August 16th, 2021
The Honourable Mr Alex Hawke MP
Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra, ACT 2600
To The Honourable Mr Alex Hawke,
I write to you as the President of the Australian Federation of Medical Women (AFMW), deeply concerned regarding the impact on women and girls by the swift take over by Taliban, following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces in July this year.
Soon after Taliban leaders took control of the provinces of Badakhshan and Takhar, orders were issued to local religious leaders to provide them with a list of females aged from 15 to 45years for marriage to Taliban soldiers. If these unions occur, the intention is to inculcate them to ‘authentic Islam,’ which is the kind which subverts freedom and will commit thousands of women to sexual slavery. Furthermore, they will prohibit girls over the age of 12years of age from having an education, will ban women from employment and reinstate laws which prohibit women from leaving their house without a guardian. Women and families living in Afghanistan are living in fear and trying to flee.
Australia has a moral obligation to help these families arrive here in safety and we recommend you take these immediate actions:
- That you assist the Australian nationals who are there and currently under great threat, to return to Australia
- That Australia increase its humanitarian uptake of Afghan refugees which would include women, children and freedom fighters. They should be rapidly provided with visas
- That we increase our humanitarian support to women and child in Afghanistan.
Yours sincerely,
Magdalena Simonis
MBBS FRACGP DRANZCOG MHH
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of this land and their culture. We also pay our respects to the Elders, past, present and future generations.
Associate Professor Magdalena Simonis AM is the Immediate Past President of the AFMW (2020-2023), former President of VMWS (2013 & 2017-2020) and current AFMW National Coordinator (2024-2026). She is a full time clinician who also holds positions on several not for profit organisations, driven by her passion for bridging gaps across the health sector. She is a leading women’s health expert, keynote speaker, climate change and gender equity advocate and government advisor. Magda is member of The Australian Health Team contributing monthly articles.
Magdalena was awarded a lifetime membership of the RACGP for her contributions which include past chair of Women in General Practice, longstanding contribution to the RACGP Expert Committee Quality Care, the RACGP eHealth Expert Committee. She is regularly invited to comment on primary care research though mainstream and medical media and contributes articles on various health issues through newsGP and other publications.
Magdalena has represented the RACGP at senate enquiries and has worked on several National Health Framework reviews. She is author of the RACGP Guide on Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery and co-reviewer of the RACGP Red Book Women’s Health Chapter, and reviewer of the RACGP White book
Both an RACGP examiner and University examiner, she undertakes general practice research and is a GP Educator with the Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence, which develops education tools to assist the primary care sector identify, respond to and manage family violence . Roles outside of RACGP include the Strategy and Policy Committee for Breast Cancer Network Australia, Board Director of the Melbourne University Teaching Health Clinics and the elected GP representative to the AMA Federal Council. In 2022. she was award the AMA (Vic) Patrick Pritzwald-Steggman Award 2022, which celebrates a doctor who has made an exceptional contribution to the wellbeing of their colleagues and the community and was listed as Women’s Agenda 2022 finalist for Emerging Leader in Health.
Magdalena has presented at the United Nations as part of the Australian Assembly and was appointed the Australian representative to the World Health Organisation, World Assembly on COVID 19, by the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA) in 2021. In 2023, A/Professor Simonis was included on the King’s COVID-19 Champion’s list and was also awarded a Member (AM) in the General Division for significant service to medicine through a range of roles and to women’s health.
