Circumcising young girls is child abuse: Goward

Paul Tatnell, SMH.com.au | A former commonwealth sex discrimination commissioner has called for the prosecution of any Australian involved in the circumcision of young girls, saying the procedure is another form of child abuse.

... Although illegal in Australia, female circumcision is common among some African, Asian and Middle Eastern communities but has been known to leave some young girls scarred for life when not carried out in proper clinical facilities.

Ms Goward said that instead of softening our approach, authorities should begin prosecuting any family who carries out the procedure on its daughter.

Sexually transmitted disease rates skyrocketing

28/05 SMH.com.au | Venereal disease among young Australians has skyrocketed, prompting a warning from health officials that HIV infection rates could also rise. The number of chlamydia cases doubled to 60,000 over the four years to 2008, federal government figures reveal.

People aged between 20 and 29 are the group at highest risk.

Professor Michael Kidd, who chaired a ministerial advisory group on sexual disease strategies, says the higher infection rates mean young people are ignoring the government's safe-sex ad campaign. The surge in risky lifestyle, he said, could also result in an increase in HIV (human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS).

... "Of the slightly more than $100 billion that we spend on as a nation on health every year ... around two per cent is spent on stopping people getting sick in the first place."

Men who have sex with other men remain the highest risk group for contracting HIV, which Mr Butler said is now a "chronic disease".

The launch follows accusations that 32-year-old circus acrobat Godfrey Zaburoni may have knowingly spread HIV by having unprotected sex with hundreds of potential partners.

Cruel, brutal and barbaric

The Daily Telegraph Editorial | THE practice of female genital mutilation, or FGM, is utterly barbaric. It is cruel, brutal and shockingly perverse.

It is essentially a combination of torture, due to the enormous levels of pain sometimes involved, and enslavement, in that females are denied sexual pleasure.

There is no defending FGM. This isn't an issue of mere cultural difference, where a happy middle ground may be found. FGM is simply, empirically, totally wrong.

So too would be any accommodation of FGM, however slight, by Australian medical authorities who seek a compromise with those of certain faiths and beliefs.

It isn't so much that even the smallest form of mutilation might lead to wider acceptance of this practice, but that there is no such thing as minor or "ritual" genital mutilation. It's all bad.

Doctors consider introduction 'ritual nick' procedure on baby girls

Herald Sun | AUSTRALIAN doctors are considering backing the introduction of controversial "ritual nick" procedures on baby girls in a bid to wipe out female circumcision in migrant communities. But the move has outraged some women's groups and health professionals, who say ritual nicks entrench the abuse of baby girls

Push to let Australian doctors mutilate genitals of baby girls

Padraic Murphy and Kate Sikora, The Daily Telegraph | AUSTRALIAN doctors are considering a controversial form of genital mutilation on baby girls.

The practice involving cutting a girl's genitals, sometimes with razors or pieces of glass, could be allowed in a clinical setting to stem illegal backyard procedures which are leaving young girls scarred for life.

The Royal Australian New Zealand College of Obstetricians will next month discuss backing "ritual nicks", a modified form of genital mutilation. But experts are divided on whether to allow the practice, given that in some cultures it is used to remove the sexual feelings of women.

Park to pay for Muslim group's ban

West Australian | An Islamic woman has won $16,000 in compensation and a written apology after she and her friends were refused permission to go on water rides at Perth's Adventure World because of their religious clothing.

Pakeeza Shaikh won the money this month following a year-long court battle after her group was told they could not go on water rides because of inappropriate swimwear.

Ms Shaikh complained in a private conciliation at the Equal Opportunity Commission that the group had suffered discrimination, and had been humiliated about covering up their bodies in line with their religious beliefs.

The parties could not comment yesterday because of a confidentiality agreement, but it is understood the money has been divided between the five Islamic families visiting the park as a group in February last year. It is understood they had rejected earlier offers of financial compensation until a written apology was included.

Ms Shaikh told _The West Australian _last year the women in the group were told they were not allowed on the water slides because their three-quarter length pants and their long shirts were inappropriate.

She said they were told if they were to enter the water, chlorine levels would have to be raised to counter the unhygienic effect from their clothes.

They were told their clothing could cause injury because it could get caught in the joints of the water slides. One woman in a head scarf was told to leave the baby pool.

The group had asked to see the rules that proved their swimwear did not meet the park's standards. Management could not produce such a document and there were no signs to indicate the swimwear was inappropriate.

The Islamic Council of WA has applauded the result as a victory for common sense.

Director Justin Sisely auctions off Aussie virginities

In a new low in reality-TV, the debauched deal is the brainchild of a Melbourne film-maker who plans to turn it into a documentary.

Justin Sisely has spent more than a year recruiting male and female virgins willing to auction themselves on camera.

However, he faces being charged with prostitution if he goes ahead with the deal on Australian soil.

Speaking for the first time since selecting his subjects, Sisely said yesterday that he now planned a face-to-face auction in the US state of Nevada - home to "sin city" Las Vegas - with bidders in the same room as those auctioning off their virginity.

Historians slam new national modern history curriculum

Herald Sun | HISTORIANS say the new national modern history curriculum for schools reads like a Marxist manifesto that ignores popular aspects of our past and neglects Australia's role in world politics and war.

The course, designed for years 11 and 12, is heavily focused on revolutionary struggles, colonial oppression and women's struggle for equality.

It neglects Australia's British roots and institutions and its military history, with no mention of Gallipoli, Tobruk or Kokoda, the experts say.

The draft lists World War I as a potential case study in "investigating modern history".

It lists "controversies surrounding ... memorial sites and commemorative events" as an area of study but does not mention Gallipoli or the battle of Fromelle

NEW CURRICULUM A CASE OF OLD ‘SOLIDARITY FOREVER’

Senator Ron Boswell - March 2010 archives | “Julia Gillard’s new curriculum reads like a learner manual for international socialism,” said The Nationals’ Senator Ron Boswell today.
 
“This curriculum is an intrinsically socialist document that if implemented would indoctrinate Australian children with the socialist left view of science, the environment and history.”
 
“It may be Julia Gillard’s view of the world but it is not an objective 21st Century approach to the education of children in a progressive Western society.”

“The new curriculum reeks of socialist doctrine.”

Training tomorrow's leaders

There is a great need in this nation to assist those students and recent graduates who demonstrate a high potential to become influential leaders for Christ across strategic areas of our nation including politics, law, media, science, education, arts and philosophy.
The Compass program, an eight-day course in Christian worldview, aims to address this need.

The inaugural program kicks off this Sunday with 40 students at the University of Queensland. For more information and to register interest for 2009, please go to www.compass.org.au .

Lyle Shelton
National Chief of Staff , Australian Christian Lobby