Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Italian feminists warn rallies will not solve women’s real problems

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 10:30 AM PST

Ilona Lo Iacono
WVoN co-editor 

Many Italian feminists have long been concerned that the anti-Berlusconi protests organised by the women’s organisation "if not now, when?" were divisive, and drew the focus away from the real problems women faced.

“Women are mortified by the female unemployment data, the salaries and the career perspectives, the precarious jobs … not by the symbolic mercification of their bodies on television," said Valeria Ottenelli, philosophy and public ethics professor at the University of Genova.

Elena Loewenthal wrote in La Stampa: "Why do women feel a duty to defend their dignity in light of the obscene spectacle filtering through from Silvio Berlusconi's home…?

“Did men feel a duty to launch a demonstration to defend their dignity? Which, truth be told, seems to be more violated than our own. Did they feel a need to take their distances from that model of masculinity?"

The biggest scandal, surely, is that, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2011 Global Gender Gap Report, Italy ranks 74th, below Ghana and Bangladesh, on gender equality, due in large part to its low score for women’s economic participation and opportunity.

The female employment rate in Italy is just 46 percent, the lowest in the European Union after Malta.

And, even if women are feeling the traditional pressure to stay at home with children, the fertility rate is very low, at just 1.4 children per woman.

Research shows that large numbers of Italian women have reservations about motherhood; many women report that it's a "daily struggle" and say that they are stressed and dissatisfied about their failure to reconcile motherhood with the world of work.

And while The Economist claims that Italy has an entrenched culture of "jobs for life", and that workers with permanent contracts are "virtually unsackable", women and young people enjoy no such stability.

Illegal practices such as “white resignations” – undated resignation letters which new female employees are forced by unscrupulous employers to sign – are used to terminate employment, allowing employees to be fired should they become too costly to the employer, for example, if they become pregnant or face long-term illness or disablement.

Mercedes Ortega, who was forced out of her job just days after she was injured in a traffic accident, said that “only the girls were made to sign the resignations… My boss said she did it to cover herself, because she’d had to fork out thousands of euros for a former employee’s maternity leave.”

Those seeking to enter – or re-enter – the workforce are likely to find themselves on the bottom tier of a two-tier labour system, thanks to changes made by Berlusconi's government in 2003, which allow employers to offer short-term contracts with few of the benefits or guarantees of permanent employees.

A proposal to create one standard contract to replace more than 40 varieties of temporary contracts would reduce job insecurity and encourage female employment, said Daniela Del Boca, economist and family expert at Turin University.

Young people, who must also have stable employment before anyone will be willing to even rent them a flat, often don't start their career until their late 20s if they are university-educated. This causes additional time pressure and conflict for educated women who wish to have children.

Approximately 60% of all university graduates in Italy are women, and they are well represented in all academic disciplines, including the traditionally male-dominated fields of computer science and mathematics.

However, even within the universities themselves, women's careers don't tend to reach the heights of men's: women professors, for example, are half as likely as their male colleagues to get tenure.

The less education a woman has, however, the greater the gap between her prospects and those of a man with the same educational attainment.

A woman with only a secondary school education can expect to earn approximately one third less than a man doing the same job.

The quest for the golden dragon boy: sex-selection in Vietnam

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 09:30 AM PST

Ilona Lo Iacono
WVoN co-editor 

For the people of Vietnam, January 23 marked the beginning of the Year of the Golden Dragon (Nham Thin).

This year is thought to be the most auspicious of the 60-year zodiac cycle for the birth of a child, especially if the child is a boy.

Many couples will resort to any possible means to increase their chance of having a son this year, despite the illegality of sex-selective practices in Vietnam.

Like several other Asian nations, Vietnam now faces a rising sex ratio at birth (SRB): In 1999, the ratio was the “average” 105 boys to 100 girls, but by 2006, the ratio had grown to 110:100.

According to Vietnam's 2009 Census, the SRB imbalance stands at 110.5. The census also revealed that sex selection is practiced most in the northern Red River Delta provinces (where the ratio can be as high as 130.7:100) and among wealthier households.

The preference for baby boys is linked to pervasive traditional beliefs, according to the United Nations Population Fund.

Vietnamese tradition dictates that male descendants carry on the family lineage and support their parents when they are old.

According to a popular Confucian saying: "With one son you have a descendant, with 10 daughters you have nothing."

"The idea that sons are responsible for their parents in old age needs to be revisited.

“In reality, many women support their parents too but in secret or by transferring money to their brothers who then give it to the parents," said Dr Khuat Thu Hong, co-director of the Institute for Social Development Studies in Hanoi.

She said in order to stop the disappearance of Vietnam's girls, women's contribution to society needs to be valued and acknowledged more.

Article 63 of the Vietnamese constitution states that "all citizens regardless of their sex have equal rights in all respects, political, economic, cultural, social and in family life.

“Any discrimination against women and violation of women’s dignity are strictly prohibited.”

The rising proportion of boys is thought to be a consequence of a combination of the declining birthrate (due to Vietnam’s two child policy), and improved access to ultrasound screening during pregnancy, particularly during the second trimester.

Abortion is legal on request in Vietnam up to 22 weeks' gestation, although it is illegal for the purposes of sex selection.

Some fear that if the SRB continues to rise, efforts to stop sex-selective abortions could have the unintended effect of broader restrictions on access to abortion.

The Vietnamese government has banned the advertisement of sex selection services, and access to websites advising on or promoting sex selection has been blocked. About 30,000 copies of books offering such advice were also burned in 2009.

However, rising wealth in the country has provided some couples with the means to circumvent the law.

One woman, named only as Hai, told the Guardian that she and her husband travelled to Bangkok, along with two other Vietnamese couples, in order to avail themselves of legal, and widely advertised, sex-selective IVF services.

Hai, now expecting twin sons, is already the mother of two girls. As a state employee, she stands to lose her job as a penalty for exceeding the two-child limit.

Hai would rather lose her job than her husband, however. She suggested the IVF treatment to him after overhearing his mother advise him to have an extramarital affair so he could have a son this year.

Poor women, meanwhile, have had a different role to play in the lucrative Thai fertility business – as trafficked surrogate mothers.

Fifteen trafficked Vietnamese women, including four who insisted that they were tricked into surrogacy and held against their will, were discovered in Bangkok in February 2011.

Story links, February 21, 2012

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 08:30 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:

The wonderful Ani DiFranco: still tackling issues with a song, F-word, February 20, 2012

Women protest anti-abortion bills in Virginia, USA, Boston.com, February 20, 2012

Female gang members accept rape as ‘normal’, Guardian, February 18, 2012

Shrinking numbers, growing need for women in technology jobs, Des Moines Register, February 21, 2012

Women in traffic are more cautious than men, M-magazine, February 21, 2012

Fifth world conference on women in sport calls for more women in leadership roles, Seattle PI, February 20, 2012

Interactive advert that only shows itself to females, BBC News, February 20, 2012

Collective efforts needed to eradicate fistula, Daily News, Tanzania, February 20, 2012

 

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week starts next week

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 07:30 AM PST

Alison Clarke
WVoN co-editor 

February 26 is the start of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.

Organised and run by non-profit NEDA (the National Eating Disorders Association), this year's theme – "Everybody knows somebody" – reflects a growing awareness of eating disorders.

Lynn Grefe, president and CEO said: ”This week is so important to spreading awareness and understanding the seriousness of eating disorders.

“Most everyone does in fact know someone affected by an eating disorder, so let’s come together to begin supporting those friends and working toward prevention.”

The aim of NEDAwareness Week is to prevent eating disorders and body image issues in the longer term, while reducing the stigma surrounding eating disorders and improving access to treatment.

Eating disorders are serious, life-threatening illnesses – not choices – and it’s important to recognize the pressures, attitudes and behaviours that shape those disorders.

NEDAwareness Week is a collective effort of primary volunteers, including eating disorder professionals, health care providers, students, educators, social workers, and individuals committed to raising awareness of the dangers surrounding eating disorders and the need for early intervention and treatment.

This year, NEDA is once again asking everyone to do just one thing to help raise awareness and provide accurate information about eating disorders.

NEDAwareness Week participants can contribute in any of the following ways:

  • Distribute info pamphlets and put up posters
  • Write a letter to your local paper
  • Register as a volunteer speaker or host a volunteer speaker
  • Post information on Facebook or arrange interactive and educational activities such as a meditation and yoga event, panel discussions, fashion shows, body fairs, movie screenings, art exhibits and more.

As an official NEDAwareness Week participant you can be involved in any way that works with your schedule, resources, community, and interests.

These events and activities are vital to attracting public media attention – on local, national and international levels.

So what are you waiting for? Log on to the website and get going.

Women build bridges for peace in International Women’s Day campaign

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 06:00 AM PST

Helen Thompson
WVoN co-editor

March 8 is the 101st International Women's Day, a day of recognizing the importance of women's equality across the globe.

On this day women's organisations from around the world will be meeting on bridges to publicly acknowledge the importance of peace as a necessity for the equality of women, especially those women living amidst conflict.

Since 2010, Women for Women International has promoted the Join Me on the Bridge Campaign where women meet "to build bridges of peace and hope for the future."

The inaugural event supported women in the war-torn countries of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rwandan and Congolese women rallied on a bridge connecting the two countries to promote peace and equality with the aim of ending violence against women.

Since then, the event has focused on women in the midst of war on the premise that women are peace builders and can be a powerful force for change.

Zainab Salbi, founder of Women for Women International said in an article for the Huffington Post in 2010, "women worldwide have yet to reach full equality in all aspects of life.

"In times of war, they are still the targets of massive rape, torture, displacement and pillaging.

"The difference this time is that women are speaking out and stand united as they break their silence, demand an immediate end to war and the building of sustainable peace that can allow them to plant, harvest, go to work, send their children to schools, and dance, live and eat without any fear."

This year Join Me on the Bridge events will take place globally from Hobart, Tasmania to Chididi Bridge in Malawi.

In Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, an event will take place at the Royal Papua Yacht Club to "empower women from all PNG cultural societies."

Women will also be meeting at the Garrhi Pull (Red Bridge), in Khairpur, Pakistan.  Organisers have planned a meeting with white ribbons,balloons and clothing in a celebration of peace.

In London, the venue is the Millennium Bridge, with singing, chanting, face-painting and speakers at the Southbank Centre.

The London events have typically attracted a large following, including some high profile supporters.

In 2011, actor Cherie Lunghi said, “When one women finds her voice and gets together with other women and men and children all over the world we create a power and a strength, a people power, that can shift all the obstacles that lay along the path on the way to fulfilling our vision of a better world for women.”

In 2010, singer and activist Annie Lennox led the march over the Millenium Bridge and from this event formed the Equals Campaign, a coalition to encourage awareness and debate of global women's issues.

Lennox has said, "we live in the Western World and there's still so much to do.  And women in developing countries are not even near the bottom rung of the ladder."

Women for Women International also challenges countries that are rebuilding in the aftermath of war to include equal numbers of men and women in the peace process and in national government.

As the organization says: "with no women there is no peace."

To find a Join Me on the Bridge event, go to http://joinmeonthebridge.org/events.

Former chief inspector of prisons to investigate UK police

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 05:00 AM PST

Susan Newcombe
WVoN co-editor

A former chief inspector of prisons with a background in human rights has been appointed the new chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) in the UK.

Dame Anne Owers will take up the role, following a stint as chief inspector of prisons from 2001 to 2010.

The appointment was announced by home secretary Theresa May who said Owers: “has considerable experience of criminal justice and a formidable public reputation”.

It is a critical time for the IPCC as it investigates the shooting of London man, Mark Duggan, which ignited last summer's riots as well as alleged police corruption in the phone hacking scandal.

Owers had recently carried out an inquiry into the reorganisation of the Northern Ireland prison service, which she labelled “dysfunctional, demoralised and ineffective” in a report published last October and said by justice ministers to be a “watershed”.

Chief executive of the IPCC Jane Furniss said: “Dame Anne Owers' experience of leading organisations based on independence could not be stronger.

“This, coupled with her wealth of knowledge from across the criminal justice system makes for an exciting new era for the IPCC.

“I welcome the appointment and very much look forward to working with her to build upon the last eight years and take the work of the IPCC forward".

Owers was educated at Washington grammar school, County Durham, and at Girton college, Cambridge.

On graduating she went to Zambia to teach and to carry out research into African history. While taking time out to bring up her three children, Owers continued to undertake research as well as doing voluntary advice and race relations work.

She has previously held positions as director of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and co-director of Justice, the UK based human rights and law reform organisation.

Many UK mothers are having to choose between heating and eating

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 03:00 AM PST

Susan Newcombe
WVoN co-editor

Mothers of financially stretched families in the UK are going without meals to feed their recession-hit families.

The growing impact of rising unemployment and increasing household bills as the UK recession continues into its fourth year is forcing one in five mothers to miss meals so they have enough food for their children.

A survey this month by Mumsnet.com of 2000 of its members found that a quarter of families are living on credit cards, five per cent take payday loans and one in 100 have turned to loan sharks to stay afloat.

Over 70 per cent of families are basically teetering on the ‘edge’ of surviving, it found.

With woman making up two thirds of the 48,000 rise in unemployment in the three months to December and many working part-time in a public sector seeing huge job losses, they're often the ones left to deal with the consequences of the economic downturn.

Cherie Tinenti, 33, was awarded a community crime-fighters' award by Gordon Brown in 2010 for her tireless work to improve standards on her estate in Loughborough, one of the four per cent most deprived in the country.

Cherie set up a community flat from where she recently started to provide free tea and toast every morning and one hot meal a week for cash-strapped residents, many of whom are single mothers on benefits.

She says she is increasingly hearing about family breakdown as mothers are forced to make choices between basic necessities such as food and heating to plug the shortfall from falling incomes and increasing household bills.

"One mother told me she and her partner can only have their son from a previous marriage stay one week in two as this is the only time they can afford to heat their home," she said.

Both Cherie and her partner work but have been hit by a cut in working hours and rising prices as well as paying off debts they took on before the downturn. Whereas she used to buy fresh food for her children she now has to cut back and bulk buy from the economy range.

"We stock up on cheap bread and tins of beans for our boys to fill up on so they can keep warm as we turn down the heating," she said.

Julie Budd, 45, also lives on the estate, having escaped an abusive relationship. She lives on £184 a fortnight incapacity benefit from which she has to pay all her bills including some rent.

Her soaring fuel costs are £47 a fortnight as her heating system is old and inefficient but she tries her best to eat properly.

She took a course in food hygiene and computing and resents being labelled workshy saying she wants to work.

"I also have to pay to travel to Leicester to stay with my daughter if I want to see my grandchild as I can't afford to heat my house for her," said Julie who spent 14 months in a women's refuge before she was rehoused.

She wanted to buy her family presents at Christmas and took out a small loan, but the extortionate interest rates now absorb any money left on top of repayments for a crisis loan when she left the refuge.

"People around here are staying warm from drinking, cider's cheaper than heating," she added

Judith Spence runs a food parcel scheme at a hostel for the homeless. Tales abound of one woman walking three miles to pick up the donated food and three miles back.

"We give out 35 parcels twice a week," said Ms Spence. "Mostly it goes to mothers who are trying to feed families.  Most have children who are school age so at least they get a meal there but they have to fit work around them."

She said heating is usually the first thing sacrificed for food.

"It's a vicious circle with rents going up as well as utility bills and also paying for children's clothing," she added.

Over tenth of pregnant women in England continue to smoke

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 01:00 AM PST

Shanna McGoldrick
WVoN co-editor 

According to recently released NHS data, 13.4% of mothers in England were smokers at the time of giving birth in the final quarter of 2011/12.

Although an improvement on the 2010/11 figure of 13.5%, the results show that there is still a long way to go if the Tobacco Control Plan, a government initiative, is to reach its target of 11% of deliveries by smokers by 2015.

And although the national average shows signs of abating slowly but surely over the past few years, the regional tables highlight staggering differences in the percentage of pregnant women who smoke across the country.

According to the data, the worst offending town is Blackpool, where a shocking 30.3% of women continued to smoke up until giving birth.

The area with the lowest percentage was the London borough of Brent, where the figures showed that this was the case in just 2.8% of deliveries.

The North in general fared worse than the South in the study, with data submitted by each Northern Health Authority consistently showing higher records of pregnant smokers than in the South.

The North East has the highest percentage of pregnant smokers, with an average of 20.2%. Compare this to the 6.1% in London, and it becomes clear that something is amiss.

Speaking to the Guardian, Louise Silverton of the Royal College of Midwives, claimed that the north-south divide in the findings "highlights the gaping health inequalities in access to appropriate public health services."

In an introduction to the findings, which can be found here, the NHS information centre stressed: "Smoking remains one of the few modifiable risk factors in pregnancy. It can cause a range of serious health problems, including lower birth weight, pre-term birth, placental complications and perinatal mortality."