ST PAT’S LONGER SUPPORT FOR WOMEN

 

A very important message from the St Patrick’s Community Support Centre:

It’s with a mix of optimism and gratitude that we announce that St. Pat’s Sisters’ Place will be transitioning from a short-term accommodation option to a medium-term service for women.

This decision was made in response to the growing need for medium term accommodation for women in the Fremantle area.

In the new service, women will be able to stay in the accommodation for up to 12 months, working with case workers to get their lives back on track.

Emergency, short-term accommodation will be continued to be offered by St. Pat’s Street To Home and Emergency Relief programs.

As Sisters’ Place transitions into its new role, we’d like to thank all the volunteers who have so faithfullly served the community over the last seven years. From all of us here at St. Pat’s, thank you.

EQUALITY IS RESPECT FOR WOMEN

 

It is International Women’s Day today, so a good opportunity to celebrate all the great and strong women all over the world.

In Fremantle we are lucky to be represented in State Parliament by Simone McGurk and Lyn McLaren, and we have three female Councillors in Hannah Fitzhardinge, Ingrid Waltham and Rachel Pemberton.

W.A very first female Senator Dorothy Tangny is recognised in a mural at the Norfolk Hotel.

Notre Dame University is also lead by a female Vice Chancellor Celia Hammond and the Fremantle Chamber of Commerce CEO is Olwyn Williams.

There is an abundance of wonderful, strong women in Fremantle who are community leaders in their own right.

Equality remains a dream unfortunately when women still get paid less than men and the top positions in Australia are predominantly occupied by men. That needs to change!

I am not a fan of quotas though because I believe women can make it on their own merit. Quotas are a bit of tokenism to make political parties, or governments look good.

I do recognise however that it is difficult for women to climb the corporate and political ladders when the majority of decision-makers are men.

Today is a day for women to celebrate their achievements and for men to contemplate why women are still not treated the same in 2017 and why there is still so much domestic violence against women.

We need to do a whole lot better and that starts with one simple word. RESPECT!

Roel Loopers

FREMANTLE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

It is International Women’s Day on Wednesday and the City of Fremantle celebrates it with author Mihaela Nicolescu who will be sharing emotionally charged encounters into women living on the edge.

It is on at the Fremantle Library from 6-7.30 pm on March 8.

Roel Loopers

STAND UP AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE!

 

Domestic violence against women dramatically increased in Australia this year and that is unacceptable, so everyone needs to be aware of it and help change this around.

There are absolutely no excuses for men to assault women. It does not matter if you are drunk, drugged or just in a bad mood, women deserve respect and have the right to feel safe at home.

This Friday is WHITE RIBBON DAY where we are reminded of the senseless violence against women, the mothers of our children, our sisters, aunties, friends and as a community we need to speak out and help protect those who get beaten up. The silence around domestic violence has to stop!

Beating up a woman is not a silly mistake that one regrets the next day but it is a violent crime for which there are no excuses whatsoever and ever!

Come to Kings Square on Friday November 25 between 8-12 am, where there will be guest speakers, live entertainment, free legal advise and stalls.

Show solidarity with women who get abused by their partners. It needs to stop NOW!

Roel Loopers

STUNNING WILD SILK SCARVES BY IAN DE SOUZA

 

 

 

Always creative and innovative Fremantle artist Ian de Souza has added a new range to his artwork with the introduction of WILD SILK, a stunning collection of colourful and exquisite “silk crepe de chine shawl scarves” depicting Western Australian wildflowers.

They are available on-line so check out http://www.wildsilk.com.au and order your Christmas presents of the limited editions early! They are also available from today at the FOUND shop in the Fremantle Arts Centre.

Roel Loopers

LABOR WANTS TO KEEP BEACONSFIELD SEAT

The Labor party is trying to hold on to the Fremantle Council seat of Beaconsfield that has become available now that former Deputy Mayor Josh Wilson resigned to contest the Federal seat of Fremantle. Hannah Fitzhardinge, a former advisor to WA Premier Geoff Gallop has put her hand up to sit next to Labor’s Councillor Dave Hume.

The by-election will be held probably in September at a date yet to be announced by the Electoral Commission.

Fitzhardinge told the Fremantle Herald that Fremantle Council does not have gender balance, which also applies to most local councils and State and Federal governments, and that she wants better pedestrian safety on South Terrace with mural gardens and street beautification. That process is already well under way of course and was only recently addressed by a large South Fremantle Precinct meeting.

Hannah Fitzharding also wants  the relocation of a State department to Freo and attract more State funding, which has been the aim of the City of Fremantle for years.

I am all for more women in power positions everywhere but the gender balance stuff does not cut it for me as I fear it can become tokenism. I believe Hannah can easily win this on her own merits and the voter participation will be very low. She would no doubt be a great addition to Ingrid Waltham and Rachel Pemberton and Fremantle Council, so I wish her the best of luck!

Roel Loopers

WOMEN HAVE A RIGHT TO EQUALITY!

 

It is INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY today, so here a small tribute to all women around the world, especially those who still have to fight for basic rights and equality. It is also a tribute to my very strong mother Annie and my equally strong sisters Marja, Bep and Anita.

I was amazed to learn last night on Q&A on ABC TV that women and girls in Australia still earn substantially less than men, even at executive levels where men on average receive $ 100,000 a year more than women in similar positions. It was also a surprised to learn that often girls receive less pocket money from their parents than their brothers do.

It’s time to let go off gender discrimination as it is ridiculous. Women rock!

 

Roel Loopers

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY ON THE BEACH

Is a beach photo still a so-called street photo? Henry Cartier-Bresson is no longer around to make a judgment call, so I just claim it is.

Shot at Bathers Beach, Fremantle today.

Roel Loopers

SILENCE IS NOT GOLDEN. IT’S LEAD

The thing that disturbs me most with the Rolf Harris case is the silence, the fact that no one stood up and spoke out in public, while Harris was known for many years as the octopus, the one who groped and could not leave women alone, even in public in radio and TV stations. How could this happen? Why did those prominent people not reveal what was going on, to protect other women and girls from the pervert?

Why do people remain silent when they are abused, or witness abuse? Why is it considered un-Australian to dob someone in, someone who has blatantly broken the law. Isn’t it our civic duty to expose those who do wrong, to protect our community?

When I lived in Germany I was amazed that so many people claimed they had not known what happened to the millions of Jews and other people who were killed in concentration camps. Did they not ever ask what happened to their neighbours who were rounded up and taken away? Were they never curious or concerned? Did they care?

Years ago ABC presenter Susan Maushart said she had asked her female friends about abuse and eight out of ten had told her they had been or were in an abusive relationship. Should we sit back and just accept that or should we scream and yell and confront the cowardly bastards who believe women are fair game? Should we not be alert and question when we see very unhappy children avoiding certain family members, and should we not more often directly ask them if something is wrong? Time and time again we hear in the media when abuse cases are revealed, that people suspected something was not right but they did not want to interfere, and that is wrong. We can’t wait till it’s too late. We have a duty of care, especially to children.

We don’t dob in Australia. It’s just not us. We think that silence is golden, when in fact it is lead, because it let’s people and our whole community down. We can’t hope for the governments and police to do it all for us. They can’t do it without us. Be brave and stand up and don’t wait for other people to do it first, because it might never happen and more people will get badly hurt.

Roel Loopers

ROEL’S FREMANTLE PHOTO TOURS

Bookings: Text 0419 850981. Email: roel.loopers@iinet.net.au