Thursday, April 12, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Sting shows victim blaming widepread among India’s police

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 05:00 AM PDT

Julie Tomlin
WVoN co-editor

A teenager and her mother have spoken out after a second police officer in India was caught on camera repeating claims about the girl following her gang-rape in February.

Ram Kumar Malik repeated earlier claims made by police Noida Superintendent of Police Anant Dev that she was a "habitual vodka drinker" who only complained when the boys refused to pay Rs 6,000 for sex.

He was the investigating officer in her rape by five fellow students in New Delhi's Noida district in February.

Malik also suggested that the fact that the girl, who was raped by the men in a moving car, had a relationship with one of the accused weakened her claim. He then went on to blame her behaviour on the fact that her mother was divorced.

Speaking to journalists, the girl said: “I didn’t expect much from the police anyway, and this loose talk is only a reflection of their own petty mindset. Unfortunately for me, the same people are dealing with my case. Where does that leave me?”

Her mother said, however, that they were determined to pursue the case: “If we give up, it will only embolden them. I can’t let that happen after all we’ve been through.”

Malik's comments echoed those of Anant Dev who in February responded to criticism of police handling of the case – not only the girl's name, but her address was also revealed – by launching an attack against the girl.

Captured by undercover reporters from independent weekly news magazine Tehelka in a two-week undercover investigation, Malik's repetition of the claims showed police attitudes had remained unchanged.

The investigation also revealed that victim blaming is widespread among police. Posing as research scholars, the Tehelka team spoke to more than 30 policemen at police stations in New Delhi.

Of those who were secretly filmed, 17 blamed women for wearing fashionable or revealing clothes, for having boyfriends, visiting pubs and consuming alcohol and working alongside men as the main reasons for rape.

The problem of victim blaming was highlighted last year when women took to New Delhi’s streets inspired by the 'Slutwalk' marches taking place around the world.

Marching under the banner of “Shameless Front” the women held banners with slogans that included “Stop Staring: This Is Not an Invitation to Rape Me” and “I Have Nothing to Be Ashamed of”.

Rape is reported to have increased by 678 per cent in India since the country began keeping statistics 30 years ago.

Despite claims that tougher policing has reduced violent crime against women in New Delhi, campaigners say sexual violence is increasing and that many cases go unreported.

Ranjana Kumari, a leading women's rights advocate, said that the increase in sexual violence reflects a clash between the increasingly cosmopolitan city and more traditional surrounding areas:

"There is a lot of tension between the people who are traditional in their mind-set and the city that is changing so quickly," said Ranjana Kumari, a leading women's rights advocate.

"Men are not used to seeing so many women in the country occupying public spaces."

New campaign challenges lack of women on Facebook board

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 03:00 AM PDT

Julie Tomlin
WVoN co-editor

A new campaign is urging Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, to appoint at least one woman to its otherwise all male, all white board before it launches on the stock market in May.

Expected to become the fifth biggest company in the world, it is predicted to make $100 billion.

But, as the Face It campaign points out, the board members are all white men, including Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel, CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings, and Zuckerberg himself.

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer since 2008, has taken on an increasingly public role in recent months, it has been reported.

When she joined Facebook from Google, there was speculation about the fact that she was stepping into a company — and a Silicon Valley culture — dominated by men.

Colleagues at Google had tried to persuade her against leaving, pointing out that she would not sit on the board of directors.

Despite the fact that women make up 58 per cent of its users and are responsible for 62 per cent of all sharing on the site, Facebook has remained largely male-dominated and has been at the centre of controversy about its policies on issues affecting women.

It initially refused to remove pages that included “jokes” about rape before bowing to pressure as a result of the Women’s Views on News’ Rape: Never Funny campaign.  There were also protests after Facebook blocked pictures of breastfeeding women (see WVoN story).

The Face It campaign points out that there are practical reasons for having women on the board, referring to research that shows that companies with more women find that "attendance at meetings improves, audits occur more frequently, and equity—the shareholders' investment in the company—grows".

It also points to a recent letter to investors in which Zuckerberg referred to Facebook's "social mission" to "rewire the way people spread and consume” information:

"We think the world's information infrastructure should resemble the social graph — a network built from the bottom up or peer-to-peer, rather than the monolithic, top-down structure that has existed to date."

If that's the case, the campaigners ask, "Shouldn't Facebook's top management structure be less monolithic, too?".

Women's rights campaign group, Ultraviolet, has sent a letter asking its 300,000 members to sign a petition urging Zuckerberg to appoint at least one woman to Facebook's board before it goes public.

"The fact that a company as large as Facebook with a massive global reach does not have a single woman on their board is nothing short of shameful," Ultraviolet co-founder Nita Chaudhary said in a statement.

"Facebook owes its success and makes a ton of money off of its women users. Women are responsible for nearly two-thirds of the sharing that happens on the site.

“In addition, women account for more than 70% daily fan activity on the site which is a huge source of revenue for the company. Facebook has a problem and they need to solve it before they go public.

“Mark Zuckerberg should live up to his company's mission statement and appoint at least one woman to the board today."

‘Together we are stronger’: Team Girl Comic

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 12:59 AM PDT

Rosy Moorhead
WVoN features editor

The zine Team Girl Comic came into being because one young, female comics creator in Glasgow felt rather lonely.

"I wanted more comic friends!" laughs creator, editor and co-ordinator Gill Hatcher.

"I felt a bit isolated. I'd been making my own photocopied comic books and selling them locally in a few shops and at the odd zine fair here and there, but I didn't know of any other women making comics around Glasgow, and the kind of comics I was making weren't that compatible with those of my male peers."

So Hatcher created Team Girl Comic, the first issue of which was released in May 2010.

"Also, in the early days I had a lot of issues with self confidence regarding my comics," she continues, "particularly when it came to promoting them, and I think this is a common experience for female comics creators.

"By banding together, we are stronger."

The result is a twice-yearly anthology comic, showcasing the work of the female contributors in the Glasgow-based collective, which also welcomes contributions from women further afield.

Members come from all sorts of backgrounds: from art school graduates and self-taught aspiring professionals to schoolgirls and people who just like to draw in their spare time.

The team welcomes submissions from women of any age or artistic background or experience. "The important thing is that you have belief in your ability to create a good comic."

Issue four, which was released in November 2011, featured comics about early experiences of gigs, drinking and saunas; bumping into an ex; the perfect hairdo; and Hurricane Irene.

"And cats. Lots of cats."

The collective spends the rest of the year organising events, running stalls and meeting up to talk comics.

"The fact we are all female means we tend to produce work that has a particularly female appeal," Hatcher explains, "but there are plenty of men who buy and enjoy the comic too. Despite the name, we're not actually that girly!

"Team Girl the product doesn't have a particular political agenda – contributors are invited to write about a wide variety of themes with the intention of creating something that is entertaining and appeals to a wide audience.

"Team Girl the collective, however, you could say has a feminist element to its intentions. We aim to support and promote women in a scene that's often male dominated, or at least more intimidating for women to try and enter, particularly if they're creating work that doesn't fit into the more classic comic book style."

What sort of response has the zine received so far? "Amazingly, sometimes terrifyingly, positive," says Hatcher. "We've grown much bigger much quicker than I ever imagined. It's pretty much taken over my life right now!

"We're still a bit rough round the edges, but in general people seem to like what we do and like the image we put across of a group of confident women and girls having fun making and selling comic books.

"We recently ran a small exhibition of our work and held a launch party to celebrate, and were overwhelmed by the number of people who came along to support us.

"In the entire UK small-press comic scene we're still pretty small but we like to think we've managed to make our mark on the Scottish scene at least."

As an artist, Hatcher is mainly self-taught. She studied product design at university and has done a lot of illustration for Glasgow bands and music promoters. She is also a volunteer graphic designer and illustrator for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

"I'm currently working towards a PhD in product design," she continues, "with the view to eventually transferring some of my academic skills to comics studies.

"I'm particularly interested in both the business and the modern culture of comics, and would love to conduct some research in this area."

But that may have to wait a little while yet, as producing Team Girl Comic takes up all of her spare time. "And then some! But I love it.

"It can be stressful and perhaps a little unhealthy at times but the small press comics scene has become a huge part of my social life, so even when I'm working it often feels like fun."

Issue five is out in June and costs £3. To get hold of a copy, visit Team Girl Comic.