In today's episode, Professor Marianne Hanson, co-chair of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, joins us to discuss the increasing US-Australian military ties and the militarisation of Australian society and the education sector. This is a two-part interview; the second part will be broadcast in August.Later, we headed down to the University of Melbourne Gaza Solidarity encampment, which was led by students from the UniMelb for Palestine group. Gender studies student Liz joined us to discuss the military-research ties at the University of Melbourne. The group was the second group in Australia to join the international student intifada, calling on their universities to disclose, divest from weapons manufacturing, and boycott Israeli institutions.

This week we head to Istanbul to speak with Tan Safi, a member of the Media Team for the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is an international grassroots solidarity movement which is aiming to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza and deliver 5,500 tonnes of vital humanitarian aid by sea. Tan provides an update on what is happening now that the Flotilla has been unable to set sail on its scheduled departure date of April 26 due to having its flag or legal registration revoked by the state of Guinea-Bissau. We also hear excerpts of Freedom Flotilla Coaltion organiser Huwaida Arraf speaking at a press conference in Istanbul on April 27. To follow the Freedom Flotilla Coalition visit https://freedomflotilla.org/ or find them on socials:Twitter/XInstagramFacebookYoutube You can also make a donation to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition here. Women on the Line spoke with Tan on May 1.

On this week’s episode we speak with human rights activist Khadija Gbla. Khadija was born in Sierra Leone and spent their youth in Gambia before coming to Australia. We talk about their experiences living at the intersections of disability, neurodivergence, queerness and Blackness, their activism in these spaces, and their hopes for young people like themselves. A note that this conversation covers difficult topics including racism, ableism, childhood abuse, Indigenous deaths in custody, and police brutality against Black and Indigenous people. If these subjects bring up anything difficult for you, you can contact 1800 RESPECT or Lifeline on 13 11 14. Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander listeners can also call 13 YARN.

On this episode of Women on the Line we continue our conversation with Yeoreum and Udie from Scarlet ChaCha– a sex worker-led organisation in South Korea. On 2 January 2023, the Mayor of Paju announced that he would demolish Paju’s red light district ‘Yongjugol’ within a year. In November last year the demolition commenced, and Scarlet ChaCha has been actively showing up in person for sex workers in Paju’s Yongjugol – protesting on the streets, creating signage to raise political awareness and supporting sex workers. Today we hear the final episode of a two-part series about what’s happening in Paju’s red light district and about the work Scarlet ChaCha is doing in South Korea. You can listen to the first episode of this series here. Our interview with Scarlet ChaCha members was translated by Yeonhoo. You can support Scarlet ChaCha by donating to their mutual aid request @choyeonhoo via paypal. All funds will go directly to sex workers who are impacted by the demolition. Please note there is discussion of state violence in this episode.

On this episode of Women on the Line we hear from Yeoreum and Udie from Scarlet ChaCha – a sex worker-led organisation in South Korea. On 2 January 2023, the Mayor of Paju announced that he would demolish Paju’s red light district ‘Yongjugol’ within a year. In November last year the demolition commenced, and Scarlet ChaCha has been actively showing up in person for sex workers in Paju’s Yongjugol – protesting on the streets, creating signage to raise political awareness and supporting sex workers. Today we hear the first episode of a two-part series about what’s happening in Paju’s red light district and about the work Scarlet ChaCha is doing in South Korea.Our interview with Scarlet ChaCha members was translated by Yeonhoo. You can support Scarlet ChaCha by donating to their mutual aid request @choyeonhoo via paypal. All funds will go directly to sex workers who are impacted by the demolition. Please note there is discussion of state violence in this episode.

This week on the program we speak with Danielle from Save Public Housing Collective about the Victorian State Government plan to 'retire and transform' 44 public housing towers in narrm Melbourne.While the state government is selling the scheme as an opportunity for improvement and renewal, those against the plan describe a poorly thought through strategy with zero consultation of residents, few answers on where displaced tenants will go and underlying questions around the privatisation of public housing and the motivations of accessing high value inner city real estate.Danielle speaks with us about community resistance to the plan, and the push to create viable public housing.You can find Save Public Housing Collective on twitter, Instagram, facebook or their website, and donate to their campaign fundraiser here.The song which closes this episode is "Inside My Kitchen" by Tiddas.

On this week’s episode we hear from Dacia Abela, lawyer and program manager at Naarm-based Community Legal Centre WEstjustice, about economic abuse in the context of family violence. Dacia takes us through what this looks like on a practical level, the intersections of culture and gender, how CLCs are working to help victim-survivors and raise awareness, and what can be done better to support victim-survivors across the country. This conversation covers sensitive topics dealing with family violence and violence against women. If these subjects bring up anything difficult, listeners can contact 1800 RESPECT or Lifeline on 13 11 14.

On this week’s episode we bring you an excerpt from the Teachers for Palestine Forum called ‘Why There’s No ‘Neutrality’ on Genocide’ that took place in Naarm earlier this year on January 22nd 2024. We play a speech delivered by Samah Sabawi, who is a Palestinian award-winning author, playwright and poet. This forum was organised by Teachers and School Staff for Palestine.Later in the show, we play an excerpt from a discussion with three people working in the education space on the importance of teaching about Palestine. Natalie is a doctoral candidate in education, teacher, and one of the organising members of Teachers and School Staff for Palestine; Dana is a Palestinian secondary school maths teacher; and Claire is a secondary school humanities teacher. This interview first aired on 3CR Tuesday Breakfast on 16 January 2024.

On this episode of Women on the Line we pay tribute to Cecilia Gentili. She was a mother and sister to many transwomen, migrant women, sex workers and the wider LGBTIQA+ community in New York City and globally. On 6 February 2024, she passed away leaving a burning legacy of love and sisterhood amongst the trans and queer community. We hear snippets from her funeral service held at St Patrick's Cathedral on the 15 February in NYC.

This week on the program we take a deep dive into Victoria’s parole system.First we hear an interview by 3CR Broadcaster Priya Kunjan with Karen Fletcher, Executive Officer of Flat Out about the impact of compounding and increasing barriers to parole on incarcerated people in Victoria.Then we hear Marisa from 3CR’s Doin Time show speaking with Sarah Schwartz, manager of the Wirraway Police and Prison Accountability Practice at the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and lecturer at Melbourne Law School about the upcoming coronial inquest into the November 2021 death in custody of Yamatji, Noongar, Wongi and Pitjantjatjara woman Heather Calgaret.The recent statement issued by Heather’s family and VALS ahead of the inquest can be found here.