Saturday, March 17, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Tearfund: when mothers mean business

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 01:30 PM PDT

Photo credit: Ralph Hodgson/Tearfund

Sara Guy
Media officer, Tearfund

In a series of five features to mark Mother's Day on March 18, Sara Guy from Tearfund presents a feature of case studies of mothers from around the world.

The final one is on Nepal.

Dhandevi is 30 years old, but it was not until she was 20 that she was free.

She is a former bonded slave who lives in rural Nepal with her three children while her husband works in India.

Dhandevi lives in Shivnagar, a small village of 300 former bonded slaves in western Nepal.

They may be free but their background means that they are poor, uneducated and struggle to find good jobs. As a consequence the community has had difficulties mixing with other local people.

Bonded labour is a form of debt slavery where a person and their labour are pledged as collateral against a loan.

The terms of the debt, such as what services are required or for how long, may be undefined and debt bondage can be passed on from one generation to the next.

Described by the UN as a form of 'modern day slavery', debt bondage has been illegal in Nepal since 2001.

When Dhandevi was a slave she worked as a housemaid. Her payment was 12 sacks of rice and 5kg of salt per year.

This ended in 2001 when she and other bonded labourers were set free. It was the monsoon season and they were left out in the rain with few possessions and no land, but were overjoyed to be free.

Dhandevi may have been born a slave rather than a business woman, but she has certainly grown into an entrepreneur of whom British businessman Lord Sugar would be proud.

She was given a piglet through a programme run by a local church, supported by Sagoal, a Tearfund partner.

Dhandevi raised this piglet, which matured into a breeding sow and had five more piglets. The church calls their scheme 'Love Your Neighbour'; in this spirit Dhandevi gave two piglets to her neighbours, kept one for herself, and sold two.

By caring for and selling her piglets, Dhandevi earned enough money to start her own business – as a bicycle repair mechanic. She also bought a water pump, giving her and her family easy access to clean water.

Her business makes it possible for her children to go to school and Dhandevi works hard to ensure that her children receive a good education.

Life is improving for the former slaves in Shivnagar but Dhandevi still worries about the future.

The community is living on land owned by the government and they are unsure how long they will be able to stay there. Her hope is that one day they will own the land and feel secure there.

The community's long-term future may be uncertain for the moment, but Dhandevi's children are already dreaming of what they want to be when they grow up: her eldest son wants to be a teacher and her daughter a nurse.

Where previous generations may have seen a future of continued bondage, freedom combined with Dhandevi's business acumen, and bicycle repair skills, mean that her children have far greater ambitions and opportunities.

US governor tells women “you just have to close your eyes” before mandatory ultrasound

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 11:30 AM PDT

Emine Dilek
WVoN co-editor

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has some advice for women who don't want to have a mandatory ultrasound before they terminate their pregnancy:

"You just have to close your eyes. As long as it's on the exterior and not the interior."

This year alone, in the USA, over 10 states have passed or been working on bills forcing women to receive an ultrasound before having an abortion.

The only objective of these bills is to wholly restrict American women's constitutionally-protected right to abortion.

They also block women's ability to make their own decisions about their reproductive health by placing the government in between a woman and her doctor.

The Women’s Right to Know Act, as the Pennsylvania bill is dubbed, would require women seeking an abortion to get an ultrasound within 24 hours of undergoing the procedure.

No financial support for these ultrasounds – which could cost over $300 in some cases – is being offered to women seeking an abortion.

A legislative representative from The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania (ACLU-PA) said: “The governor’s statement shows a lack of understanding of medicine and women’s reproductive health issues.”

The ACLU-PA is opposed to the bill becoming law.

The bill is on hold in the State House this week because medical associations have voiced concerns about the measure.

According to a new Quinnipiac University poll, 48 per cent of Pennsylvania voters oppose the ultrasound bill with 42 per cent in favour, and 64 per cent of voters oppose requiring transvaginal ultrasounds.

More American women need Chlamydia tests, report says

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 09:30 AM PDT

Eleanor Davis
WVoN co-editor

Too few American women are getting tested for Chlamydia, a new study has revealed.

Figures released by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest that just 38 per cent of sexually active women aged 25 and under took a test in the previous year.

Chlamydia, the most commonly reported infectious disease in the United States, can cause fertility problems if gone untreated. Long-term problems include infertility, ectopic pregnancies and chronic pelvic pain.

It can also be passed on to sexual partners. There were about 1.3 million cases reported in 2010, although the CDC put the figure closer to 2.8 million to account for those that went unreported.

Chlamydia has no symptoms, which perhaps explains the lack of testing. Yet if caught early it can be treated fairly easily with antibiotics.

Those who fail to get tested leave themselves more vulnerable to other sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.

As a result, the CDC are suggesting that all sexually active women aged 25 and under should be tested annually, and for those who test positive to be re-tested three months later to ensure the treatment has worked.

A study by Cicatelli Associates revealed that out of 60,000 men and women who tested positive for Chlamydia between 2007 and 2009, just 11 per cent of men and 21 per cent of women were retested within 30 to 180 days as recommended.

From that sample, 25 per cent of men and 16 per cent of women tested positive again.

CDC stated, however, that so-called 'high risk' groups, including African-American women, those with multiple sexual partners, and those who received public insurance or were uninsured, were now more likely to get tested for Chlamydia.

#Ididnotreport, but #webelieveyou

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 07:30 AM PDT

Meg Kissack
WVoN co-editor and campaigns co-ordinator

It says something about the society we live in when rape and sexual assault survivors feel more confident sharing their stories via Twitter than reporting them to the police.

The hashtag #Ididnotreport has been trending on Twitter for three days, with people using 140 characters to share their assaults and the reasons why they did not report the crime.

Finding comfort in the fact that there are a lot of other people who have been through similar experiences and never told anyone, some have written detailed blog posts and articles.

The stories are brave, they are devastating and they are honest.

It is rare that survivors have safe space to share their stories, and while Twitter is not safe from trolls and misogynists who perpetuate myths about rape, it has become a space where people who have been sexually assaulted feel able to speak up, support each other, and even be encouraged to report it.

And a space where a lot of people can find the one thing that they are looking for – someone to believe them.

The reasons for not reporting include everything from: “I was a child and thought it was normal”; “I didn't think it would make a difference”; “because I was young and had no one to turn to”; “because they convinced me it was my fault”; “because I felt ashamed”; to a “fear of retaliation” and “because I didn't know what was happening at the time.”

But they all have one thing in common – a lack of faith in the justice system, and fear that they will be blamed.

In a country where we have the lowest rape conviction rate in Europe, and where people would rather use Twitter to report rape than use the services provided by the state (though they are the first to go in times of austerity), it is time for the government to act.

It is a time for them to start looking at the barriers to reporting rape and to start funding education programmes that teach children from a young age about healthy relationships and consent and above all, to start listening to survivors.

It's great that the government has decided to fund adverts and a website that tackles teenage domestic abuse, but it's no good if at the same time, they refuse to fund educational programmes.

On 13 March, Mumsnet launched their new campaign, 'We Believe You' to shine a spotlight on the prevalence of rape and sexual assault and to pull apart myths which mean that many women feel they will not be believed (see WVoN story).

Supportersinclude the Prime Minister David Cameron,  Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone and Chief Crown Prosecutor for London, Alison Saunders.

It is exactly this type of campaign which is needed if we are to make progress and dispel the myths that rape culture perpetuates (take a look at this advice from Cosmo, for example).

Just a couple of weeks ago, I was writing about rape culture, and argued that rape culture is not inevitable, and it never will be (see WVoN article), and I stand by my point.

We need to keep pressurising the government, raising awareness and making our voices even louder.

Gender inequality still persists, but we have the chance to change it.

We will not be told that we lie about rape and we will not be told that we were asking for it.

Billy Brag sums it up on Twitter where he writes 'Anyone who believes that equality has been achieved and feminism no longer matters should listen to the women at #ididnotreport'.

If you want to share your experience using #ididnotreport, you can do it anonymously using @ididnotreport1 with the password ididnotreport.

Feminists and plastic surgeons unite to ban plastic surgery ads

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 05:30 AM PDT

Eleanor Davis
WVoN co-editor

Feminists have joined with academics, authors and senior plastic surgeons to call on the British government to halt cosmetic surgery advertising.

In a letter published in The Guardian the signatories asked the government to take responsibility for the “aggressive marketing tactics of some cosmetic clinics, whether they be in public spaces, in magazines, on the internet or on TV,” which prey on the insecurities of the British public.

They include Fazel Fatah, President of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons; Clare Chambers, senior lecturer at Cambridge University; Nigel Mercer, senior consultant plastic surgeon at the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons; along with representatives from Object and the Women's Resource Centre.

Unlike prescriptive medicines, cosmetic surgery companies are currently free to advertise as much as they like, wherever they like.

Websites such as cosmeticcompare.com group together cosmetic surgery deals in much the same way as cheap flights or spa breaks.

Kat Banyard, director of UK Feminista, told the Independent:

"Cosmetic surgery ads are a public health hazard. They frame surgery as quick and easy, trivialising the risks, like blood clots, post-operative infection and, in rare cases, death."

In the wake of the recent Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) scandal in which women with breast implants across Europe were revealed to have been given unregulated silicon with the risk of leaking toxic material into their bodies (see WVoN coverage), the cosmetic surgery industry has been the focus of some negative press.

With the Parliamentary inquiry into the causes and consequences of body anxiety in the UK due to report back in the early summer, it is likely to take another bashing.

Reports show that half of young women aged 16-21 in the UK would consider cosmetic surgery and over one in 10 girls aged 11-16 would consider cosmetic surgery to change the way they look. The average age for a girl to start dieting is eight.

The most common procedure is breast enlargements, which have risen by 200% since 2002.

The Harley Medical Group argues, however, that breast enlargement surgery results in increased confidence and femininity, assuring women they are not 'alone' in their body insecurities.

It's the appearance of cosmetic surgery advertising in popular culture that Elli Moody, policy and campaigns manager at UK Feminista, finds so dangerous:

"One of the important points about cosmetic surgery adverts… is that they affect everyone, not only those already considering having cosmetic surgery, in the way that they normalise cosmetic surgery and shape popular attitudes."

Body loathing, insecurities and a lack of confidence are all manipulated by cosmetic surgery advertisements to sell a false sense of self-worth.

But the reality is that plastic surgery can lead to depression and even suicide.

That is why UK Feminista are asking people to sign this petition.

Republicans try to block extension of services for victims of domestic violence

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 03:30 AM PDT

Rachel Salmon
WVoN co-editor

A new row over women's rights threatens to engulf the US legislature - this time it’s about domestic violence.

Democratic Senate members are pushing to extend the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, so that it extends funding to reach Indian tribes and rural areas.

It would increase the availability of free legal assistance, extend the definition of violence against women to include stalking, provide training for court staff to deal with families with a history of violence and extend programmes to cover those in same sex relationships.

It would also allow more illegal immigrants who are victims of domestic violence to claim temporary visas, and would include same sex couples in programs for domestic violence.

Republicans have accused the Democrats of using domestic violence to extend immigration rights and say there are not enough safeguards to ensure that funding is well spent.

They also claim that extending protection to groups like same sex couples dilutes the focus on domestic violence.

Some believe the Democrats are using the bill to score political points.

Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama told the New York Times: "I favour the Violence Against Women Act and have supported it at various points over the years, but there are matters put on that bill that almost seem to invite opposition."

But at a private Senate Republican lunch on Tuesday, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska reportedly warned her colleagues that the party was at risk of being painted as anti-women — which could spell disaster for the elections this autumn.

The row follows recent moves by Republican-controlled states like Virginia and Ohio to force women seeking abortion to undergo an abdominal ultrasound and, in the case of Ohio, to deny the procedure when a heartbeat was detected. 

Republicans in the Senate also tried unsuccessfully to block a measure by the Obama administration to stop employers and insurance companies refusing to cover contraceptives and other items they object to on religious or moral grounds.

One in seven UK women expects to be financially dependent on partner in old age

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 02:19 AM PDT

Rachel Salmon
WVoN co editor

One in seven women in the UK expects to have to rely on her partner for her income in retirement, according to new research.

Fourteen per cent of women who responded to an online poll, commissioned by financial services website unbiased.co.uk, said they expected to have to rely on their partners for money when they retired, compared to five per cent of men.

The survey also found that only 41 per cent of women had private pensions, compared with 54 per cent of men.

The findings come as little surprise as new jobless figures show women continue to be disproportionately hit by unemployment.

According to the latest Labour Force survey figures released on Wednesday, the number of unemployed people in Britain rose by 28,000 between November 2011 and January 2012 – 23,000 of them, 82 per cent were women.

 

Yvonne Ridley: finding feminism in Islam

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 02:00 AM PDT

Lucy Miller
WVoN co-editor

Yvonne Ridley is a journalist, author, peace activist and film-maker. She was captured by the Taliban in September 2001 after crossing the Afghan border wearing a burqa.

After her release she read the Qur'an and subsequently converted to Islam.

WVoN spoke to her about feminism, faith and fundamentalism.

Tell us about your conversion.

I was quite happy as a practising Christian and was not looking for a new faith when I was captured by the Taliban.

I offered to read the Qur'an if they released me. Against all the odds, while holding on to other westerners, they did release me. I kept my word and began reading the Qur'an and supporting Islamic literature.

It was the fulfilment of a promise but, as a journalist covering the Middle East and Asia, it seemed shocking I knew so little about a religion which was clearly a way of life for people.

What can Islam offer to the West – and to western women?

I am a feminist, radicalised in the working class pit villages of County Durham, so when I began reading the Qur'an I was very interested to know about Islam's position on women.

The Qur'an made it crystal clear women are equal in spirituality, worth and education. The first convert to Islam was a woman and women held an equal role in society from the beginning.

I began to realise male-dominated cultures had hijacked the religion and tried to use their cultures to subjugate and oppress women. I soon realised that honour killings, forced marriages, FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) had absolutely nothing to do with Islam and everything to do with these patriarchal societies.

What are your views on the main things that need to be done now for women in the Middle East, and for Islamic women in the West?

Women of faith and no faith need to learn from each other and, through mutual respect, strengthen their understandings.

The treatment of women globally is shocking. For instance in America, of the 1200 murdered annually around 400 die through domestic violence. Making a comparative study across the globe women in the USA are less safe in the home than women in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

By the time we die at least one in three of us globally will have experienced some form of abuse or violence at the hands of a man.  This abuse crosses faith, cultures, classes etc. Women need to unite to use our strengths to combat this.

The sisterhood should become a global entity and not be mutually exclusive to women of faith or to those of no faith.

What do you think is the biggest threat to western women? And to women in the Middle East/ North Africa?

Men are the biggest threat … and those few women who mistakenly support the sort of men who undermine women daily in the classroom, boardrooms, workplace etc.

What are your main criticisms of western feminism?

The feminism I supported in the 70s tended to exclude huge groups of women from the Muslim and Asian communities. I don't think it was deliberate, just thoughtless.

What would you say to critics that claim the nikab exists to protect wearers from the advances of men in the first place, thus seeming to restrict women's behaviour rather than attempting to tackle the behaviour of those who may seek to oppress them?

There are two references in the Qur'an about what women should wear and essentially they say we should be covered and dress modestly. The nikab is worn by a few women – mainly white, western converts – who feel it brings them closer to God.

It is wrong to punish a woman for her piety. The 'hiding ourselves from men' thing is a bit of polemic when it comes to the nikab.

I would defend a woman's right to wear what she wants.

How would you respond to the claim that it is a barrier to communication in Britain, because it covers the face?

We live in an age of emails, faxes, text messaging, radio – none of which involve eye contact or direct communication. How can it be a barrier when we have all these multi-communication systems at our finger tips?

What is your opinion on the Egyptian 'naked blogger' Aliaa Mahdy? By refusing to cover up as her culture would expect her to, what message do you think that she sent out, whether inadvertently or deliberately?

There are attention seekers who want to make a point in every culture and they are courted and encouraged by those with their own agendas. At the end of the day she was exploited although she might not feel she was.

Aliaa Mahdy told her critics: “Put on trial the artists’ models who posed nude for art schools until the early 70s, hide the art books and destroy the nude statues of antiquity, then undress and stand before a mirror and burn your bodies that you despise to forever rid yourselves of your sexual hang-ups before you direct your humiliation and chauvinism and dare to try to deny me my freedom of expression.”

I would ask her to think carefully about her actions and how they impact on others because with freedom of expression comes responsibility.

But just because I don’t agree with someone doesn’t mean I can’t respect from where they’re coming. We are all victims of exploitation one way or another and we just have to be careful not to fall in to that trap.

What would you say to these comments, published in the Guardian last year?

"When a woman is the sum total of her headscarf and hymen – that is, what’s on her head and what is between her legs – then nakedness and sex become weapons of political resistance."

I don't know a single Muslim woman who is judged purely on her hijab or virginity. It's a grossly offensive thing to say and ignores the complexities, characteristics and personality of the individual. To view a woman purely as a hijabi is so one dimensional.

The journalist who made the ‘headscarf and hymen’ comment is Mona Eltahawy, an Egyptian and Muslim who has worked for years in the Middle East.

I’m aware of Mona’s work, some of it I respect and some I don’t but that’s what makes a great columnist. You have to be outspoken and provocative.

Mona is typical of Arab women – opinionated, bright and quite forceful and yet there are those in the west who continue not to see beyond someone’s geographic location or postcode before putting them in a pigeon hole.

As a young girl from mining communities in the North East, I recognise this problem.If I had a message it would be: Stop trying to put us in boxes.

You were fired by Al Jazeera in 2003 for being 'too vocal', and won a case for sexual discrimination against the Islam Channel in 2008. How has the fight for rights of female journalists been going since then?

I have learned not to take crap from anyone. I knew I had been wronged by my male bosses and so I challenged them through the courts. I even offered to go through the Shari'a route with Al Jazeera.

The courts in Qatar supported me right up to the Court of Appeal, as did the employment courts in London over the Islam Channel.

And yet I was sneered at by Islamaphobes and criticised by some Muslim men for taking action. If you are wronged it doesn't matter by whom. Justice is justice and it should be available to everyone in equal measure.

In your article 'Hijab is my choice, not compulsion' you state that 'in Islam, superiority is achieved by piety'. What of those in religious societies who do not want to follow this path?

My belief, like Christians, Jews and Muslims, is that one day we will all be answerable to God and it is He alone who will judge us. He will not judge us on degrees, work records, the size of our wealth or homes. We will be judged on our good deeds, character – our piety.

And so, on the Day of Judgement, that is how we will be judged and success in this life is no guarantee of a fast track in the next. If someone does not believe this then that is fine. I'm not here to judge anyone but we will all, I believe, be answerable for our deeds one day. And for this we have to take individual responsibility.

My job is to promote respect and tolerance across people of faith and no faith but only if they come to me and ask. I'm not an evangelical or someone who goes out to try and convert people.

I am the same person I was 10 years ago but now I wear a hijab and don't drink alcohol. For this I've been called brainwashed, a Taliban apologist, a terrorist supporter and even my family who are not Muslims have received abuse.