Women's Views on News |
- Mixed reaction to UN report on sex work
- Women’s football set to be the “next big thing”
- Obama and Romney go head to head for women’s vote
| Mixed reaction to UN report on sex work Posted: 31 Oct 2012 08:30 AM PDT
A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report “Sex work in Asia and the Pacific” issued in Bangkok this month argues that governments in Asia and the Pacific should decriminalize prostitution to curtail the spread of HIV and AIDS. The report explains that if governments rescind laws criminalizing prostitution, sex workers will have more access to HIV prevention and treatment programmes. Author and human rights lawyer John Godwin says in the report, “There is no evidence from countries of Asia and the Pacific that criminalization of sex work has prevented HIV epidemics among sex workers and their clients.” Representative Luz Ilagan, of the Gabriela Women's Party, is also in favour of decriminalization of prostitution, and has co-authored House Bill 4934 to repeal Articles 202 and 341 of the Penal Code, laws that criminalize sex work. Speaking in response to the report, Ilagan said in a statement, "The legalization of prostitution will not in anyway ensure the protection of women, children, and men forced to engage in the flesh trade. "Prostitution is a highly organized exploitative system," she said. "Legalization would only give pimps, owners of prostitution dens, and their customers the leverage to further exploit women as well as children and minors." The UNDP report has raised concerns centring on promoting public health and removing the social stigma attached to sex workers. It argues that criminalizing sex work leaves workers and their clients at risk for contracting HIV because laws limit access to health screenings, information and condom distribution. Laws criminalizing sex work also help maintain sex workers in an underclass that stigmatizes them due to the moral standpoint behind such laws. Within the report, Godwin cites the state of New South Wales in Australia and New Zealand as success stories in reducing HIV transmission with the sex trade due to decriminalization. Decriminalization differs from legalization in important ways. Under decriminalization sex workers are subject to regular employment law and their work is not treated as different from other forms of employment. Conversely, governments that legalise prostitution regulate the industry within a separate legal structure designed especially for sex work. In a 2007 New Zealand Ministry of Justice report entitled "International Approaches to Decriminalising or Legalising Prostitution," Dr Elaine Mossman of the Crime and Justice Research Centre at Victoria University of Wellington, explained that legalizing sex work can create significant problems if the regulations are too stringent. She explains that a "two-tier" system of legal and illegal sex work can emerge if a government creates too many regulations. With decriminalisation, sex workers regulate themselves under existing labour laws. "Decriminalisation also aims to remove the social exclusion which makes sex workers vulnerable to exploitation and difficult for them to move out of the industry." Godwin's UNDP report supports decriminalization as the preferred strategy. He says, "We currently have a decriminalised sex industry in [New South Wales] that has proven to be very successful in terms of both HIV prevention and ensuring a safe and healthy work place for sex workers." However, Gabriela, the National Alliance of Women in the Philippines, objects to both legalizing and decriminalising prostitution because it believes women are exploited within the sex industry. Gabriela deputy secretary general Gert Ranjo-Libang said, “Prostitution can never by any means become a profession for women [as it violates] their rights." "This UN report is widening the door for women’s rights violation.” Libang also points out: “Even factory workers in the Philippines are deprived of their rights under the Labour code. “They remain underpaid, working in very bad conditions, without access to health care, and prevented in forming unions,” she said. Libang cites poverty as a major reason women go into sex work. “It is the poor women who are pushed into prostitution," she said. "Mass education is the one way of preventing the spread of preventable diseases including sexually transmitted illnesses such as [AIDS].” Ilagan believes however that her proposed repeal of the Penal Code will eradicate the inequality in the law and better protect women. She said, “Prostituted women are treated as criminals rather than victims of poverty and gender inequality." "Our laws do not penalize pimps, bar owners and operators or those who pay to use and abuse these women." House Bill 4934 is pending with the House committee on revision of laws.  |
| Women’s football set to be the “next big thing” Posted: 31 Oct 2012 02:30 AM PDT
The English FA has set out its commitment to the development of women's football by publishing its five year plan – "Game Changer". I have been an enthusiastic advocate for women's football for some time, but I have to confess that it wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that I went to see my first live match: Birmingham City Ladies versus Arsenal Ladies. The game took place at Birmingham's home ground; no, not St Andrews, but Stratford Town FC, and broadcaster ESPN was filming its highlights show from there. And Jacqui Oatley, one of the first journalists to make the breakthrough into commentating on football on Five Live, was present to anchor the programme. Tickets were £6.50. For that we got to see the likes of Steph Houghton, Kelly Smith, Karen Carney and Eniola Aluko. A grand total of just over 700 saw a great game between the top two in the Women's Premier League. Arsenal had already won the championship, but Birmingham needed one point to secure a Champions' League spot. Great atmosphere, great skill and great commitment, but no diving, no rolling round on the floor as if shot and no ugly attitudes. The game finished 1-1, by the way. So here we are again. The FA has just announced a new plan for the future of English women's football. Without trying to be sceptical, somehow I feel we've been here before. And yet, I still think we have to be positive – this time the will just might be there and it might just work. The FA's aim is to make women’s football the second most played sport in the country. Currently 253,600 women play football every week. "We have to keep pace with the top female footballing nations both on and off the pitch," said FA general secretary Alex Horne. The FA is set to pump an extra £3.5 million into women's football over the next five years. There is certainly some work to do. In an interview with the BBC, England coach Hope Powell admits, “We have to remember that while we are doing things, the likes of Germany and France are doing things too, and at the moment they are ahead of us, it’s no lie. Germany have a complete structure in place that is sound and concrete but that has taken them 20 years. This gives us some direction but we are catching up.” The FA’s proposals include:
There's no doubt it's a drop in the ocean compared to the investment in men's football. The Premier League receives £3bn from television revenue alone, but it is a start, and for the first time I really get the feeling that the powers that be are serious. The campaign was certainly given a boost the day after the launch when it was announced that Hope Powell has been shortlisted for FIFA's Women's Coach of the Year award. Check out the "Game Changer" document. It's an interesting read, but don't be fooled into thinking that changing the prevailing attitude will be easy. Selling women's football to the masses will be a massive task. After reading the BBC's article on the launch, I scanned some of the comments sent in by the great British public in response. While some were constructive and positive, the majority were at best sexist and at worst downright offensive, and these were the ones that had been moderated. One of the main comments was that it will never be like the men's game. This is undeniably true. But do we want it to be? The women's game is something different. It should be marketed as a totally different experience. I know a lot of the women who visit this website think they loathe football. But can I put a plea in to you to reconsider? You may hate the men's game, but try backing the women's. It's a quality product that deserves more support.  |
| Obama and Romney go head to head for women’s vote Posted: 31 Oct 2012 02:00 AM PDT
Obama previously led the Associated Press and GFK poll (AP-GfK) by 16 points. The two candidates are now at 47 points each with the same poll showing Romney set to win the election outright (47-45). The news comes as critics attack the Republican Party for its continued controversial comments on rape. Senate candidate Richard Mourdock exacerbated the situation when he said last week ”even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.” Obama's team have tried desperately to capitalise on such inflammatory statements when courting the women’s vote. The Democratic Party know the power of the women’s vote more than anyone else; after all women voted overwhelmingly for Obama in 2008 and contributed to his successful bid for the White House. The Obama/Biden campaign beat John McCain by a mere one per cent in the men's vote; whereas women were decisive in voting for Obama 13 per cent more than they voted for McCain. It is no surprise then that Obama's team have recently stepped up their efforts to convince American women to vote Democrat. The President received the endorsement of high-profile actors Scarlett Johannson, Eva Longoria and Kerry Washington in a video funded by MoveOn.org. Girls creator Lena Dunham also recorded her support for the Democratic Candidate on video, citing health care reforms, birth control and the President's support of gay marriage among her reasons. The tongue in cheek advert compared voting for the first time to losing your virginity, a move that outraged more conservative Americans. Obama representatives even used the President's Twitter account to attack Republican policies this week, tweeting: "FACT: Rep. Steve King, who Romney called a ‘partner in Washington,’ said he's never heard of anyone getting pregnant from statutory rape." And "FACT: Romney would take away a woman's right to choose and even said he'd be ‘delighted’ to sign a bill banning all abortions." Obama definitely has the more progressive stance on women's rights. Romney plans to cut funding to Planned Parenthood and wants to over-turn Roe vs Wade, the 1973 court ruling that gave US women a constitutional right to abortion. Romney also supports the Blunt amendment which allows employers to refuse health insurance, and therefore contraception, because of their moral convictions. He refused to state his position on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, leaving women unsure on his position on equal pay for women in the workplace. Of course, it is not only so-called 'women's issues' that decide the way the female electorate will vote, and Obama could be misplaced in thinking so. Romney's team have focused on economic arguments in their bid to win over the female demographic. "There are three-and-a-half million more women living in poverty today than when the president took office" Romney argued during the second presidential debate. In the heated town hall debate Romney claimed that over the last four years “women have lost 580,000 jobs.” CNN fact-checked this claim and discovered that although he was mistaken, the real statistic–283,000 net job loss for women–is still a significant number. The Republican candidate also took a more moderate stance on foreign policy in the final debate, according to some this was to appeal to women voters. One study showed that of the 2.6 million jobs created since the recession ended, 80% have gone to men. So if women vote with their wallets the President's campaign could be in trouble . Pollster Celinda Lake, a Democrat, believes that Romney's tactics could have worked. She told USA Today, “women went into the debate actively disliking Romney, and they came out thinking he might understand their lives and might be able to get something done for them.” A Gallup poll from 17 October seems to suggest that American women do in fact have 'gender specific priorities' that overwhelmingly dictate their vote. When asked what they believed was the most important issue for women 19 per cent said jobs, 18 per cent said healthcare, but a much larger 39 per cent said abortion was the most significant issue effecting female voters. Of course, polls are often inaccurate in their predictions. Among registered female voters, the Gallup poll shows a nine point lead for Obama. Obama's team are confident they will women the women's vote and the election too. His top political adviser, David Axelrod, said ”We feel strongly that we have the winning hand.” Ultimately, the women of America will decide who to vote for on November 6. If 2008 is anything to go by, women also have a good chance of deciding who the next President of the United States will be.  |
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