Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Mississippi women will be aborting with coat hangers, “but hey…” says Mississippi State Representative

Posted: 15 May 2012 11:00 PM PDT

Polly Trenow
WVoN co-editor

A callous statement by a Mississippi State Representative last Thursday seemed to celebrate the return to back-street abortions.

"’The poor pitiful women that can’t afford to go out of state are just going to start doing them at home with a coat hanger,’” State Representative Bubba Carpenter told the Alcorn County Republican party sarcastically.  ”That’s what we’ve heard over and over and over.  But hey, you have to have moral values. You have to start somewhere, and that's what we’ve decided to do."

The speech, which was discussed on Rachel Maddow's ‘The Maddow Blog’ was made after House Bill 1390 passed, putting more restrictions on doctors working in state abortion clinics.

Bill 1390 requires that doctors terminating pregnancies be board-certified ob-gyns with admitting privileges at a local hospital.

Doctors who perform fewer than 10 abortions a month or fewer than 100 a year aren’t required to have their offices regulated as abortion facilities.

The bill will impact the state’s last remaining abortion clinic where only one of the doctors holds such privileges. The clinic’s owner, Diane Derzis, told the Mississippi Public Broadcasting that she will consider filing a law suit against the state if the bill becomes law.

Derzis said most hospitals will not grant the privileges to out-of-state physicians.  Her doctors have been forced to commute to work from neighbouring Alabama to protect their safety in the growing anti-abortion climate. Many have been stalked and threatened, she said.

"These are mean spirited, vicious people who have no concerns about women’s health,” she said.  ”None… My doctors receive wanted posters. My doctors have a target on their back."

The bill is just the latest in an onslaught of anti-abortion legislation coming from the state. In November of last year the controversial 'Personhood Amendment' was defeated, a ballot initiative that declared life begins at fertilisation and would have challenged Roe vs Wade, which has secured women's right to abortion in the USA.

At the end of April, the Mississippi Senate chairman overturned a bill that could have led to a homicide criminal prosecution for anyone performing an abortion once a fetal heartbeat is found.

The state government has made no secret about their desire to prevent all women from accessing abortion in Mississippi.

At the signing of Bill 1390 Republican Governor Phil Bryant said “I think it’s historic. Today you see the first step in a movement I believe to do what we campaigned on to say we’re going to try and end abortion in Mississippi."

But Mississippi women are fighting back. At the beginning of this month Mississippi women marched as part of a larger national rally against the 'War on Women'.

 

Duchess of Cambridge urged to support Cambodia’s sweatshop workers

Posted: 15 May 2012 10:30 AM PDT

Karen Whiteley
WVoN co-editor

Anti-poverty charity War on Want has today called on the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, to support sweatshop workers in Cambodia.

According to a new report, Restricted Rights, high-street fashion chain Zara (a favourite of Middleton’s), is one of a number of retailers exploiting Cambodian women working in sweatshops.

The charity is urging Middleton to press the retailer to stop the exploitation of these women, who earn as little as 20p an hour making clothes.

The report, which investigates conditions for garment workers in Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia, exposes a number of brands guilty of exploiting female workers, including H&M, Gap, Marks & Spencer, Levi Strauss, Timberland and Benetton.

The report also notes that London Olympic Games partner Adidas is guilty of the same exploitation. Middleton is a Team GB ambassador for the Olympics.

War on Want has also demanded that Kenneth Clarke, the UK’s justice secretary, establish a business, human rights and environment commission to protect rights for workers supplying British retailers.

Laia Blanch, international programmes officer at War on Want, said: "Western brands promote themselves as ethical and responsible towards the people who make their goods.

“But they maximise their profits and minimise costs by exploiting migrant women workers as cheap labour. It is high time the British government stopped this abuse."

According to the report, almost 90% of Cambodia’s garment workers are young women migrants from rural areas. They typically work 10 hour shifts and take home between £50-55 per month.

The garment industry is the predominant export earner in Cambodia, with garment products accounting for around 90% of the country's exports.

Nine out of ten Cambodian women interviewed for the report said that despite sharing a room with four or five others, they still needed to cut back on essential food in order to send any money home to their families.

One 29-year-old woman interviewed for the report described her daily existence;

“I live with four other friends who come from the same village as me. We spend $20 for rent and around $10 for water and electricity supplies.

“It is really crowded for us in the small room, but we have no choice: we have to live together in order to save money.

‘We spend around $0.50-1 a day on food. We eat together every day. Our food is not good enough for our health but we do not know how to improve it.

“My family at home needs me to send money to pay for their daily needs because they do not have any livelihood other than cultivation.”

Obama pitching for the women’s vote

Posted: 15 May 2012 09:30 AM PDT

Alison Clarke
WVoN co-editor 

Much is being made of the fact that President Obama spoke yesterday at the commencement (or graduate) ceremony at the women-only Barnard college in New York.

He specifically addressed issues of concern to these graduates, saying that “as young women” they would have to grapple with “whether you'll be able to earn equal pay for equal work; whether you'll be able to balance the demands of your job and your family; whether you'll be able to fully control decisions about your own health”.

He urged them not just to “fight for your seat at the table” but to “fight for a seat at the head of the table” to change outdated policies not just in many workplaces, but also in Congress.

Referring to some of the virulently anti-women policies pursued by Republicans over the last few years, President Obama suggested that “one reason we're actually refighting long-settled battles over women's rights is because women occupy fewer than one in five seats in Congress”.

And he urged his audience to help other women advance in the workplace by acting as mentors and role models.

“Until a girl can imagine herself, can picture herself as a computer programmer, or a combatant commander, she won't become one.

“Until there are women who tell her, ignore our pop culture obsession over beauty and fashion and focus instead on studying and inventing and competing and leading, she'll think those are the only things that girls are supposed to care about”.

The speech is being interpreted as a very political move on the President’s part, tapping into both the youth vote and the women’s vote ahead of the presidential election in November.

Obama already has an advantage over his Republican rival in terms of his support among women. A poll in April this year showed that 54 per cent of women under 50 support him, compared to 36 per cent for Mitt Romney.

Police who assaulted women in India must be investigated, says HRW

Posted: 15 May 2012 08:30 AM PDT

Ilona Lo Iacono
WVoN co-editor

Hundreds of sex workers from across the Indian state of Maharashtra, along with social activists, have marched to demand action against a police inspector accused of beating two local sex workers.

The protest took place in the city of Satara yesterday, despite the organisers discovering, on the eve of the protest, that police intended to prevent the demonstration by invoking powers to prevent public disorder.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for Indian officials to immediately open transparent and impartial criminal investigations into recent cases of police assaults on women, including those on the two sex workers, Anu Mokal and Anjana Ghadge.

Mokal and Ghadge were walking past police vans in Satara on April 2, on their way to take dinner to a friend in hospital, when senior police inspector Dayanand Dhome reportedly started yelling abuse at them.

He called the women liars when they explained that they were on their way to hospital and not soliciting, and he said repeatedly that women like Mokal are a "shame to him", while he and his subordinates beat the two women.

Mokal said: "When I fell on the floor and tried holding his leg begging him to stop because I was pregnant, he pushed me away and kicked me."

She said that she and Ghadge were then taken to the police lock-up and falsely accused of soliciting for sex work in a public place, an offence under Indian law.

Mokal was taken to the civil hospital, where a doctor prescribed her medication. A police officer took the prescription from her and ordered her back into the police van. She was given no medical treatment.

The next day, the women were taken before a magistrate, fined and then released. They were taken to the civil hospital by members of Veshya Anyay Mukti Parishad (VAMP), an organisation that works among sex workers, and Mokal received medication. However, she suffered a miscarriage on April 5.

On April 30, Satara Superintendent of Police, M. M. Prasanna, told a delegation from VAMP that an inquiry into the assaults had been launched, but so far, no action has been taken against the officers in question, and there is no evidence that any investigation has actually commenced.

HRW says that this case, and the separate case of Soni Sori, an Adivasi teacher who was allegedly tortured and sexually assaulted by police in Chhattisgarh, underscore the urgent need for independent oversight of the police and the need to eliminate police interference in post-assault healthcare.

Sori was detained and allegedly assaulted in October 2011; she has since been charged with several offences and is, as of last week, receiving follow-up medical care in New Delhi.

Having had stones pushed into her vagina and rectum during the assault, Sori bled for months and has been complaining of severe blisters to her genital area, a burning sensation in her vagina, and stomach pain (see a video montage of her letters from prison here.)

The man who allegedly ordered her torture and assault, Superintendent Ankit Garg, was awarded the Police Medal for Gallantry in January this year (see WVoN story).

Amnesty International considers Sori to be a prisoner of conscience and has called for her to be released, and for all charges against her to be dropped.

HRW called on the government of India to overhaul its policies and response to women, children, and transgender people who experience violence.

The Indian authorities should protect victims from police intimidation and discrimination, and prevent police interference in investigations and post-assault medical treatment, it said.

US Violence Against Women Act stripped of protection for minority groups

Posted: 15 May 2012 06:00 AM PDT

Catherine Scott
WVoN co-editor

Last Wednesday, the US House Judiciary Committee passed HR 4970, a version of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) criticised by feminists and anti-domestic violence groups for stripping the previous version of its protection for minority groups.

S.1925 which included new protections for LGBT people, Native women and immigrants, passed the Senate on April 26 this year.

Despite the fact that VAWA was reauthorised by Congress in 2000 and 2005 with unanimous Senate cross-party support, Republican resistance suddenly emerged this time around, with only 15 Republicans (but including all the Republican female senators), voting for the passage of S.1925.

Republican objections have centred around the new provisions designed to protect minorities.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has been vocal in opposing the expansion of special visas available to immigrant victims of domestic violence, stating that immigrants may falsify accounts of domestic violence in order to obtain a green card.

Grassley also objects to the section which prohibits state administrators from discriminating against LGBT victims of domestic violence, as he claims there is no proof that LGBT people are discriminated against by the police or domestic violence shelters.

In addition, Republicans have stated their opposition to new passages in the bill which would allow Native tribes to prosecute violent non-Natives living or working on tribe land – even though this provision is entirely constitutional.

The Republican objections resulted in the proposal of an alternative bill, HR 4970 – also known as the Cantor/Adams bill – which removes the provisions for Native, immigrant and LGBT victims of domestic violence, and also eliminates protection for students on college campuses.

This was passed by the House Judiciary Committee with votes split almost exactly down party lines.

The full House of Representatives will now vote on the bill this Wednesday, despite condemnation from groups such as the National Task Force To End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women, which state that HR 4970 is “not the real VAWA” and that the bill is “anti-victim” and “dangerous”.

Feminist commentators have suggested that the watered-down bill is yet another symptom of the Republican party’s ‘War on Women’.

Is there a future for women’s magazines?

Posted: 15 May 2012 03:30 AM PDT

Holly Peacock
WVoN co-editor

In this week's edition of The Observer magazine journalist Eva Wiseman asks if women's interest magazines are evolving as quickly as women themselves?

It's no secret that magazine sales are steadily declining. Publishing houses such as Nat Mags and Hearst Magazines have merged and redundancies have rippled across their publications.

The decline could be because of online competition, but Wiseman argues it could also be the dated tone of voice of the magazines and features that are not in keeping with today’s women.

A look at women's monthly magazines over the last decade suggest they haven’t really changed – sex quizzes, diets, weddings and celebrities dominate but are they what women today want?

The success of ShortList Media's free publication Stylist magazine speaks volumes about the type of magazine that women want in 2012. It explores careers, news, inspirational women and humor with an accessible yet intelligent tone of voice.

Over the past few years the magazine’s success has soared. Not only has it survived but it has also developed a 'network' that marries all media platforms together to engage the reader and access a wider audience.

It would seem the success of women's interest magazine relies not only on their online and social presence but also a refocus on what modern women really want to know more about.

Zimbabwe senator calls for women to go unwashed, bald-headed and circumcised in fight against HIV

Posted: 15 May 2012 01:15 AM PDT

Ilona Lo Iacono
WVoN co-editor

A Zimbabwean senator has claimed that, in order to stop the spread of HIV, women need to make themselves less attractive and eliminate their vaginal "moisture".

Morgan Femai, a Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) senator for Chikomo, addressed a parliamentary HIV awareness workshop in Kadoma on Friday.

The workshop was organised by the Zimbabwe Parliamentarians against HIV and AIDS, in conjunction with the National Aids Council, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and some UN agencies.

He suggested that female circumcision would help stop the transmission of the disease, and explained:

"Women have got more moisture in their organs as compared to men so there is need to research on how to deal with that moisture because it is conducive for bacteria breeding. There should be a way to suck out that moisture."

Senator Femai also said that women have been "becoming more attractive", making them harder for men to resist, thereby causing promiscuity. He said that women should reverse this trend by losing weight, dressing shabbily and keeping their heads bald.

"What I propose is that Government should come up with a law that compels women to have their heads clean-shaven like what the Apostolic sects do. We have never heard that those people are promiscuous so the women should have their heads shaved.

“They should also not bath (sic) because that is what has caused all these problems [spread of HIV]," he said.

The Apostolic sects, it should be noted, have not been spared by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, though sect leaders have, at times, exhorted them to ignore it altogether.

Sect members continue to practise polygamy and wife inheritance, with marriages often arranged between underage girls and older men. Access to healthcare is limited, with most members believing only in spiritual cures, and associating modern medicine with wickedness.

Rural women members often give birth in unsanitary conditions at shrines, increasing the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission.

More than 15,000 children are infected with HIV in Zimbabwe every year, mainly through mother-to-child transmission. This accounts for the highest number of HIV infections among the population, after heterosexual sex.

While many believe that the true HIV infection rate is higher than current estimates of 14% of the general population, it appears that it has declined from a peak of 30%. It is thought that increased condom usage and changing attitudes towards the acceptability of multiple partners and paying for sex have contributed to the declining rate.

MDC-T legislator, Thabitha Khumalo, has alternative advice for women looking to avoid HIV.

She recommends that women accept that all men will cheat, and befriend their husband’s mistresses. If wives fight with mistresses, she says, husbands will be driven away into secret affairs with yet more women, thus increasing the risk of STI exposure.

She is also campaigning for the legalisation of prostitution, and has pledged to help commercial sex workers form a trade union to fight for their rights.

Another MDC-T senator, Sithembile Mlotshwa, recently claimed that people should limit themselves to sex once a month, and that men should be injected with libido-suppressing drugs.

She also said, in a separate debate, that prisoners should be provided with "sex gadgets" so that they could satisfy their sexual desires without "spreading" homosexuality, even if budgetary restrictions meant that such gadgets would come at the expense of prisoners’ food and clothing.

According to Zimbabwe’s National AIDS Council, an estimated 60% of Zimbabwean adults living with HIV at the end of 2009 were female. The gender gap was more pronounced among the young: 77% of young people aged 15 to 24 with HIV were female.

Zimbabwe's HIV prevalence is among the highest in the world and many of those in need of antiretroviral treatment are not receiving it.