Dr Kate Ahmad, a Sydney Neurologist and leading member of Doctor’s Against Violence Towards Women, has been incensed by the lack of response from Federal Parliament to allegations of rape and a sexist culture, that keeps women out of politics. Like all of us, she has her moments when rage gives way to despair, but this week she took the time to write to Crikey with her suggestions for action. Amongst these, she includes joining the Women’s March for Justice on March 15 and signing the petition, which now sports 70,000+ signatures. This petition joined calls for an independent inquiry into the suitability of Christian Porter for the role of Attorney General and into the sexist culture in Canberra. This week the campaign met with partial success with the announcement that Kate Jenkins, the sex discrimination commissioner, has been tasked with running an inquiry into the culture of Federal Parliament.
In the wake of the Crikey article, Dr Ahmad has been inundated with messages from women telling her their stories of sexual assault, rape and threats, which shows yet again how pervasive but hidden this problem is. And yet again, her Crikey article met with intelligent, highly considered and empathetic commentary from a man, who sees the whole problem as uninteresting and persecutory towards men. I will leave you with his comment below.
