Amnesty International Australia
Defending Human Rights
On Saturday 10 November 2018, Amnesty International launched its Refugee Advisory Group, eight courageous individuals with lived experiences as refugees in Australia, to advise us on our work in this area. Hosted by Deena Yako, member of the advisory group, and Amnesty’s National Refugee Campaigner Shankar Kasynathan, the event celebrated each member’s story. Having overcome …
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Changing the world isn’t about a single, grandiose act, it’s about the unglamorous, day-to-day stuff. Jessie Mawson gives you 10 small things you can do today to make the world a little better for everyone. 1. Spend your consumer dollar wisely Some corporations do bad stuff. And every time we fork over cash, we’re choosing …
Violence and abuse is widespread online, particularly against women. Here are some tips on what you can do if you experience abuse or see someone else experiencing it. 1. Identify abuse Online violence and abuse has become a far too common experience. And women suffer most. Our online poll found that 23 per cent of …
On this day 43 years ago, the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) came into effect. But what is the RDA and why is it important? What is the Racial Discrimination Act? It’s pretty simple, really. The RDA is a law passed in 1975 by the Whitlam government to make sure everyone in Australia was treated equally …
Continue reading “Racial Discrimination Act: the two-minute version”
Myth 1: Everybody is either born male or female People often assume that the world is divided neatly into two groups of people, male and female, and that everyone’s biological and genetic characteristics fit into one of these two categories. But this is not always the case. There are millions of people around the world …
Continue reading “5 myths about being intersex we need to shatter”
Following the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia is in the global spotlight once again. Turkey’s President Erdogan said he believed the death of Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul was a “savage murder”. But Khashoggi’s killing is just the latest in a long line of violations to add to the …
Continue reading “10 things you need to know about Saudi Arabia”
Tep Vanny is a Cambodian human rights defender who spent more than 700 days in prison for her peaceful activism. Her only “crime” was standing up against a luxury tourist construction project which resulted in the forced evictions of thousands of people out of their homes in the Boeung Kak lake area of Phnomh Penh. Now back at …
Continue reading ““We are willing to risk everything to defend our homes and land””
By Sam Hagaman, Communications Coordinator, Amnesty International Australia We’ve all had difficult – and let’s face it, awkward – conversations with people about things we care about. But how do we handle it when someone disagrees with us? In the past, my solution was simple: I’d ‘logic’ them over to my way of thinking. Counter …
Continue reading “How to talk about human rights with anyone”
Reverend John Jegasothy and his family sought safety in Australia, after fleeing Sri Lanka’s civil war. Today he is a community leader in Sydney helping to promote a fair go for refugees. Story as told to Annika Flensburg. Fleeing Sri Lanka When Sri Lanka’s civil war started, I was working as a Superintendent Minister in …
Continue reading “Minister, activist, refugee: John Jegasothy”
Zeinab Sekaanvand was a victim of domestic and sexual violence, arrested as a child, is executed after unfair trial in Iran. This is her story. “Child bride”, “criminal”, “juvenile offender’. These are some of the many labels assigned to Zeinab Sekaanvand during her short life. Sekaanvand, who was executed on 2 October 2018 in Urumieh …
