Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Women win science fiction and fantasy writer awards

Posted: 21 May 2012 07:30 AM PDT

Jane Osmond
WVoN co-editor

Two woman writers have won a Nebula award, annually announced by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

The awards, which focus on fiction published in the previous year, have four categories – novel, novella, novelette and short story. The winning women scooped the prizes for the novel and novella categories.

The Welsh writer, Jo Walton, won with her story about a mother and daughter in a magic battle in Among Others; and Kij Johnson, in The Man who Bridged the Mist, wrote about a dangerous alien planet and the humans who attempted to tame it.

In addition, author Connie Willis was given the Damon Knight Grand Master Award, which honours an author with a lifetime achievement for their science fiction and fantasy writing.

Given the recent dearth of a single woman director nomination in the Cannes film festival, it is good to see that women’s creativity is appreciated in at least one cultural sphere.

Thanks to Geekfeminism for bringing this story to our attention.

Israeli employers must justify female wage inequality

Posted: 21 May 2012 06:00 AM PDT

Jackie Gregory
WVoN co-editor

Female workers in Israel are now in a stronger position to sue against wage inequality.

In a landmark ruling by the High Court of Justice, the onus of proof has been switched from the woman to the employer.

Previously an employee would have to show that the difference in pay was down to gender and for no other reason, reported the Israeli paper Haaretz.

The new ruling means that the employer has to justify any discrepancy, and the complainant only has to show there is one.

The judges also recognised that women were sometimes in a weaker position to bargain for higher pay and therefore any claims by employers that women agreed to a lower wage before commencing work will not be enough to justify extensive pay gaps.

Shop worker Orit Goren brought the test case after discovering a male colleague was on more money because he asked for a higher salary at his job interview.

Women, on average, earn 83 per cent of their male counterparts according to the Israel Project despite more females gaining jobs.

In 2009, the workforce grew by 46,700 women compared to 20,500 men. Of all the workers on minimum wage, 65 per cent are women with Arab workers generally earning less than Israeli colleagues.

Gender discrimination is currently a sensitive subject in Israel following a series of attacks by ultra orthodox Jews who are angry at what they argue is the increasing secularisation of society.

In one incident an eight-year-old school girl was spat at and called names as she walked to school according to a report by UPI.com and WVoN.

Obama raises issue of women’s empowerment at G-8 summit

Posted: 21 May 2012 04:30 AM PDT

Brogan Driscoll
WVoN co-editor 

President Obama raised the issue of women’s empowerment at Saturday’s G-8 summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in western Maryland.

As leaders joined to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and the world economy, Fox News reported that he said:

“We had a brief discussion around the issue of women’s empowerment, where we agreed that both, when it comes to economic development and when it comes to peace and security issues, empowering women to have a seat at the table and get more engaged and more involved in these processes can be extraordinarily fruitful”.

Women’s rights have also become a battleground for the 2012 presidential candidates, with Democrats accusing Republicans of waging a ‘war on women’, not least because of their attacks on Planned Parenthood, America’s leading reproductive health care provider.

These attacks are, by all accounts, causing the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, some concern because of reports that they have led to a surge of support for Obama.

And Obama is not letting up. Speaking to women graduates from the all-female Barnard college in New York recently, he urged them to: "fight for your seat at the table, or better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table".

Obama is not the only politician to appeal to women. Newly elected French president, Francois Hollande, made some pretty impressive promises to women. He has already delivered on the first with an equal number of men and women in his cabinet,

Let’s hope he keeps some of the rest of those promises and that Obama lives up to the hype that he’s currently spouting. If they do, this could be an interesting year for women.

Legal action to be taken against Facebook trolls

Posted: 21 May 2012 03:00 AM PDT

Jane Osmond
WVoN co-editor

As the regular Facebook 'call out' editor on Women's Views on News, I am beginning to think I should set up a monthly column.

This time, Facebook has refused to provide details of abusers to a woman who has been savagely abused by online Facebook trolls.

Nicola Brookes decided to show support for someone else – Frankie Cocozza, a contestant on the TV programme the X-Factor – by posting a positive message on his facebook page to counteract the online bullying comments he was receiving, the Telegraph reported this week.

Ms Brookes then found herself subjected to a barrage of abusive posts which included death threats, the setting up of a fake profile which portrayed her as a paedophile, and her home address published online.

As with others who have found themselves in this situation, Ms Brookes reported this stalking behaviour to the police and Facebook, neither of whom took any action.

Infuriated, Ms Brookes has now taken legal action against Facebook to obtain information that would identify the abusers so she can bring a case against them.

Rupinder Bains, a partner at Bains Cohen, the legal firm bringing the action on a pro bono basis, said it appeared police were less willing to investigate harassment when it was online and did not involve public figures.

For instance, the proposed action to be taken against Twitter abusers in the case of British MP Louise Mensch, or against those who outed the rape survivor's name in the Ched Evans case.

Ms Bains, who recently made representation to the House of Lords for the 2012 National Stalking Day, pointed to a survey carried out by her firm into cyberstalking.

This found that 53% of the 16-40 year olds surveyed had received abusive messages online but only 14% had reported the issue to the police, with almost 80% feeling that the police ‘would not take their matter seriously'.

To address the usual ‘freedom of speech arguments’ that are routinely served up by various commentators in reaction to pesky people such as Ms Brookes' can we please agree that the same freedom of speech rules apply both offline and online?

For example, if these abusers stood in the middle of a town centre and started shouting that Ms Brookes was a paedophile and that she should die, they would be arrested immediately for inciting hatred against someone, would they not?

So why is online abuse any different?

Given that social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter attract a population density that matches or outstrips physical countries (Facebook reported 901 million users at end of March 2012, three times the size of the US, with Twitter boasting 140 million active users) we need to recognise that posts on these communication mediums can reach several million more people than ‘the street corner shouter’.

By this reckoning then, online abuse is much more damaging, but at the moment is seen as much less important by the police.

As I have stated before, the developers of online social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter cannot continue to bury their heads in the sand and pretend that their creations are some kind of abstract concept immune to the laws of the land.

We need a social media protocol that allows freedom of expression that not only adheres to the law, but also respects people's rights to be free from online abuse. And we need it fast.

As it stands, Facebook has issued the following statement, reported on the BBC website:

“Nothing is more important to us than the safety of the people that use our service.

“Unlike other websites and forums Facebook has a real name culture, which provides greater accountability and a safer and more trusted environment.

“We are clear that there is no place for bullying or harassment on Facebook and we respond aggressively to reports of potential abuse.”

This is another example of the boys who run Facebook issuing a self-serving statement that bears no relation to the actual experience of people who suffer online abuse on its platform.

And, of course, there is always the subjective stance taken by the Facebook boys, who, for example, do not see rape jokes as abusive and indeed encourage this kind of joke to be clearly marked as  'humour'.

Meanwhile, a lot of interested parties will be watching Ms Brookes' case, and she deserves all credit for her bravery.

Britain’s first female world boxing champ is going for gold

Posted: 21 May 2012 01:30 AM PDT

Jackie Gregory
WVoN co-editor

Boxer Savannah Marshall has punched her way to victory to become Britain’s first female world boxing champion.

She marked st birthday with a 17 – 15 victory over Azerbaijan’s Elena Vystropova in China on Saturday.

The middleweight from Hartlepool had suffered a blooded nose in the third round but managed to battle on, reported Sky Sports. She is now one of the favourites to win gold at London’s Olympic Games.

Marshall told the Daily Mail after the match: "It’s been an amazing week and to come away as world champion and with a place at the Olympics is pretty incredible."

Performance director Rob McCracken added that Marshall had the potential to stay at the top of her game for years to come.

The Women’s World Boxing Championships took place in Qinhuangdao, a seaside town about three hours drive from Beijing.

Other firsts were also scored when Chinese boxer Ren Cancan became the first female from China to qualify for the Olympics after beating the American Marlen Esparza.

Afghan women also took part in the championships and although they were knocked out in the early rounds, it was significant that they took part.  Women are not allowed to box in front of men in Aghanistan reports The Huffington Post.

Female boxing is making its debut at this year’s Olympics and has already courted controversy when in January it was announced that the sportswomen would have to wear skirts not shorts.

As reported by WVoN, a petition was set up in protest. It has now been decided that the boxers can choose to wear either shorts or skirts.

But as the International Herald Tribune reports, the issue of women’s sportswear is still a contentious one at the Olympics.

Didi Kirsten Tatlow writes: "And if the skirts-versus-shorts question sounds frivolous, even offensive, the topic of women's gear in sports is real, with several major sporting bodies – notably in soccer and badminton – having publicly urged women to wear tighter shorts or skirts, on the grounds that it would make the sports more appealing."

Katie Taylor of Ireland who retained her fourth World Championship title in the lightweight section in Qinhuangdao, who is also on her way to the Olympics, told BBC Sport in January:

"I won’t be wearing a mini-skirt. I don’t even wear mini-skirts on a night out, so I definitely won’t be wearing one in the ring.”