Saturday, May 26, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

New wellbeing index shows women are happier, but men are richer

Posted: 25 May 2012 08:00 AM PDT

Rachel Salmon
WVoN co editor

A new wellbeing index from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) finds that women have better social networks, live longer and, in most places, are happier than men.

Men, on the other hand, work more and make more money than women.

But women and men tend to care about the same things wherever they live – education, health and life satisfaction. 

Your Better Life  invites users to rank topics like health, housing, employment and community in priority order. The results can be compared by country, gender and for wealth, comparing the responses of those with the 20 per cent highest and lowest incomes. 

Women in wealthier countries like Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and Australia were the happiest, awarding themselves 7.5 to 8 out of 10, whilst Hungary, Portugal and the Russian Federation rated their life satisfaction at between 4.5 and 5.

Women from Luxemburg earn the most, making over $47,000USD a year on average, whilst Chilean women earn just over $10,00. 

Eastern European women are among the best educated.  At least 88 per cent of women from Poland, the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation hold degrees.

Over nine out of ten women in the US turn out to vote compared with less than four in ten women living in Switzerland. 

Women in France, Italy, Korea and Switzerland live for over 84 years on average, whilst women from the Russian Federation cannot expect to reach their 75th birthdays.

The OECD said: 

“Today girls outperform boys in some areas of education and are less likely to drop out of school than boys. But, the glass is still half-full: women continue to earn less than men, are less likely to make it to the top of the career ladder, and are more likely to end their lives in poverty”.

Food sovereignty workshop in West Africa champions women agricultural workers

Posted: 25 May 2012 07:30 AM PDT

ED Knight
WVoN co-editor 

Women's roles in food production were examined this week in a four-day workshop in Accra, Ghana, as part of the Regional Agricultural Investment Programme of ECOWAS, a group of 15 West African states.

The workshop aims to empower the farmers of the region, as well as lobby international bodies to legislate against what it claims are the damaging practices of agro-industrial corporations.

Speaking at the workshop, Bernard Guri, Executive Director of the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational Development, said:

"We must begin to look for African solutions by way of adopting what we call the endogenous development approach. This means, let’s start with what our local farmers know best and have used to feed us all these years.”

The workshop argues that women's roles in agriculture have been diminished by the industrialisation of agricultural processes, so in order to reach food self-sufficiency a return to more localised, traditional modes of agriculture, combined with modern farming techniques, is required.

Guri went on to say that "what we Africans should be advocating for is food sovereignty and not food security – for we are the solution to our own food crisis."

The notion of food sovereignty was coined by the Via Campesina movement at the 1996 World Food Summit, and has since been presented as an alternative to neoliberal policies of food production and distribution.

The movement contends that such policies increase the dependence of poorer nations on agricultural imports from richer ones, as large corporations are able to undercut the price of locally produced food, resulting in crippled agriculture sectors in already poor nations.

This practice is known as 'dumping', and significant government subsidies for European and US farmers have further encouraged its use.

The fundamental link between women, food production and the self-determination of peoples has gained momentum in recent years. Via Campesina has member organisations across the world, including nearly every Western European nation. There are as yet no fully ratified members in the United Kingdom.

Equality in the armed forces too much for some

Posted: 25 May 2012 06:30 AM PDT

Ed Knight
WVoN co-editor

The Indian Defence Ministry has confirmed twice in parliament in the last two months that it has no plans to integrate women into combat roles.

This has provoked consternation from Indians who point out that "even Pakistan" permits women fighter pilots.

This marks a miss-step in the general crawl towards equality in the world's armed forces.

As reported last week in WVoN, the US army has recently opened up a selection of combat-based roles to women, although none involve direct frontline fighting.

There are several countries which have or are implementing gender parity legislation. For instance, the Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith last year announced the inclusion of women in full combat roles by 2016, saying that combat effectiveness is simply a matter of "allowing the best people to come forward".

In Sweden there has been equality since 1989, with Denmark and Finland not far behind. France does not have women in full combat roles nor serving on submarines, another controversial area for women's inclusion, but does boast one of the highest percentages of serving women in Europe, measuring 15% in 2009. The US military currently has 20% serving women.

The number of women serving in the UK armed forces was a paltry 9.1% in 2006 (no more up to date figures seem to be available), with 71% percent of Army and Royal Navy roles open to them, and 96% of those in the RAF.

This is on a par with the general movement towards equality in the world's armed forces, but, with no official plans from the MOD to introduce women to full combat roles, the UK has some way to go. The fact that the first woman to assume command of a frontline warship became a reality earlier this week highlights just how difficult it can be for them to make it to the top.

Age-old complaints of physical inferiority are still common, and the worrying incidence of sexual assault is slowly coming to the fore.

The Israeli Defence Force reinstated women combat soldiers in 2000, having not previously employed them since 1948, when the practice was withdrawn after higher death tolls were seen in mixed-gender units than all-male.

The reasons seem far from clear as this 2002 report from the MOD points out:

"The assumption was that Arab soldiers had fought more determinedly against women rather than risk disgrace by surrendering to them.  Other accounts indicate that this decision was made arbitrarily following the massacre of women in a small patrol that had been captured.  It was assessed that Israeli male morale suffered disproportionately when a female soldier was killed or wounded."

Far be it from me to tell the armed forces what to do but if the negative impact of women soldiers lies largely with how it affects the men fighting alongside them, rather than in women's capabilities, then the responsibility to change, perhaps, lies with men.

Or is that too obvious?

Abuse of Native American women – an interview with Charmaine White Face

Posted: 25 May 2012 05:00 AM PDT

Emine Dilek
WVoN co-editor

For the first time in its history, the United Nations decided this year to open an investigation into the way in which the US government treats Native Americans, now and in the past.

Led by human rights professor and Native American, James Anaya, the human rights inquiry will look at the conditions endured by his people.

The country’s estimated 2.7 million Native Americans live in federally established tribal areas called reservations which are plagued by unemployment, alcoholism, high suicide rates and other social problems.

They are also bogged down in disputes over sovereignty and land rights with the US and state governments due to endless violations of their territories and rights.

On top of that, Native American women living in reservations report rates of domestic violence and physical assault that are much higher than for women from other ethnicities and locations.

I was lucky enough to interview Ms Charmaine White Face, one of the advisors to Professor Anaya and the spokesperson for the Sioux Nation Treaty Council about the plight of Native American women. She is also the founder and Coordinator of Defenders of the Black Hills.

ED: Native American women experience the highest rate of violence of any group in the United States. A 2004 Department of Justice report estimates that they suffer violent crime at a rate 50% higher than the next most victimized demographic, 70% of these predators are non-Native. Yet many crimes go unreported. Why is this and what are the major reasons behind the underreporting of these crimes?

CWF: Of course these rates go back to the colonization and racism, because if we were allowed to impose our laws, in our culture, this would not be happening at all. The difference between our culture and the US culture is that we are a matriarchy and the United States is a patriarchy. We have no protection from the outside intruders, so any man can come in and assault us.

Underreporting is the result of distrust and the apathy of the police, judges and courts in general. We don't feel that anything will be done if we report a rape or a beating. I have personally experienced this when my 14 year old granddaughter was raped by a wealthy white rancher.  Her family went to the tribal police; we also went to the state police, we went to the county, and nobody did anything. They did not even bother to open an investigation, let alone do it right. That rancher has bragged around saying nobody would do anything to me, I have friends in the US State Attorney's office. Now, that's just one incident.

We are forced by the 1885 Major Crimes Act to report our crimes to the US Government instead of handling it within the nation through our legal system and laws. The reason that it was created was to take our power away from us, so we could not follow our own laws.

ED: In addition to sexual abuse, Native American women also experience the highest levels of domestic abuse of any group. The Report on Violence against Alaska Native Women in Anchorage found a widespread fear and distrust of law enforcement. What causes this distrust and how can things be improved to provide better protection and safety for Native women?

CWF: One of the first reasons is that throughout the colonization of our nations, boarding schools were established by the US Government to separate the children from their parents to assimilate them. Many of these children were abused, physically, emotionally and even sexually. They were indoctrinated in patriarchy to abandon matriarchal traditions.  This has gone on for generations.

The policy of these boarding schools was forced separation of Indian children from the tribal communities. Gender roles and family relationships were impaired at the boarding schools, where the focus was on the European tradition of male-female relationships and not the Indian tradition of holding women and children sacred. Because no other schools were allowed to be built on the reservations, these Government run boarding schools were the only options if you wanted your children to get an education.

Secondly, domestic violence is a symptom of poverty. The end result of ghettoising the reservations, keeping the people isolated, marginalized and in poverty is hopelessness, which causes them to be violent or kill themselves through suicide or other drug and alcohol addictions.

So these high rates are the direct result of intergenerational traumas, abject poverty, colonization, oppression, racism and ongoing marginalization of our people.

ED: Courts tend to ignore cases of violence involving Native American women due to alleged confusion between federal and tribal jurisdiction. Law enforcement and attorneys often are not schooled in how to deal with the cross-over between jurisdictions. How can this be resolved? Could re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act help?

CWF: As long as local state governments refuse to co-operate, the US federal government could pass any laws they like but we still would not get the protection we need. Local enforcement is actually more important than these big laws.

As far as the jurisdiction confusion, that is just an excuse. The lack of justice is mostly the cause of indifference towards Native People's issues and apathy of local law enforcement, including attorneys and judges.

ED: The Indian Health Service, the federal agency responsible for providing health care on all reservations, is failing Native American women on many fronts as they do not have access to even basic reproductive health services.  Basically you are the only race in the country that is denied access to abortion merely because of your race. Is there a way to overturn these stipulations?

CWF: The HIS (Indian Health Service) is a federal agency, but it does not get the funding it needs, and it is corrupt and inadequate. Every time the USA wages war on another country, in order to fund that war, the first cuts are always from Indian services – from our healthcare to housing to security. There are not enough police officers in the reservations. The HIS in Pine Ridge reservation which is one of the biggest reservations, does not even have a doctor.

It is a big systemic problem. Right now the policy of the HIS is "life or limb," basically in order to get treatment either your life has to be in danger or you need to be in a situation of losing a limb. Otherwise there are no treatments for reproductive health or even for preventive care. That's it.

ED: The Indian Health Service has been highly criticized for its treatment of women over the years; there were even accusations that it had forcibly sterilised Native women. Is this under investigation or can this be considered ethnic cleansing?

CWF: A generation of women never had children and during their stay in the US government-run boarding schools, they were taken to the hospitals for forced "tonsil removals." Professor Anaya has given a lot of information to the UN and there were women who also gave presentations on this issue to the UN, but I am sure the investigation will cover this.

ED: Thank you very much for your time. I hope this interview will help shed more light on the plight of Native women.

Professor Anaya's report to the UN is expected to be published in September.

Tackle gender gap to boost growth, says OECD

Posted: 25 May 2012 03:00 AM PDT

Rachel Salmon
WVoN co-editor

A new report argues that improving opportunities for women to learn, earn and do business is vital for economic growth.

The report, “Gender Equality in Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship” by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also says that education will improve the well-being of men and women.

Although better education does not guarantee equality for women in the workplace, improved learning opportunities account for half of the growth in OECD countries in the past 50 years, says the report.

And whilst girls in developed countries are doing better than boys at school, too few study science and more needs to be done to break down stereotypes.

Fewer girls attend school than boys in developing countries. The report recommends financial incentives to encourage families to send their girls to school, as well as help with uniforms and school meals, safer transport and sanitary provision.

Women's education is the 'gift that keeps on giving' as educated women tend to marry later and encourage their own children to learn.

Cheaper childcare and learning to share household tasks will help more women work full-time and advance in their careers, says the report.

But businesses must also adopt more family-friendly practices like reducing long office hours, enabling staff to work from home and encouraging part-time workers to progress.

The report recommends the setting of quotas, similar to those in Norway, to boost the number of women in senior positions.

The advancement of women's rights is vital in lifting developing countries out of poverty. Investment in women's health, education and welfare yield the best results of all development initiatives, argues the report.

The number of women in work in OECD countries is increasing, but the proportion of businesses owned by women is stuck at around 30 per cent.

While a third of self-employed men have people working for them, only one fifth of female entrepreneurs have employees.

The report says this is because fewer women who start businesses have management experience and businesswomen work shorter hours than men.

Women often struggle to get loans or are charged higher interest rates because they have shorter credit histories or may lack the confidence to convince investors.

The OECD urges governments, particularly in developing countries, to introduce micro-credit schemes, so women can access small loans with low interest rates.

"Meeting the challenge of delivering strong and sustainable long-term growth that benefits everyone can only be achieved if everyone is on board," said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría.

"Giving men and women the opportunity to contribute at home and at work will boost growth and well-being and create a fairer society for all."

The report will be discussed at an OECD ministers' meeting in Paris this week.

Topless in New York – help kickstart an exhibition

Posted: 25 May 2012 02:00 AM PDT

Kate Townshend
WVoN co-editor

New York might be famous for its theatres, Central Park and the Empire State Building.

But one fact that you probably won’t find in the tourist brochures is that it is also one of the few US states where you can engage in a spot of topless sightseeing and still find yourself entirely within the law.

At least as long as it’s somewhere where men would also be allowed to take their tops off.

Despite attitudes that still see bare breasts as somehow provocative and taboo, New York women have had the right to display theirs publicly for quite some time.

Since the case of People Vs Santorelli in fact, in which a group of women arrested for picnicking without tops in 1986 sued to challenge the law that made their arrest possible. As a result, New York State’s highest court struck down the law in 1992 on the grounds that it violated their constitutional rights to equality.

Photographer and public interest attorney Jeff (he seems to go under one name) knows the ruling well.  Not least because he has carried a copy of it around with him the past few years, whilst photographing all sorts of women in all sorts of locations across New York State.

But what makes his photos unusual? They all show women enjoying the public spaces of the city and its surroundings, without their tops on.

Jeff hopes to turn the photographs into an exhibit later this summer, with calendars and coffee table books  to follow.

So what’s the point of getting women to bare their breasts, especially in the sometimes chilly climes of New York?

Jeff explains:

“As a culture, Americans have been conditioned to think of women’s bare breasts as sex organs, and we’re so used to women covering up their breasts out of ‘shame’ because of that conditioning, that we consider it shocking that any woman would choose not to.

“The Topless New York series is designed to dispel those traditional attitudes by showing women topless in public in everyday situations, to challenge not only the notion that breasts are “sexual,” but the notion that baring them in public is ‘weird.’”

In fact, not all of Jeff’s photographs show women from the front at all. The emphasis here is very much on women’s right to be topless without being reduced to the sum of their mammary glands and the photographs deliberately avoid making the breasts themselves centre stage.

As Jeff puts it: “The models aren’t flaunting their breasts, they’re exercising their equal rights under New York’s constitution, and that’s what I’m capturing for these images.”

In a culture where women’s bodies are often used purely for titillation, shock value or marketing, it’s easy to be dismissive of awareness raising campaigns like Jeff’s as  a drop in the ocean when it comes to wider issues of equality. And whilst Jeff makes no claims that this is the most important issue out there, he is still passionate about the value of the work:

“The right to be topless in public matters, and here’s why: Every time you break down one more barrier, one more myth that puts women in a lesser, more ‘shameful,’ less autonomous category, no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential, the rest of the fight gets easier. And I’ve got a camera, so I might as well use it.”

If the Topless New York project strikes a chord with you, you can find out more about how to get involved at the Kickstarter website.

Of course, it’s not the first time bare breasts have been used in the name of protest lately.

WVoN stories like this one, this one, and this one from just a few days ago make it clear that Jeff’s work is part of a wider movement to reclaim breasts (and women’s bodies in general) as integral, shame-free parts of the women who own them; rather than discombobulated objects of fetishistic fantasy only allowable in contexts of porn or marketing.

The bottom line is that breasts are part of women. And if removing our tops is one way to remove the shame and the shock value that society wants to attach to them, then that has to be a step in the right direction.

Australian politician tells women just to ignore discrimination at work

Posted: 25 May 2012 01:00 AM PDT

Denise Turner 
WVoN co-editor

The leader of the opposition in the south Australian parliament, Isobel Redmond, caused a furore this week when she told a women's leadership forum in Adelaide that women should just ignore sexual discrimination at work.

Just in case that wasn’t clear, she added that the best way for women to achieve parity at work was to avoid confrontation, ask intelligent questions and make gentle suggestions.

Her view, she said, was based on 40 years experience as a lawyer, where she found that legal action was rarely the best way to counter workplace sex discrimination.

She also claimed that more had been done to achieve gender equality in the workplace by women who put up with discrimination.

“The hard yards are done not by looking at your personal situation but by helping to break down the barriers for the next woman coming along.

“Whereas if you take that legal approach, then very likely all you’ll do is entrench the hatred of women in the very people whose minds you’re trying to change."

As a feminist it's hard to sympathise. How many high achieving women business leaders can you think of who say they want to break down the barriers for other women?

In the US, where workplace legislation is being steadily dismantled in several states by right wing Republicans, women represent 50% of the work force but only 18 of Fortune 500 companies have female CEOs.

Perhaps a better way of judging whether legislation is the best recourse is to examine a country like Denmark where workplace legislation and equality for women is enforced.

In addition it is consistently voted one of the best countries in the world in which to live and work for men and women alike.

Back in Australia, Australia Elizabeth Handsley, law professor at Flinders University, said Redmond’s view reflected a fundamental misunderstanding of what discrimination is.

And federal Minister for the Status of Women Julie Collins said Ms Redmond’s comments were unacceptable.

Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick said behaviour and attitudes will not change unless women complain about discrimination.