Single dad adopts girl with Down syndrome who was rejected by 20 families

on September 26, 2019 by admin

This Reddit Gold Award has been awarded to this article for ‘exceptional contribution’ on the 27th Sept, 2019

Italy: When Luca Trapanese learned there was a little girl with Down syndrome in need of a home, he did what any single, 41-year-old gay guy would do… He adopted her!

A young girl’s fortunes have changed after she was rejected first by her mother, who disowned her the moment she was born, then by her biological father, and finally by 20 potential adoptive families.

But, her life took a significant turn when Luca held her in his arms and decided to give her a home.

Luca had been a part of many social service programs since his teenage years. He came forward to adopt Alba after he was told about people’s unwillingness to adopt her.

“Since I was 14 years old, I have volunteered and worked with the disabled so I felt I had the right knowledge and experience to do it,” he said.

Luca Trapanese is gay, catholic and single – a year ago, he adopted a baby girl with Down’s Syndrome

“Mine and Alba’s story shatters so many stereotypes about fatherhood, religion and family. But I didn’t mean it to be that way.”

Luca is highly experienced when it comes to volunteering in various social service programs including “A Ruota Libera” Foundation, a group that provides assistance to children with Down syndrome.

Luca further said that for him a disabled child is not a second choice solution, but a conscious choice with respect to his vocation and his abilities.

The story of Luca Trapanese’s journey to adopting baby Alba has gone viral for several reasons, paramount of which may be the fact that social services don’t often grant custody to a single, homosexual man.

Nevertheless, they made an exception in Luca’s case … and we’re so very happy they did.

According to the BBC, 41-year-old Italian Luca published a book wherein he recounts his journey to becoming the father of Alba, a girl with Down syndrome.

During a radio interview, Trapanese explained that his case is special because it “destroys stereotypes about fatherhood, religion and family.”

In Italy, adoptions for homosexual and single parents have traditionally been a complicated affair.

Luca adopted Alba back in 2017, when she was just 13 days old and had already been passed up on by 20 families because of her condition.

Luca himself had worked in a host of care centers for people with special needs, and always wanted to become a father.

That was why, despite not having a partner, he decided to press forward with the adoption of Alba, who now enjoys a happy home with her father.

According to the BBC, Alba is a determined young child who can be stubborn on occasion. She loves to play and dance, and enjoys the company of other people.

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Women lie about DV to get kids in Family Court, Hanson claims

on September 18, 2019 by admin

Senator Pauline Hanson

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has accused women of making up domestic violence claims in order to get custody of their children, as she defended a new parliamentary inquiry into the family law system.

Domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty meanwhile has called on Labor and the Greens to block the inquiry – of which Senator Hanson is set to be deputy chair – saying it is “completely unacceptable” for “politicians with their own agendas” to lead parliamentary investigations.

In an interview on ABC’s Radio National on Wednesday, Senator Hanson said she was hearing “too many cases” where “parents are using domestic violence to stop the other parent from seeing their children”. Asked if she was saying mothers were going into the Family Court and making up accusations of family violence, the One Nation leader replied, “I am”.

Senator Hanson was pressed several times by host Hamish Macdonald to provide evidence for her claim.

The One Nation leader said people phoned her office with similar stories “on a weekly, if not daily basis sometimes”.

While she did not point to any research about the problem, she said: “Why do you think we’ve got three men suiciding a day and we’ve got one woman being murdered a week?

“Don’t you believe that this needs to be addressed?”

She added: “I’m sick of hearing about this gender bias. You get rid of the gender and you treat everyone equally.”

According to anti-violence group, Our Watch, violence against women is a serious and widespread problem in Australia. On average, one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner.

Mental health organisation Beyond Blue says men are at least three times more likely to die by suicide than women. In Australia, every day, almost six men die by suicide. Beyond Blue says evidence suggests men are far less likely to seek help for mental health conditions than women.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a parliamentary review into the family law system on Tuesday. The inquiry will be chaired by former social services minister, Kevin Andrews. It follows years of pressure from Senator Hanson to overhaul the system.

The inquiry will examine concerns including the onus of proof required to gain an apprehended violence order, the cost of the court process and claims of false evidence being used against former partners.

Mr Morrison told Channel Seven on Wednesday that relationship breakdown had a “devastating impact” on parents, children and grandparents. He said the Family Court and child support processes can “add greater difficulty”.

“We want to look to see whether there are ways where we can improve how that situation works.”

Campaigners against family violence are outraged by the inquiry, saying it is driven by an agenda that questions the “reality of domestic violence”. They note there have been two high profile, recent inquiries into the family law system. The Australian Law Reform Commission completed an inquiry in April, making 60 recommendations to the federal government. Parliament also conducted an inquiry as recently as December 2017.

On Wednesday, Ms Batty, whose son Luke was killed by his father, told ABC Radio it was “completely unacceptable” to have another inquiry into the family law system.

“It is completely unacceptable for these politicians with their own agendas to head up any inquiry,” she said, calling on Labor and the Greens to block the inquiry in the Senate.

“We know the failings, we need to start investing in this court system that is broken, overwhelmed and failing. And it is continuing to put families and particularly children in danger,” Ms Batty said.

The Senate is due to consider the inquiry on Wednesday afternoon. It is understood the Labor Party is currently considering its position. The Greens are strongly opposed to the inquiry, with the party’s spokesperson for women, Larissa Waters, describing it as a “dangerous invitation to continue victim shaming, blaming and denial”.

Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 | National sexual assault, domestic and family violence referral service 1800 737 732

Gender diverse people exposed to high rates of sexual violence

on September 18, 2019 by admin

Co-investigator of the Kirby Institute’s 2018 Trans and Gender Diverse Sexual Health Survey Shoshana Rosenberg.

More than half of transgender and gender diverse Australians have been victims of sexual violence or coercion – almost four times the rate of the general population.

These are Australia’s long-hidden intimate partner violence statistics revealed on Tuesday in the largest study of its kind.

The Kirby Institute’s 2018 Australian Trans and Gender Diverse Sexual Health Survey of 1,613 people also exposes the harmful assumptions made by healthcare services about the gender, bodies and sex lives of these individuals.

More than 53 per cent had been forced or frightened into doing something sexually that they did not want to do; fourfold higher than the general population (13.3 per cent).

“It’s shocking and uncomfortable and sad, but it’s also affirming for those people whose experience of sexual violence was isolating and left them feeling like no one else understood them,” co-investigator Shoshana Rosenberg said.

Almost 70 per cent of respondents who experienced sexual violence or coercion reported multiple episodes of the abuse, compared to 45.3 per cent among the general population.

“The reality is that this is happening to such an extent that most people don’t report and simply internalise it because they are too scared or too underresourced – emotionally or otherwise- to seek justice or reparations or recovery,” Mx Rosenberg said.

People assigned female at birth were significantly more likely to experience sexual violence compared to those assigned male (61.8 per cent versus 39.3 per cent) and non-binary participants (not exclusively masculine or feminine) were most likely to report it (66.1 per cent).

Trans women were the least likely to report sexual violence but their rate of 36 per cent was still almost double that of the general population.

Mx Rosenberg said some perpetrators sought out vulnerable trans and gender diverse individuals to control and denigrate.

“This is something that bleeds into many of our experiences and how we talk to each other and how we negotiate relationships and our mental and sexual health,” they said.

More than half of respondents reported experiencing insensitive sexual healthcare, ranging from bureaucratic issues like not having appropriate gender options on forms to inappropriate touching and invasive questions.

“I went for a mental health assessment and was asked ‘What’s in your pants?’ and if I had any work done,” they said

“We are highly resilient in the face of extreme odds and that’s something that needs to be celebrated. But we should be allowed to have off days without the fear that if we drop our guard … that we will still have our humanity respected.

“So we are resilient but we are tired.”

Medical director of Northern Sydney Sexual Assault Service Dr Eleanor Freedman said services must be more inclusive and responsive to the needs of trans and gender diverse people.

Manager of Trans and Gender Health Equity for ACON Teddy Cook said sexual health professionals need avoid making assumptions about their patients’ genders, bodies and sexual orientations.

The report was presented at the Australasian Sexual Health Conference in Perth on Tuesday.

Government to review Family Court after pressure from Pauline Hanson

on September 17, 2019 by admin

One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson asked the government to make her the co-chair of the parliamentary committee.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has angered domestic violence campaigners with a surprise decision to hold an inquiry into the Family Court after years of pressure from One Nation leader Pauline Hanson to overhaul the system.

The government launched the inquiry to look into concerns including the onus of proof required to gain an apprehended violence order, the cost of the court process and claims of false evidence being used against former partners.

Senator Hanson applauded the move and asked the government to make her the co-chair of the parliamentary committee alongside former social services minister Kevin Andrews, the Liberal MP who will lead the year-long inquiry.

Campaigners against family violence greeted the decision with dismay just as they arrived in Parliament House to lobby MPs to change the family law system to protect women and children.

“Yet again we have another inquiry set up with people who are not experts in domestic violence,” said Queensland Women’s Legal Service chief executive Angela Lynch.

“I’m exasperated and outraged. This is just kicking the issue down the road again.

“How many more women and children have to die before they do something?”

Government MPs insisted the review would not take sides in the dispute over whether the Family Court was unfair to men who sought access to their children in custody disputes.

“I’ve have many women come to me and they’ve had appalling decisions against them, when they’ve had their children taken from them,” Liberal MP Craig Kelly said.

“I don’t think this is an issue where the men get the best decisions or the women get the best decisions.”

Mr Kelly, who represents the electorate of Hughes in south-western Sydney, said he had heard from constituents who had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to navigate the Family Court.

The terms of reference for the inquiry include the legal standards for domestic violence orders and apprehended violence orders, the powers to ensure truthful evidence, the financial costs to families, the impact of the process on children and any issues that arise for grandparents.

Senator Hanson said she was “pleased to announce” the inquiry was happening after her attempts to get the government to act.

Mr Morrison has overseen a fourth wave of funding for national programs against family violence, committing $328 million in March in a policy backed by campaigners against violence against women.

But the new inquiry took campaigners by surprise and raised fears it would be a vehicle for Senator Hanson’s concern that the system is unfair to men.

Michelle Dörendahl, a Queensland woman whose daughter, Eeva, was murdered by her father, said the courts needed to do more to guard against abusive men who manipulated the system.

“Part of the manipulation of the abuser is to use the system to discount the truth,” Ms Dörendahl said.

“The system is used a lot by perpetrators to continue that control and manipulation of their victims.”

Ms Dörendahl and her former partner, Greg Hutchings, took their dispute to the Family Court in July 2013. Hutchings killed himself and Eeva during a court-approved access visit seven months later.

In a contrast with the fears about the inquiry, the Law Council of Australia welcomed the move as a way to fix “systemic failures” in the family law system due to underfunding over decades.

“This inquiry must involve the whole community – not just politicians, lawyers and bureaucrats,” the Law Council said.

“Those who witness the impacts of the broken system on a daily basis, including families, judges and family violence service providers, must be included.”

But the new inquiry comes at a time when the government is yet to respond to a review of the system by the Australian Law Reform Commission, which handed down 60 recommendations in March.

It is less than three years since the government heard from an earlier parliamentary inquiry, chaired by Victorian Liberal Sarah Henderson, that urged changes to make the system less complex and expensive.

The government is also part-way through an attempt to merge the Family Court with the Federal Court.

Attorney-General Christian Porter has vowed to proceed with the plan by the end of this year even though it was rejected by Labor and criticised by the Law Council.