Women on the Line

In this week's episode, we are joined by Salua El Omari an activist and psychologist originally from the Rif in northern Morocco, working and living in Andalucia, Spain. She joins us to discuss the socio-/geo- political situation in the Rif region particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic and the largest social movement the Hirak Rif. Further, Salua tells us about the importance of matriarchal line...

This week we hear from two women holding state institutions accountable and using their platforms to bring issues such as structural racism and state violence to the forefront. Alison Whittaker looks at coronial inquests and whether they can be sites of justice, and Abiola Ajetomobi discusses her migration story, support networks and how to be a better ally. GuestsAbiola Ajetomobi is the director...

This week we hear from two activists involved in the Homes not Prisons campaign, Amy and Karen, interviewed by Carly Baque on Thursday Breakfast. The campaign initiated by the advocacy service for criminalised women in Victoria, Flat Out, aims to stop the $188.9 million expansion of Dame Phyllis Frost women's prison in Melbourne's west and invest in public housing.  We hear Amy tell her story of t...

 This week on the program we hear an interview with Professor Lyndall Ryan, a leading historian of the Australian colonial frontier. Lyndall spoke with Marisa Sposaro, presenter and producer of 3CR Community Radio’s Doin Time show, about the Frontier Wars, the process of uncovering evidence of massacres of Aboriginal people, and a digital Colonial Frontier Massacres map covering the period from 17...

This week's episode of Women on the Line features two important discussions about the everyday operation and effects of racism on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. First, we hear from Kerry Klimm, a Kuku Yalanji and Koko Lama Lama woman living in Meanjin, who speaks about being subject to - and fighting - institutional racism while working in the not-for-profit sector, and the lasting...

 This week Eugenia Flynn and Tasnim Sammak join us to explore the shared reality of erasure and history of struggle against settler-colonialism, genocide and oppression between Blak Australia and Palestine. Within that struggle emerges a shared decolonial solidarity between Palestinian and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples where Tasnim and Eugenia talk about a need to move beyond 'reci...

We hear an interview with Wage Peace anti-war protestor Margaret Pestorius, who attempted a citizen's arrest on former defense minister, Christopher Pyne, as part of the Disrupt Land Forces protests in Brisbane at the start of June. Afterwards, we hear excerpts from Dreaming Disability Justice, an online event hosted by the Disability Justice Network and the Emerging Writers Festival, featuring Va...

We feature two different discussions around spaces at the margins. First, we hear from Gala Vanting speaking on the Emerging Writers' Festival and The Intro Room's event, Sex work in Space, who speaks about her practices, sex worker advocacy and community. Please support and share Scarlet Alliance's emergency support fundraiser for sex workers needing material support, especially in light of a rec...

We need your support to keep Women on the Line on radical 3CR community radio going for another year! Donate via our crowdraiser, or via the 3CR Donate page and mention us. We hear excerpts and discussions around previous shows: Disrupt arms deals | BDS, solidarity with Palestine, Skateboarding, Consent and Inclusivity, Justice for Mhelody Polan Bruno, and from a special former presenter, Hope!   

2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, and 26 May was the 24th anniversary of the Bringing Them Home report, yet state violence against First Nations people in so-called Australia continues unabated. This show links together specific concerns about draconian bail laws in Victoria with broader impacts of state actions on Aboriginal women and famil...

In the midst of human-caused atrocities by arms manufacturers, we air discussions of resistance and solidarity with lands being exploited and warred upon for profit from so-called Australia to West Papua, Palestine, and beyond. In this show, we are joined by two human and earth rights defenders. We first hear from Zelda Grimshaw who works with Make West Papua Safe and is a co-organiser of Disrupt...

This week we feature the struggle by the Palestinian people against the occupying Israeli settler colony and the struggle against mandatory detention of asylum seekers. We hear first from Palestinian, educator, activist and writer Noura Mansour on the Nakba, the escalating violence by Israel, including in Sheikh Jarrah, and the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. Later in the program, we hear...

This week on the program we look at proposed changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, including “independent assessments,” which if implemented would require people with disabilities to see medical assessors they do not know for a one off, non-appealable appointment which would determine whether they are able to access the scheme and if so, what support they can receive. We hear from A...

On today's episode, we're joined by Dr Indigo Willing and Emily Kafoa to talk about how skateboarders are shifting the conversation on consent, anti-racism and inclusivity. Indigo and Emily take us through how women and gender diverse skaters have been working to transform the scene, covering topics including community accountability, creating safe spaces, and fostering representation and diversit...

On today’s show, we discuss the proposed changes to the National Insurance Disability Scheme as well as the broader political context surrounding the restructuring of the NDIS. Afterwards, we discuss the eugenic underpinnings of disability framing and 'governance' in the West - with a focus on imperial hygiene in colonial Australia. To discuss these issues we are joined by Dr Shakira Hussein who i...

In Melbourne on April 6th, Filipino, Trans, and Asian communities held a vigil and protest for Mhelody Polan Bruno, a 25 year old Filipina trans woman who was killed in Wagga Wagga in 2019, following the failures of the criminal legal system in the former RAAF man's sentencing. We hear from Anakbayan Melbourne MC Alexia, Gabriela Australia's Ness Gavanzo, Tita Marilou reading a poem by Dawn Iris D...

This week on the program we hear an interview with Veronica Gorrie, a Gunai/Kurnai woman who lives and writes in Victoria. Veronica speaks about her debut book Black and Blue, a memoir of her childhood and the decade she spent in the police force, in conversation with 3CR Community Radio broadcaster Priya Kunjan. More information about Black and Blue can be found here: https://scribepublications.c...

In any given year, hundreds of kids languish behind bars. In Australia, the minimum age of criminal responsibility is 10. In other words, a 4th grader can be arrested and brought before the court. Canberra is the only jurisdiction that has taken steps to raise the age. This week on Women on The Line, Raise The Age campaigner and solicitor, Sophie Trevitt, explains why locking up kids is not only “...

On today's special International Women's Day show, we hear from Jay, a staunch victim-survivor of police-perpetrated domestic violence who is fighting for a safer world. Jay speaks to us about her personal journey, her attempts to hold her abuser accountable, and her public and political campaign to draw attention to the plight of the victims of police-family-violence offenders in Australia, lobby...

This week on the program we pay a visit to the South East Asia Queer Cultural Festival (SEACQF), running completely online from February 13 to March 13.SEACQF has been put together to bridge the gap between activism and art, and to assert local, anti-colonial LGBTIQ+ identities in the region at a time when many LGBTIQ+ communities in South East Asia are facing increased repression. We travel to th...

This week we question the punitive nature of fines. We have fines under council laws for parking to public transport tickets to corporate toll road fines to now public health fines during the pandemic. Governments here in so called Australia and internationally are turning more and more to fines despite concerns they increase inequality. We hear from community lawyer at West Justice Shifrah Bluste...

Designer and researcher Jo Szczepanska looks at what happens when marginalised communities seek legal help online. Later in the episode cohealth's community engagement coordinator, Jasmine Phillips discusses the lessons learned during the pandemic and how we can apply those lessons to the vaccine rollout.

This week we hear from Isabelle Oderberg, journalist, writer and non-profit communications specialist, about her upcoming book Hard To Bear, which is an investigation of how Australia manages early pregnancy loss. We also discuss the silence around miscarriage, the quality of education around pregnancy loss and its causes, and the links between climate change and pregnancy loss. You can read more...

On this week's show, senior academic Kathomi Gatwiri looks at racial microaggressions at work. Her study Racial Microaggressions at Work: Reflections from Black African Professionals in Australia is the focus of our interview. We also hear Senator Lidia Thorpe's Invasion Day Rally Melbourne 2021 organised by Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance. Read the full report here or a summary here. Produc...

This week we hear from Arika Waulu, a Gunai, Gunditjmara and Djapwurrung sovereign, community activator, and member of the LGBTQ community. They talk about the politics of home in the pandemic, including the impacts of restrictions, and the politics of First Nation regeneration, with the Wuurn of Kanak landback initiative setting up a base for revival. They also speak about 'LANDBACK FEST: Cultiva...