Writing from a new generation of women and girls enduring the intersection of displacement and Australia’s detention regime.

Red Room Poetry’s Writing in Resistance was founded, directed and edited by the University of Sydney scholar-journalist and poet Dr Saba Vasefi.

Since 2021, this annual program has foregrounded the voices and testimonies of women, girls, and non-binary refugees passionate about creative writing, and public speaking, who have been subjected to Australia’s offshore detention on Nauru. It provides various support, including mentoring, commissions, editing, translation, paid publication and public performances. The majority of contributors are sharing their work and performing publicly for the first time.

In 2024 Writing in Resistance will focus on Gendered Harms and Deprivation in Education and Social Participation. We will commission three poets including 14 year-old Seti Gholshani, 18 year-old Aida Darabi and 24 year-old Hodan Yasin. Each has endured detention on Nauru as minors, been evacuated to Australia for medical care, and are now denied protection visas, education post-18, and social engagement.

While refugee kids are no longer detained on Nauru, some who are now adolescents continue to experience the punitive effects, legal limbo and structural violence of Australia’s deterrence system. Commissioned poets will present their published poems on the Red Room Poetry website and particpate in a special event presented as part of Poetry Month 2024. Their poetry, as a manifestation of epistemic freedom, collectively defies the structural and symbolic violence that stifles their voices and agency.

Refugees: Gendered State Harms and Deprivation in Education and Social Participation

Presented as part of Poetry Month, this panel event will be hosted by Greens Deputy Leader and Education spokesperson, Senator Dr Mehreen Faruqi at Parliament House Canberra on 13 August.

The panel scrutinises the gendered harms of offshore detention regime on Nauru, and Australia’s violations of international law. It focuses on the systematic deprivation of education, social participation, access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), and travel documentation to young refugees under Australia’s asylum policies.

This denial of meaningful civic engagement undermines fundamental principles of democracy and human rights outlined in international agreements such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

Hear from legal experts Professor Kate Ogg, Associate Dean at the College of Law, Sanmati Verma, Acting Legal Director of Human Rights Law Centre and The Australian National University and Associate Professor Anthea Vogl, University of Technology Sydney, and moderator Simone Clarke, CEO of UN Women Australia. We are grateful for the support of academic consultant Dr Sara Dehm, Faculty of Law, University of Technology Sydney.

The event is generously supported by Create NSW, Creative Australia, The Australian National University, the Human Rights Law Centre, The University of Technology Sydney, and Ades Foundation.