Saturday, August 25, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

First female Anzac soldier killed on duty

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 08:00 AM PDT

Ed Knight
WVoN co-editor 

The first female combat soldier from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp (Anzac) was killed while on duty in Afghanistan earlier this week.

Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker, 26, was travelling in her Humvee vehicle when it was struck by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), killing her and two other New Zealanders, Corporal Luke Tamatea, 31, and Private Richard Harris, 21.

The three were escorting a comrade to a local doctor.

This marks the first female Anzac soldier to be killed on duty. While many headlines have claimed the incident has reignited the debate about women serving in combat roles, the actual arguments have been thin on the ground.

Former army Major James Brown, now advisor at Australia’s Lowy Institute think tank, suggests that the debate as to women’s participation is now largely over, and people are mentally prepared for female casualties.

The news of Lance Corporal Baker’s death comes in the wake of a report detailing sexual misconduct towards women in the Australian Defence Force.

The report has attracted much publicity in Australia, along with a change in atmosphere as to women in the ADF speaking out about their experiences of abuse.

Eleven countries now permit women to serve in combat roles, including Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Israel, Serbia, Sweden and Switzerland.

Although not strictly permitting female combat soldiers, the US Army employs women in front-line support roles. The first such casualty in Afghanistan was First Lieutenant Ashley White, killed in October 2011, again by an IED.

Each female soldier’s death appears to be less of a flashpoint for the debates about women’s combat roles. Within the world’s militaries, however, abuse towards female staff is still rife, and addressing this will be a far longer process.

Female crash dummies still not in the driving seat

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 06:00 AM PDT

Jem McCarron
WVoN co-editor

When buying a car, safety is a key consideration.

So it’s not unreasonable to assume that safety scores promoted by car companies apply to everyone who might travel in the vehicle.

Well, it is if you’re a woman, apparently.

The US Government finally brought in the use of a female crash test dummy towards the end of 2010, but the subsequent test results have raised concerns about just how safe some cars are for women.

According to an article in the Washington Post, the 2011 Sienna suffered a drop from a five to two star rating on front passenger safety.

During a barrier collision at 35 mph the female dummy experienced a 20-40 per cent risk of serious injury or death. The previous average for that type of car was 15 per cent.

Requiring manufacturers to use a female dummy is a step in the right direction, and indeed some have been using it, along with a range of shapes and sizes, for many years.

But there are concerns about the size of the dummy which is just 4 foot, 11 inches and 108 pounds, a far cry from the average American women who is 5 feet 4 inches and 165 pounds.

Also, the female dummy is not tested in the driver’s seat. Whilst more male drivers die than female, they also drive 50 per cent more, meaning that the numbers of women killed and injured is disproportionately more than men.

Anna Carlsson of Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, stated in her recent thesis  that  "Since the mid-1960s, statistical data has shown that females have a higher risk of sustaining whiplash injuries than males…up to three times higher for the females."

Ms Carlsson has developed a female crash dummy to represent the average woman.

‘Evarid’ (Eva Rear Impact Dummy) is based on the male crash dummy ‘Biorid’ that was developed at the end of the 1990s and is used worldwide.

“I hope that my research will lead to improved whiplash protection for both women and men when they are hit from behind in a collision.” said Carlsson.

But history suggests she may face opposition to her efforts to improve safety for women in cars.

Bloomberg.com ran a piece this week looking at the history behind the use of crash dummies in car safety testing.

Shockingly they report that "Although marketers had begun to account for the tastes of women as potential consumers well before the 1960s, many automakers claimed that considering women's health in engineering was too radical. "

Whilst things have clearly moved on, it will be interesting to follow the progress of Carlsson’s prototype and how it is received by the automotive industry.

It urgently needs to take on board the safety of women passengers and drivers in their design, but it is unlikely that that will happen without proper and realistic test dummies in place.

On a related side note, whilst researching this article I was unable to ascertain whether or not female dummies are a required part of safety testing within Europe. Make of that what you will.

Concern over forced conversion to Islam of Hindu girls in India

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 03:00 AM PDT

Alice Rodgers
WVoN co-editor 

India has expressed "serious concern" over the alleged abduction, forced conversion to Islam and marriage of Hindu girls in Pakistan.

India made representations to Pakistan in early May, conveying its concern for the plight of religious minorities in Pakistan.

In response, Islamabad stated that the Pakistani Supreme Court had taken up the issue and that full protection was provided to minorities.

However on Thursday India's Minister of State for External Affairs, E. Ahmed, asked that the government, "look after the well-being of its minority communities".

Mr Ahmed added that it was the responsibility of the Pakistani government to discharge its obligations towards its citizens, including those from the minority community.

Concern was triggered when a 14 year-old girl was kidnapped from Pakistan’s Sindh province earlier this month.

The Union government also indicated that they may extend visas granted to Pakistani Hindu pilgrims in India.

It is thought that the Supreme Court will decide on extending the validity of visas for Hindus coming from Pakistan "on a case-to-case basis".

However recently a total of 242 Hindu pilgrims travelling to India were detained at the Wagah border in Pakistan, despite having valid visas.

They were allowed to enter only after seven hours of interrogation.

In Pakistan Dr Fazl, a member of the Pakistan National assembly and sister of the Pakistan president also expressed concern over the treatment of minority groups in the country earlier this year.

She has received support from several members of parliament who have also called for new legislative measures to be taken to end forced conversions.

Married women drink more

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 01:11 AM PDT

Jem McCarron
WVoN co-editor

New research has shown that married women drink more than single women, whilst married men drink less than their bachelor counterparts.

The study was presented by sociologist Corinne Reczek, an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati, at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association last weekend.

The study used survey data from 5,000 people and in-depth interviews with 120 of them.

Commentators on the study have suggested that the results may indicate that married couples adjust their drinking to be more in-line with their partners.

"It appears that amongst couples, males and females gravitate toward a mutual midpoint with respect to alcohol use," said Scott M. Bea, clinical psychologist and assistant professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic

Meaning that married women drink more than before whilst married men drink less, although overall, men still drink more than women.

The results are contrary to past studies that show married people drinking less than single people.

However others suggest that alcohol consumption could relate to stress levels.

Don R. Catherall, professor of clinical psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University said that "Long-term married women may have some additional stressors that [previously married] women do not and apparently derive less stress relief from their marital relationships than do men."

Divorced men were more likely to increase their drinking, whereas three-quarters of divorced women claimed to drink less following the dissolution of their marriage.

The study’s authors wrote that for women “the transition to divorce was discussed in relation to depression symptoms, which resulted in abstaining from both food and alcohol.”

The report noted that despite the increase in alcohol consumption exhibited by married women, it was in fact the men who were a cause for concern.

On average men drink more and are more likely to abuse alcohol. The fear is that husbands who fail to bring their drinking in line with their partners may find their relationship ending in divorce, resulting in more heavy drinking and the related health issues.