Women's Views on News |
- European Women’s Lobby annual conference this weekend
- Female Canadian Mountie makes sexual harassment claim
- Over 300,000 women drop out of US labour market in two months
- New recommendations for dealing with sexualisation of children in UK
- Egyptian protesters accuse troops of sexual assault
| European Women’s Lobby annual conference this weekend Posted: 11 May 2012 09:00 AM PDT Alison Clarke Delegates from 30 countries representing more than 2000 European women's organisations are due to meet this weekend in Budapest for the annual conference and general assembly of the European Women's Lobby (EWL). The aim of the meeting is “to define common strategies to counteract and avoid the worst of a backlash against hard-won advances for women in Europe”, according to Brigitte Triems, EWL president. Budapest was selected to host this year's meeting in solidarity with the women of Hungary. Currently, it scores second from last in Europe in terms of women on the labour market, as well as in terms of leadership positions in political and economic life. A statement on the Hungarian Women’s Lobby website says “this is certainly connected to the fact that according to attitude surveys, Hungarians are the most negative of all Europeans when it comes to gender equality”. The situation for women's rights and gender equality in other countries is not so great in other countries, though, either, thanks to the current economic crisis. However, the EWL says that it has also provided a stimulus to policy makers and activists alike to develop and implement sustainable policies for equality. In the context of the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations, the conference will welcome experts in the fields of care economy, gendered pay and pension gaps, mentoring and diversity to stimulate discussions on how women's organisations can turn generational differences into a source of energy and new vision. The conference will finish with the presentation of the EWL manifesto on intergenerational solidarity from a gender equality perspective. Details of the conference are as follows:
 |
| Female Canadian Mountie makes sexual harassment claim Posted: 11 May 2012 06:00 AM PDT
Corporal Catherine Galliford, a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is suing her employer for over 16 years of "persistent and ongoing" sexual harassment and bullying. In a 26-page statement obtained by CBC news, Galliford alleges that several male officers sexually harassed her during her tenure, starting with her training in 1991. Her boss RCMP Inspector Mike Bergerman, Staff Sergeant Doug Henderson and Phil Little, a Vancouver police officer she worked with on the Missing Women Task Force (see WVoN coverage), are among the people she has accused. She alleges that, at various times and places, the men made sexually suggestive comments, made sexual advances, exposed themselves, forced her to kiss them and sexually attacked her in a hotel room. The document reveals that "the culture of sexual harassment within the RCMP is so pervasive that Galliford was helpless to personally stop it, she had to accept a certain level of tolerance of [sexual harassment] as complaining about it would only make matters worse." As a result of the harassment, Galliford developed a severe form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which resulted in agoraphobia, nightmares, alcohol dependency and significant weight loss. Galliford is also suing RCMP doctor Ian MacDonald for disclosing confidential information to her estranged husband and failing to properly diagnose and treat her psychological problems. RCMP Deputy Commissioner Craig Callens, issued a statement on Wednesday night, saying that Galliford's allegations remain unproven and officers had been assigned to investigate them. Galliford is not the first Mountie to bring allegations of sexual harassment. Krista Carle, a former RCMP constable, brought a claim alleging constant sexual harassment during the 20 years she was on the force. Along with four other officers, she claimed she had been sexually assaulted by a sergeant in the 1990s. They sued the RCMP, and the case was settled out of court. She spoke out in support of Galliford last year, saying that she was "disgusted and disappointed" at the way the RCMP was handling her claims.  |
| Over 300,000 women drop out of US labour market in two months Posted: 11 May 2012 04:30 AM PDT
The recession continues to hit women harder than men in the US, with over 300,000 women dropping out of the labour force in the last two months, according to government figures. Data from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics reveal that there were 324,000 fewer US women working at the end of April than at the end of February. Over 53 women in the US are seeking work but not in work. Only 56 per cent of all adult women, excluding those in the military, prison or in nursing homes are in work in the US, the lowest level since 1993. In the UK 65 per cent of working-aged women are employed. Sixty three per cent of US men and women are in work, the lowest level since 1981, and whilst the number of men in the workforce grew by 14,000 in March, in April it fell by 196,000.  |
| New recommendations for dealing with sexualisation of children in UK Posted: 11 May 2012 03:00 AM PDT Kate Townshend Anyone who has ever had the dubious pleasure of supervising a children's disco will know that there are certain constants to be relied upon; copious amounts of spilt fizzy drinks, a sense of your own impending old age… and a bunch of little girls in the corner gyrating like Beyonce in heels and short skirts. It doesn't stop there though; from manicures for toddlers to the violent video games that are often the talk of the playground, it's easy to feel that too many children are growing up too fast. The sexualisation of children has become something of a buzz phrase lately, with even the UK government keen to get in on the act. Yesterday it released an update on the status of recommendations from the Bailey report, Letting Children be Children, an independent review of the problem led by Reg Bailey, chief executive of the Mothers' Union in the UK. The report was first published last autumn when it identified issues with the sexualised 'wallpaper' of children's lives, as well as children's status as mini-consumers. So what progress has been made so far? For parents struggling to negotiate the path between protecting their children and equipping them with the necessary skills to make their own decisions there is the Parentport website where inappropriate content can be reported and opinions shared. And new guidelines from the Advertising Standards Authority aim to curb the display of sexual content within outdoor advertising as well cautioning against the use of children under the age of fifteen as brand ambassadors. Crucially, these initiatives have the support of key companies such as Nintendo, Facebook and Unilever. Of course, the recommendations are ongoing and the update focuses on video games and music as a particular area of concern. New measures include consultations on whether the current age rating system should be extended to cover more music DVDs and Blu-ray discs – most of which are currently exempt from the Video Recordings Acts. Additionally, clear warnings on explicit videos shown online are to be encouraged. By the end of the year, YouTube will provide the music industry with the ability to label their videos “explicit,” allowing parents to veto unsuitable content more easily. And children's minister Sarah Tether is keen to emphasise the importance of holding businesses and the media to account: "Being a parent is a tough job at the best of times. The onus has to be on industry to stop undermining parents trying to bring up their own children, the way they want. “We're making progress but we're keeping the pressure up on businesses so they listen and act on parents' concerns. It's not acceptable for industry to simply ignore families' worries." With self-esteem and gender identity questions still major issues for many young people, it seems that the sexualisation of children is not a problem likely to go away any time soon. And perhaps truly horrific stories like that of the Rochdale grooming circle would be less common were we not training young women to see themselves as sexual objects, rather than agents in charge of their own desires. “He made me feel pretty,” said one victim in this most recent case, of the first man to rape her; a telling indictment of the messages of value and self-worth with which children are bombarded.  |
| Egyptian protesters accuse troops of sexual assault Posted: 11 May 2012 01:30 AM PDT
Women protesters in Egypt have accused the military authorities there of rape and sexual assault. Last weekend 12 women were among 300 people arrested outside the Defence Ministry in Cairo. Activist Aida Seif al-Dawla said female prison guards inspected the vaginas of some of the arrestees, on the pretext that they were searching for drugs. Another detainee, Aya Kamal, told the Egyptian parliament's Human Rights Committee that soldiers stormed into a mosque, where she and other protesters were sheltering, and took turns groping, insulting, smacking and spitting at them. One hit her over the head with a club, knocking her unconscious for a few seconds. "They insulted us girls, they opened the windows (of the van) and tried to reach out to touch our bodies and harass us. "We were threatened with sexual assault, and we were threatened that if any one of us opened her mouth, she would be thrown to the soldiers outside, and she knows what would happen to her,” said Kamal. These latest events will re-awaken concerns about the treatment of women by the Egyptian military. As WVoN reported, thousands of women protested in March against the acquittal of Dr Ahmed Adel, who was accused of carrying out 'virginity tests' on women detained during the protests in Tahrir Square last year. The protesters are demanding that Egypt's interim military government give up power immediately. The country is due to go to the polls on May 23 and 24 for the first round of presidential elections. One of the leading candidates, moderate Islamist Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh, called the arrests “arbitrary” and the abuses an “affront to human dignity and a disregard of laws and traditions.”
 |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Women's Views on News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |