Friday, February 17, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Senegal Presidential candidate champions women’s rights

Posted: 16 Feb 2012 10:09 AM PST

Liz Draper
WVoN co-editor

Amsatou Sow Sidibe, one of two women among the 14 candidates for this month’s presidential election in the West African nation of Senegal, is using her candidacy to highlight the issues faced by the country’s women.

Speaking to Voice of America last week from the Dakar capital, Sow Sidibe said that if elected, she would champion women’s rights and equality.

“I will do a lot for women, because I know the importance of women in family and society in general. But I will not just be for women, I will also work for men and an equal society.”

She also drew attention to women’s role in conflict resolution, and the importance of women’s health to the population.

The presidential vote, due to take place on February 26, will be the first to feature two women on the ballot paper.

Along with Dieng Douma Diakhate, Sow Sidibe is one of the first women to run for president in Senegal for more than a decade.

A professor of private law at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Sidibe has long advocated for women’s rights and participated in politics through her work with the African Network for the Promotion of Women Workers.

However, the issues raised by Sidibe’s candidacy have been somewhat overshadowed by the violence and protests which have rocked the country as it prepares for the presidential election.

Senegal has been one of Africa’s most peaceful democratic nations since it gained independence from France in 1960, but this stability is threatened by a dispute over the right of the incumbent president, Abdoulaye Wade, to stand for a third term in power.

Constitutional reforms introduced in 2001 limit any presidential candidate to two consecutive terms in office. Wade, 85, is approaching the end of his second term, but claims that because the reforms were implemented after he came to power, they do not apply to his first term.

Opponents accuse the president of violating the constitution, and widespread protests have taken place calling for him to withdraw his candidacy.

However, the Constitutional Council last month upheld his right to stand for a third term.

Along with the other candidates, Sidibe has denounced Wade’s candidacy.

Protests continue in Dakar, despite the deaths of four people and a government ban on demonstrations.

A big fat problem for women

Posted: 16 Feb 2012 08:24 AM PST

Meg Kissack
 WVoN co-editor 

Most of us are aware that childhood obesity is at an all-time high, and eating disorders disproportionately affect women more than men.

Many organisations are doing great work in promoting healthy lifestyles, and are giving out good advice, but of all things to put on an advert, I don't think it is this.

If you're trying to change childhood obesity, it doesn't take much common sense to decide that having a poster depicting an overweight young girl with the slogan “WARNING It's hard to be a little girl when you're not” is a bad idea.

It seems logical to me that in order to get people to listen to you, you don't start by stigmatising and shaming them.

The advert, which advocates presupposed notions of what little girls are meant to be, or look like, has been causing a bit of a stir in the US.

This advert is part of the Strong4Life movement and was recently launched by a public health campaign started by Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

Despite being faced with much criticism, Doug Hertz, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, remains firmly committed to the advert campaign.

In a piece he wrote for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, he stated: “We decided that these ads were necessary to get Georgia talking about how to make childhood obesity a priority. They have accomplished that goal”.

Georgia is high in the ranks of the most obese state in America, but surely, they could have come up with something less offensive to get people talking?

However, it is because of adverts such as these that the STANDards movement came into being.

American fat activist Marily Wann, frustrated with the treatment of fat people in society, started a collection of adverts which celebrated bodies of all shapes and sizes – without the patronising edge.

They don't encourage obesity, nor do they shame people for being obese. Instead, they acknowledge that obesity develops due to different circumstances and 'stand for health being about individuals, not size'.

Her collection raises an important point in the way society views bigger people.

Emphasis is continually put on the individual and how they can choose to eat more healthily, how they can choose a diet plan that suits them, how they can change their lives by dropping a dress size. To be honest, I think this is all a bit naïve.

I mean, look at how the economic cuts impacts on health. For those who are struggling financially, food available at an affordable price often has the highest fat content, meaning for many families obesity isn't a life choice – it is a means of survival.

But by entering into the realm of putting all of the onus onto the individual, rather than looking, say, to the government and supermarkets for help, many individuals – especially women – end up feeling guilty and ashamed for fear of being judged.

You can't sit through a TV break without watching an advert for some sort of diet or ‘perfect’ body, and another for chocolate or ice cream.

Surely this sends us contradictory messages? We should always be on a diet, or at least feel the need to go on one. But we should simultaneously be indulging ourselves in the finest calorific food available.

And if we're not being surrounded by food adverts, we are being patronised with 'plus size' products. In many catalogues ‘plus size’ products start at size 14. With the average dress size in the UK being somewhere between 16 and 18, it seems absolutely ridiculous to start plus size at 14.

I come into the larger lady category myself and in my experience, have been patronised with comments such as “good on you for wearing a skirt” – as if there is a ban on such things. “Good on you for wearing colour” – as if all women who are size 16 plus must hide themselves in black tents.

As soon as society begins to realise that that instead of shaming the individual, we should be questioning the media, the government, food manufacturers and medicine, fat shaming will continue.

But for the time being, at least we have Marilyn Wann's adverts to give us some faith.

UK government funding to help women in gangs

Posted: 16 Feb 2012 07:36 AM PST

Liz Stimson
WVoN co-editor

The UK government has announced plans to invest £400,000 into making help available to girls and women caught in gang-related rape and abuse.

Gang culture is a recognised problem in the UK.

Figures from Scotland Yard suggest that London gang members are responsible for 50 per cent of all shootings and 40 per cent of commercial robberies in the capital.

The media has increased its focus on gangs since the August riots that shook London and other major UK cities.

In the initial wake of the riots, police ascribed much of the violence to gangs.

However the violent experiences of girls and women in gangs have often gone unreported and unnoticed.

Often drawn in under the belief that it will provide protection, women have been raped, coerced into holding weapons and drugs for their boyfriends and threatened to provide alibis.

Girls in gangs are seen as second class citizens, to be used and abused by male gang members, commented Detective Allen Davis of the Metropolitan Police.

Home Secretary Theresa May described how girls in gangs would “find themselves being used as weapons – raping a rival gang leader’s girlfriend [would be a way] to get back at that gang”.

Detective Davis added: “Ultimately girls are disposable, it’s the boys that gain status and respect by… committing crime and hurting people. Girls get status by who they have sex with and it makes them very vulnerable.”

Historically, services have struggled to identify and respond to the impact of gang violence on girls and women.

As a result female gang members have been abused, and have committed crimes, under the radar.

However the recent government funding pledge marks a positive change in social policy towards finally realising and addressing the experiences of gang-affected women.

Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone described girls' involvement in gangs, and the abuse they suffer as a result, as a "hidden issue".

The problem cannot, however, be tackled by the police alone. Doctors, social workers and teachers must get involved too if women are to receive better help.

The Home Office said their plan to recruit 13 “Young People's Advocates” will help provide support to young victims of sexual violence or exploitation, or to those at risk of becoming victims.

Working in areas most affected by gangs, the advocates will be able to provide expert, specialised and sensitive support.

“They will form a network across the country to share information and best practice to make inroads into such an horrific issue” said Ms Featherstone.

Acknowledging women’s experiences in gangs, together with the realisation that better support must be made available, will hopefully help to expose the once hidden lives of women in gangs and finally provide the support and care they need.

African women hit hardest by “land-grabs”

Posted: 16 Feb 2012 06:09 AM PST

Laura Bridgestock
WVoN co-editor

‘Land grabs’ in west Africa leave women, who produce up to 80 per cent of the food in some poor countries, vulnerable.

So last month the International Oromo Women's Organisation (IOWO) wrote to US President Barack Obama on behalf of "the voiceless Oromo women in East Africa, mainly in Ethiopia".

The letter sought to draw attention to the plight of thousands of vulnerable people who are not only being denied the right to own the land where they've always lived and worked – but according to Human Rights Watch are in many cases actually being forcibly evicted.

The letter attacks the Ethiopian government for its policy of leasing large swathes of the country's farmland to foreign investors, claiming that this has already resulted in the eviction of 2.8 million people.

Land previously used to produce crops for local people is increasingly being used to generate produce for export to other countries – with the profits going to the foreign owners of the land.

The government has refused to acknowledge that there is a problem.

For those able to obtain employment, pay and conditions are low. IOWO says women working on a flower farm earn less than $1 per day, in conditions that may be harmful to their health.

The environmental impact of mass farming is also significant.

IOWO ends its appeal by calling on the international community to intervene, expressing concerns that a "humanitarian catastrophe" may be imminent, as civil unrest grows.

Sadly, Ethiopia is far from the only country affected by this issue. A recent Oxfam report highlights similar situations in a number of African nations, including Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal and Tanzania, alongside Ethiopia.

Since the global food crisis of 2007-8, "land-grabbing" has rapidly accelerated, the report says, with many governments playing an enabling role in allowing foreign investors to purchase massive areas of land.

While most of these transactions are technically legal, Oxfam says, they usually result in rural communities being "dispossessed of land that they have routinely used for ages, in order to accommodate domestic policy decisions promoting foreign agricultural investments."

Unsurprisingly, women are particularly vulnerable – most likely to be side-lined during preliminary consultations (if these happen at all), and most likely to lose their already very fragile land rights.

In all six countries covered, Oxfam says that women have more limited access to resources than their male counterparts, therefore are more challenged in terms of controlling and executing ownership of their land.

While women do the majority of agricultural work, men control most of the profits. As Oxfam points out, the assumption that men and women would benefit equally from the new sources of income was an "erroneous" one.

In addition, women's lower levels of education will mean reduced chances of employment as developers increasingly mechanise their processes.

In countries like Mozambique, women will lose out even more rapidly; rural customs prevent women from engaging in formal employment, so once farming is no longer a family affair, they can no longer participate.

There are other, less obvious ways, in which women stand to lose the most. One example is the destruction of shea trees in Ghana, resulting from the foreign developments – depriving local women of a traditional source of income, producing shea butter.

Women are also more likely to be dependent on so-called "marginal land", as they are most likely to be allocated the poorest plots. Many governments are targeting these lands as the first to be sold.

Again, when local food production falls and prices rise, women are most likely to go hungry. This, Oxfam says, is in turn likely to increase their risk of contracting illnesses including HIV, as they are more likely to engage in transactional sex.

Sadly it is no surprise to read that "compensation schemes for loss of land do not take into account such women-specific losses, [or] hardships that women encounter from land-grabbing due to their gender roles."

Oxfam is running a campaign against land-grabs here.

Story links, February 16, 2012

Posted: 16 Feb 2012 04:30 AM PST

Every day we'll post up a number of story links that we think are interesting.

They won't necessarily be from that day, but usually will not be more than a few days old.

The following are the ones we’ve found today.

Story links:

Database spotlights gaps in campus rape policies, WeNews, February 16, 2012

Somali women say “consider us for country’s leadership”, IPS news, February 15, 2012

IOC conference in LA to focus on women in sports, LA Times, February 15, 2012

Rick Santorum declared contraception ‘harmful to women’ in 2006, ABC news, February 15, 2012

Women in government report more satisfaction than male colleagues, Government Executive, February 15, 2012

Working pregnant women report rampant discrimination, Chicago Tribune, February 15, 2012

Women swelling the ranks of the jobless, Independent, February 16, 2012

Millions of women unaware they have arterial disease,  Web MD, February 15, 2012

PETA: People for the Ethical Treatment of Anything but women

Posted: 16 Feb 2012 03:20 AM PST

Meg Kissack
WVoN co-editor 

PETA adverts have already been accused of vilifying women's pubic hair (see WVoN story), but have now taken their sexist marketing one step further and are advocating violence against women in their latest advert.

If you haven't seen it already – it’s fast making its way around social network sites – watch this video for their latest campaign: Boyfriend Went Vegan And Knocked The Bottom Out Of Me (BWVAKTBOOM).

It seems that PETA, the organisation that represents People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, don't seem to count women under the category of ‘people’.

PETA has been aggravating me for a while now. Their website is full of pictures of semi clad women making out with a phallus vegetable to show that vegetarianism is sexy, or baring it all for their hatred of fur.

Surely, it's as simple as this: you can't have an organisation that campaigns for the rights of one thing at the expense of another?

Namely, you can't campaign for animal rights while subjugating women and depicting them in such a pornified manner that you wonder whether you're on a website for animal rights, or a special ‘vegetable’ edition of Nuts or Zoo.

But perhaps you can. PETA completely condones the misogyny that exists in society and treats women (and a few men here and there) as second class citizens. Their campaign ‘Fur Out, Love In’ involved activists appearing in Ireland, dressed in red lingerie and heels in a city centre, expressing their concern for animal welfare.

Their latest campaign certainly isn't helping things. In their advert, PETA define BWVAKTBOOM as 'a painful condition that occurs when boyfriends go vegan and can suddenly bring it like a tantric porn star', which leaves the woman in the advert in a neck brace.

They also warn, 'the consequences of all this mind-blowing intercourse can often lead to sex injuries such as whiplash, pulled muscles, rug burn, and even a dislocated hip.' Great.

As well as this, they have a section for 'Playing it Safe', which consists of 'tips' for women to refrain from getting injuries from aggressive and violent behaviour by their boyfriends during sex. Because obviously, any injury they receive is entirely their fault.

Tips include, 'Standard condoms are no match for your vegan boyfriend’s high-caliber finishing move. Invest in a heavy-duty variety for maximum protection’.

As well as 'Vegan sex can be more aggressive than Civilian Sex. Which is why we encourage wearing a helmet during intercourse. You need to protect yourself. But staring at a conventional helmet can ruin the moment. So get a helmet that matches your hairstyle.'

While a storm of criticism is arriving, Lindsay Rajt, PETA’s associate director of campaigns and outreach, told Yahoo News that ”the piece is tongue-in-cheek. People who watch the ad all the way through see the woman has a mischievous smile. She’s happy to go back with him. It’s playful.”

Well that's okay then, stop reading now, we'll forget all about it and go back to the world where there is no violence against women.

Thank goodness for some sanity though – there is a petition on Change.org which I urge you to sign, telling PETA  there 'is NEVER an excuse to promote or diminish the real-life impact of violence' and demanding the full termination of the BWVAKTBOOM campaign.

PETA has to stop objectifying women and depicting violence against women as glamorous and romantic. They even coincided their latest campaign with Valentine’s Day. Need I say more?

Please go and sign the petition so this vile campaign will be banned.

UK prisons failing vulnerable women

Posted: 16 Feb 2012 02:25 AM PST

Laura Bridgestock
WVoN co-editor

Earlier this week, retired prison governor Clive Chatterton joined the growing ranks of those speaking out against conditions in women's prisons in the UK.

Recalling his time as the head of Styal Prison, in Cheshire, England, Chatterton estimated that more than half of the prisoners there (all women) were mentally ill.

One 20-year-old, he said, tried to kill herself by hanging, poisoning, cutting open her arms, setting herself on fire, even swallowing a tampon.

He described another inmate as like "a frightened wild animal, totally uncommunicative and unresponsive".

Among many such disturbing tales, one commonly recurring theme is self-harm, which, from  the available statistics, seem to be increasing.

In 2009, government figures reported 10,446 cases of self-harm in women's prisons, which increased to 12,663 in 2010. Support and campaign group Women in Prison says this number is still rising.

So while women account for only 5% of inmates in the UK's prisons, they are far more likely than male prisoners to harm themselves.

Director of the charity Women in Prison, Rachel Halford, says for many women, this may seem like the only way they can take control in their own lives, often having experienced "abuse and neglect" before imprisonment, only to find themselves in another situation in which they are deprived of power.

This is not a new problem, or even a newly recognised one. An investigation into the situation of vulnerable women in prisons was commissioned by the government in 2006, after six women died in Styal Prison within 12 months.

Published in 2007, the resulting Corston Report recommended "a radical new approach, treating women both holistically and individually – a woman-centred approach".

The report also said the current system was "disproportionately harsher for women because prisons and the practices within them have for the most part been designed for men".

Campaigners are concerned that little (if any) progress has been made in improving the treatment of vulnerable women in prison – but also that many women are being unnecessarily sentenced to imprisonment.

In his call for an urgent reform of the system, Chatterton pointed out the large numbers of women sentenced to short periods in prison for relatively minor sentences – giving the example of a woman found guilty of stealing a single sandwich.

There have also been concerns about the imprisonment of women from outside the UK, who may have been convicted of crimes over which they had little control, often having been coerced and/or trafficked into offending (see WVoN coverage).

As the Prison Reform Trust points out, while increasing numbers vulnerable women are being sent to prison, organisations such as local women's centres and community-based schemes – which have a much better track record of helping women break the cycle of crime and abuse – are losing funding.

A few statistics:

• A quarter of women in UK prisons were in local authority care as children.
• More than half of women in UK prisons have experienced domestic violence, and a third have been sexually abused.
• More than half of women leaving prison are re-convicted within a year.
• Two thirds of women in UK prisons have children younger than 18.
• Twenty-five women have died in custody since the Corston Report was published.

For more, see Women in Prison and the Prison Reform Trust.

Momentum gathering against FGM/C in Africa

Posted: 16 Feb 2012 12:53 AM PST

Liz Draper
WVoN co-editor 

Thousands of communities across Africa have abandoned the practice of female circumcision, according to an announcement by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UNICEF.

The announcment marked the International Day Against Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting on February 6.

FGM/C, in which all or part of the external genitals are removed, is widespread across much of Africa and parts of the Middle East.

Although the UN has opposed FGM/C since the 1950s, because of the severe pain and long term health problems it causes, progress towards eradication has been slow due to the cultural perceptions surrounding the practice.

It is often considered a rite of passage ensuring chastity and marriageability, and girls who have not been "cut" are ostracised and considered too unclean to handle food and water.

However, in recent years, community-led programmes have led to thousands of African villages publicly abandoning the practice.

Writing in the Guardian last week, soul singer and human rights activist Sister Fa described the success of one such programme in her home village of Thionck Essyl in the West African country of Senegal.

According to Fa, the "old ways" of approaching FGM/C, which involve asking village elders to influence change in their communities, do not work because they "sideline young people".

However, through a basic education programme run by development NGO Tostan, members of the community were able to learn about their human rights to health and freedom from violence, leading to a collective decision to abandon FGM/C.

Tostan's programme is run in eight countries in West and Eastern Africa, and has led to 5000 communities making a similar decision to stop the practice. According to the UNFPA and UNESCO statement, FGM/C has declined by 65 per cent in Senegal.

Although three million girls worldwide continue to be at risk of FGM/C, the International Day Against FGM/C aims to promote the goal of ending the practice within a generation.

As Sister Fa points out, "foot binding in China ended in 20 years – why can't FGM/C end the same way?"