Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Polish consuls dismissed amid allegations of human trafficking

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 04:30 AM PDT

Suzannah von Strandmann
WVoN co-editor

A spokesman for Poland’s foreign ministry has apologised for the “shameful behaviour of several consuls”, after it emerged they had been involved with issuing women with visas so that they could be trafficked for sexual exploitation in Germany.

The Polish consulate, located in the Ukrainian city of Lutsk, came under investigation from Polish-Ukrainian law enforcement agencies at the end of 2011, when information emerged about a criminal cell trafficking women out of the Ukraine.

The investigation discovered that the women were being issued with Schengen visas for which they would otherwise have been ineligible, to aid their transportation across Europe.

As a result all employees of the Polish consultate in Lutsk, together with the consul-general, have been dismissed.

Ostensibly the Polish government appears committed to tackling the problem of human trafficking; a revision to the counter-trafficking laws was implemented in 2010, designed to ease application, understanding and coverage.

In addition, foundation level training for border guard officers and a more specialised intensive programme for the national police force continues to be implemented nationwide.

Nonetheless, this is not the first time that Polish law enforcement officials have been accused of involvement in human trafficking.

In 2001 six border guards were accused of trafficking 600 female migrants to Germany, and in 2006 Austrian authorities investigated two Polish policemen suspected of trafficking 440 women to Austria.

Despite numerous claims of corruption against border control officials and police officers, the Polish government has not reported any conviction against a public official for human trafficking-related offences to date.

Support “Clarity” and her Crowdfunder initiative

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 02:30 AM PDT

Wendy Hanks
Musician, teacher and mum 

From my experience as a primary school teacher, singer and mother, I’m aware that pop stars have a huge reach when it comes to kids.

Trouble is that much of the music, lyrics and accompanying music videos clips accessible by school aged children are highly sexualised,  causing our children to have a skewed view of the world.

Having become a teenage mum myself 11 years ago, I’ve found it almost impossible to protect my daughter from the sexualised culture in which she (and I) have to live.

So I decided to do something about it by recording an album that is suitable for children in the 6 to 12 age group.

But I needed a persona to go with it. And, hey, Project Clarity was born!

Representing a performer stuck between girlhood and womanhood, Clarity is fun, but not a bimbo.  She's smart, but not a geek.  She's a tomboy, with a streak of femininity.  She breaks the mould.

She is ready to fill the gap with her songs catering to primary school aged children, delivering healthy messages for kids and steering away from the sexualised content of most of our pop culture.

Clarity's debut album is suitably titled "The Gap".

It contains 15 original songs, ranging from topics such as friends, bullying, family, the environment, the internet and more.

The songs have a deliberate hiphop/pop sound, to appeal to the target age group.  Parents of primary school aged children will find this approach refreshing and appropriate.

But Clarity also needs money – $15,000 to be precise in order to professionally record, produce and master my album in the studio.

The crowdfunding initiative only has four days left to reach its target.

Please help me record my first album in Perth, to get me on the road to reach Australian children and spread the positivity.

Please donate $10 at www.pozible.com/clarity.  It is an "all or nothing" campaign.  In return, local Perth supporters will receive free concert tickets and interstate supporters will receive a signed Clarity poster.

You can have a listen to Clarity’s rough demo tracks ('rough' meaning 'low budget with time constraints') at www.reverbnation.com/clarityoz.

And here’s a link to her video.

Plans to open branches of India’s Barefoot College in Africa

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 12:30 AM PDT

Laura Bridgestock
WVoN co-editor

According to All Africa, there are plans to open branches of Barefoot College, an India-based training initiative, in some African countries.

Since 1972, the non-government organisation has been working with people in rural communities, with the aim of helping them become more self-sufficient and able to drive their own development.

While the organisation provides training for both men and women, it has acknowledged the especial benefits of empowering women, socially, financially and politically.

Founder Sanjit ‘Bunker’ Roy recently said: “Empowering women… means a lot to villages… because such women never abandon their homes to shift to urban. We train women because they are committed compared to men.”

Now it seems more women, and their communities, will be able to benefit, if plans to open branch campuses in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Ethiopia and Tanzania go ahead.

Roy says that if these countries respond positively and demonstrate commitment to the scheme, up to $US 500,000 will be available from the Indian government to establish each new campus.

The existing Indian campus, based in the village of Tilonia, in India’s Rajasthan province, already receives trainees from rural communities worldwide.

For example, one intake of 40 women from communities in Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands are currently spending six months at the Tilonia campus training as solar engineers.

Once they graduate with their diplomas, they’ll head back home, ready to pass on their new expertise.

Other ‘Barefoot Professionals’ are trained as health workers, teachers, architects, masons, mechanics, computer programmers, accountants, water drillers and testers – filling all the vital roles the community needs to flourish.

The organisation sums up its ethos: “The Barefoot College demystifies and decentralises sophisticated technology by handing its control to poor communities in rural India. It believes that even the poorest of poor cannot be denied the right to use, manage and own technology to improve their own lives.”

If all goes well with the plans for new campuses in Africa, soon even more communities will be be able to do so.