Thursday, April 26, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Time to kick sexism out of football

Posted: 25 Apr 2012 11:00 AM PDT

Ruth Mason
Sexual violence trainer and consultant 

There have been a spate of arrests of football players who have subsequently been charged with sexual offences over the last few months in the UK.

But what is it about the sport that leads to a culture of misogyny and rape and is it time for women's groups to do something about it?

I first became aware of a link between sexual assault and football when a group of four Brighton and Hove Albion players and one Bournemouth United player were arrested for the sexual assault of a teenager in Brighton in January this year.

I then heard about a Sunderland player who was charged with a third count of sexual assault in April.

He was followed by a Leeds United player arrested and suspended after assaulting a 20-year-old woman and a Notts County player arrested and charged after an incident in a hotel in Croydon.

Most recently there has been a public storm of controversy following the conviction of Sheffield United striker, Ched Evans, to five years for raping a 19-year-old woman.

The question, of course, is this – why are footballers committing so many sexual assaults?

Is there a link between a culture that trains individuals from a young age in a heterosexist male environment, provides them with copious amounts of cash and a society which promotes the idea that women are disposable objects for instant gratification?

It is certainly not inherent in the game of football itself. I have yet to read about  violence committed by women footballers or male or female fans of women's football.

Despite the success of some individual women it’s clear that football is still a man's game. Where women do run clubs or are part of the board they are the exception to the rule and heralded as ground breaking.

But attitudes in football can be addressed and challenged successfully.

The Let's Kick Racism Out of Football campaign, initiated in 1993 after the suicide of a player, introduced a reporting procedure, community education tools and action weeks supported by local, regional and national partners.

It’s now time for women's groups, the Equalities Commission and football associations to start a Kick Sexism out of Football campaign.

UK breast surgeons withdraw lunchtime “quickie”

Posted: 25 Apr 2012 09:30 AM PDT

Denise Turner
WVoN co-editor 

A treatment known as the 'lunchtime boob job' has been withdrawn after doctors found that tumours were more difficult to spot in the standard mammogram scans of women who had had it.

In one case, a 45-year-old nurse had her treatment for cancer delayed because the Macrolane gel masked the tumour.

The £2,500 procedure, offered by at least 65 clinics in Britain, claims to boost breasts by a cup size in a procedure lasting just 45 minutes.

Plastic surgeons in the UK welcomed the decision, after the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) found that 25% of their members had noticed complications as a result of the filler.

Its spokesman Fazel Fatah said that women injected with Macrolane should contact their GP to see if they should be referred for further screening.

He said:  "We have urged caution in the past against the use of fillers in the breast, especially when there is a lack of peer-reviewed results from controlled clinical trials."

BAAPS had also expressed concerns regarding lump formation and capsular contracture – the hardening of breast tissue around the implant – as a result of using the gel.

Capsular contracture, which is serious and painful, happens as a result of the immune system (which normally defends the body's integrity and health) attacking itself and can recur after the corrective surgery.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) also thinks that the gel makes diagnosis difficult.

Cindy Wong, medical director of Swedish manufacturer Q-Med, sought to play down the safety issues saying:

“At present, there is a lack of consensus amongst radiologists regarding radiology examination of breasts treated with Macrolane.”

But she added: "We would urge women with Macrolane injections to tell their doctor before they have a mammogram so that they can be screened slightly differently. We recommend a mammogram and an ultrasound scan."

Q-Med hopes to reintroduce the gel after further study.

Following the scandal surrounding the silicone breast implants manufactured by French company Poly Implant Prothese, Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS medical director, is carrying out a review of cosmetic surgery, including fillers such as Macrolane.

EU parliament calls on Commission to take action on gender pay gap

Posted: 25 Apr 2012 07:30 AM PDT

Karen Whiteley
WVoN co-editor

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have called on the Commission to introduce more effective sanctions to reduce the gender pay gap in member states.

A resolution adopted unanimously by the Committee on Women’s Rights on Tuesday argues that a European-wide strategy is needed to tackle the pay gap between women and men.

Throughout the European Union (EU), women earn on average 16.4% less than men.  In some member states the gap has widened despite a 2008 EU directive which enforced the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women.

The directive introduced “”dissuasive penalties” for gender pay discrimination but legal experts said no profound changes had made made in national legislations as a result.

Tuesday’s resolution also notes that no sanctions have been taken against employers under the directive.

MEPs are urging the EU Commission to better enforce existing legislation by imposing more effective sanctions against countries which don’t comply with the directive, such as penalties, administrative fines and disqualification from public benefits and subsidies.

And they want the Commission to propose new measures to oppose inequality in pay between the sexes in all relevant EU policies and national programmes. They have also called on national governments to increase cooperation and develop new ideas to tackle the gender pay gap.

“The pay gap starts to be visible after a woman’s return to work from her first maternity leave, and grows with age and at an educational level” said rapporteur Edit Bauer.

“All this makes the gender pay gap a serious social problem, resulting in feminisation of poverty. Although the EU has legislation on equal pay for equal work, the gap among women and men is persistent”, she added.

The resolution comes a year after a report by the Parliament, which warned that poverty was becoming a female issue, with single mothers and elderly women most at risk.

It called on the Commission to cut the gender pay gap by 1% a year in order to produce a 10 per cent cut by 2020.

Plastic surgery ‘boom’ in South Korea

Posted: 25 Apr 2012 05:30 AM PDT

Alice Rodgers
WVoN co-editor 

According to recent statistics, South Korea has overtaken America to become the world's largest market for plastic surgery procedures, when population size is taken into account.

According to a report by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, one in five women in Seoul, the country’s capital, have gone under the knife.

The most popular surgical procedures include double eyelid surgery, lipoplasty and nose jobs.

Some sources claim that plastic surgery is so affordable in the country that it is "as common as haircuts".

It is believed that the rise of South Korea's pop culture over the past ten years could explain this sudden 'boom'.

Hong Jeong-Geun, a spokesman for the Korea Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, said that many patients visit plastic surgery clinics with images of their favourite celebrities, requesting features just like theirs.

However it is not just South Koreans who have been taking advantage of the country’s growing plastic surgery industry, with a large number of patients coming from China, Japan, the Middle East and even Africa.

Aggressive tactics are increasingly being used to try and lure new clients into competing clinics.

Policy makers are looking at the boom as advantageous for South Korea's economy and recently regulations have been eased, a greater budget has been allocated to the industry and awards have been given to successful clinics in order to promote medical tourism.

"I think there's a good chance that plastic surgery can become South Korea's new major export industry," said Joo Kwon, a plastic surgeon in one of the largest clinics in the country.

However the serious physical and mental risks of plastic surgery don't seem to have been addressed by South Korean policy makers and even cosmetic surgeons have expressed concern.

"I think South Korea has a very rigorous and narrow definition of beauty because we're an ethnically homogenous society and everyone looks pretty much the same. It is also related to low self-esteem," Joo commented.

Indian women demand the ‘right to pee’

Posted: 25 Apr 2012 03:30 AM PDT

Alice Rodgers
WVoN co-editor 

Activists in Mumbai, India, are demanding better public toilet facilities for women, the BBC reported on Monday.

Currently they have to pay to use public toilets in the city, but men can use them for free.

A signature campaign, dubbed the "Right to Pee" has been launched and is supported by 35 non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The campaign demands that women be allowed to use the public restrooms for free, that vending machines providing women with sanitary towels are installed and that there are changing rooms in the toilets.

Rahul Gaekward of the Committee of Resources Organisation commented that "although the civic body rules state that no one should be charged for using public toilets, women are asked to pay".

He continued: "We have decided to take up this issue with women corporators. They must have faced similar problems and can raise the issue in the house".

Half of Mumbai's civic authority are women.

Of the 129 public toilets surveyed by NGOs in the city, all were deemed to be 'woefully inadequate'.

"We face a lot of problems because there are inadequate facilities in the city's public toilets" said a female student who signed the petition in the Dadar suburb, adding that it was a question of dignity for women.

The campaign has received a lot of support from both men and women in the city and according to Gaekward, over 7,000 signatures have been collected so far.

Woman appointed to Saudi Arabian health ministry

Posted: 25 Apr 2012 01:00 AM PDT

Sarah Macshane
WVoN co-editor

In the latest sign of change in Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Health this week announced the appointment of a woman, Dr Muneera bint Hamdan al-Osaimi, as the new assistant under-secretary for medical services affairs.

She is the first Saudi woman to hold such a key position within the inner circle of the health ministry.

The new structure will include one health minister, two deputy ministers, three under-secretaries and seven assistant under-secretaries.

In a country stepped in strict gender segregation her appointment marks another sign of the creeping reform that is currently taking place in Saudi Arabia.

Health ministry spokesman Dr Khalid Al-Mirghalani said it was evidence of "his department's eagerness to encourage women into top public sector jobs."

Saudi Arabia has one of the world’s worst records for women’s rights and equality. They are not allowed to drive and are forbidden from leaving the house without a male chaperone.

A royal decree allowing women to work in lingerie shops only came into effect in January of this year.

And although there was some talk of allowing one or two women to participate in the London Olympics, even this now seems unlikely.