Features
“Women survivors are at the forefront of highlighting and addressing abuse by clergy. Their efforts come at a cost. However, when abuse disclosures are met with empathy and constructive action, healing can take place — for the Church, as well as for those directly affected,” says The Rev’d Dr Miryam Clough
Justice & Advocacy
“Jan’s grief around her marriage ‘being broken’ and her beliefs that she had ‘betrayed’ her marriage vows and ‘broken her promises’ to God were profoundly influential in her initial inability to accept the priest’s help offered to her. These beliefs were grounded in what some parts of the Church espoused regarding the role of the Church, the Bible, the ‘sanctity of marriage’ and family,” says The Ven. Dr Lucy Morris, Chair of the ACSQ’s Domestic and Family Violence Working Group
“It can sometimes seem as if we are becoming desensitised to domestic murders given the sheer regularity of news stories covering such atrocities. But the February 2020 murder of Hannah Clarke and her three children in Brisbane sent shockwaves throughout the Australian community,” says ACSQ DFV Project Officer Jenny Clark
May is Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month in Queensland. Several ACSQ clergy and lay leaders recently completed a free self-paced online Ridley College course on domestic and family violence education and effective responding. Three participants share their course reflections, including Bishop Cam Venables, Carole Danby and Jenny Clark
“Anglicans in Development (AID), part of the Anglican Board of Mission, has worked closely with the Ahli Arab Hospital for many years, chiefly in supporting its outreach to improve the health and future of underweight babies in Gaza. More recently, AID has begun supporting a new initiative that combines child nutrition services with educating mothers about nutrition,” says Dr Julianne Stewart
“The idea of having a red bench at the Cathedral began when Betty Taylor, founder of the Red Rose Foundation, was a guest speaker at a Mothers Union gathering in 2021. The Red Rose Foundation works to eliminate domestic and family violence related deaths,” says Secretary of St John’s Cathedral Mothers Union, Glynis Jenkins
The ACSQ’s Domestic and Family Violence Working Group has welcomed the first round of legislative reforms to strengthen Queensland’s response to coercive control, which were introduced into Parliament on Friday
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