Pregnancy Choices Training

This course books out VERY quickly: If you are in South Australia and want to attend here is the information.

Pregnancy Choices Training

This popular course is being offered again!

18th & 19th June 2009

Registration open now!
(applications close 5th June 2009)

Offered over two days
9.00 – 5.00


This course defines and explains all the options available to women experiencing an unplanned pregnancy. It is open to any health workers and professionals who encounter clients with unplanned pregnancy.

Day One will focus on information provision by experienced workers from the women’s reproductive health sector. The focus of Day Two will be resources & supports and application to practice. Counselling responses will also be addressed, however the purpose of the course is not teaching counselling skills.


Cost:
$110 (inc GST) for two day registration
(NOTE: Lunch not provided)

Held at SHine SA
GP Plus Health Care Centre
64c Woodville Road, Woodville
(car parking access off Bower Street)


Enquiries: Course Administrator, tel 8300 5317 or SHineSACourses@health.sa.gov.au

Registration Forms available from http://www.shinesa.org.au/ Click on ‘Courses & Workshops’

Pope Benidect speaks out against condom use!!

The following is taken from Medical News Today

Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday while heading to Yaounde, Cameroon, as part of a seven-day pilgrimage to Africa said that distributing condoms is not the answer to curbing the spread of HIV on the continent, the AP/Washington Post reports. "You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms," Benedict said, adding, "On the contrary, it increases the problem" (Simpson, AP/Washington Post, 3/18). According to Benedict, addressing HIV/AIDS will require a "two-fold" solution. He said, "The first is a humanization of sexuality, spiritual renewal which brings with it a new way of behaving ... secondly, a true friendship, especially for those who are suffering, a willingness to make personal sacrifices" (Ward, Toronto Star, 3/18).

What do you think? wheres the harm?

Certainly humanising sexuality sounds good. True friendship and making personal sacrifices sounds right. Soooo here is my question. WHY CANT THE POPE MAKE A PERSONAL SACRIFICE AND SUGGEST THAT CONDOMS CAN BE PART OF THE SOLUTION?

Go here to read more

Some funny advertisements from the Just Say Dont Know website

Go here to see more.

sexting

Some studies have identified that over 20% of highschool students have sent nude or semi nude txt photos/films of themselves.

Here is a pretty good youtube video re possibile negative outcomes of sexting:




"It’s OK to be flirty and feel sexy, but sexting isn’t harmless fun. You have no control over what happens to those pics—or your reputation—when sexting.

This came from the sexetc blog

In support of previous posting re Female Sexual Dysfunction

Here is an article taken from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29486082/

Sex patch for women fails to boost desire
Review also questions long-term safety of testosterone treatment

LONDON - Procter & Gamble's Intrinsa testosterone patches appear to not do much to boost a woman's sex drive after menopause and their long-term safety is unclear, a review found on Tuesday.

Intrinsa is licensed for use in Europe but not in the United States where, in 2004, regulators voted against approving the patches that deliver the male hormone, citing lack of evidence for their long-term safety.

"The published evidence so far is based on highly selected women and only shows small improvements in sexual parameters and large placebo responses," Ike Iheanacho, editor of the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, which published the review of published studies.

go here to read more

Protecting Human Rights

This attachment was sent to me vias email:

"HAVE YOUR SAY"

Do you have ideas about how things could be better for young people in Australia?
In the first half of 2009 the Australian Government is running a National Human Rights Consultation. This is a great chance for you to have your say about how you think human rights should be protected in your country!

The Australian Human Rights Commission, the CREATE Foundation and the Youth Affairs Council of South Australia want to make sure young people’s voices are heard loud and clear during the national consultation process.So, we’re inviting young people (12-25 years) to come to a workshop where you can meet Catherine Branson (the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission), learn more about young people’s human rights and write your own submission to the national consultation. It’s quick and easy! And you don’t have to be an expert…just come and share your ideas.

WHERE: 220 Victoria Square, Tarndanyangga, Adelaide
WHEN: Wednesday 15 April 2009 (during school holidays)
TIME: 2pm – 4pm (snacks will be provided)
RSVP: By 9 April to catherine.maywald@humanrights.gov.au or call (02) 9284 9699

Female Sexual Dysfunction

This is a great article that describes the use of using our media made fear of sexuality as a money making enterprise.

Female Sexual Dysfunction: A Case Study of Disease Mongering and Activist Resistance
by Leonore Tiefer:2006

The creation and promotion of“female sexual dysfunction”(FSD) is a textbook case of disease mongering by thepharmaceutical industry and by other agents of medicalization, such as health and science journalists, healthcare professionals, public relations andadvertising firms, contract research organizations, and others in the“medicalization industry.”

Go here to read more

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/archive/1549-1676/3/4/pdf/10.1371_journal.pmed.0030178-S.pdf

Violence cont.... ( isnt it always)?

Here are 2 comments that a friend and I made about recent violence thoughts that we had: We exchanged these on facebook.

Me: "-I've got something to write on the blog but not to sure how to go about it.When both my kids were in town at Adelaide Fringe stuff on the weekend they each saw : Edd saw a guy get hit over a head with a bottle and then punched ( just outside the garden) - Ash was on the scene where the guy got stabbed.I want to write somethng about violence, alcohol, gatherings, media, event and our cultural support of this. BUT i also want to make it personal. About my experience as a dad and worring about my kids safety.Any ideas????"

Na: "...hmm I was so scared..I marched in the parade Friday noght..then tried to walk through rundle street with Emma...A and R....fucking scary..I saw a man holding his little baby above hishead..trying to get air....I have never seen adealide like that....Ja was there with friends too.....i was so worried..."

Okay! Whats going on with me. Am I responding to situations as a conservative? As I get older do I see things differently?( of course I do). But I have some questions:

Does a city council have responsibility to protect us from situations that can become violent? Do mass events with alcohol available freely contribute to violence? Is violence more prevalent than it used to be in Adelaide? Is it just more open? Does a police presence stop violence? Does it incite violence? Does our media enjoy violence? Is it just REPOTED more than it was??

Any comments gratefully accepted.

While we ( me) are talking about violence have you seen the new campaign from
Adults Surviving Sexual Abuse? I would be very very interested in your comments from thier campaign.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also here are some stats from australian institute of criminlogy:

Number of recorded crimes /Violent crime
Violent crime includes homicide, assault, sexual assault, robbery and kidnapping (sometimes referred to as abduction). Although robbery may include an element of property crime, it is included as a violent crime, as the use or threat of violence is a more serious offence.

Recorded crime
Between 1996 and 2003, the number of homicide victims • fluctuated between 332 and 386, before dropping below 300 in 2004 and 2005. In 2006, homicide rose above 300 again, to 319.
Continuing the trend of recent years,

robbery offences • increased in 2006.

The number of recorded kidnappings fluctuates yearly. • Over the period 1996–2004 kidnappings registered a general increase, but decreased between 2004 and 2006, from 768 to 725.

The trend in recorded sexual assaults showed a steady • increase over the period 1996–2004. A slight decrease in 2005 was followed by another increase in 2006.

Assaults continue to represent the majority of • recorded violent crimes. The overall trend since 1996 has been upward, with an increase of 50% between 1996 and 2006.


Lud

Violence/crowds/alcohol/events

Stay tuned - I ve had some scarey experiences over the weekend as a parent and a reveller ( At the Adelaide Fringe Festival).
I'm not sure what I have to say but somethng will come out.
Lud

Adolesence and Pornography

The following is from : Adolesence Pornography and harm ( go here)

Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice - Australian Institute of Criminalogy
No. 368 February 2009
Foreword

The probability that a young person will have exposure to pornography prior to the age of 18—the legal age in Australia at which it is permissible to view and purchase such materials—is very high. Concern exists, among both parents and policymakers, that widespread, premature exposure to pornography is changing the nature of sexual attitudes, behaviours, and intimate relationships and potentially contributing to sexual violence in society. The extent to which it is difficult to determine, owing to the scarcity of adolescent-based research and differing conceptions about harm. This paper examines the many factors that underpin pornography exposure, and stresses how the risk factors for exposure and problematic sexual behaviours intersect to contribute to harm. An understanding of the complex interplay of factors such as gender, age, attitude, personal characteristics and social context of use is important in the development of strategies that will assist young people to avoid any potential adverse outcomes. The available evidence remains highly incomplete, and its interpretation is highly contested, so the paper highlights the need for longitudinal studies of use and of actual behaviour, and for studies that focus on cultural contexts and emerging media.

Judy Putt General Manager of Research Services