Friday, March 2, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

ACT – Advocate, Challenge Transform – an International Women’s Day Conference

Posted: 01 Mar 2012 10:30 AM PST

Meg Cussack
WVoN co editor

To celebrate International Women’s Day, Cardiff Feminist Network (CFN) is having a festival.

Funded by the Welsh Government, the theme is ’women & men united to end violence & domestic abuse against women’.  The festival aims to build a grassroots movement, working to overcome violence against women, and will consist of  a number of satellite events, with a main conference on March 11.

Satellite events will include  Birkenstock, to celebrate the artistic achievement of women, a silkscreen workshop and a feminist social, involving pub quizzes and music.

CFN have also teamed up with a local school to raise awareness of domestic violence, and are working with students to make silkscreen banners. Women’s Aid will also be coming to the school to give an assembly.

The main conference will take place at Chapter Arts Centre on Sunday, March 11, betweem 10am and 5pm.

Workshops will be led by the White Ribbon Campaign and Gwent Police, the Survivor’s Trust, Women’s Aid, BAWSO, The Henna Foundation and FORWARD. 

There will also be workshops on protest songs, empowering women and how the cuts affect women the most.

The main speaker, Activist and Researcher Finn Mackay, will be talking about feminist activism and taking questions.

She will also be sitting on a plenary in the afternoon, alongside Jane Hutt, Welsh minister for finance and leader of the house and Jan Pickles of Safer Wales, talking about ‘what’s next in ending violence against women’.

Entry is £2 voluntary donation, and lunch will be provided.

For more information, please visit Cardiff Feminists, get in touch via Cardiff Feminist Network on Facebook, or e-mail cardifffeminists@yahoo.co.uk to reserve your place now!

We hope to see you there, and hope you have a fantastic International Women’s Day.

Protect 0.7 per cent – poverty has a woman’s face

Posted: 01 Mar 2012 09:00 AM PST

Meg Cussack
WVoN co editor

If you were to believe the media lately, you’d probably be under the pretence that poverty has been eliminated.

India is joining the space race, Sudan has apparently got nuclear weapons and some African governors are buying multi million pound mansions.  It must be a myth made up  by lefty politicians who want to save the world. Right?

Well, no. While the media isn’t making these stories up, they are failing to recognize deeper, entrenched problems happening around impoverished countries. .If anything, they are highlighting the vast social injustices that exist within these societies.

Over the past weekend, I have been trained by the Global Poverty Project to be a Global Poverty Ambassador. I’ll be going into my local community and talking face to face with people, giving a presentation called, 1.4 billion reasons, about the challenge we face in tackling extreme poverty, and how each and every one of us can do something about it.

One of the things that come up time and time again is the bad press that aid is getting. We’re bombarded with news about corruption and it seems some people believe that giving to charity is pointless.

What we’re not being told, however, is the positive side, about GOOD aid. About the aid being carried out by organisations such as the Global Fund which works to save four thousand people dying every single day from the three biggest diseases; Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

We’re not being told about programmes and project work carried out by NGOs like Oxfam, who are working on the ground with people to help them to build sustainable lives. How many people have heard of Oxfam’s amazing project Bangladesh, that empowers women whilst dealing with climate change?

Oxfam has set up a project working to empower women, by employing women to build their homes on higher land and training women leaders in the community to organise the area in the event of flooding. These women have been given radios so they can listen to the BBC World Service and alert their communities when floods are reported.

And this is just one long-term project, amongst literally hundreds of thousands run by NGOs around the world.

We know that poverty affects women disproportionately to men. According to the UN, women are 70 percent of the world’s poor, but aid is helping – we just don't hear about it.

We don't hear about how in the last 25 years, the disease Polio has been reduced by 99%. And not many people have seen this amazing graph by Gapminder that shows the rise in age expectancy over the last 200 years.

Nor do we hear that in the last 50 years, the number of children dying before their fifth birthday has halved, and thanks to international aid, since 1990, more than one billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty.

We need to focus on good aid that is saving lives.

The media wants us to believe that it does more harm than good and make taxpayers feel angry that their taxes are going to foreign countries while the UK is suffering severe austerity measures.

Simon Moss, co-founder of the Global Poverty Project argues against this.

He said, ‘The cynics in the media say that they” public want foreign aid from the government cut – but they always forget to finish the sentence.

“They want it cut from what they think it is, anywhere from 15 to 25 per cent of government spending, to five or 10 per cent.

“Aid spending in the UK, USA, Australia, Canada or New Zealand is around 1% of government spending – a fraction of what people think it is, and a fraction of what people want it to be.”‘

The government has pledged just 0.7 per cent of their budget to foreign aid, and we need them to keep to this figure when they release the budget later this month.  

Cutting it would mean reversing a lot of the fantastic progress that has been made.

So please, when you read stories about bad aid, think about these figures.

Think about grassroots projects which are empowering people in their local communities to lift themselves out of poverty. Because this is where your money goes, not to the over exaggerated scams which the media so love telling us about.

To help, please visit the Global Poverty Project and get inolved. Aid is working; it’s just that good news doesn’t sell.

Virginia state senate delays anti-abortion bill

Posted: 01 Mar 2012 07:30 AM PST

Liz Draper
WVoN co-editor

Virginia’s state senate has delayed the passage of a bill that would have forced women seeking abortions to undergo transvaginal ultrasounds. A decision on the bill has been deferred until next year.

The move comes after Virginia’s governor, Bob McDonnell, withdrew his support for the bill due to strong opposition from women’s rights campaigners and voters.

Opponents protested that enforcing transvaginal ultrasounds would amount to a violation of women’s bodies by the government.

The bill is the just the latest high-profile case of so called “personhood” legislation. The personhood movement seeks to grant citizenship rights to unborn children from the moment of conception, effectively outlawing abortion.

A similar bill was passed by the Oklahoma state senate on February 15. However, personhood bills have struggles in other states. In November 2011, a proposed amendment to Mississippi’s state constitution, which would have defined personhood as beginning at the moment of conception, was defeated at the polls.

Abortion has become a more high-profile topic in the US during the Republican Presidential primary campaigns. Every candidate but Mitt Romney has signed a pledge by anti-abortion organisation Personhood USA, promising to advance legislation applying citizenship rights to unborn children.

Female candidates fail to make headway in Senegal presidential election

Posted: 01 Mar 2012 06:30 AM PST

Liz Draper
WVoN co-editor

Preliminary results from Sunday’s presidential election in Senegal show that neither of the two female candidates have made it through to the second round of voting.

While unofficial figures have yet to be published, local media reports suggest that incumbent Abdoulaye Wade has not garnered enough votes to win a third term outright, triggering a second round of voting. He is likely to face former prime minister Macky Sall in the run-off.

Reports show that Wade and Sall each won more than 25 per cent of the votes, more than any of the other 12 candidates, including female candidates Amsatou Sow Sidibe and Dieng Douma Diakhate.

The weeks before the vote were marked by violence and protest against Wade’s candidacy (see WVoN coverage). However, the election day itself was largely peaceful.

Senegal’s electoral commission had been due to publish official results on Tuesday, but have now delayed the release until Friday, causing impatience among voters and drawing criticism from observers. A report published yesterday by the EU election observation mission concluded that although the election process was adequate, it would have benefited from greater transparency.

The second round of voting is due to take place on March 18.

Charity helps sex-trafficked women in UK pursue dream careers

Posted: 01 Mar 2012 05:00 AM PST

Laura Bridgestock
WVoN co-editor

A charity in the UK is helping sex-trafficked women give their lives a new start, by pursuing their dream careers.

The HERA project, which stands for Her Equality, Rights and Autonomy, works with women in London who have managed to escape the sex-trafficking trade.

At the centre of the project is the idea of empowerment – providing a platform for women to stop being victims, and take control of their own lives and futures.

Participants have the opportunity to undertake an intensive training course, run in partnership with a business school, focusing on entrepreneurship and career development skills.

At the end of the course, each is matched with a volunteer mentor, selected to help achieve her own personal aspirations.

The program is still relatively young, having been running in London only since 2008. But already, some of the success stories are incredible.

One participant has returned to her home town in Zimbabwe, where she is initiating a project to set up a children's nursery.

Another has enrolled on a medicine course – the first step in achieving a dream she had previously given up on before the scheme, despite being only 22.

One past participant said HERA showed that, "Whatever background you come from, you can still be somebody." Another added, "HERA doesn't stop after a year; it stays with you for life."

HERA also collaborates with other NGOs and organisations to provide a full spectrum of support for the women – counselling, legal representation, even the loan of some smart clothes for a court hearing or interview.

Beyond the UK, HERA is also working with women in Serbia, the USA, Georgia and Armenia.

Find out more about HERA.

Make a donation to help keep the project running.

Rising childcare costs may force parents to quit their jobs

Posted: 01 Mar 2012 03:30 AM PST

Ivana Davidovic
WVoN co-editor 

With some working families spending up to £15,000 a year on childcare, parents are increasingly forced out of work and into poverty as their wages cannot keep up with the rising costs of nurseries, says a new report.

A survey by the Daycare Trust charity showed that the average cost of nursery care has risen nearly six per cent in a year, while wages have only gone up by 0.3 per cent on average, and 44,000 fewer families are getting help with childcare bills since the tax credit cuts were introduced.

Currently, the average cost of a part-time nursery place – 25 hours per week – for a child under two is more than £100 a week or just over £5,000 annually, while the most expensive nursery recorded in this year’s survey charges three times that much for the same number of care hours.

London nurseries are up to a third more expensive than in other parts of the country, which was acutely felt by mother-of-two Kate Goddard who had to quit her job after the birth of her second child, as the cost became too great.

“I went back to work three days a week when my first child was born and because I was on a decent salary and had childcare vouchers it was OK,” said Mrs Goddard, 31.

“But when I had Charlotte I could not afford to go back. The cost of two of them was just too much – it would have meant I was only making £50 a month effectively.”

It is not just Londoners who are paying over the odds. Scottish parents are facing a postcode lottery, with some local authorities charging twice as much as others, making some nursery places in Scotland as expensive as southern England.

The survey also found a shortage of quality childcare in certain areas, particularly for disabled children.

Anand Shulka, the Daycare Trust’s chief executive said that the "the figures reinforce Daycare Trust’s fear that the loss of this vital lifeline is forcing families out of work and into poverty."

The Daycare Trust is calling on the government to boost the value of childcare tax credits and to allow for a wider range of children to benefit from the free early education entitlement, the provision of which they want extended to all two, three and four-year-olds by 2015.

Charity 4Children’s chief executive Anne Longfield said the survey showed a "cocktail of stress" felt by working parents.

"Parents are finding themselves trapped in a double whammy of needing more help with childcare because finances are tight at the same time that the government is reducing its own spending in this area.

“The result is a cocktail of stress, juggling childcare and for some the difficult decision of giving up work.

“Helping them through these difficult times has to be a priority – locally and nationally – and this is why we are now carrying out our annual Children’s Centre Census.”

Children’s Minster Sarah Teather said that the government would extend 15-hour-a-week free nursery provision to 40 per cent of two-year-olds and that they were investing an additional £300m to help families with childcare costs, while they look for work.

Celebrating female filmmakers on March 8

Posted: 01 Mar 2012 03:00 AM PST

Liz Stimson
WVoN co-editor 

At Sunday night's Oscars women were celebrating success in film.

Meryl Streep has been nominated a total of 17 times over her shining career, and on Sunday walked away with an Oscar for her role in The Iron Lady, 33 years after winning her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in Kramer vs. Kramer.

However, underneath the glitz and glamour of the awards ceremonies a gender bias still exists in the industry.

Women make up less than 10 per cent of film directors and less than 15 per cent of screenwriters.

Birds Eye View (BEV), an organisation dedicated to celebrating and supporting women filmmakers, was founded as a positive response to this imbalance and set about addressing these statistics by championing female talent.

"Until we have a balanced perspective on our screens, we are missing half the picture" says BEV.

BEV's annual film festival gives women in the industry an opportunity to show off their work and share creative ideas.

This important platform has grown since BEV was established in 2002 and since the first London festival was held in 2005.

BEV Director, Rachel Millward, said:

"Our first event was seen by just 200 people; now more than 18,000 join us at the festival and on tour every year, and a further 650,000 via online and broadcast channels".

However, the sad news that BEV's annual film festival would not be going ahead in 2012 was announced in October.

The reason? A 90 per cent cut in its public funding.

This was certainly a blow for the industry and was disheartening news for filmmakers and fans alike.

While a full length festival wasn't possible this year, BEV is still working hard to make sure women in film aren't overlooked.

In support of International Women's Day on March 8, BEV is holding a screening showcasing the best short films from around the world.

The outstanding work of five female filmmakers will be screened at this event held in London to celebrate the diversity and creativity of the next generation of women in film.

New UK visa rules for foreign domestic workers may facilitate widespread abuse

Posted: 01 Mar 2012 02:12 AM PST

Ivana Davidovic
WVoN co-editor 

Home Secretary Theresa May has announced changes to the visa rules for foreign domestic workers, which campaigners say could leave them open to abuse and deportation if they seek help from the authorities.

Under these plans, foreign cooks, nannies and other household staff will not be allowed to switch employers or to stay in the country for longer than six months.

Domestic staff working for foreign diplomats will be covered by current arrangements, but they will not be allowed to settle in the UK or bring dependents.

Jenny Moss of charity Kalayaan, which supports migrant domestic workers, said: “The decision to remove the right to change employer, and therefore remove an important protection from abuse, turns the clock back 15 years to the days when domestic workers were deported for experiencing abuse.”

Migrant domestic workers are vulnerable to sometimes horrific abuse and exploitation as has come to light in a number of recent high profile cases in the criminal courts.

Of the 326 individuals who registered with Kalayaan in 2011, 76 per cent were not allowed a day off, 53 per cent worked 16 hours-a-day and 60 per cent were paid under £50 per week.

Campaigners are worried that the proposed changes will greatly reduce the likelihood that foreign domestic workers would seek help from the authorities for fear of being deported and that this policy would lead to the victims becoming 'illegal' and perpetrators going unpunished.

Audrey Guichon from Anti-Slavery International said: "The UK's treatment of domestic workers will now mirror the situation across the Middle East through the internationally condemned kafala system, where the lack of right to change employer without losing the right to residency has led to widespread abuse and high levels of domestic worker suicide."

The Home Secretary said that written terms and conditions of employment would be required before workers could come to the UK.

These plans are a part of a wider immigration reform scheduled to be introduced in April 2016, which is designed to break the link between the number of years that a legal migrant spends in the UK and permanent settlement.

The home secretary wants to take away the right to remain in Britain for more than five years from any migrant worker earning less than £35,000 a year.

Matt Cavanagh of the think-tank the Institute of Public Policy Research said: "This makes no sense in economic terms, will cause big problems for employers, and is unfair on individual migrants.

“It could also discourage the ‘brightest and best’ from coming here in the first place.

"The majority of working migrants don’t stay permanently anyway, but they value the option, and if Britain no longer offers it, they may go elsewhere."

Iran continues persecution of women’s rights activists as elections loom

Posted: 01 Mar 2012 01:00 AM PST

Laura Bridgestock
WVoN co-editor 

As Iran prepares for the parliamentary elections on March 2, women remain hugely underrepresented in the country's government and continue to face persecution when fighting for their rights through other channels.

At the start of February, the Guardian Council, Iran's top legislative body, announced the list of candidates approved to stand in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

More than 3,000 were approved. The number of women among them was not announced – but of the 5,395 who registered for candidacy, only 428 were women – less than 8%.

According to 2008 figures, just eight out of 286 parliamentary seats were occupied by women.

Meanwhile women's rights activists speaking out through channels such as blogging face often brutal repression.

Activist and blogger Fereshteh Shirazi was arrested last September. She has been in prison since and in January an appeals court upheld her three-year prison sentence.

Charges against her included: "creating public anxiety through insulting the authorities", "acting against national security" and "propagating against the regime".

Last week, another women's rights activist, Faranak Farid, was brought to trial, charged with "propaganda against the regime and insulting the leader".

Farid was also arrested last September, a day before Shirazi, and was the subject of an international human rights campaign following reports that she had been severely beaten and forced to sign a document she could not read.

A translator, poet and editor of the women's section of banned monthly Dilmaj, Farid had previously been questioned by the Ministry of Intelligence over plans to attend a conference on women in Turkey.

So, blogging and conferences: another two activities to add to the long, long list of things Iranian women are unable to do without fear of recrimination.

At present it looks likely that the next item on the list will be "receiving the same healthcare as men". There are also plans to even further restrict the already stringent dress regulations for female civil servants.

Find out more from the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.