Men banned as Muslim women win council backing Paul Tatnell
MAN bans are spreading as two more council functions are declared off-limits because it is "not appropriate" for men to mix with Muslim women.
And in a surprise twist, VCAT backed the latest bans, declaring there was no discrimination and councils no longer needed to apply for exemptions.
The Darebin City Council ban will be in force for a music concert to be held in December, while another female-only event to mark the end of Ramadan was cancelled last week. The council sought the bans because it was "culturally inappropriate for young women to participate in recreational activity with males present".
But Ratepayers Victoria president Jack Davis said the bans were "another case of segregation".
"I think it is totally wrong. I think it's ridiculous and I do think it is discrimination, and it goes against what the average ratepayer wants," Mr Davis said. "We are seeing more and more of this kind of stuff."
Moreland council recently banned men from a dance event while Monash council put up curtains at a public pool so Muslim women could have privacy during a female-only exercise classes.
Darebin Mayor Diana Asmar said: "The December event is a 10-week workshop series that teaches young women DJ-ing skills. The program culminates in a social event that the young women plan and run themselves." "Darebin's approach is to always identify barriers to community participation and address them," she said. Darebin council, with the support of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, originally asked VCAT for an exemption under the Equal Opportunities act so it could have women-only events. VCAT ruled the events would not discriminate against anybody and special exemption was not needed.
An Equal Opportunity spokeswoman said the decision meant "organisations do not have to go through a formal VCAT hearing to put in place practices to assist groups to achieve substantive equality".
A spokesman for the Islamic Council of Victoria, Nazeem Hussain, said the Darebin decision was not "controversial or surprising in the slightest".
I want to take this article and turn it on it's head. I have no problem with any group of women having a women only party for any reason - so long as when men do the same they aren't pilloried by the feminist mafia. Not knowing much about Muslim culture I'm not sure about what is and is not considered appropriate behaviour, but planning a social event in Australia that leaves out males does seem a tad odd. The pool with curtains seems to be a reasonable idea as it is only necessary during the affected class. All that culture stuff aside - the REAL question here is why is a local council organising this sort of thing? It is an absolute waste of taxpayers' money.
Contrary to what seems to be popular belief, governments do not need to and should not organise and pay for either social events or barely useful short courses. Governments should be providing the infrastructure for community clubs to run their own functions. By this I mean that councils should maintain ovals for sporting clubs and provide club rooms or libraries with meeting rooms for chess or book clubs to use. A local council does not then need to add education and socialisation to its agenda. They really should operate under the "if you build it they will come" principle. Either that or stop bleeding the ratepayers.
If a community can't figure out how to organise its own social events then it is probably a doomed community anyway. Best to let it whither on the vine. No need for some government to try to prop it up.
Women who have fought for equality and opened up clubs such as the VRC and MCC to female memberships should also be concerned. Local councils are undermining their efforts and will gradually bring back segregation if not checked early and firmly.
Lastly a side note to the whole thing. If Muslim women aren't supposed to attend functions with men, one has to ask whether a 10 week disk jockeying course is really appropriate behaviour also? Last time I checked there was Fernwood Gyms, the Lycaeum Club and perhaps one other women's only club around town. Not too many DJ gigs going at any of those!
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