My initial post regarding the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) can be found here. This post addresses the performance of the AHRC following the departure of former Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick, in September 2015. A further post addresses developments following the commencement of Kate Jenkins replacement, Anna Cody, in September 2023.
There was a considerable delay in appointing a new Sex Discrimination Commissioner by the time Kate Jenkins commenced her role. In the interim several articles on the topic emerged, these penned by feminist journalists with notable anti-male credentials (see here and here).
Sex discrimination commissioner job still vacant as government continues to stall (6 January 2016) This article again implies that the role is purely to advocate for women, and assumes that a women will be selected for the role.
Nothing particularly substantial occurred in relation to gender issues at the Commission during this period of vacuum. That which did occur gave no cause for optimism that the AHRC’s anti-male bias had softened with the departure of Ms Broderick.
This November 2015 article discusses the finalists for the 2015 Human Rights Community Award. Note how many of the finalists worked to advance/protect the rights of men/boys. None it would seem.
This December 2015 speech by Megan Mitchell, Children’s Commissioner, began on a relatively gender-neutral note only to then introduce material which signalled feminist bias:
“Previous studies have also estimated that over 20% of children and young people have witnessed violence against a mother or step mother”
Whilst correct, this omits the important fact that as many kids have seen their mum hit their dad, as have seen their dad hit their mum. This is addressed in the ‘Misinformation’ page of the One in Three organisation’s web site:
“23% of young people between the ages of 12 and 20 years had witnessed an incident of physical violence against their mother/stepmother and 22% against their father/stepfather” (Source)
Further gender bias was reported in the mainstream media on the same day in the following manner:
Children’s Rights Commissioner urges national focus on children affected by domestic violence (7 December 2015)
“The Children’s Rights Report being released today found one in every 28 people had also experienced sexual abuse as a child, while a further 23 per cent of children have witnessed violence against their mother”.
Now back to Megan’s speech, in which she introduced Rosie Batty, Ms Mitchell was also conveniently silent about the fact that most child abuse/neglect/filicide is perpetrated by women. True to feminist form, gender is only relevant or notable when men are the primary perpetrators of harm.
Finally, on 11 February 2016 it was announced that Kate Jenkins had been appointed the new Sex Discrimination Commissioner. I wonder if there were any men amongst the seven people interviewed for the position? Media commentator Andrew Bolt had something to say about the appointment of yet another woman to the role in ‘End this sex discrimination now‘.
“Far more needs to be done to close the gender pay gap in Australia.” (OMG, did she really say that?) Actually Kate, the only thing that needs to be done is that people (read: feminists) should be told to stop misrepresenting it as a tool of patriarchal oppression. A good first step would be reading my blog post.
This article suggests that Kate plans to continue along the sexist path of her predecessor. Feminist high-fives all round.
This page, from within the AHRC’s web site, is aptly entitled ‘About Sex Discrimination’. And it sure is.
The ABC interview that follows was likewise dispiriting as Ms Jenkins said she would first like to get out to “talk to women, families …”. Go on Kate, you can say it … ‘men’ is not a rude word. Men did rate a mention later, but only in the context of more ‘damseling’ (appeal to & then exploit men’s chivalry) to win support for initiatives that further enhance benefits for women.
This was followed by more obligatory feminist parroting in relation to domestic violence (caused by gender inequality, but oops what about lesbian relationships Kate?), and the gender wage gap <facepalm>. Just brimful of fresh ideas.
#ICYMI Watch: Australia’s new Sex Discrimination Commissioner @Kate_Jenkins_ outline her plan for the role #auspol https://t.co/480sShMTuc
— ABC News 24 (@ABCNews24) February 14, 2016
In ‘What should the new sex discrimination commissioner do? Make ‘women’s issues’ everyone’s issues’ the author suggests a #HeForShe approach, because “like it or not, men are making the lion’s share of the decisions in this country“. Not terribly original given Ms. Broderick’s much-trumpeted ‘Champions of Change’ project.
Underlying Lauren’s article is an assumption that either (1) there are no ‘men’s issues’, or (2) men’s issues aren’t significant, or (3) that it’s not the Commissioner’s job to address them.
Sooo let’s get men (who have been told repeatedly to butt out of gender-related discussions) to participate more and get behind making things better for women.
Further evidence of the ongoing gender bias at the AHRC was provided in their submission to the 2016 Federal Inquiry into Domestic Violence and Gender Inequality (refer submission 41). In that submission it was implied that all perpetrators of domestic violence were male, that males faced no negative discrimination or stereotyping, and that all victims of these behaviours or attitudes were female or transgender. There is not one sentence in that submission that suggests that the AHRC considers that men are worthy of any support, sympathy or compassion whatsoever.
Kate commenced duties in April 2016 and duly fronted up to give a presentation at the National Press Club. A flurry of pro-feminist articles followed with no suggestion whatsoever that mens/boys issues would receive one iota of attention from the Commissioner. Oh, but she has plenty of drum-banging planned in relation to the <groan> gender pay gap. Here’s one of those articles:
‘I didn’t imagine we would still need a sex discrimination commissioner in 2016′
I note that the Commission has added some pages to their web site in relation to Family and Domestic Violence, plus links to various articles presenting the feminist perspective on this issue. This page for example provides no corresponding statistics in relation to male victimisation, with its sole reference to that component of DV being the old feminist “overwhelming majority” mantra.
On 3 August 2016 I discovered I had been blocked from Ms Jenkins Twitter account in the absence of any threatening or abusive communication on my part. As both a tax-payer and former public servant I find this action both extraordinary and wholly inappropriate (see this post).
In ‘Australian Bureau of Statistics to discriminate against hiring men‘ (15 September 2016) we learnt that Gillian Triggs has allowed the ABS to hire only female interviewers as “men were more likely to be perpetrators of DV and women were more likely to tell their stories to other women.” Meanwhile they ignore the flip-side that male victims would be more likely to tell their stories to male interviewers – thus perpetuating the statistical erasure of male victimisation.
Please also read the related media release from the ‘One in Three’ organisation, as well as this article from Jasmin Newman.
On 12 October 2016 Kate Jenkins was interviewed about her three top priorities. I wonder how far down the list we would need to go before finding anything in relation to the welfare of men/boys? In fact I wonder if we would find any such item/s anywhere on that list?
The Hunting Ground & the campus rape study
Now in the light of all the preceding evidence, one would hope that the AHRC would consider the most appropriate course of action to be a gradual pulling-back from their position of anti-male bias. But no, they doubled-down instead through their involvement with a project that sought to justify, and to continue, their focus on women’s rights through the feminist lens.
The images above show Kate proudly promoting book sales for misandrist radfem Clementine Ford, and then applauding the screening of much-debunked feminist anti-male hit-piece ‘The Hunting Ground‘ (article/article). What a shame she couldn’t wield her influence to have the ABC screen The Red Pill. The cash injection provided by the team behind ‘The Hunting Ground’ gave rise to an unfortunate perception of bias and conflicted interest.
It was no accident that the promotion of ‘The Hunting Ground’ coincided with the conducting of the campus sexual assault survey, and the subsequent release of the results in July 2017 as discussed in the following articles:
Universities Australia defends $1m donation to ‘independent’ campus rape survey (2 November 2016)
Hardly on the hunt for facts (18 June 2017)
Manufacturing Australia’s next epidemic (26 July 2017) Video. First promote the (debunked) film ‘The Hunting Ground’ then a survey (with self-selected respondents) and now for the hysteria and demands for punitive action. Against … drumroll … men.
Mattress girl saga a warning to unis on sexual assault cases, by Bettina Arndt (29 July 2017)
Advocacy journalism (31 July 2017) Video
No rape crisis on our campuses: Official (2 August 2017)
No rape culture at Australian universities: No Rape Culture at Australian Uni’s: Even Seinfeld Knows AHRC Report is a Joke (4 August 2017) Video featuring Mark Latham
Flawed sexual harassment report undermines the change it seeks (12 August 2017) When even other feminists come out and say this study stinks, you know it’s bad
Restructuring the Australian Defence Forces
Army refuses men, WTF? (12 August 2017) Video
Army studying ‘how women shop’ for recruitment (12 August 2017)
The Royal Australian Human Rights Commission Air Force (2 August 2017)
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a peer review assessment of the human rights records of all 192 UN Member States every five years. Australia’s next review will take place in January 2021. The Commission contributes to Australia’s UPR alongside civil society organisations. Take a look at the ‘fact-sheets’ that the Commission has prepared in relation to various key issues. Let’s start with ‘Gender Equality‘ shall we? Would it surprise you to know that there are no issues related to the welfare of men & boys?
See also:
Kate Jenkins’ plan for her successor as sex discrimination commissioner (10 April 2023) Not one word said regarding things to be done for men/boys. Nothing
Who will be the new Sex Discrimination Commissioner? We should hear any day now. And please not another radfem (2 April 2023)
Taxpayer-funded video for primary school kids that talks about pansexuality is slammed as ‘woke gender ideology’ (28 December 2022)
Alcohol a major problem for women in the workplace: Jenkins (7 September 2022) Whilst Jenkins’ Canberra report confirmed a significant level of harassment *of* men, this article ignores actual and/or potential male victimhood. Why?
A Human Rights Based Approach to Men’s Rights (28 June 2022) Video presentation
Australia embarrassed on world stage over downgrade threat (7 April 2022) If slack in one area of function, then we shouldn’t be surprised if they’re slack in another.
Bettina Arndt: “The great purge rolls on” (3 December 2021)
Open letter to the New Zealand Human Rights Commission – Gender Balancing (wordpress.com) (20 May 2021) Detailed submission to the NZ equivalent of the AHRC, and the extent of pro-fem gender bias present in that agency.
Reappointment of Sex Discrimination Commissioner and Age Discrimination Commissioner (1 April 2021)
Note this page in the Commission’s web site in the Education section, and how ‘Women’s Rights’ is a designated ‘Hot Topic’ whilst men’s/boys rights is excluded. Whilst ‘Homelessness’ is also listed as a hot topic, the gender differences in those afflicted is simply ignored.
Beijing +25 and the future of women’s rights (4 December 2020) Try word-searching this document and see how many times the words ‘men’ and ‘boys’ appears (= zero).
At a session entitled ‘Smashing the Patriarchy!’ at the 2019 National Community Legal Centres Conference, Kate Jenkins served on “a diverse panel of powerful women as they reflect on their own experiences and work. The discussion will include possibilities for collective action, ways to challenge existing systems of power and patriarchy and the rights and experiences of women across Australia. This plenary will provide an opportunity to discuss key issues such as sexual harassment; the fight to de-criminalise abortion; systemic racism and discrimination experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and Muslim women …“
Online abuse against women on Human Rights Council agenda (22 June 2018) No mention regarding harassment of men/boys … that facet of this problem appears to be seen as a non-issue. For some actual stats see my post here.
Face the Facts: Gender Equality 2018 – This web page and linked sources appear to have been written on the assumption that gender equality and women’s rights are synonymous. The rights or issues of men & boys are simply not mentioned.
Unleashing the power of gender equality (November 2017) by Kate Jenkins. Men and boys are essentially missing in action in this document. Word search on the term ‘men’ then scroll through each of the 89 mentions to quickly confirm where the author’s interest (bias) lies.
‘Perverse outcomes’: How Australia is failing sexual harassment victims (18 October 2017) Ms Jenkins is interviewed on the issue of workplace harassment, but appears to avoid any mention of male victimisation/female perpetration. The author, Gay Alcorn, did thankfully at least note some comparative statistics.
It’s not just Hollywood problem: 1 in 4 Australian women have been sexually harassed at work (16 October 2017) Here Kate jumps on the Harvey Weinstein bandwagon. Oh, and wherefore art thou female harassers? For they are mentioned nowhere in this one-sided male hit piece. Hmm, when someone only ever identifies perpetrators of one particular gender, that’s discrimination right?
Financial rewards provided only to women are “smart”, even when part-time and/or low income male workers also retire with low Superannuation balances. Little wonder feminists hate the term “Apex Fallacy”.
This doesn’t happen (6 October 2017)
‘Sex Discrimination Commissioner should get real‘, by Andrew Bolt (1 May 2017) Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott reacts to Kate Jenkins gender quota proposal here, with a related article by Miranda Devine here.
Australian report finds disturbing evidence of gender inequality | Women | The Guardian (8 March 2017) The three letters of ‘men’ appears 67 times in this article by Kate – count how many times it related to actual men (twice). And one of these times merely refuting the claim that there is no International Men’s Day. Oh please! Lame shot! It’s not recognised by the UN, and is ignored by the AHRC and most (if not all) Australian state & federal agencies.
““Some people are adamantly opposed to proactive initiatives to improve gender equality,” Jenkins said. “Other people truly don’t understand this is still problem for Australia.” Clearly many people don’t recognise the widespread bias shown towards men/boys as constituting gender inequality.
Application to conduct a female-only gym (November 2016) This application linked here primarily as it contains links to other earlier determinations regarding the issue of gender segregation.
A positive development at the New Zealand Human Rights Commission (24 March 2016) Seeing this I thought perhaps in that organisation that men’s rights were seen as important too. But after seeing this item, maybe they are little different from the AHRC in this regard.
Here’s a project that Kate Jenkins could tackle. It concerns the lack of ‘Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Men’ (6 March 2016)
A separate post that addresses the issue of me being blocked from accessing Ms Jenkins Twitter stream can be found here)