Friday, April 20, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Russian court refuses bail of anti-Putin punks

Posted: 19 Apr 2012 05:20 PM PDT

by Rachel Ogbu

Amnesty International has called for the release of the three members of a women’s punk band, Pussy Riot, who sang a protest song against Vladimir Putin in a cathedral.

The women who have been in detention for three weeks were refused bail by Russian court, Reuters reports. Instead, the court extended their detention till 24 June.

In a recent update, ABC news released a video showing Moscow police arresting more than 20 people yesterday 19 April amid protests about the detention of anti-Putin female punk rock band.

Maria Alyokhina, a band mate said their cases were politically motivated referring to the pre-determined “show trials” of the late 1930s under Soviet leader Josef Stalin, she said: “If for criticising the authorities I can’t even hear the voice of my own child, welcome to 1937.”

Reuters also reported that the third band member, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, made reference to the Communist era, telling reporters she was spending her time in jail reading First Circle, a novel by Alexander Solzhenitsyn about the Soviet labour camp system.

The three who deny the allegations were said to have performed a rendition of “Holy Mother, throw Putin out!” in short dresses and bright masks in Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral on February 21 and sang at the altar. Each faces up to seven years in jail if found guilty of “hooliganism.”

Lawyers for the three said they would appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

Pussy Riot’s action was part of a protest movement against Prime Minister Putin that has lost momentum since he won a presidential election on March 4. The protest was also seen as a challenge to the Church over its involvement in politics.

WVON previous report on the issue found HERE.

US ‘revenge porn’ website is ‘ruining lives’

Posted: 19 Apr 2012 11:00 AM PDT

Lucy Miller
WVoN co-editor

A 'revenge porn' website in the US is inviting bitter exes to upload explicit photographs of their former partners.

Nude or semi-nude photographs of the victims (the majority of whom are women) are then displayed on the website – alongside their full names and screenshots of their Facebook timelines or Twitter feeds.

Comment boxes predictably allow visitors to the site to freely air their opinions on the bodies of the women featured.

When questioned about his ethics site creator Hunter Moore, a 26-year-old based in California, said that he wouldn't care if someone killed themselves as a result of their once private pictures appearing on the internet.

Moore also admitted, on US chat show Anderson, that he didn't find his actions sleazy.

He said: "People that they're trusting are the ones that are submitting it, so why aren't they getting the blame?"

Moore then added that he is "the smart one of the situation" because he is making a profit from the site.

Vice Magazine took up the story, pointing out that those featured on the site are being punished for being too sexualised – in an age old good girl/ bad girl dynamic.

Moore cannot face charges over the photographs, because the individual uploading to the site holds copyright – and therefore responsibility.

Dani Wynn, an 18-year-old from Virginia, had her photographs posted on the site after they were taken from her computer by someone she thought of as a friend. She has this message for Moore:

"You're ruining lives. You can argue as much as you want that it's their fault, but you're blowing everything up. It's people's personal lives."

Women’s Library under threat – thousands sign petition

Posted: 19 Apr 2012 10:00 AM PDT

Lucy Miller
WVoN co-editor

A petition to save the Women's Library has been signed by 5000 people.

The library, home to the largest collection of women's writing in Europe, will see its opening hours slashed if it can't secure extra funds by the end of the year.

A petition to save the library was created after the board of governors said that it may be able to open just one day per week from December.

The search is now on to find a new owner or backer.

The library, part of the London Metropolitan University, was opened in 1926 and houses over 60,000 books and pamphlets.

The university is trying to save £1m across its two specialist libraries – the Women's Library and the Trade Union Congress Library.

Part of the collection in the Women's Library includes first editions of works by Mary Wollstonecraft, Virginia Woolf and the Brontes.

The petition calls on Michael Gove, Education Secretary, to ensure that the library does not suffer as a result of the university’s troubles.

In the past it has benefited greatly from Lottery funding.

Vice Chancellor of London Metropolitan University, Malcolm Gillies, says that the university will “zealously seek a new home, owner or sponsor of the collection.”

Bumpy ride in US Congress for Violence Against Women Act

Posted: 19 Apr 2012 09:00 AM PDT

Bumpy ride in US congrestt for Violence Against Women ActDeborah Cowen
WVoN co-editor

This week, the bill to reauthorise the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) will make its way through congress in the United States.

The 1994 Act, which established domestic violence and stalking as federal crimes, and provided funding for victim support and services, has generally been regarded as a success.

Since the law was passed, there has been a decrease of 34% in the number of women killed by an intimate partner, and the rates of domestic violence have been greatly reduced  in several states as a result of funded programmes in law enforcement, services, and legal representation.

The reauthorisation bill sets out to embed those laws already existing on domestic violence and stalking, increase reporting and prosecution on violence against women and for the first time specifically extend VAWA protections to all colleges and university campuses. 

The reauthorisation would appear, then, to be a no-brainer.  Indeed, violence against women issues are traditionally politically bipartisan.

However, the debate took a controversial turn earlier this year when the Democrats sought to expand protections already in existence to give special provision to those in same-sex relationships, women who are undocumented immigrants, and Native American tribal women who are victims of domestic abuse.

The new provisions would also look to relax the issue of visas for undocumented migrant women who have been victims of violence, and who may be afraid to come forward in case they are deported.

Although the bill was co-sponsored by democrat Patrick Leahy and Republican Mike Crapo, it received no Republican support at the Senate Judiciary Committee in February.  (Mike Crapo is not a committee member.)

Senate Republicans are, in fact, challenging the new provisions and while Republican Senator Chuck Grassley has made it clear that his party do not want to block the bill, they insist on having their alternative bill considered, which effectively removes all the new proposed provisions.

Currently, the bill has 61 co-sponsors, only eight of whom are republicans.

While the Democrats are accusing their Republican colleagues’ rejection of a “hard-right” move “against women,” the Republicans easily counter with the accusation that the reauthorisation will give Democrats a chance to refocus on women's policy issues.

The Democrats are recovering from last week's gaffe by strategist Hilary Rosen who claimed that Mitt Romney's wife Ann, a stay-at-home mom, had "never worked a day in her life."

Cue the rage of millions of mothers who rightly see raising a family and running a home as more than equal to a full-time job.

White House officials have, of course, refuted accusations of a political motive for the bill and insist that Republicans will have difficulty justifying their opposition.

Let's hope they do, as it seems counter-intuitive to use the word opposition in the same sentence as violence against women legislation.

Vice President Joe Biden, who authored the Act in 1994, spoke about the issue on MSNBC's "The Ed Show" (with a nod to the slip up by Hilary Rosen):

"Whether it's Violence Against Women Act or equal pay, my entire career as a Senator and as vice president is to get to one point, where my daughter is able to make whatever choice she wants and no one questions it. … If my daughter wants to be able to say, 'I'm staying home and raising my kids,' no one should question it," Biden said.

President Obama also spoke about the bill at a conference on women at the White House in April.

"When something like the Violence Against Women Act — a bill Joe Biden authored, a bill that once passed by wide bipartisan margins — is suddenly called to question, that makes no sense. … That's not something we should still be arguing about," he said, to loud cheers.

Not quite the case, according to Janice Shaw-Crouse, Senior Fellow at the Beverly LaHaye Institute, the think tank for Concerned Women for America, who says:

'VAWA is more about building feminist power structures than about protecting vulnerable women or helping battered women. The bottom line is that a vote for VAWA is a vote against women.'

Oh my.

But why has this issue once again become swallowed up by political squabbling?  Who cares about Republican and Democrat petty politics?

The focus should be on providing the best protection and care possible for all women – and indeed men – regardless of race, sexual orientation, ethnic background or any other characteristic.

The reauthorization and expansion of this bill will help to redefine the face of who can be a victim of violent or sexual abuse by including same-sex couples and undocumented immigrants.

The welfare of the victims of violence – whoever they are – need to be placed firmly at the centre of any legislative change.  If Congress fails to reauthorize the VAWA based on conflicting ideologies, it yet again puts women in an unacceptably vulnerable position.

Postscript :

Asked about the VAWA issue four years ago at a forum in New Hampshire, Mitt Romney seemed to draw a blank.

"I'm not familiar with the act," he said.

The forum was called "Ask Mitt Anything".

Well, almost anything.

Afghan police question school workers about suspected poisoning

Posted: 19 Apr 2012 07:30 AM PDT

Jale Ari
WVoN co-editor

Two school caretakers are being questioned by police in Afghanistan after 171 women and girls were admitted to hospital on Tuesday with suspected poisoning, according to CNN.

The victims range in age from 14 to 30 and were taken to a hospital in Afghanistan’s north-eastern Takhar province after their school’s water tank was contaminated, according to Dr Hafizullah Safi, the provincial health department director.

It is believed by local health officials that the drinking water had been poisoned by extremists opposed to women's education.

A sample of the water has been sent to Kabul for testing, but it will be several days before the results are confirmed.

The women were hospitalised on Tuesday complaining of symptoms including stomach pains, fever and vomiting, most were medicated and released but four remained semi-conscious in the hospital on Wednesday.

Dr Safi said: “Looking at the health condition of these girls, I can definitely say that their water was contaminated by some sort of poison. But we don’t know yet what was the water exactly contaminated with.”

District administrator Moelam Hussain said: “It is the work of those who are against girls’ education and peace and stability in Afghanistan."

The district governor Mohammad Hussain, agreed. He told AFP ”I think some radical elements who oppose girls going to school are behind this act,” adding that police were looking into the incident, according to Fox News.

According to CNN there were a similar series of poisonings in 2010, when more than 100 schoolgirls and teachers fell ill.

Before 2001, the Taliban had banned many Afghan girls from attending school, though the schools began reopening after the regime was toppled by the US-led invasion, according to Fox News.

Women’s unemployment in UK at 25 year high

Posted: 19 Apr 2012 05:30 AM PDT

Women's unemployment at 25 year highLucy Miller
WVoN co-editor

Women’s jobs have taken another hit in the latest employment figures.

Despite overall unemployment falling by 35,000 in the three months to February, women's unemployment has reached its highest level for 25 years.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday showed that the number of women out of work rose by 8000 in the last quarter.

This brings the total to 1.14 million – the highest since November 1987.

Think tank IPPR says that the increase in unemployed women over the past year could be as high as 100,000.

IPPR Associate Director Graeme Cooke says that the findings could send gender equality 'into reverse'.

One reason for women being so negatively affected is the fact that many work in the public sector, which has been hit particularly hard by the government’s cuts.

There is also the factor of an increased number of men looking for part-time work – roles that previously may have been filled by women.

Gender violence overlooked despite Secret Service scandal

Posted: 19 Apr 2012 03:30 AM PDT

Lindsay Carroll
WVoN co-editor

A prostitution scandal involving US Secret Service members in Cartagena, Colombia, has captured the attention of the media.

But while news agencies focus on the sordid details, the gender issues that this case brings up will probably get lost.

Senior US officials have said as many as 20 women, 11 American agents and some military personnel were involved in the incidents that took place shortly before the Summit of the Americas last weekend.

The authorities were alerted when one of the women told police she was not paid and the events prompted the Secret Service to launch an investigation.

While the media dissect the scandal, Juliana Jimenez, a Colombian journalist, writes on Slate’s XX Factor blog that it happened because of the “image of overly sexualised Latin American women.”

She writes that Americans and Colombians seemed to accept the reinforcement of that stereotype.

“Observers may not have been able to come to terms on Cuba or the war on drugs, but many were able to agree that the sanctity and preservation of the age-old transaction of women’s bodies and dignity deserves the utmost attention,” Ms Jimenez said.

Echoing this, one US caller told NPR’s Talk of the Nation radio show that he thought the scandal was overblown.

He said he, his father and grandfather were all in the military and they all visited prostitutes.

“It’s just a thing that American servicemen do overseas,” the caller said. “And I’ve been to Colombia. It is legal there.”

The Secret Service are no strangers to such scandals.

A previous investigative report in 2002 made allegations about the partying and sexual habits of some Secret Service members and found that one agent had a sexual relationship and shared methamphetamine with a 16-year-old girl.

Despite efforts to improve their reputation an article on 16 April in The New York Times pointed out that this most recent scandal will undermine progress.

On 13 April, Human Rights Watch researcher Amanda Klasing wrote that despite affecting up to 25 percent of Latin Americans, the issue of gender-based violence didn’t make it on to the summit’s agenda (although Castro’s reflections are worth a read).

“Several weeks ago, I was in Cartagena speaking with women who have suffered unspeakable acts of violence mere miles from where the region’s heads of state will gather in lavish style,” Ms Klasing said.

She says the Summit of the Americas only made “passing mention” of the issue — one that “prevents many women and girls in the Americas from investing in their own development, through education or other means, preventing them from better participating in the economy.”

Ballet dancers too thin says Tamara Rojo

Posted: 19 Apr 2012 01:30 AM PDT

Deborah Cowan
WVoN co-editor

It may have won Natalie Portman an Oscar for her electrifying performance, but the film Black Swan caused more than a few feathers to fly.

Ms Portman's character is a mentally disturbed ballet dancer who forces herself to throw up in order to stay thin.

It would seem, however, that there are more than a few painful parallels with reality highlighted by Britain's leading female ballet dancer who spoke out this week about the dangers of eating disorders among ballerinas.

Tamara Rojo, recently appointed to take over the artistic directorship of the English National Ballet (ENB) from Wayne Eagling in the autumn, said that female ballet dancers must lose their obsession with thinness.

'Audiences want to see beautiful and healthy-looking dancers, yet there is still that pressure to be thin’ she said.

She added that extreme thinness was a self inflicted obsession of the industry that had to be firmly addressed, and sent a clear message that eating disorders were an unacceptable by-product of life as a ballerina.

It's a brave move on the part of Ms Rojo, not only because she is about to become head of the very credible ENB, but because she may well be tackling a subject that is otherwise considered taboo among the ballet elite.

Only a few months ago, a leading dancer at La Scala was dismissed from the company after claiming that there was a 'plague of anorexia'.

Mariafrancesca Garritano described how dancers became caught in the grip of eating disorders as they desperately pursued the perfect body in order to please teachers and theatre directors.

She said: 'Sadly, this is a phenomenon that affects the whole of the ballet world but is very rarely discussed – it's as if there is a Mafia code of omerta [silence] that rules over us and as a result, it must never be broken.

'Dancers are having their bodies taken to the limit by teachers and theatre directors who are demanding that the dancers have the perfect body, and as such this is a sore that needs to be treated.

'Ballet and the world of dance is a beautiful form of art that should not be exploited and put the lives of ballerinas and dancers at risk.

'They resort to this extreme course of action because they are being told that if they don't lose weight, they won't get picked.'

While she was still with La Scala, and despite weighing a tiny 6.8 stone at her lightest, Ms Garritano says she was subjected to taunts such as 'Chinese dumpling' and 'mozarella'.

She also said that she didn't have a period for nearly two years, still suffers from intestinal problems and regular bone trauma due to malnutrition.

Since making these comments earlier in the year, and claiming that one in five of the company’s ballerinas suffered from anorexia and that some are now unable to have children because of damage caused by anorexia or bulimia, Ms Garritano has been dismissed by La Scala, for 'damaging the image' of the company

Ms Garritano said she knew she risked losing her job when she made her comments.

A former colleague, Michele Villanova, agreed, saying: 'Dancers are afraid to speak out, and what happened to Garritano shows why.'

Step forward Tamara Rojo – widely regarded as the best female ballet dancer in the country, and someone who is clearly not afraid to speak out.  On the contrary, she has been very vocal in her wish to rid ballet of the scourge of anorexia. 

'When you are in a ballet company you often lose perspective of reality.  So you go for extremes in order to stand out and be noticed,' she said.

'I have preached and will continue to preach. I have never been thin and I want for myself and others to have long and healthy careers.'

She also criticised the fashion industry as being partly responsible for perpetuating the obsession with being super thin.

Rojo is, by all accounts, a formidable woman.  But will it really be that easy to eliminate what has become, for many, an uncontrollable disease?

In Black Swan, Portman’s character is ultimately destroyed by the  pressures of her profession.

What Tamara Rojo has highlighted is that this is not just fiction.

The perpetual pursuit of the perfect body is a problem that is far from uncommon among ballerinas and dancers.

But the damage caused when eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia take hold is severe, destructive and prolonged.

It's a high price to pay for one’s art.