Friday, August 10, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

New constitution heralds progress for women’s rights in Somalia

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 05:30 AM PDT

Rachel Meehan
WVoN co-editor

Somalia’s Constituent Assembly last week overwhelmingly agreed a new constitution which recognises the empowerment of women.

It represents a key step in establishing an effective central government by providing a legal framework, based on Islamic law, to govern Somalia.

A new parliament will be formed this week, ending a transitional period that has lasted for nine years.

The constitution states that all Somali citizens shall have equal rights and duties before the law, "regardless of sex, religion, social or economic status, political opinion, clan, disability, occupation, birth or dialect."

Specifically it prohibits female genital mutilation (FGM), a widespread practice in Somalia.

But in a country where 98 per cent of women interviewed by the World Health Organisation and UNICEF have undergone the most severe form of FGM, this remains a moot point.

Equally importantly, the constitution recognises the representation of women in Somalia's political process, promising a minimum 30 per cent female representation in the next parliament and in all future government institutions.

Operation 1325 (a network aimed at implementing UN resolution 1325 to involve women in conflict resolution), is optimistic that that the new constitution might represent a light at “the end of the tunnel for Somali women”, despite the country’s appalling record on women's rights.

It is one of only three states that has neither signed the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women nor resolution 1325.

A female delegate to the Constituent Assembly said "According to this constitution, women will be able to participate in the country's political process and that is what we appreciate very high.”

However, theory may party company from reality at some point.

In Somalia, parliamentary seats are allocated using a clan-based power sharing system. Malyun Sheikh Haider, head of the Mogadishu-based Centre for Evaluation and Development, said that:

“Somali women are being marginalised in the political process due to discrimination, which places women in a second-class position to men and is a result of the prevalence of a tribal and male-dominant mentality in Somali society."

As a consequence women are underrepresented in the transitional government.

Somalia must select a new parliament before the transitional government's mandate expires on 20 August. The parliament will then elect the main members of the executive, including a new president.

Dr Augustine Mahiga, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia, hailed the adoption of the provisional constitution as a "momentous occasion."

He said it was an "historic achievement as it completes one of the most important milestones towards ending the current transitional period and ushering in a new political future."

Whether this new political future can be realised in a country marred by a long civil war and with areas still outside government control, remains to be seen.

Armpits4August – keep your body hair and raise money for charity

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 04:00 AM PDT

Brogan Driscoll
WVoN co-editor 

Armpits4August is a month-long charity event, set up to  challenge beauty norms by asking participants to grow their underarm hair for all of August.

Women are encouraged to throw away their razors and wax strips to raise money for Verity, the charity for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) sufferers.

Women’s Views on News was intrigued and so got in touch with the organisation’s Sarah Hickmott to find out more:

Could you tell us a bit about the project?

It’s a month-long charity event where we ask women to stop removing their underarm hair (or any other body hair they wish), get sponsorship from friends and family, and in the process raise awareness and money for Verity, the UK’s only national charity for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (for which a common symptom is hirsutism – excess body hair), and also challenge rigid beauty norms that demand women appear hairless.

What inspired the project?

I started trying to grow out my body hair a couple of years ago, mostly because as a feminist I think that becoming self-aware and mindful of our own actions, and working towards bodily autonomy is really important.

I found it really hard (I still do to an extent) and realised how much having PCOS added to that difficulty. I also became aware of the impact that different surroundings and situations had on how confident I felt with body hair. (I talk a bit more about this in the guest vlog I did for ThosePeskyDames).

We – myself and the rest of the Armpits4August team – decided we wanted to try and create a space where women could experiment with growing their body hair, discuss how they feel and think about why they feel compelled to remove their body hair, so that in the future they can make an active choice and own their decision either way.

What are the overall aims of the project?

To raise money for and awareness of PCOS, and in particular that hirsutism is a common symptom (and consequently that many women have more body hair than is usually assumed as ‘natural’). Also, to provoke discussion about women and body hair more broadly and provide some images of women with body hair – something that is very rarely seen.

Can you tell us a bit about the Armpits4August team? 

A few of us are on the same MA course, and other people have got involved either through personal connections (mostly from other feminist spaces) or, having heard about the campaign, asked to get more involved. We organise online and regular ‘real life’ meetings where we delegate tasks and responsibilities on an ad hoc basis. In the future I think we will work towards having more specific individual roles and better accountability.

Copyright: Hannah Daisy www.hannahdaisy.com

Do you have any plans for growth?

We definitely plan to grow and spread in 2013 (and indefinitely until the campaign is no longer needed!) but concrete plans will have to wait until after August. We’d love to capitalise on the amazing response we’ve had in our first year, and would especially love to hear feedback or ideas from outside the team as to how we could do things differently or improve. Please get in touch by emailing us at pitpride@live.co.uk

Tell us a bit about the PCOS charity

Verity is the only national UK charity supporting women with PCOS, and they have been very supportive of our campaign. Please see their website for more details.

How can people get involved?

By participating and growing out their pit hair or, equally importantly, telling us why they feel they can’t grow out their pit hair! We strongly encourage women to blog, vlog or post photos (positively or negatively), and to start their own conversations amongst friends, family or local feminist or women’s groups. At the end of August we are also encouraging people to throw their own pit parties to celebrate and discuss a month of being pit proud. More broadly, though, just keep spreading the word and talking about it!

Copyright: Hannah Daisy www.hannahdaisy.com

Some men have contacted us to say that they are going to support us by either shaving or dying their pit hair for a month in solidarity – we think this is great, but really we only request that men express respectful and uncomplicated solidarity with women seeking to take ownership of their own bodies.

What sort of feedback have you had?

Overwhelmingly positive in most cases! We expected a lot more negativity because of the stigma of body hair, and I think it has proved that there is a real value in doing things, like Armpits4August, that help keep these issues up for discussion. Sometimes the fear that is instilled in us about people's potentially negative reactions is worse than it actually turns out to be!

Why is the UK failing girls at risk of FGM?

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 02:30 AM PDT

Heather Kennedy
WVoN co-editor

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has been illegal in the UK for the past 30 years. But to date, not a single person has been charged with the crime.

Approximately 66,000 girls have been mutilated in the UK, and 24,000 girls in England and Wales could be at risk of FGM, say anti-FGM charity FORWARD.

Now, a group of school girls from Bristol have had enough of the UK's failure to keep girls safe.

In their short film, Silent Scream, they hope to bring the closeted practice of FGM into mainstream debate.

Chief Inspector Dave McCallum who features in the film talks tough about the laws surrounding FGM.

"Anyone involved in FGM, whether they do it themselves, whether they organise for it to happen or assist in it happening, commits a serious crime and is liable to 14 years in prison."

So why are we failing to protect thousands of girls on British shores?

Muna Hassan, one of the girls behind the film rejects the Government's softly-softly approach to FGM. Speaking on BBC Newsnight she said:

"The statistics show that MPs are terrified to do anything about FGM. They're hiding behind cultural stereotypes. What would you do if the girl had blonde hair and blue eyes? Would FGM still be going on in this country?"

FGM is part of a patriarchal tradition which uses violence to control female sexuality. Girls as young as two are told to lie down whilst all or some of their clitoris is cut away with a blade, scissors or a knife.

Victims are then sown up, leaving one tiny hole for blood and urine to pass through. They aren't unstitched until their wedding day.

Communities that still practice FGM believe it preserves a woman's cleanliness and banishes the social shame associated with female sexual pleasure.

However, girls who endure the mutilation are left with serious health problems, infertility and a lifetime of agonising and unhappy sex.

Could it be that politicians and authorities are shying away from a frank debate on FGM because they find the issue too grisly and embarrassing to face?

In June, Lambeth Council criticised Lambeth Women's Project of leaving "sexually explicit material" in view of children. The material in question was a police-sponsored poster warning children about the dangers of FGM (see WVoN story).

FGM has been shrugged off as a dark, arcane practice, rife with cultural sensitivities, operating outside the parameters of normal British society. This perception has allowed Governments, hospitals, schools and other services to duck their responsibility to girls at risk of FGM.

There can be little doubt that politicians and other agencies could be doing more to keep children safe.

Schools and hospitals have been given no guidelines on dealing with FGM, despite the fact that professionals working in them are in a good position to identify girls at risk.

"Somali women don't know the law in this country. They need information in hospitals when they're babies are born or when they're flying on holiday" says a woman speaking anonymously on Silent Scream.

Despite the clear need for clear information and guidance, David Cameron earlier this year decided to axe  the anti-FGM Coordination Office.

Force Change has launched a petition, demanding the Government do more to support victims and actively investigate and prosecute suspected cases of FGM.

For girls like Muna Hassan, born and educated in the UK, the time for British authorities to stop burying their heads in the sand is long overdue.

Louise Mensch quits as Tory MP to spend more time with family

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 01:00 AM PDT

Shanna McGoldrick
WVoN co-editor 

British conservation Member of Parliament (MP), Louise Mensch, has decided to step down from her post to spend more time with her children, it was revealed earlier this week.

In her letter of resignation to the prime minister, David Cameron, the MP for Corby and East Northamptonshire thanked him for his support but said she could not juggle the demands of her work with that of her family.

Mensch and her three children will now move to New York to join her husband, who is the manager of pop groups Metallica and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

Her resignation could cost the Tories the Corby and East Northamptonshire seat, which was held by Labour for 13 years before Mensch won by a narrow majority in 2010.

A by-election has been scheduled for November 15.

Mensch admitted that the decision had been tough, but refused to be drawn into a wider debate about the work-life balance of women in politics.

"Every family is different and another mother might feel she can manage things," she told The Guardian.

"I am completely devastated," she added. "It's been unbelievably difficult to manage family life.

"We have been trying to find a way forward with the Prime Minister's office but I just can't spend as much time with my children as I want to."

Cameron said he accepted Mensch's resignation with regret, but understood that the interests of her family must come first.