The Pamela Denoon Lecture

Pamela Denoon Lecture 2012

­­ SEX, WOMEN AND THE 21^ST CENTURY IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA

 

 

DAME CAROL KIDU

Thursday March 8 (International Women’s Day)

6.30pm or 8pm (tbc)

Venue: Manning Clarke Lecture Hall 2, Australian National University.

 

 

 

 

 

Pregnancy is the greatest killer of teenage girls in the world.  Girls in Papua New Guinea (PNG) are particularly vulnerable as hospital births are rare. Yet contraception is generally difficult to obtain, especially for unmarried women. Meanwhile, violence against women, including sexual violence, is endemic.  Extremely restrictive abortion laws (including a ban on abortion in cases of rape and incest) ensure that young women die regularly from unsafe abortion. Sexually transmitted infections are prevalent with HIV rates increasing steadily.  PNG is a devout nation with many denominations.  Christianity is an integral part of PNG culture and strongly influences the reproductive health services available to women.

What has worked to improve the health of some women? What are we exploring to help more women in PNG?

Dame Carol Kidu is the only current female member of the Papua New Guinea Parliament.   She was born in Queensland and met her PNG husband, the late PNG Chief Justice Sir Buri Kidu, at a school camp.  She has spent her adult life in PNG and worked as a teacher before embarking on a political career.  Dame Carol won the Port Moresby South Constituency in 1997 and has focused her efforts on supporting women in the community. 

 

Contact:

E pameladenoonlecture@hotmail.com  T 0457 206 887

 

2011 Pamela Denoon Lecture

Sleeping Dragon: The Unfinished Business of Abortion Law Reform in Australia

Presented by

The Australian

National University

 

Monday 7 March 2011 8pm – 9pm, followed by light refreshments

2011 Pamela Denoon Lecture Dr Leslie Cannold, Adjunct Fellow, School of Philosophy, Anthropology and Social Inquiry, University of Melbourne

Manning Clark Lecture Theatre 3 Union Court ANU

A 19 year-old Cairns woman and her 20 year–old partner are charged with procuring an abortion and hauled into court. This did not take place in the 19th century when the laws were framed. The couple were tried in late 2010. In this lecture, Dr Leslie Cannold will argue that abortion law reform in Australia is unfinished business. Only in the ACT and Victoria is abortion not a crime. She will discuss why abortion is still a fundamental issue for women and how we can - and must – campaign for change.

Dr Cannold is an author, commentator, ethicist and activist. She is an adjunct Fellow at the School of Philosophy, Anthropology and Social Inquiry at the University of Melbourne and senior lecturer at the Monash Institute of Health Services Research. She is President of Reproductive Choice Australia, a national coalition of pro-choice organisations that played a key role in removing the effective ban on the abortion drug RU486. Dr Cannold is also President of Pro Choice Victoria which was instrumental in the decriminalisation of abortion in Victoria in 2008. Her books include The Abortion Myth and What, No Baby? She has a chapter on abortion in The Australian Book of Atheism (Scribe 2010) and her first novel, The Book of Rachael, will be published by Text in April 2011.

 

 

 

Enquiries

E pameladenoonlecture@hotmail.com T 0457 206 887

Entry is by donation. For more information and a copy of the lecture

transcript visit www.pameladenoonlecture.net

For information about the ANU Public Lecture Series please visit

www.anu.edu.au/publiclectures

 

RSVPs can also be sent through our Facebook account.

Like us? Join us on Facebook Pamela Denoon Lecture