Women's Views on News

‘Valentine against violence’ – say NO to violence against women with a love song
Northern Ireland has fastest growing sex industry in the UK
Working women and the ‘part-time penalty’
What if the world really was run by women?
Strip club owner launches fragrance range and scores glittering own goal
England women’s cricketers off to a good start in New Zealand
Specialist domestic violence services – a thing of the past?
Women’s race to feature on Boat Race day
Story links, February 14, 2012

‘Valentine against violence’ – say NO to violence against women with a love song

Posted: 14 Feb 2012 01:30 PM PST

Alison Clarke
WVoN co-editor

The Pixel Project, the nonprofit working to end Violence Against Women (VAW) worldwide, is proud to launch its first ever Valentine Against Violence campaign.

The fundraiser features a musical valentine – a love song specially selected for its positive message which the global audience can buy during the month of February for their listening pleasure and personal inspiration.

Valentine Against Violence is designed to celebrate love and positive relationships in line with the Valentine's Day season while raising funds for the cause without breaking the bank for donors in these tough economic times.

This year's featured Valentine Against Violence song is a vibrant a cappella cover of Katy Perry's Firework, by fast-rising YouTube A Cappella star, Peter Hollens.

Regina Yau, founder and president of The Pixel Project, said:

"We selected Firework as this year's Valentine Against Violence song because it carries a brilliant message about loving people for who they are and encouraging them to be proud of themselves and to reach their fullest potential.

“This song is a small but inspiring gift that anyone can buy for their loved ones, be they a partner, spouse, family member or friend, to tell them: 'You are loved for who you are.'

“We are excited to collaborate with Peter Hollens who is one of the best a cappella singers on YouTube today and a staunch supporter and male ally of the cause to end violence against women."

Peter Hollens said: "I wanted to take part in this campaign because women are a vital part of our lives whether they are our mothers, wives, daughters, friends, classmates or colleagues.

“Violence against women affects not just their safety and health but also the well-being of families and communities. As a musician, it is my hope that Firework will help bolster the spirits of survivors, raise funds for this incredible cause and inspire people worldwide to take action to stop violence against women."

Firework is available for download on both iTunes for just US$1.29 and as a Deluxe HD version for US$1.99 directly from A Cappella Records.

Northern Ireland has fastest growing sex industry in the UK

Posted: 14 Feb 2012 11:30 AM PST

Sarah Macshane
WVoN co-editor

According to Helena McCormick of the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities, Northern Ireland has the fastest growing sex industry in the UK.

And the increase in the number of women who are being trafficked into the province is partly to blame.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland has identified 26 victims of sex trafficking since April 2011 – from Ghana, China, Zimbabwe and Slovakia, amongst other countries.

The Justice Minister, David Ford, has announced plans for two new laws to combat human trafficking. He intends to introduce measures to meet the requirements of an EU directive on human trafficking – to strengthen the legislation to prosecute UK nationals who commit human trafficking anywhere in the world.

A debate on RTE (an Irish television channel) recently presented new findings on the sex industry in Northern Ireland and the trafficking of young girls, and brought together politicians from different parties who all condemned the rise of the sex industry and human trafficking.

The programme exposed the ‘chilling reality’ of hundreds of women who are brought to Ireland to become prostitutes.

Anna Lo from the Alliance Party said that human trafficking is "modern-day slavery… and represents a vulgar abuse of the fundamental human right of freedom."

David McIlveen from the Democratic Unionist Party said: “This is not Pretty Woman. This is not the glamorous happy hooker as appears in a number of the Sunday newspapers. This is rape for profit. This is a high-yield, low-risk crime.”

Katherine Zapone, an Independent senator, said: "There is a very clear gender dimension to this problem. What happened in the education of men that they think they can buy the bodies of women to have their needs met? What happened to our men that they find this acceptable?"

Human trafficking for the sex industry can no longer be ignored – it is a global problem. In order to combat it and protect fundamental human rights, the world needs a cohesive and joined-up effort with stronger legislations to criminalise all those who commit offences.

Working women and the ‘part-time penalty’

Posted: 14 Feb 2012 10:30 AM PST

Maria Shahid
Freelance journalist

A report published last week by the Resolution Foundation thinktank looking at the choices women in the UK face when opting for part-time work, is likely to resonate with women everywhere.

It serves as a stark reminder of the struggles that women face in the workplace after motherhood.

The report found that in low to middle income (LMI) households more than a third of women did not feel that part-time work was a choice.

More shocking perhaps is what the report calls the 'part-time penalty': nearly 50 per cent of the same group had been forced to take a lower skilled job because they wanted to work part time. Employers, it seems, are simply not willing to appoint or promote, part-timers to a senior level.

One respondent said that: 'As a part-time employee, I had to take a lower grade job as it was felt that I couldn't have a supervisor role if I was part-time…I have been overlooked for promotion because I didn't want to increase my hours.'

So it’s clear that one of the biggest challenges facing women in the job market is finding a job that matches their skills, a point that I have often heard in conversation with mothers in my own peer group. Far too many at a senior level complain that their employer would not even consider allowing them to work for less than four days a week.

More than half of those surveyed by the Foundation Resolution in the LMI group had A Levels or a degree. A wake-up call perhaps to those women who are currently at university or college (and very likely outperforming their male counterparts) of what lies ahead once they graduate, find a well-paid job and then decide to have children.

The report identifies the heavy cost of childcare as one of the primary reasons that more women in the UK do not go back to work. In its 2011 report, the Daycare Trust charity stated that 'the average yearly expenditure for 25 hours nursery care per week for a child under two is £5,028 in England, £5,178 in Scotland and ££4,723 in Wales'.

And I know just what they mean. My own childcare costs (I live in an affluent suburb of London) are on average around £600 to £700 a month. If I went back to work full time, I would have to pay about £1800 a month in childcare costs alone.

One respondent to the survey stated that 'by working part-time I am saving on childcare, so I can afford to take lower paid jobs. With two children my childcare costs would be £22,000 a year, so I would need a job at £35,000 a year to make any money'.

For many women the choice remains between earning more money and spending valuable time with their children. And most would prefer the company of their children – 'I'd rather have less disposable income and more time with my family,' said one respondent.

Linked up with the issue of a lack of part time work is a lack of flexibility for working parents. Bosses who understand the need to leave work to tend to a sick child remain a rarity.

One obvious solution would be greater help with childcare costs and the UK certainly lags behind its European counterparts when it comes to assistance from the government.

An OECD report published in 2010 found that UK households spend the biggest proportion of their income (around 33 per cent) on childcare, much higher than any other country surveyed.

Although children in the UK are now entitled to 15 hours of pre-school education from the age of three, it seems paltry when compared to the provision in other European countries such as Sweden where children can go from a much younger age. And it certainly is not enough to get women back into the workplace.

Not surprising, then, that the Daycare Trust recommended that 'the Government should reverse the decision to reduce the proportion of childcare costs covered by the childcare element of Working Tax Credit from 80 to 70 per cent in April 2011'; and that 'Government should increase the level of subsidy available to childcare providers'.

Whilst it's unlikely that this government will subsidise childcare further in the current economic climate, their current attitude is clearly very short-termist, given the potential goldmine that skilled women represent to the UK economy.

What if the world really was run by women?

Posted: 14 Feb 2012 09:00 AM PST

Denise Turner
WVoN co-editor

Borgen, the Danish political drama has proved a hit in Europe especially in the UK, where fans are purported to include UK Prime Minister, David Cameron and wife Samantha.

Indeed at Nordic-Baltic Summit in Stockholm last week, when calling for the acceleration of women appointments to UK corporate boards*, Cameron admitted that he fully expected pundits to link his agenda with Borgen, in which the female PM forces Danish companies to make half their board female.

Borgen takes its name from the nickname for Christiansborg Palace, which houses Denmark’s three branches of government: the Parliament, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Supreme Court.

There is no question that the reasons for the show's popularity are the inherent twists and scheming common to all political systems. But for me, what makes it gripping, are the two strong female leads.

The first is Birgitte Nyborg, who becomes Denmark's first female prime minister. The second is Katrine Fønsmark, a talented journalist and host of a popular TV news show.

The two women come up against the usual problems of everyday female life, not exactly life-changing stuff one might think. But what makes this show authentic is that it pulls no punches.

The women face back-stabbing 'colleagues,' casual sexism, their own impossible expectations of themselves, not to mention those of partners, family, colleagues and society in general. The one unlikely flaw is that neither character has any female friends.

Fønsmark's character, played by Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, manages to have affairs with two government spin doctors (the latter married and by whom she gets pregnant); before moving onto a gorgeous-but-dim gym instructor whom she ditches when he shows no interest in politics.

Being young and good-looking herself, she comes up against sexism at work in the form of an older female colleague sacked for alcoholic abuse who wrongly believes that Fønsmark shopped her to further her own career, a government minister and unwanted attention from her ex. She manages to shrug all off with aplomb.

But the Nyborg character played by Sidse Babett Knudsen, has three much more complex and interesting strands.

Firstly the corrupting influence of power. She starts out as an amiable, happily married mother of two, with greenish, left of centre politics who practices a collegiate, give and take way of working. The kind of management style that has been cited by some leading thinkers as being useful in banking to offset the kind of risk-taking, macho behaviour that exacerbated the recent financial meltdown.

At first she sticks to this approach, but as series 1 progresses, we see how she ditches her principles, alienates her husband, risks her kids' health and sacks political allies to hang onto her position.

That brings me to point two. The 'superwoman fantasy'. Why does this woman not take advantage of the (you would have thought) support that comes with the job? I mean housekeeper, nanny, chief bottle washer? Oh and there's a reason why so many leaders are men, they're called wives…

This brings me neatly to the third strand, husband Phillip. The two have a pact that the career of one of them will take precedence over the other's for five year intervals. Though initially pleased for Nyborg when she becomes PM, he later starts to feel emasculated and says that 'he misses his wife.'

This, despite the fact that he is a respected business man and lecturer, not exactly a house-husband. So without discussion, he accepts a CEO role that he consequently must resign from because of a conflict with his wife's position, and then embarks on an affair that ends the marriage.

If you think about it, these points could have interesting ramifications for society at large if there were actually 50 per cent women leaders in all walks of life.

* In 2010 women made up 12.5% of corporate boards of FTSE 100 UK companies. The UK government has asked firms to voluntarily double the number of female executives by 2015.

Strip club owner launches fragrance range and scores glittering own goal

Posted: 14 Feb 2012 07:30 AM PST

Heather Kennedy
WVoN co-editor

February has been a good month for philandering men everywhere with the launch of the Alibi fragrance range. The perfumes have been cunningly designed to corroborate the best worn excuses of the unfaithful spouse.

A new innovation from South African strip club Mavericks, the range includes 'My Car Broke Down' (a heady mix of engine oil and burnt rubber) and 'Working late' (a subtle fusion of cold coffee and coagulated ink).

Now your red-blooded male can glut his voracious libido on an entourage of exotic women, and, after dousing himself in the magic elixir, slip home to his adoring wife without arousing suspicion.

Hang on all you cynics out there shouting "it'll never work!" (not least because nocturnal office work isn't exactly known for an aroma overpowering enough to allay the doubts of a woman probably well aware she's married to a louse). The Alibi range is already a global smash, with men from Europe to the Far East chomping at the bit to place their orders.

Strip club owner and man behind the idea, Shane Harrison, confesses he never expected it to take off. But, he says, "Men seem desperate to get their hands on the stuff".

It can only be a matter of days before Harrison receives the call from MI5, eager to harness the prototype for future high-scale sleuth operations.

So why isn't Harrison more elated at his new found global notoriety?

Now the plot thickens. Rewind to last week and Harrison is up in court fighting to keep Mavericks open after accusations that he has been mistreating his dancers.

A South African high court ordered the Human Rights Commission to probe Mavericks on suspicion of inhumane employment conditions and links to human trafficking.

A Home Affairs report said Mavericks regards its workers as independent contractors rather than employees and requires them to pay the equivalent of £165 each night to dance. It should be noted this is the same practice used by strip clubs in the UK.

And what was Harrison's defence? He claimed if they decided to cancel his permit, Mavericks would "go broke".

We can only assume that High Court Judge Siraj Desai must have been reading the global news that day, awash with accounts of a certain strip club's lucrative new perfume range. In response to Harrison's claim that Mavericks was tottering on the brink of financial ruin, Judge Desai observed "it appears that there is no merit to this submission".

As the world's media was banging down Harrison's door for an exclusive quote from South Africa's answer to Hugh Heffner, our hapless entrepreneur was hiding behind the sofa praying they'd go away.

So what's the moral of the story? If you happen to be a filthy rich strip club owner too greedy to pay decent wages and living conditions for your dancers, don't try and dodge high court charges by pretending to be skint. Especially not if news of your club's corporate success is splashed across the papers in the very same week.

I'll spare you a tirade against the men who read about the Alibi perfumes and leapt to their laptops, credit cards in hand. These men are disguising such a crippling deficit of self-respect that anything I could say would pale in comparison to the little voice inside their own head when they close their eyes at night.

But I will say this; the success of the Alibi range has far more to do with male social posturing than it has to do with any genuine attempt to deceive a lover.

The myth of the all-conquering male libido is one shared between groups of men and we can see it in the boasting, fabricated banter of teenage boys and the men who travel in packs to strip clubs and brothels.

Back in the real world, statistics suggest that women are quickly catching up with men in the infidelity stakes. Whether this is because men have taken to slyly smothering themselves in the smell of engine oil to cover their transgressions, we can never know.

But the good news is that next time female readers meet a potential sexual partner who reeks, inexplicably, of photocopier toner fluid, she'll know to run for the hills.

England women’s cricketers off to a good start in New Zealand

Posted: 14 Feb 2012 06:00 AM PST

Penny Hopkins
WVoN co-editor

English cricket fans have something to cheer about at last as England’s women have taken their New Zealand tour by storm.

They have so far recorded two wins from two in their warm-up matches and are looking to continue this form in three one-day internationals and five twenty20 matches in February and March.

This is in stark contrast to the recent whitewash the men’s team suffered against Pakistan in Dubai and Abu Dhabi earlier this month.

In the first match on 11 February, captain Charlotte Edwards hit 123 from 104 balls as England beat a New Zealand Emerging Players team by 181 runs. They posted an impressive total of 292 from their 50 overs and then proceeded to bowl out their opponents for 111 with Anya Shrubsole taking five wickets for five runs.

Edwards was pleased with the result, saying: “We had a good day out here today with some great individual perfomances”.

In the first of two twenty20 warm-ups which took place on February 13, New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat, but scored only 86. England won the game with 44 balls to spare, with Sarah Taylor ending not out 43 from 24 balls.

This bodes well for the tour which begins in earnest with the first twenty20 match of a five match series against the senior women’s side, the White Ferns, beginning on Friday 17 February. Three fifty over one-day internationals begin on Thursday 1 March.

This good form comes in the wake of an announcement from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the ECB are to expand the Women’s Young Cricketers programme this summer.

Fourteen players have been chosen to take part in the progamme in 2012. They will spend the summmer at Lord’s and will have access to the best facilities and coaching. They will also receive financial help for the duration of the programme.

ECB Head of Women’s Cricket, Clare Connor, said: “The ECB are thrilled to be working so collaboratively with MCC to develop women’s cricket.”

Although the MCC did not allow women to become members until 1999, things have moved on considerably since then in that it was the first cricket organisation in the world to pay women cricketers as professionals when the Women’s Young Cricketers scheme began in 2003.

Video highlights of the England women’s tour are available on the ECB website and appear within 24 hours of the end of the game.

Specialist domestic violence services – a thing of the past?

Posted: 14 Feb 2012 04:30 AM PST

Heather Kennedy
WVoN co-editor

Government cuts are leaving many vulnerable women with no escape from domestic violence as refuges close and women are turned away, a report revealed last week (see WVoN story).

And for specialist voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) who help isolated Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) women fleeing domestic violence, the outlook is particularly grim.

Mainstream services have historically failed to reach BME women whose experiences of domestic violence can be distinct, often shaped by factors such as forced marriage, language barriers and racism.

British South Asian women experiencing domestic violence are significantly more likely to self harm and commit suicide than white British women.

Specialist domestic violence services sprang up to meet the needs of BME communities and use expert knowledge to reach and support BME women facing abuse.

For a long time however, specialist domestic violence services have had to defend their right to provide tailored services to BME women.

In 2008, Southall Black Sisters, who have been running refuges for BME women fleeing violence since 1979, won a legal battle against Ealing Council which tried to withdraw their funding, saying they should be providing a more 'inclusive' service.

But the council was forced to overturn this decision when Lord Justice Moses ruled that:

“Specialist services for a racial minority from a specialist source is anti-discriminatory and furthers the objectives of equality and cohesion.”

Women working across the women's sector agree that specialist services are needed in tackling domestic violence. Cat Whitehouse from the domestic violence charity, Eaves, says:

"Whilst domestic violence services are often culturally sensitive, most do not have the resources to specifically target women in different communities and earn the trust necessary for women to feel able to access their services.

“Cost alone prevents many services from being truly inclusive, for example having translators or multi-lingual staff readily available and having enough money to translate forms and leaflets into community languages and then the information given translated back into English."

But now, domestic violence services for BME women may become a thing of the past. Southall Black Sisters are facing severe funding cuts and Imkaan, who represent BME VCOs, have had to close two of its six refuges.

Vandna Gohil, Director of Voice4Change England, a BME advocacy organisation, says funding scarcity has fed into an attack on the rationale of groups to provide specialist services:

"In the past year we've seen the erosion of race equality on the political agenda and the emergence of a new ‘mainstreaming’ ideology which tries to apply a ‘one size fits all’ approach to voluntary and community sector funding. This has excluded groups without the voice to speak out.

“Disadvantaged BME communities rely on the unique knowledge and reach of specialist VCOs. But because these are small, underfunded organisations to begin with they are losing out to larger, well established organisations in the competition for funding."

As funding dries up and a commissioning model replaces grants for VCOs, there is a growing concern that the needs of isolated, vulnerable women are being forgotten.

Women’s race to feature on Boat Race day

Posted: 14 Feb 2012 03:00 AM PST

Penny Hopkins
WVoN co-editor

From 2015 the Women’s Boat Race between the universities of Cambridge and Oxford in the UK will be held alongside that of the men. It will be rowed along the same course, be given equal sponsorship funding and will be shown live on the BBC.

The women’s race first took place in 1927 but has never commanded the high profile of the men’s race. It is currently held in Henley-on-Thames, but from 2015 will follow the famous Putney to Mortlake course.

The Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) issued a statement giving the move its backing.

Chief Executive of WSFF, Sue Tibballs, said:

“Today’s news is a huge step forward – not just for women’s rowing but for women’s sport in general and demonstrates the high regard in which participants, organisers, viewers and sponsors hold women’s sport.”

WSFF is a charity that aims to raise awareness of women’s sport and to encourage women to participate in physical activity. WSFF research shows that 61% of sports fans would like to see better media coverage of women’s sport. It receives just 0.5% of all commerical investment.

Baroness Grey-Thompson, Chair of the Commisssion on the Future of Women’s Sport also expressed support for the move:

“This is a fabulous step forward in the evolution of women’s rowing and will encourage and inspire many more young women into the sport….

“I am also particularly pleased about the equal access to training venues and how it will raise the profile at University level. I hope that other sports will follow suit in recognising the importance of women in sport.”

British rower Annabel Vernon said:

“Rowing is the ultimate team sport and the Boat Race is the ultimate expression of that, being two teams going head to head….This provides a massive opportunity to grow women’s rowing in this country and I’m very excited about the inaugural event.”

Story links, February 14, 2012

Posted: 14 Feb 2012 01:31 AM PST

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