Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

No ifs, no buts when it comes to teenage rape, says UK deputy PM

Posted: 06 Mar 2012 10:00 AM PST

Shanna McGoldrickWVoN co-editor 

Teenage rape prevention became the focus of a government campaign launched yesterday in the UK.

Called This Is ABUSE, it is part of an ongoing government action plan tackling violence against women and girls, published in March 2010.

This is ABUSE encourages teenagers to re-think their perception of what constitutes rape.

It follows research published by the children’s charity, NSPCC, last month which showed that four in five girls do not report being sexually assaulted by boys under 18.

Launching the campaign at a rape crisis centre in London yesterday, deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, said:

"What this ad campaign is seeking to achieve is to send an incredibly strong message to teenagers, and particularly to teenage boys, that, if you have sex with a girl who doesn't want to and doesn't consent, you're committing rape – it's a crime.

“When a girl says 'no', no means no, means no. There's no ifs and buts."

The campaign also aims to 'empower young people to avoid, challenge and report sexually violent behaviour’.

The campaign website provides resources including how to spot someone who is being sexually controlling, real life stories, and a section entitled 'Am I abusive?'.

It offers support and advice for anyone who feels they have been abused, with practical information on how to get help.

However the focal point of the campaign is undoubtedly a hard-hitting advert, to be shown on TV and in cinemas around the country, entitled ’If you could see yourself, would you see rape?’.

It features a teenage couple enjoying themselves at a party, but which gets out of hand.

As Jon Brown, of the NSPCC, explained to the Daily Mail: "Many young people misguidedly accept this as part of a relationship and do nothing about it."

There is concern among politicians that the pressure of living in an increasingly-sexualized society is affecting the confidence of young people who feel the need to conform to an ideal beyond their comfort zone.

As Clegg said yesterday, hopefully this campaign will go some way to 'giving them the protection they need that when they say 'no' it means 'no' and the law is on their side.'

Two Tibetan laywomen die from self-immolation

Posted: 06 Mar 2012 08:00 AM PST

Ilona Lo Iacono
WVoN co-editor

Two Tibetan women have died in separate acts of self-immolation in the Tibetan areas of Sichuan and Ganzu Provinces, China.

Tsering Kyi, a 20-year-old school student, set fire to herself and walked into a Chinese-run vegetable market in Menma Town in eastern Tibet (Ganzu Province), late on Saturday afternoon.

Chinese security personnel reportedly locked the gates to the market, preventing anyone from leaving the area, after receiving calls from two Chinese vendors.

A statement released by the India-based Tibetan parliament-in-exile said that "all mobile phones were confiscated in an attempt the stop the news of the protest from spreading. People at the scene of the protest were issued strict orders against speaking about the self-immolation."

“The Chinese vendors at the Machu vegetable market threw stones at her burning body,” an exiled source told Radio Free Asia.

"The Tibetans present in the market were agitated and this almost resulted in a major clash between the Tibetans and Chinese.”

Tsering’s family said that, a few days prior to setting herself on fire, she had visited them and said:

"In Ngaba and other areas of Tibet, Tibetans are burning themselves. We should do something for Tibet – life is meaningless if we don't do something for Tibet."

However, Chinese authorities told those present at the market that Tsering had set fire to herself for personal reasons, related to a "love interest", and that it was not a political act.

Witnesses claimed that the authorities put Tsering's body in a sack and removed it; her family have been informed that it is in police custody.

On Sunday morning, Rinchen, a 32-year-old woman, set fire to herself in front of the police surveillance station at the main gate into Kirti Monastery in Ngaba Town, Eastern Tibet (referred to by the Chinese as Aba, Sichuan Province).

Rinchen was widowed a year ago and was the mother of four children. It is believed that she had travelled from her home in a nomadic settlement in order to burn herself in Ngaba, where more than 15 self-immolations have taken place since March 20011.

She died at the scene, and local people took her body into the monastery.

The monastery has been under siege by Chinese security forces and hundreds of its monks have been taken into custody since early last year.

The women's suicides mark an escalation in the use of self-immolation as a form of protest in the region: they are reportedly the first laywomen to commit such an act.

China considers self-immolation an act of violence and terrorism, and has accused the "splittist" Dalai Lama and the "Dalai Lama clique" of encouraging the act.

The Dalai Lama, however, has blamed the unrest on China’s “ruthless and illogical” policy towards Tibet.

He also told the BBC in 2010 that those who set themselves on fire were brave, but that their sacrifice was not wise because it resulted in a tougher crackdown by the Chinese authorities.

“Courage alone is no substitute," he said. "You must utilize your wisdom.”

Li Decheng, a Chinese Tibetologist, told the Chinese news agency, Xinhua, that killing oneself or others, or instigating such killing, constitute “grave sins,” and those who commit sins of this kind “must be expelled from the Buddhist circle, disqualified as a monk or nun and condemned to hell.”

Free Tibet Director Stephanie Brigden commented:

"Tibetans are living under de facto martial law. China's response to protests – which are increasingly widespread – has been to intensify repression and surveillance, pushing Tibet deeper into crisis."

Palestinian group calls for release of woman hunger striker, imprisoned without charge

Posted: 06 Mar 2012 06:00 AM PST

Ilona Lo Iacono
WVoN co-editor 

Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association has called for the immediate release of Hana Shalabi, a Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike, who is being held without charge or trial in an Israeli prison.

Shalabi, 29, began her hunger strike when she was arrested on February 16 from her family home in Burqin village, near Jenin, during a raid involving 50 Israeli soldiers, an intelligence officer and a "large number of dogs". No arrest warrant was shown.

She is eating neither food nor minerals, and is currently only drinking water.

Shalabi has vowed to continue her protest against her administrative detention, despite Sunday's announcement by Israel's Ofer military court that her six-month administrative detention will be reduced by two months.

Islamic Jihad, issuing a statement on March 5, said that Shalabi's hunger strike is a victory for all Palestinian detainees.

"We never trusted the Israeli intelligence and we will never do, they said that they decreased the detention period for Hana but they didn't set a date for her freedom and that is not trustworthy, and at any time they can detain her again."

Administrative detainees can by held by the Israeli military indefinitely on secret evidence without being charged or standing trial. Neither they, nor their lawyers, have access to the "secret evidence", and legal defence is, effectively, impossible.

Palestinians have been subjected to administrative detention since the time of the British Mandate.

There are currently more than 300 prisoners held by Israel under this system, including two dozen elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council.

Shalabi, described by Haaretz as "a member of the Islamic Jihad militant group", was released from a previous round of administrative detention in October 2011, after 25 months in prison without charge.

During that time, she was allegedly physically abused and sexually harassed.

Addameer lodged a complaint regarding violations of her rights, which included beatings and being photographed by Israeli soldiers in humiliating positions.

The organization only received a reply from the district prosecution in Haifa two years later, stating that the file was being closed for "lack of evidence."  Her lawyers were never told by what process the complaint had been investigated.

Shalabi was released as part of the first round of the prisoner exchange deal between the Israeli government and Hamas, in which a total of 1,027 Palestinian political prisoners were released in exchange for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Shalabi’s father, aged 67, says  she has not been active in the group since her release.

He and her mother, 65, began their own hunger strike on February 23, the day that her current administrative detention order was issued. She was sentenced to seven days' solitary confinement on the same day, as punishment for her hunger strike.

Polls show that more Palestinians than ever are supporting non-violent resistance as a tactic, and the recent 66-day hunger strike of 33-year-old detainee Khader Adnan, who was never charged with any crime, has raised Palestinian spirits and popularised non-violence even more.

Israel's concession to his minimum demands has been described as "the submission of the fierce wolf to the helpless lamb".

However, Addameer has said that, "in complete contradiction to the District Court decision of 23 February", he was shackled by his arms and legs during his transfer to the operating theatre for surgery on February 27.

It is feared that the “pendulum of public opinion may soon swing back to armed resistance” if non-violence does not achieve its promised aims.

Addameer says that international humanitarian law "permits limited use of administrative detention only in emergency situations, but does not allow for its use as punishment when there is not sufficient evidence for criminal procedures".

Another funny woman steps onto the stage in charity challenge

Posted: 06 Mar 2012 03:53 AM PST

Alison Clarke
WVoN co-editor 

Amisha Ghadiali is a woman of many talents.

Sustainable fashion expert, jewellery designer, writer, democracy campaigner and social innovator, it’s hard to pin down a title that describes her.

This Thursday she will add another label to that list, when she walks onto the stage at the Funny Women Charity Challenge on International Women’s Day in London.

Although “absolutely terrified at stepping into the challenge” of comedian, she admits that “the beauty of life is often in saying yes to the things that make you want to hide under your duvet for the rest of time”.

To add to the stress, she only agreed to take part about ten days ago when Funny Women founder, Lynn Parker, rang to ask if she would fill in for someone who had to back out.

“I met Lynn at a workshop in February this year. It was fun and she said that she might be calling on me at some point.

“So when I answered my phone last week and saw her name, I was a bit worried. Her first words were: ‘Are you feeling funny?’”

Although still not entirely sure of the material for her five-minute set, Ghadiali says she intends to concentrate on jokes about social media in general and Twitter in particular.

She wouldn’t give any of them away, saying only that: “I have a bit of an obsession with Twitter and I think that the way we use it is quite funny. I know I use it far too often and I can definitely make fun of that.”

She’s trying not to think about the possibility of drying up on stage, but given the many strings to her bow, that seems unlikely.

The Funny Women Charity Challenge takes place at the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel in the City of London on 8 March.

To book your ticket, click here.

It seems appropriate in the circumstances to end with a joke, so here goes:

Q: What did God say after he created man?
A: “I can do better than this” and he made woman.

Thank you and good night.

Circus skills used to support girls in Somalian refugee camps

Posted: 06 Mar 2012 01:30 AM PST

Susan Newcombe 
WVoN co-editor

Girls living in refugee camps in Somalia are learning to resolve problems they face in everyday life by using circus skills

Geediga Nabada (Peace Caravan), a touring circus project designed to defuse conflict in Hargeisa, Somaliland, has set up a girls' development project under the leadership of UK theatre director Bill Brookman.

The project encourages the girls to develop coping strategies for problems arising from the everyday physical and emotional traumas that come with living in internally displaced persons camps.

Alongside Havoyoco, a horn of Africa community youth participation group, it works to engage the girls in useful and practical theatre skills including art, drama, and poetry to alleviate them of their social circumstances.

Speaking to WVoN, project director Bill Brookman said they received a small anonymous donation to fund the work as young girls are far harder to reach in this type of capacity than boys.

"Young girls are hard to engage with as their parents see their role within the home. Even getting them to the centre to rehearse regularly can be difficult and their traditional clothes and head dresses are not suited to activities such as dance and drama," he said.

To overcome this Brookman works closely with two local clansmen and a Somalian woman who returned to her country from the US to champion the role of women.

"Musicians, artists, acrobats and dancers work with the girls to teach them traditional, local folk culture they are losing because of the war," said Brookman.

"We used a tailor in the local souk to design costumes which are less cumbersome and intrusive when they are dancing. They include Punjabi pants and calf length, flowing skirts so they can jump and move," he said.

The girls have to be bussed in discreetly from the camps to keep them from the watchful eyes of local militia and fundamentalists who could stop the project.

Brookman believes the success of working with these groups is about understanding the subtle nuances of cultural interpretation in a country where things such as rape within marriage is not possible.

Yet, he says, this is a country where many of the local clansmen consider women to be held in high regard.

"Rape is being used by troops of Islamic militia Al Shabaab because they are losing the war and the troops are not being paid and desperate. They see this as taking their wages," he said.

Brookman notes that when the circus project auditions for women to perform, the older generations are less inhibited as they remember a time before Sharia law, whereas those in their 20s and 30s are far more modest.

Havoyoco also uses circus skills to encourage participation between women's groups, faith leaders and other community members in effective ways of preventing HIV and AIDS. It is estimated around 34 per cent of people of all ages live with HIV and AIDS in Somalia.