia
Pacific region has been identified as a major site of trafficking in
women, which means that most of the women who become part of this irregular
and informal migration are of Southeast Asian or Pacific/Melanesian
descent, and many end up in Australia.
The
ramifications of this practice of fragmenting identities can be further
highlighted through the analogy of the "traffic intersection".
We are all unique, so we all stand at unique intersections created by
different avenues of discrimination intersecting, although there are
of course similarities between groups of women. At each intersection,
each woman is uniquely vulnerable. It is important not only to understand
the nature of each strand of discrimination, but also the consequences
of the combination of these different strands. What is the effect upon
each woman of these forms of discrimination colliding? For some women,
the effects are devastating: for example, for a Muslim Afghan asylum-seeker
woman who travels to Australia with the assistance of people smugglers,
the various discriminations based on her lack of legal status in Australia,
her poor English skills, her gender, her nationality and her religious
beliefs can all combine to result in very specific and very traumatic
experiences of prejudice and inequity.
Some progress
has been made
In
recent years there has been some recognition of the limited nature of
how human rights has been defined and explained. The need to recognise
and prioritise the complexity of how different strands of discrimination
can interact with each other ('intersectional discrimination'
or more commonly, 'intersectionality') has been emphasised by
minority women's rights advocates in particular. There has since been
a growing understanding of the ramifications of 'racialisation' upon
women. Racialisation is linked to a growing discussion of 'whiteness'
as a culture and an ethnicity. In Australian society, where being white
is the 'norm', terms such as Culturally and Linguistically Diverse,
Non-English Speaking Background, and ethnic minority, are used to refer
to women who do not fit this 'norm' consequently ignoring that white
people also have a culture that is different from others in the community.
In this sense, the term 'racialised' means that a woman's identity has
been shaped by her race, and that her colour, ethnicity, cultural and
religious background has been a dominant component in how the general
community perceives her.
Increasingly, intersectionality has and is being recognised by international
human rights institutions and bodies, and this particularly highlighted
at the UN World Conference Against Racism in September 2001.
Types of intersectionality
The
UN Expert Group Meeting on Gender and Race Discrimination held in Croatia
in 2000, identified three distinct types of intersectional discrimination:
-
targeted
discrimination, where discrimination results from abuses specifically
targeted at women of a particular race
Example: The threats of rape targeting Muslim young women in Sydney in August
2001, because of their religious identity.
-
compound
discrimination, where women are subject to discrimination because
of gendered roles, and membership of ethnic and racial groups. Compound
discrimination can be subtle therefore few avenues of redress exist.
Example: In workforces that are gender and race-segregated, racialised women
may face discrimination on the basis of their gender (by being excluded
from certain jobs, regardless of their skills) and on the basis of
their race (again, regardless of their skills).
-
structural
intersectional discrimination, which occurs 'where policies intersect
with underlying structures to create a compounded burden for particularly
vulnerable women.'
An Australian
Perspective:
In
Australia, international treaties form the basis of the federal anti-discrimination
and domestic human rights system. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission (HREOC), for example, has segregated anti-race and anti-sex
discrimination mechanisms. Each is mandated by separate pieces of legislation,
and resourced by separate units within the Commission.
This
means that ethnic minority / racialised women and Indigenous women have
to compartmentalise their experiences of discrimination and choose one
over the other when making claims of discrimination to HREOC.
The system
is not adequate
That
racialised women have to tailor their experiences to suit the segregated
system of Australian human rights legislation illustrates the inadequacy
of the system to deal with cases of intersectional discrimination. A
more flexible, fluid and responsive human rights framework would recognise
experiences of cumulative discrimination
Women are alienated
Women
are generally discouraged from using the anti-discrimination system
to protect their rights because they need to they distrust the legal
rights regime and have very little access for assistance in understanding
or navigating the system.
To
address this, there is an urgent need for more data, and information
about the manifestation of intersectional discrimination in Australia.
, In an attempt to be more responsive to all diverse communities, there
also needs to be research carried out into the ways in which the Australian
anti-discrimination system allows intersectional discrimination to occur
unchecked.
Why is this
important in Australia?
In
the 1996 census, over 350,000 people identified as Indigenous.
In
June 1999, 24% of people living in Australia were born overseas, 14.2%
from non-English speaking background.
As
a nation with a history of Indigenous custodianship, white colonisation,
and continuing multi-racial immigration, Australia has a diverse and
evolving population. Hence, questions of racism and racial discrimination
are very relevant.
In
Australia, women comprise over half of the nation's population. This,
combined with the percentage of people who identify as Indigenous and
as of Non-English Speaking Background, indicates that the intersections
of sexism and racism affect a significant proportion of the overall
population. These experiences of racism and sexism are at the same time
unique and similar in that they are compounded by discrimination based
on differences of ethnicity, colour, nationality, citizenship status,
socio-economic status, cultural and/or linguistic backgrounds, religious
and political affiliations, age, ability and sexuality.
There
has been very little available research about the effects of intersectional
discrimination in Australia. In part, this is because it is not recognised
by the domestic rights system. At the same time, there has been very
little will on the part of governments and most research bodies to engage
in 'fact-finding' to develop a comprehensive understanding of the combined
effects of racism and sexism.
This
absence of information is rendering Indigenous, immigrant, refugee and
asylum-seeker women more and more invisible and unaccounted for in program
planning and service delivery.
However,
there are statistics and research conducted by academics and non-government
organisations that can be used to sketch a picture of intersectional
discrimination as experienced by Indigenous, immigrant, refugee and
asylum-seeker Australian women.
Indigenous
women's experiences
Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander women's experience of racism can be different
from that of men in their communities, and their experience of sexism
is often different from that of non-Indigenous women.
Indigenous
women's experience of multiple discrimination and disadvantage has its
historical roots in colonialism, dispossession and attempted annihilation
of Indigenous peoples through assimilationist policies, including the
practice of removing children from their families. These atrocities
have left a legacy of intergenerational social, mental, physical and
economic devastation and poverty.
Like
Indigenous men, Indigenous women experience profound disadvantage in
every sphere of their lives - in health, housing, education, employment,
social, political, economic, legal and cultural areas. There is a particularly
high incidence of women who do not receive linguistically and culturally
appropriate services. They are denied a voice and effective participation
in many decision-making areas of their lives, particularly in male dominated
negotiations over native title rights. Many have lost their lands, their
culture and their languages.
Asylum seeker,
immigrant, and refugee women's experiences
Asylum
seeker, immigrant, and refugee women also experience multiple forms
of discrimination based on racism, xenophobia and sexism, from a different
historical basis. Discrimination against them is often compounded by
their complicated immigration or citizenship status, experiences of
torture and trauma and, for some, a denial of access to any or some
basic services, including an income.
Women
asylum seekers are often vulnerable to sexual or physical abuse during
their journey to Australia and sometimes even in Australian immigration
detention centres. Lack of citizenship deprives many asylum seeker women
of basic economic, social and cultural rights.
New
immigrant, refugee and asylum-seeker women in Australia are denied a
basic income because of the application of the two-year waiting period
before being allowed to access welfare services. Many do not have recourse
to domestic remedies because of their status as non-nationals, leaving
them open to extreme exploitation, particularly in sex and employment
related areas. For many, poverty, a general lack of sympathy towards
asylum-seekers and refugees, racism, xenophobia, sexism, grief and language
difficulties, combined with other factors, result in a denial of their
basic human rights in Australia.
Example: Large numbers of immigrant, refugee and asylum-seeker women are forced
to work in exploitative home-based work. Conditions are poor, their
rates of pay extremely low, instances of chronic injury are commonplace,
and their children are involved in this work due to economic necessity.
Also, many are denied access to employment in their chosen profession
or trade because of barriers to recognising overseas qualifications
or racism.
Immigrant,
refugee and asylum-seeker women experience markedly high rates of employment-related
illnesses, injuries and disabilities due to their location in the labour
market. They experience real constraints in accessing many social resources,
namely English classes, social supports, income, housing, transport
and child care. The combined impact has been devastating, resulting
in poverty, malnutrition, illness, stress and family breakdown for some.
Others have been forced into exploitative employment situations, including,
in some cases, sex work.
WRANA project
findings
WRANA's
Gender and Racism project which sought information about how women are
experiencing discrimination in Australia, found six major themes arising
from women's experiences. These are education, economy, poverty,
health, human rights, and institutional mechanisms. These themes
also correlate to the UN Beijing Platform for Action, which is considered
by some to be one of the most progressive international women's human
rights documents. By referring to the Beijing Platform for Action in
a discussion about race and gender , we hope to emphasise the need to
use a variety of human rights documents and instruments; the need to
take an intersectional, multi-layered approach, when addressing intersectional
discrimination.
Women, Racism
and Education
The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees everyone a right to
an education. But the reality is that:
Women
from certain disadvantaged racial, ethnic, immigrant and Indigenous
communities have lower rates of literacy, secondary school attendance
and graduation, access to higher education and enrolment in scientific
and other training programs
To
remedy this, governments should:
Advance
the goal of equal access to education by taking measures to eliminate
discrimination in education at all levels on the basis of gender, race,
language, religion, national origin, age, disability; or any other form
of discrimination and as appropriate, consider establishing procedures
to address grievances.
Access
to education, and recognition of already acquired skills and qualifications,
are issues for Indigenous, immigrant, refugee and asylum-seeker women.
-
Indigenous
history remains virtually invisible in schools.
-
At
schools, Muslim girls who wear the hijab are bullied and teased.
-
Girls
with strong religious and cultural beliefs are also teased. For
example, girls who do not believe in sex before marriage, are labelled
'frigid' by male students of different backgrounds, which can lead
to fighting between different groups of students.
-
Migrant
and refugee women's prior qualifications are not recognised and
they must pass language tests, upgrade qualifications or start from
scratch if they want to pursue their chosen careers.
-
Teaching
staff do not respect religious events or festivals and refuse to
give extensions because of religious responsibilities, for example,
the Muslim Ramadan festival.
-
At
universities, research methods are often not interrogated sufficiently
to see if they are culturally appropriate or culturally offensive.
-
Specific
Indigenous studies courses undertaken have a reputation of being
inadequate and inferior, especially if majority of students enrolled
in these courses are Indigenous an attitude exists that they were
unable to qualify for the 'mainstream' course.
Women, Racism
and the Economy
Women's
employment opportunities are inextricably linked to the issues of economy.
The facts are that:
Discrimination
in education and training, hiring and remuneration, promotion and
horizontal mobility practices, as well as inflexible working conditions,
lack of access to productive resources and inadequate sharing of family
responsibilities…and insufficient services such as childcare,
continue to restrict employment, economic, professional and other
opportunities and mobility for women and make their involvement stressful.
What
women said:
-
Indigenous
women in public service are rarely promoted to higher level positions.
-
In
schools, Indigenous and migrant women teachers are rarely promoted,
and there are many more men in senior positions even though there
are more female teachers.
-
Migrant
women are discriminated against if speak they with an 'accent'.
-
Migrant
women are unsuccessful in seeking promotions as, often, a perception
exists that their English is not adequate for report writing etc.
-
Minimal
recognition of overseas qualifications discriminates against immigrant/refugee
women with regards to employment.
-
Indigenous
and migrant applicants are rarely encouraged to apply for promotions
or other, better, jobs. The promotion process can also be intimidating
and demoralising, because they are not encouraged to consider the
jobs, and very rarely asked to undertake duties that could advance
them.
-
Racism
in employment was common for racialised women on many levels. A
pervasive problem was that it occurs in a subtle manner, and the
subtlety renders it difficult to prove. Women also mentioned the
awareness of anti-discrimination laws by some employers and service
providers, who used their knowledge to ensure that their actions
and behaviour could not be determined to be discriminatory in law,
even though the effect was discriminatory.
-
Experiences
were raised of Indigenous, immigrant or asylum-seeker women who
possessed the skills and qualifications needed for positions but
who were not being hired. In the cases where they were hired they
often felt a great deal of pressure to prove themselves, resulting
in diminished self-confidence. Two cases were cited of women who
were forced to leave due to this kind of pressure.
Women, Racism
and Poverty
Intersectional
discrimination in the area of housing access is integral to poverty.
A
1991 report of the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy at the Australian
National University indicated that at that time over half the homeless
families seeking housing were Aboriginal and the proportion of Aboriginal
families in public housing was almost seven times that of non-Aboriginal
families.
-
The
private rental market remains a significant barrier to accessing
housing, as women experience racism when applying for housing.
-
It
is especially difficult for Indigenous women to get private rental
properties. Accounts were made of real estate agents lying about
availability of properties to discourage Aboriginal women from applying,
though the properties remain vacant for weeks. This is particularly
common in regional areas.
-
Indigenous
peoples receive inferior quality housing and inferior facilities
compared to the rest of the population.
-
Refugee
women have been placed in emergency housing in inappropriate and
unsafe areas, and have suffered racial taunts and threats of violence.
-
Indigenous
and African women in particular face racism in the form of excessive
housing checks on the assumption that the property is not being
taken care of.
Women, Racism
and Health
Indigenous
women in Australia by far face some of the most serious health threats
of any sector of the population. Reduced life expectancy and a higher
proportion of low birth weight babies are some examples. These are the
direct manifestations of the ongoing effects of dispossession and colonisation.
Immigrant
and asylum-seeker women also face compounded discrimination in terms
of their health because of their racialised and gendered identities.
Example: Some immigrant, refugee and asylum-seeker women may be based in workforces
with poor occupational health and safety standards (such as outworking)
as a result of not being able to secure better employment. Immigrant,
refugee and asylum-seeker women are also at a greater risk of depression
and mental illness due to the impact of migration or of fleeing a situation
of torture or persecution.
Indigenous
women, immigrant and asylum seeker women not only experience severe
health ramifications because of their own circumstances, but also face
discrimination within the health profession.
Health
professionals need to look at the social and environmental causes of
health problems and recognise that rather than simply medically treating
the presenting symptoms, there needs to be a closer examination of a
woman's living realities.
-
Indigenous
and migrant women are treated with less respect than others are
when presenting at hospitals.
-
There
are widespread automatic responses to ethnicity. For example, presumptions
of alcoholism and addiction because women are Indigenous.
-
Reception
staff practiced 'Gate-keeping' when Indigenous women tried to make
Doctor's appointments. The effect was to discourage appointments
being made, as it was presumed that the women would be late and
defer or miss their appointment. Indigenous women were also exposed
to these discrepancies in treatment while accompanying relatives
who are not obviously Indigenous.
-
Hospitals
and health services failed to offer or provide interpreter services.
-
The
increase in the international profile of female genital mutilation,
or female circumcision, has created spaces for new manifestations
of racism against African women in particular.
Women Racism
and Human Rights
Women
of disadvantaged groups are both subject to human rights violations
in disproportionate ways and do not have access to remedies on an equal
basis.
In
Australia, Indigenous, immigrant, refugee and asylum-seeker women belong
to the most disadvantaged groups and have a very distrustful relationship
with the law, as the law offers them limited protection.
Immigrant,
refugee and asylum-seeker women in Australia suffer the consequences
of having little or no knowledge of how to manoeuvre the legal system
and their status as non-nationals further compromises their access to
rights as citizenship laws in Australia can limit their recourse to
domestic remedies.
Indigenous
women have traditionally had a hostile relationship with the legal
system, which mandated many discriminatory practices, such as the removal
of Indigenous children from their families.
Example: Recent mandatory sentencing laws in some of Australia's states and
territories have once again resulted in compounded discrimination
against Indigenous women. Statistics prove that the imprisonment rates
of Indigenous women during the enactment of the now repealed legislation
in the Northern Territory increased by an astounding 232% in the first
year of its operation. This legislation completely bypassed judicial
discretion by automatically imposing an imprisonment sentence for
property offences, such as stealing.
What
women said:
-
Bail
was often granted to violent male offenders in small communities,
in full knowledge of the high risk of re-offending.
-
Mandatory
sentencing had a disproportionate effect on women, and on Indigenous
women in particular.
-
Not
enough information about the legal system and people's rights was
available in languages other than English.
-
Police
regularly made assumptions of guilt or involvement in unlawful activity
based on racial identity.
-
Judges
were not sensitive to domestic violence issues in non-Western cultures
or to the cultural traditions of women from non-Western cultures.
For example, judges misread women's responses as submissive when
they are not used to public speaking, or feel shame at being in
court.
-
It
was difficult or impossible to articulate complaints of discrimination
if they had been discriminated against as a non-white woman being
treated differently to white women or non-white men.
-
Laws
are being used to condone discrimination - for example, employers
who know their responsibilities under the Racial Discrimination
Act and Sex Discrimination Act can act in a way that discriminates
in subtle and less tangible ways, so even though the effect is discriminatory,
they remain within the law.
-
The
Australian Government should endorse the Optional Protocol for the
Convention Eliminating All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW) to allow women in Australia an international avenue for
redress
Women, Racism
and our Institutions
Institutional
mechanisms to address experiences of intersectional discrimination remain
limited and inflexible. The low participation of Indigenous, immigrant
and asylum-seeker women in decision-making positions, whether in government
departments, or service organisations, contributes to the lack of responsiveness
of remedial mechanisms to intersectional subordination.
Institutional
issues affecting women:
-
Increasing
centralisation of government services, through call centres, often
makes non-English speaking background women feel alienated and not
in control as they are unsure of what options to choose on the phone.
-
Department
of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs funded Community Settlement
workers are sometimes based at Christian charity or social justice
services which has the effect of diminishing access by non-Christian
women.
-
Women
from particular backgrounds who apply for refugee status on the
grounds of domestic violence situations are denied asylum despite
clear evidence of domestic violence occurring.
-
Structural
government decisions that do not consider experiences of intersectional
discrimination can compound discrimination and its impacts. For
example, the Office of the Status of Women refer migrant women to
the Department of Multicultural Affairs because it does not deal
with 'migrant issues'. In addition the language used by governments,
such as 'illegal migrant' or 'provisional visas' create second-class
citizens.
-
Limited
resources for English language classes, and restrictions placed
on availability only to those within the first five years of arrival
have adverse implications for women, specifically on older women
who are isolated at home.
-
Hostels
and shelters have been known to turn away Indigenous women.
-
Emergency
relief agencies have refused to provide domestic violence victims
with household supplies, like mattresses, and only when senior agency
staff were confronted about this, were the supplies provided.
-
Cultural
needs of certain groups of women, particularly strongly religious
women, are not considered or disregarded.
-
Government
information is not provided in community languages, limiting access
to services, including interpreters.
-
Very
little provision is made for women-only space to ensure their full
participation in consultations, particularly on topics that might
be unsuitable for discussion in a mixed sex group.
-
Very
often service providers perceive providing services to racialised
or Indigenous women as an extra or optional service if funds allow,
and not as part of regular services.
-
Racism
is experienced due to a lack of government provision of Translator
Interpreter Services; it is a user pays system. The unwillingness
to pay is problematic in instances where understanding is essential,
such as being in hospital for domestic violence or when in legal
trouble.
-
Refugee
women don't want to be identified as such due to the negative language
used about refugees, and because of the negative stereotype that
has been created in the media. There is a need for increased language
and literacy skills for refugee women to create the space to claim
back their dignity in the media.
What you can
do
Using
the concept of intersectional discrimination, the human rights system
that we have can be transformed because the different types of identities
we all have would then be recognised.
This
simple concept can make such a difference. That's why we need to work
together as advocates to ensure that governments take this concept
seriously and implement policies that can deliver basic human rights
for all women in Australia.
If
one woman doesn't matter, than nobody matters.
What
do we want our governments and United Nations agencies to do?
Women, Racism
and Education
1.
Incorporate Indigenous studies, including Indigenous history, culture
and languages, as a compulsory component of primary and secondary school
curriculum.
2.
Implement different styles of teaching and educating, such as story
telling and the passing down of oral history, into the educational curriculum.
3.
Launch mass educational programs to break down stereotypes and racist
assumptions about Indigenous, immigrant, refugee and asylum-seeker peoples.
4.
Train educational professionals, such as teachers and university professors,
in cross-cultural sensitivity and issues as part of their teaching qualifications.
And ensure that academics involved in research into cultures other than
their own undertake cultural awareness training and employ participatory
action research methodologies.
5.
Recognise prior educational qualifications of refugee and migrant peoples
and grant them similar qualifications in their adopted country.
6.
Require school principals and teachers to develop programs that encourage
their students to express issues about racism through drama, artwork,
and other mediums.
Women Racism
and the Economy
7.
Legislate to protect immigrant, refugee and asylum-seeker women in informal
employment, including home-working or outworking, domestic work, and
the sex industry to prioritise their human rights, and undertake an
awareness-raising program working with community organisations, ethnic
communities and unions to ensure that these women know how to protect
their rights.
8.
Recognise the special employment needs of refugee and immigrant women
and design special programs offering skills training and orientation
with the local job market and economic culture. These programs should
be conducted both in English and the language of origin. Further, their
skills and qualifications must be recognised and accredited for easier
access to employment opportunities, and ensure recognition of previous
experience.
9.
Design a specialised, temporary benefit for refugee and migrant women
who are in need to aid them in making the transition to a new life in
their host country.
Women, Racism
and Poverty
10.
Ensure that Indigenous communities are consulted about housing assistance
and welfare schemes and that they approve the architecture and policies
for allocated Indigenous public housing. The extended familial relationships
of these families also needs to be considered in social security benefits
and public housing guidelines need to be flexible, especially to accommodate
those who are sheltering homeless relatives.
11.
Ensure that newly-arrived immigrants and refugees are placed in culturally
appropriate public housing in communities where comprehensive anti-racism
public education programs have been undertaken.
Stolen Generations
12.
Endorse the recommendations of the HREOC Bringing them Home report,
which include an apology and acknowledgment of past atrocities.
13.
Investigate and implement alternative strategies for resolving compensation
issues for members of the Stolen Generations other than through the
court system; starting by establishing the National Compensation Fund
recommended under the HREOC Inquiry.
Women,
Racism and Human Rights
14.
Create, maintain, and further resource legal aid services, and ensure
their accessibility to vulnerable women.
15.
Develop community legal education campaigns about rights; translate
them into community languages, and distribute them where women are likely
to find the information (for example, doctors' offices, local councils).
16.
Repeal all discriminatory legislation, such as Western Australia's mandatory
sentencing laws.
Women, Racism
and Institutions
17.
Australian government and the relevant United Nations bodies protect
the rights of Indigenous, immigrant, refugee and asylum-seeker women
to act and speak for themselves by providing funding and resources for
training, support and access to the relevant places - such as the various
United Nations human rights treaties - to the women themselves and to
the non-government organisations committed to their self-determination.
18.
Provide adequate resources for meaningful participation that prioritises
women's participation in decision-making around issues that affect them.
19.
Review government and United Nations structures to assess the most effective
and representative way that Indigenous, immigrant, refugee and asylum-seeker
women can participate meaningfully in them.
20.
Employ Indigenous, immigrant, refugee and asylum-seeker women in the
service and community organisations that service and resource to these
groups.
21.
Develop 'Best practice' models for service providers, which include
the translation of health and service information into community languages,
and mandate the use of interpreters.
1.
The United Nations, in its preparations for the World Conference Against
Racism defines 'intersectionality' as seeking 'to capture both the structural
and dynamic consequences of the interaction between two or more forms
of discrimination or systems of subordination - from the proceedings
of the UN Expert Group Meeting on Gender and Race Discrimination held
in Zagreb, Croatia, November 21-24, 2000.
2.
'The formal equality discourse in the human rights field tends to isolate
racism from sexism and other forms of discrimination,' Asia Pacific
Forum on Women, Law and Development, Intersectionality of Race and Gender
in the Asia-Pacific, paper prepared for the Asia Regional Preparatory
Meeting, February 2001.
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