Stop Separating Babies from their Mothers Equality Rights Alliance Annual Members Meeting 23 May 2018 Presenters: Darelle Duncan & Anna Kerr Feminist Legal Clinic Inc. Memorial for Forced Adoptions. Sculptor Silvio Apponi assisted by Kaurna sculptor Shereen Rankine and Yankjatjara artist Tjula Jane Pole and Kunyi June An McInercy. Location:Colebrook Reconciliation Park, Eden Hills Adelaide South Australia. Accessed: http://alasqld.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/memorial-for-forced-adoptions.html  

Our Sad History How many apologies does it take for government to realise adoption is not a cure for disadvantage? Stolen Generation – apology in 2008 Forgotten Australians – apology in 2009 Forced Adoptions – apology in 2013 References: Bringing Them Home (27 May 1997) Australian Human Rights Comission; Senate Community Affairs References Committee, Parliament of Australia, Forgotten Australians (2004); Senate Community Affairs Reference Committee Report, Parliament of Australia, Commonwealth Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices (2012).

And yet we continue to remove . . . Systemic removal of indigenous babies – higher rate than stolen generation Separation of babies and children from incarcerated women Removal from women suffering mental illness/disability/substance abuse Removal of babies from women who are young and unsupported Removal of babies from women in domestic violence situations. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) population projection data for 30 June 2016 indicates that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children would comprise 5.5% of all children aged 0-17 years in Australia (AIHW, 2016); yet in 2015-16 they constituted 36.2% of all children placed in out-of-home care. Indigenous children aged 1-4 and 5-9 were 11 times more likely than non-Indigenous children of the same age group to be in out-of-home care (AIHW, 2017a).Source: https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/children-care

A policy favouring a return to adoption does not take account of the critical bond between a mother and child and the lifelong trauma inflicted by permanent removal to both.

A Powerful Lobby Current Federal House of Representatives Inquiry into Local Adoption. Push to establish a national framework to facilitate speedier local adoption. Backed by Hollywood celebrities and charities that are implicated in the adoption industry. Adoption relieves government of potential liability for children in out of home care.

Alternatives to Local Adoption Trade in babies from impoverished women in developing countries to wealthy westerners wanting to adopt. Recent exponential growth in commercial surrogacy arrangements. Reasons against: • The experience in the womb affects physical & mental health of mother & baby. A baby doesn’t know where the egg or sperm came from, but the baby knows who its mother is. For all newborns it is highly stressful to be separated from their mothers. The benefits of breastfeeding are well-established. Even using gestational surrogacy mothers become attached to babies in utero.

Is this where we are heading?

Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 7 (1) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) recognises the child’s right “to know and be cared for by his or her parents.”  In Article 8(1) of the CRC it is provided that: States Parties undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations as recognized by law without unlawful interference.  CRC Article 9(3) requires: States Parties shall respect the right of the child who is separated from one or both parents to maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis, except if it is contrary to the child's best interests.   

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) CRPD states in Article 2 that: States Parties shall render appropriate assistance to persons with disabilities in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities. Article 4 of CRPD provides: In no case shall a child be separated from parents on the basis of a disability of either the child or one or both of the parents. Article 5 of the CRPD makes provision that: States Parties shall, where the immediate family is unable to care for a child with disabilities, undertake every effort to provide alternative care within the wider family, and failing that, within the community in a family setting.

What Rights should Mothers have? The right to have care and control of children to whom they have given birth and not to be separated from them except in the most extenuating of circumstances. Acknowledgement that the natural and fundamental unit of society is the bond between mother and child rather than the harder to define “family”. Financial assistance and support to retain care of their own children. Children should never be removed on account of socio-economic factors, disadvantage or disability. Recognition that their children are not commodities and wealth should not be the criteria for according parenting rights. Where necessary, children should be placed with guardians who are members of their extended family or close community so that they can know their true identity and maintain contact where possible.

Our Actions 2018 Mothers Day 2018 –Media Release “Adoption is not an answer to disadvantage”. Submission to Federal Parliamentary Inquiry on Local Adoption - “Adoption should not be regarded as a viable option because it involves infringing the fundamental human rights of both mothers and children.” Article in Precedent magazine - Women’s Reproductive Rights – Spoiled for Choice? Jan/Feb 2018. Published by Australian Lawyers Alliance. Our service assists groups directly affected by the issue of adoption including, Origins Australia Inc.– the Forced Adoption Support and Advocacy Network and Australian Adoption Rights Action Group.

Feminist Legal Clinic Inc. www.feministlegal.org

Why are babies & children removed from their mothers? Social Engineering Care & Protection? To satisfy demand To satisfy Dads.

To satisfy Dads. Operation of the Family Law The presumption of equal shared parenting responsibility is regularly being interpreted as equal shared time with the resulted that mothers are increasingly being separated from babies and young children – even in circumstances where they have expressed fears for the child’s safety. Domestic violence and child sex abuse are gendered crimes in which the perpetrators are overwhelmingly male. This must be taken into account and stronger legislative protections introduced.

Violence against the mother is violence against the child. Women’s Refuges and domestic violence services must be restored, expanded and adequately funded to provide the level of support necessary for women to escape abusive relationships and raise children on their own when necessary.