Women's Views on News

Sexist attitudes mean female US military don’t get recognition they deserve
Challenging gender roles in Tamil Nadu
Rwanda: two journalists wait to see if they will be released
Women’s involvement in talks gives peace a chance
Should the British government apologise for “torture” of suffragettes?
Where’s the romance, or does it just come down to ‘sext’?
Tribute to Whitney Houston, 1963 – 2012
Gendercide: 200 million women missing
Story links, February 15, 2012

Sexist attitudes mean female US military don’t get recognition they deserve

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 01:00 PM PST

Jem McCarron
WVoN co-editor

So far 60 women serving in the US army have died in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.

This is despite the fact that, officially, they are not permitted to fight for their country.

On Thursday 9 February, following a yearlong review by the Pentagon into the impact of women in the armed forces, the American Department of Defense (DoD) announced new rulings that will open up around 14,000 military positions to women.

However the DoD stopped well short of removing the ban on women in combat, frustrating equality campaigners who argue that women are more than capable of doing their duty in these roles. As the stats show, many women are already serving, and dying, on the front line.

According to historian Kara Dixon Vuic, author of “Officer, Nurse, Woman: the Army Nurse Corps in the Vietnam War” such double-standards are nothing new. Women were drafted into the US military during World War II, serving as mechanics, plane movers and filling many other vital roles but found themselves expelled from the Army once peace resumed.

It wasn't until the army became purely voluntary, after the Vietnam war, that women were actively recruited again.

Today women make up 14 per cent of American troops in Afghanistan and 15 per cent of the 1.5 million personnel on active duty worldwide.

Last week's announcement still keeps over 280,000 positions officially out of the reach of women, including cavalry, tank crewmen, Special Forces and submarine positions.

Representative Loretta Sanchez (California Democrat) and member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement: "Unfortunately, the conclusions of this report do not go far enough. I am very disappointed, it is essentially a pilot program, which I believe is ridiculous.”

Women currently serve in "attachments" to battalions, effectively already doing many of the roles that the DoD have just opened up and a few more besides.

Laura Bowder, professor of American Studies at the University of Richmond, Virginia, has interviewed over fifty women who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan for her latest book, “When Janey Comes Marching Home: Stories of American Women at War”.

“I would say there are fewer and fewer areas in which women are not participating….the reality is that women are in combat.”

There is still significant resistance to women in the military, both within congress and the Army itself. Many people are still uncomfortable with the idea of women fighting and mothers coming home in body bags.

A 1994 DoD ruling states that women can be restricted from positions "which include physically demanding tasks that would exclude the vast majority of women."

When pressed on how the DoD could know that the vast majority of women were incapable of these tasks when not giving them the chance to even try, their response was vague.

Former Marine Corps captain and executive director of the Service Women's Action Network, Anu Bhagwati, said: "We're not talking about opening up the infantry to every woman, but the women who do want to try these jobs, who are we to say that they can't?"

Of course, there are practical issues that will require time and planning to resolve, as basic as sleeping and toileting facilities.

Ryan Kelty, who specialises in the military, told LiveScience:

“There will perhaps be growing pains; but maybe we have already gone through some of those….That’s not a reason not to do it and it certainly doesn’t justify the systematic exclusion of individuals who want to serve and are capable of serving.”

Most experts are of the opinion that politicians and society will catch up to the reality that women are already engaging in combat and providing a valuable resource to their armed forces.

It seems however, that could be later rather than sooner, especially when even male military officers are sceptical.

Some male Marines described it as a barrier, if only psychologically, to fighting alongside women. In a 2010 interview, Captain Scott A. Cuomo, a company commander of 270 Marines in central Helmand and a strong supporter of the female engagement teams, said:

"I think the infantry in me will have a very hard time ever accepting that I'm going to rush against the enemy and there's going to be a female right next to me. Can she do it? Some might.

“I don't know if this sounds bad, but I kind of look at everything through my wife. Is that my wife's job? No. My job is to make sure my wife is safe.''

Challenging gender roles in Tamil Nadu

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 11:30 AM PST

Eleanor Davis
WVoN co-editor

"Boys are the centre of the universe" spouts a confident 11^th standard male student at Sri Venkateswara Matriculation in Chennai, the capital of India's southern state, Tamil Nadu.

"Men invented most things: the bulb, the fan" he continues, the classroom's own fans providing little relief during this heated debate over gender equality.

But his female colleagues don't let him get away with it. Standing tall in front of the segregated class one girl gets up and says:

"That's because they don't allow girls to learn anything, they keep them in the kitchen." She is supported by her neighbour: "in some families women earn more than men, some women are head of the household."

An unusual topic of conversation in the conservative south of India – where women are covered from the neck down, schools girls of all ages wear pigtails whilst men parade around in lunghis – a piece of cloth, wrapped around at the waist and hoisted up, like a short skirt.

It's about time to address this unmissable gender gap between men and women, boys and girls which can be seen in the street and in the home alike. Restless Development, the youth-led development agency is doing just that.

As part of the International Citizenship Service Programme, headed by the UK government department for international development (DfID), Brits under the age of 24 have been delivering Life Skills lessons as part of a broader development project taking place across India.

Amongst lessons on HIV, substance abuse, sexual health and marriage, Chloe Fielding, 21, from Bristol has been addressing gender roles with her students:

"Girls always say they don't have enough freedom, they are unsure of the laws here, one girl told me she wanted to become a pilot but couldn't, because she was a girl."

After the initial debate, Chloe encourages the young group to discuss the difference between gender and sex – to create an understanding of the social construction of gender, complete with restrictive dress codes and segregated roles.

"These lessons are fun and interactive and they give girls a chance to voice their opinions in a culture in which women stay at home and don't have much of a voice. It also gives boys the chance to hear girl's opinions on their lack of freedom."

But outside the school gates holds a worrying picture for these intelligent young women. Dowry, now illegal but still a social norm, means that a girl's parents are still expected to pay or offer expensive gifts to her prospective husband.

Once married she then leaves her family household to become the housewife to her husband and carer to her mother-in-law, thus making her financially redundant to her own family – a tradition which results in gross amounts of female infanticide.

Venture outside of Chennai, a bustling city and the situation worsens, according to Dinesh, a national volunteer for Restless Development, India:

"In rural areas, male domination is very high. Women are seen to give pleasure, to cook, wash shirts and do household things" he says, having delivered a gender awareness programme in rural government schools and local communities.

"Domestic violence is also a part of Dowry; when the wife's family is not giving the Dowry in time the wife gets physically harassed and gets beatings from her husband" a scenario that goes on in both rural and urban India, he says.

Yet there are signs of change, in the cities at least, and with more awareness raising, Dinesh is hopeful:

"Nowadays it's become normal to see women pilots, women auto drivers, women bus conductors – in every field from local markets to technology, ample of women are working alongside men."

With NGOs such as Restless Development opening up the issue of gender equality, young people are starting to question what has always been the norm. What's more they are taking to the streets of their local communities and slums to open up the discussion further.

Opportunities are opening up – reservations for women's employment (33% in government jobs), access to universities and NGO efforts to encourage gender equality. Yet in a country which harbours such rich traditions, linked with strong religious roots it remains to be seen whether cultural norms will allow Indian women to take them.

To apply for the International Citizenship Service visit DfID.

Rwanda: two journalists wait to see if they will be released

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 10:00 AM PST

Julie Tomlin
WVoN co-editor

The supreme court in Rwanda will give its verdict on the appeal of two journalists on Friday in what has become a test case for press freedom in the country.

Agnes Nkusi Uwimana, the editor of a controversial independent newspaper Umurabyo was convicted last February of defamation, causing divisions and denying the 1994 genocide of the Tutsis and sentenced to 17 years imprisonment.

Saidati Mukakibibi, a reporter on the magazine, was found guilty of inciting civil disobedience after writing articles comparing President Kagame to Hitler and imprisoned for seven years.

The women, both widows with children, were arrested in July 2010 following the publication of a number of articles that were critical of the president and alleged there was corruption among officials ahead of the 2010 elections.

The newspaper also criticised land reforms and local grassroots courts responsible for trying genocide suspects known as gacaca.

They were accused of contradicting the official version that the genocide was one-sided as a result of an article that referred to Rwandans having killed "each other".

Two other critical newspapers were suspended in April 2010 on similar charges, but the government denied that the arrests were linked to the presidential elections that took place in August that year.

Press freedom organisations including Reporters Without Borders have expressed concern that Paul Kagame's government has been exploiting the ban on denial of the country's 1994 genocide to suppress freedom of expression.

Other anti-censorship groups, including Article 19 and Media Legal Defence Initiative are supporting the women and a London barrister John Jones is representing them.

At the High Court hearing in January, Uwimana rejected comparisons between her and Hassan Ngeze, whose publications were held responsible for inciting the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

Both maintained they were wrongly sentenced and that what they had published was within the confines of the law and merely practising their rights to freedom of speech and expression as journalists.

Nani Jansen, legal officer of the London-based Media Legal Defence Initiative, who has flown to Kigali to support the two journalists has argued that the court did not take into account that in the same article the journalist had accused Kagame of not doing enough to punish those who carried out the genocide, a clear indication that she does not deny it.

Uwimana had already served a two-year jail sentence for defamation and promoting division, but returned to work on her release. She received two warnings from the Media High Council, the government body that oversees the press before she was again arrested in July 2010.

Women’s involvement in talks gives peace a chance

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 08:00 AM PST

Julie Tomlin
WVoN co-editor

What impact would it have on peace negotiations around the world if more women were included?

A new report on women's situation in war by Norica Nicolai argues that the involvement of women in talks is important enough to recommend that the European Union should only support peace processes that include women from the outset.

Women bring a different perspective when it comes to negotiations, focusing on policies that are relevant to their lives and to their families that might otherwise be overlooked, the report published by the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality says.

This means that women are less likely to focus on territory and borders and more likely to concentrate on issues such as market infrastructure, roads, health clinics and accessible schools.

Yet worldwide, women's participation in peace negotiations remains below 10 per cent of those formally involved.

The lack of involvement of women in peace talks, and the precarious position of their rights during the power vacuum that often emerges in post-conflict areas are issues that founder of Women for Women International Zainab Salbi has been raising for some years now.

She set up the organisation in Bosnia to support women who had lived through the war and it now operates in eight war-torn countries including DR Congo, Iraq, Rwanda, Nigeria and Afghanistan.

Salbi has spoken repeatedly of the need to see war not only from the "frontline" but also the "backline" where women are living their lives and most often trying to hold families together during times of conflict.

The woman's perspective has to be heard if peace talks are to be successful, said Salbi, when she was speaking at the London School of Economics last year.

"Often women are told to step back, that we need to negotiate peace, that it's more important to have a peace agreement and let's not be distracted in terms of women's rights. Step back for now, let us negotiate the larger peace and we'll get back to you."

This happened in Palestine, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and many other countries and in Afghanistan women are concerned that it is happening to them right now, said Salbi.

There is growing concern among Afghan women that any advances they have made could be bargained away as the US government plans to withdraw in 2014 (see WVoN stories).

Women have to be included at the negotiating table for a sustainable peace to be created, said Salbi.

"I don't know what they want, they know what they want. But as their sister I have an obligation to roar and to echo their voices saying we have an obligation towards them."

Rather than seeing women's rights as a marginal issue, politicians should take into account that women are the bellweather of society: "Violence often starts with women and progress often starts with women," said Salbi.

Such thinking seems to be reflected in Nicolai's report which suggests a number of measures to help reinforce the position of women in war-torn countries, including an increase in the number of women in the military and in civilian peace-keeping operations, especially in leadership positions.

The report also highlights the prevalence of sexual violence as a war tactic in the form of rape, trafficking and other forms of sexual abuse. In the majority of cases, the perpetrators go unpunished, however.

Nicolai said she wrote the report "bearing in mind the necessity for the European Union to speak with a strong voice condemning the sexual violence against women which is still presently used as a weapon of war in world conflicts.”

The report, which was approved by the UN this week, argues that women's equal economic participation is a necessary precondition for combating gender specific violence in armed conflicts.

It also calls on the European Commission to examine the possibility of establishing rapid-response units made up of trained personnel including doctors, psychologists, sociologists and legal advisors to give immediate support to victims.

Publication of the report coincided with the launch last week of Women Under Siege, a project documenting how rape and other forms of sexualised violence are used as tools in genocide and conflict.

Spearheaded by activist, journalist and Women's Media Center co-founder, Gloria Steinem, the project sets out to educate about the use of rape as a tool of war and to push for the creation of legal, diplomatic, and public intervention to ensure the UN, international tribunals, and other agencies understand the dangers women face and design protocols to intervene and halt them.

Should the British government apologise for “torture” of suffragettes?

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 06:30 AM PST

Julie Tomlin
WVoN co-editor

Should the British government apologise for the "torture" of suffragettes who were force fed while imprisoned during their campaign for the vote for women?

Brenda Dean, the former head of the print union, SOGAT, said after hearing an interview broadcast on Radio 4 with suffragette Maude Kate Smith that it would be "entirely appropriate" for the government to apologise.

One of around 180 people who were interviewed by historian Brian Harrison in the mid to late 1970s, Smith was force fed while imprisoned in the city's Winston Green prison in 1912 for smashing windows in London's Oxford Street.

The secretary for the Women’s Social & Political Union (WSPU) Birmingham branch described the "anguish" of having a tube forced into her nostrils or down her throat and food poured in that hadn't been properly cooked or softened:

"It's such intense pain, it picked me up once and threw me across the cell," she said, adding that she finally gave up resisting and eventually became "docile" because of the pain.

"The politicians took the decision of force feeding," said Dean, now Baroness of Thornton-le-Fylde, who was one of the guests on Radio 4's The Lost World of the Suffragettes.

"The suffragettes may as a group say we would prefer to see quicker emancipation of women than perhaps an apology, but nevertheless, you can't but listen to that interview and come to the conclusion that this was not force feeding, this was torture."

Force feeding was later abandoned and the government, led by Herbert Asquith, introduced what became known as the Cat and Mouse Act, which allowed for the temporary release of women who were on hunger strike only to rearrest them when they had recovered.

Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said she was also in no doubt that the accounts of "inhuman and degrading" force feeding by women amounted to "torture":

"We should never forget that even in relatively recent memory our government was prepared to tolerate behaviour of that kind," said Chakrabarti, adding that she could not "be quick to judge the women who took militant action against a state that was prepared to perpetrate that kind of cruelty".

But the recordings, which have never been broadcast before and are now owned by the Women's Library at the London Metropolitan University, also revealed the divisions that existed among women about the methods they should use.

Founded in 1897, the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) focused on recruiting members and winning support of the political class and members of parliament.

When Emmeline Pankhurst became frustrated with the organisation's lack of progress, she set up the women-only organisation, the WSPU, in 1903 with her daughters Christabel and Sylvia.

It is thought that Christabel persuaded her mother that direct action was necessary, and with the slogan "Deeds, not words" began a campaign of militant action that included attacking ministers, stone throwing, setting fire to their houses and even a plot to disrupt the canal system by blowing up part of the canal in Birmingham.

"Suffragette" was first used by the Daily Mail in 1906 as a derisory term for the women who used direct action tactics but they adopted it enthusiastically as they carried out their high-profile campaign over the next decade:

The Suffragettes understood the power of the media and their stunts aimed for maximum impact. On 1 March 1912, for instance, women stood in front of plate glass windows Marble Arch to Tottenham Court Road, in front of shops and offices and government offices along London's Oxford street, Bond St, Haymarket and the Strand and at 5 pm took hammers from muffs or stones from their pockets and smashed windows.

The women who took part were flying in the face of convention and many admitted they were afraid, including Leonora Cohen who described her "terror" before carrying out her "deed" of smashing the glass case that held the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London.

"It was never done for fun, they had to get the notice of the public and that was their way of doing it," she said.

Women over 30 with property were given the vote in 1918 and this was extended to all women over the age of 21 in 1927. Controversy has continued over the decades as to whether the militant suffragettes actually helped or hindered the cause.

Dean argued that although the suffragists were probably more effective in the long term, the militants also played a part:

"If you look at any major social change within it somewhere has been a degree of militancy, it has to, in a sense, to focus on it," she said.

"I'm not saying I agree with burning down houses, but at the turn of the century the whole social order was very different indeed."

Chakrabarti concluded that it was important to judge the actions of the women in context and remember that they were not living in a democracy:

"To some extent their struggle is akin to the struggle of black people living under Apartheid in South Africa – they are not in our current context."

Where’s the romance, or does it just come down to ‘sext’?

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 06:00 AM PST

Jem McCarron
WVoN co-editor

Saucy text messages, or 'sexts', are being sent by more women than ever, but is it an effort to alleviate the tedium of the dating game?

Romance publishers, Harlequin, recently surveyed 1,500 single women in the US aged between 18 and 40 on their romantic behaviours.

What they found is more than a little depressing – 89 percent of those interviewed believed that their most romantic encounters were still to come, with the majority saying they found the whole dating experience boring.

With almost half admitted to 'sexting' as part of a serious relationship and 36 percent sexting after just a few dates, could this be an attempt to spice up an otherwise uninspiring dating experience?

Almost a quarter of women surveyed had sent nude photos of themselves via email or text.

Unsurprisingly 91 percent of the respondents say dating rules have changed since their mother's day, however, the report also found that the key turn ons and expectations are much the same as they have always been.

Women still want men to make the first move, to open doors and pay for the first date and sense of humour. And a 'killer smile' are still what get women going.

Author and psychological expert Dr. Wendy Walsh said in the Huffington Post:

“Harlequin has done it again. Its latest Romance Report documents the changes in dating behaviours and brings forth a hard truth: women’s needs haven’t changed one bit.”

But is that really true?

Women are definitely making more use of social networks and technology in general. For example, using Facebook to check out potential dates.

Clearly, a lot of us are happy to exchange texts and risqué emails too, but the majority would prefer a chat on the telephone to text speak.

Which begs the question then, who are we 'sexting' for?

Of course, this is all great news for Harlequinn which can continue to profit out of the unfulfilled romantic hopes of women.

Tribute to Whitney Houston, 1963 – 2012

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 03:00 AM PST

Mariam Zaidi
WVoN co-editor

Whitney Houston will be laid to rest on Saturday at the old church where she sang as a child.

A service will be held for the late singer at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey.

On Saturday the world was shocked by the news that Houston had been found dead in the tub of her Beverly Hills hotel room on Saturday. Despite efforts to revive her she was pronounced dead on the scene. She was 48.

A coroner has ruled that there was no foul play in her death.

A post mortem examination carried out on the late singer's body showed no obvious signs of trauma but it may take weeks before the actual cause of death is known.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Deputy LA coroner Ed Winter said it was too early to tell what might have killed Houston. There has been much speculation that she may have died from a drug overdose or drowned in her bath tub, but Winter refused to comment. It could take up to eight weeks for the results of a toxicology report.

Adding to the tragedy of her death is the news that Houston's teenage daughter Bobbi Kristina was rushed to hospital following her mother's death to be treated for anxiety. Although she has now been discharged, sources say family and friends are desperately worried about the 18 year old’s health and state of mind.

Houston had been due to appear at an annual pre-Grammy party hosted by her long-time mentor, record producer Clive Davis, at the Beverly Hilton hotel on Saturday evening.

According to TMZ, the singer was last seen in public on the night before her death, drinking at the hotel bar with friends. The day before, she even gave an impromptu performance on stage at a pre Grammy party at the Tru Hollywood nightclub. Sadly this was to be the troubled singer's final performance.

Gifted with a pitch perfect voice and undeniable beauty, Whitney Elizabeth Houston was discovered by Clive Davis barely out of her teens. But Houston was no ordinary young girl. Her mother was singer Cissy Houston, her cousins were Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick and her godmother was Aretha Franklin.

Houston's 1985 debut album Whitney Houston became the best-selling debut album by a female act at the time of its release, followed by seven studio albums and three movie soundtrack albums. She is also credited as the only artist to chart seven consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits.

At the height of her fame in the 1990s she starred in the 1992 movie "The Bodyguard" with Kevin Costner, featuring what was possibly her greatest hit of all, the Dolly Parton written classic "I Will Always Love You."

But sadly for Houston, her life spiralled out of control as she became increasingly dependent on drink and drugs. Many close to her blamed her former husband and 80s pop star Bobby Brown for introducing the once squeaky clean gospel singer to drugs.

But even years after she divorced him in 2007, it seems she was never fully able to overcome her addiction and reclaim her success at the top of the charts.

She did make a celebrated comeback in 1998 with her fourth studio album "My Love Is Your Love," which spawned a Grammy. But this would be the last album she released that received any real critical acclaim and commercial success.

The death of Whitney Houston draws an eerie comparison to that of UK singer Amy Winehouse in July 2011. Another tragic heroine of the music industry famed for her soulful voice but dead long before her time. Another victim of continued substance abuse.

At the 54th Grammy Awards which took place on Sunday night in the US both Winehouse and Houston were honoured. The ceremony opened with a prayer for Houston by host LL. Cool J and Jennifer Hudson gave a gut wrenching rendition of "I Will Always Love You."

Winehouse’s father came on stage to collect a posthumous award on behalf of his daughter. He summed up the music industry's loss as he said: “Long live Whitney Houston, long live Amy Winehouse, long live Etta James. There’s a beautiful girl band up in heaven."

Houston, Winehouse and even the undisputed King of Pop Michael Jackson are just some of the incredible talents the music industry and the world as a whole has lost, tragically too soon to drugs.

Following Houston's death, fresh calls have been made for more to be done to tackle drug addiction and more specifically, addiction to prescription drugs.

Speaking on twitter, celebrity Sharon Osborne said that instead of mocking addicts, more should be done to help them before it's too late.

Singer Tony Bennett who himself has battled drug addiction in the past has called for better regulation of drugs.

Hopefully more can be done. Hopefully educating people about the dangers of substance abuse will save lives. Hopefully this will be the last time, well at least for a very long time the entertainment industry and the world will mourn the loss of such a great, great talent. Hopefully……

Gendercide: 200 million women missing

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 02:00 AM PST

Sarah Macshane
WVoN co-editor

In many parts of the world, but especially China and India, girls are killed, aborted and abandoned simply for being girls.

The United Nations estimates that as many as 200 million girls are missing in the world today because of “gendercide” or female infanticide.

According to Marina Porras, “female infanticide is the intentional killing of baby girls due to the preference for male babies and from the low value associated with the birth of females.”

Gendercide exists on almost every continent, affecting rich and poor, educated and illiterate, Hindu, Muslim, Confucian and Christian alike.

Even though Mao Zedong once said "women hold up half the sky", China has particularly high rates of female infanticide where more than 120 boys are being born for every 100 girls.

In order to confront the situation and prevent a serious gender imbalance, all countries need to raise the value of girls. NGOs, global experts and grassroots activists are campaigning for change, including The 50 Million Missing campaign, set up to stop India's female genocide.

In three generations more than 50 million women have been selectively eliminated from India's population through practices like female feticide, infanticide, intentional starvation of girls and dowry related murders.

It's a girl, a film being released this year, documents the practice of gendercide in India and China. The trailer's most chilling scene is one in which an Indian woman who, unable to contain her laughter, confesses to having killed eight infant daughters.

We live in a world of seven billion people with a sex ratio of 986 females per 1,000 males. But can you imagine a world with a ratio of 45:55 or 40:60?

Unless serious action is taken to stop female infanticide, we are headed towards a situation with an overwhelmingly male population with little notion of how to face the problems that the imbalance will inevitably bring.

Story links, February 15, 2012

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 01:00 AM PST

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