Professional interpreters in Australia have little opportunity to undertake education on issues of violence against women. This article observes a lack of awareness of gender violence–related issues among community interpreters. It then notes examples of gender-related problems arising in the work of interpreters assisting migrant women. It repeats Maree Pardy’s call for interpreter education, but diverges from her 1995 work by explicitly recommending this education be informed by feminist principles. It observes that, although community interpreters are key to migrant women accessing social services in Australia, the profession resists calls for specialized education. This resistance occurs in a country that is recognized internationally for its progressive public service interpreting policies. We question why this is the case, and suggest that adherence to a peculiarly superficial notion of “impartiality” dulls the profession’s responsiveness to the reality of male violence. We draw on government and non-governmental organization (NGO) reports, as well as interpreting scholarship using a gender lens, to theorize the need for feminist education of professional community interpreters. © The Author(s) 2016.

interpreting feminist education migrant women

education communication barrier Communication Barriers Interpersonal Relations Australia human violence participant observation Social Work human relation Humans migrant psychology male occupation female feminism theoretical model standards awareness translating (language) gender human experiment migration adult Translating government Transients and Migrants teaching Multilingualism