Kristine Ziwica

Kristine Ziwica

Kristine Ziwica is a Melbourne-based columnist and consultant who has 20 years' experience working in Australia, the United States and the UK on human rights and gender equality campaigns.
Women's Agenda •

Mother-shaming is common enough without the pile on from 'mumfluencers'

This week, Guardian writer Hadley Freeman wrote about “happening across a particularly fascinating Instagram post from a member of that strange and relatively new breed of person known as mumfluencer”. According to Freeman, the aforementioned mumfluencer was “dressed ever-so-casually but with mysteriously perfect makeup” while marching through a forest with three small boys. Even more curiously, she was holding a letter board sign which read: “Into the woods we go because kids won’t remember th
the Guardian •

Let me ladysplain a few facts about childcare to the dinosaurs of the National party | Kristine Ziwica

A “motherhood statement” is defined as a vague, “feel-good” platitude, especially one made by a politician, that few people would disagree with. May I humbly suggest that the National party – and its newly reinstated leader Barnaby Joyce, who has a questionable record, to say the least, when it comes to women’s issues – steer clear of their particular version of a motherhood statement. They will find many people (coughs women) find them very easy to disagree with.
Women's Agenda •

Recent emotional displays from Australian men accused of sexual misconduct begs the question: is Australia in the midst of a “himpathy reckoning”?

Australia’s #MeToo reckoning took a bit of time to gather pace. With absolute respect and admiration for the women who spoke out when the hashtag first came to Australian shores in 2017, I think it’s fair to say that a more fulsome reckoning only took hold in the last few months following former political staffer Brittany Higgins’ allegation that she was raped in then Minister of Defence Linda Reynolds’ office. So too, it seems, Australia’s “himpathy reckoning” has also taken a bit of time to
7am •

The website the government doesn’t want you to see

In the middle of a growing national conversation about sexual harassment and consent, the federal government launched a campaign on respectful relationships for young people. The campaign was widely criticised by experts and advocates, including former Australian of the Year Rosie Batty, who say it ignores their advice and research. They’re also concerned that it seems to have replaced another more evidence-based and expertly produced campaign.
Women's Agenda •

How to 'fix women' & get them to 'Lean In'? Examine the Budget

Ahead of the launch of the 2021 federal budget– a budget some suggested would be a “women’s budget” – many asked me what, specifically, I was looking for. What would indicate to me that the Morrison government had truly taken to heart the backlash to last year’s budget, in particular criticism that it had failed to deliver for women? I concede that the fact the government itself heavily implied that this year’s budget would be a “women’s budget” is, in a way, progress. Particularly when compar
7am •

The crisis we should have seen coming

There are growing fears that homelessness could soon rise in Australia, with the end of government policies like JobKeeper and eviction moratoriums putting more people under financial stress. One of the most at risk groups in the country is older women, who tend to have less money and face both age and gender discrimination. Today, journalist for The Saturday Paper Kristine Ziwica, on the homelessness crisis Australia should have seen coming.
Women's Agenda •

Yes, telling women they should be happy they’re not being shot at is bad. But this is the moment the PM really took women for mugs

The fact that Scott Morrison refused to attend the historic women’s March 4 Justice in Canberra on Monday made headlines – as did his equally unfortunate musings at Question Time that the protestors should be happy they weren’t “met with bullets”. And while I get why that comment drew gasps of disbelief and media coverage, I actually think Morrison’s comments later in his full statement about protests were far more egregious — and indicative of the extent to which he takes women for mugs. And
Women's Agenda •

We must not let Morrison and Co. determine 'what’s at stake'

At the start of his press conference on Thursday at which Prime Minister Scott Morrison responded to Christian Porter’s categorical denial that he raped a young woman in 1988, Morrison held forth for nearly four minutes on “the rule of law”. In typically arrogant “Morrison knows best” mode — and with obvious contempt for anyone who might question his “final word” on whatever issue — Morrison informed the gathered media scrum and thereby the watching nation that “there is a lot at stake".
Women's Agenda •

Spin a pay gap? No, it's never 'good news'

I suspect Libby Lyons, the Australian Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s director, is getting a little fed up with the Morrison government’s repeated, overzealous attempts to spin the gender pay gap. Judging by her comments in the press release accompanying the release of the latest gender pay gap figures today, she’s not having it. The headline crows: The national gender pay gap has dropped to 13.4%, a decline of 0.6 percentage points over the last six months. But before anyone — especially T
Women's Agenda •

Didn’t know or didn’t want to know? The 'who knew what when' debate we should be having

The single overarching response I’ve had to the whole “who knew what when” debate that’s followed Brittany Higgins’ devastating rape allegations, is this: while Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his team can play whack a mole regarding who knew what when about this specific case, they certainly can’t claim they didn’t know that Australia’s Parliament and political workplaces have a problem. Watching them try to make that stick has been one of the most infuriating aspects of this past week. And
Women's Agenda •

A Parents Strike? Yes, I quite like the sound of that

Forty-five years ago, an estimated 90 percent of Icelandic women took a “day off” to protest their low pay and marginalisation. Schools, factories and shops shut. Fathers were forced to care for their own children while women marched in the street and sang. Equal pay legislation was passed soon after — and in another five years, Iceland became the first European country to elect a woman as head of state. The women of Iceland were inspired by women in the US, who five years earlier invited women
Women's Agenda •

What’s it going to take for the Prime Minister to ensure safe workplace for all women – not just someone’s 'daughter'?

Over the years, as story after story of abuse in political workplaces registered on our collective radar, I have asked myself: what’s it going to take for the Prime Minister to actually do something. Like, really do something, aside from offer his standard line that women should “go to the police” or make some cosmetic changes to the government’s woefully inadequate sexual harassment policy for political staffers.
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