Women's Views on News |
- England footballers agree pay deal with FA
- Police face ‘unprecedented’ sexual abuse charges
- Cooke reveals sexism in cycling
- Having children benefits working fathers
England footballers agree pay deal with FA Posted: 23 Jan 2013 05:00 AM PST
The deal ends a two-month pay dispute with the Football Association (FA). When the contracts of the squad's top 17 players expired in November 2012, the FA offered them a pay increase of £2000 a year, to £18,000. However, acting on the advice of their union, the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), they turned down the offer. PFA chief Gordon Taylor called the offer "embarrassing", as "top Premier League players are earning more in a day." As a result of the conflict, the players went unpaid in December. Following negotiations between the FA and PFA, a deal was reached early last week giving the players an increase of £4000. The new contract also increases the amount of time players can work in part-time jobs from 18 to 24 hours per week. England defender Sophie Bradley told the BBC that earning more money would allow the players to focus on training without being distracted by work. “The women don’t get paid even half as much, even a quarter as much as the men’s team,” she added. “We are expected to have a part-time job and even though I live at home, for others with a mortgage, the cost of living is expensive. Although women's football in the UK is much less popular than the men's game, the sport's profile has increased in recent months, with the Team GB squad's run to the Olympic quarter final and the decision by the BBC to broadcast England's matches during the women's European Championships next July. |
Police face ‘unprecedented’ sexual abuse charges Posted: 23 Jan 2013 01:00 AM PST
Part of a controversial case involving undercover police officers sleeping with female activists is to be heard in secret in a ruling branded: "a disgraceful betrayal by the British Justice system," by Green MP Caroline Lucas. It means the women would have fewer legal rights than if it were heard in the high court; they would, for instance, have no automatic right to an oral hearing, or to see the evidence put forward by the police. Eight women claim they were duped into having sexual and emotional relationships of up to six years with men who infiltrated political campaigns as part of their work for the National Public Order Intelligence Unit. One man is also making a claim after a police officer who befriended him then slept with his girlfriend. According to the Guardian, ‘the cases go back to the 1980s, and one, which is being treated as a separate legal action, involves a woman who had a child with an undercover police officer’. ‘In all cases, the spies were instructed to vanish from the lives of the activists once their deployments had ended.’ Their lawyers have argued that all the evidence should be heard in public. High court judge Mr Justice Tugendhat has acknowledged that the allegations made by the women were “very serious“. And he said that the case appeared to be unprecedented: “No action against the police alleging sexual abuse of the kind in question in these actions has been brought before the courts in the past, so far as I have been made aware.” But he ruled that some parts of the case should be heard behind closed doors by a tribunal which usually hears cases involving MI5 – and cited James Bond as influencing his decision. Other claims for damages under common law, including torts of misfeasance in public office, deceit, assault and negligence, should be heard by the high court, he said. Lucas, who has previously called for greater transparency and a public inquiry into the allegations, said: "The decision to allow the Met to hold this case behind closed doors, far removed from public scrutiny, is a disgraceful betrayal by the British justice system. "Having been duped into long term and intimate relationships by undercover police for the purposes of spying – one of the most appalling invasions of privacy imaginable – it is outrageous that these women and man are now being denied proper justice. "The secret Investigatory Powers Tribunal [IPT] is no place for a case like this – the police have a clear responsibility to answer the charges under the Human Rights Act and address public concerns over this state-sanctioned intrusion into people’s lives." Lucas, the MP for Brighton and former leader of the Green Party, is also calling on the government to introduce statutory guidance preventing undercover officers from entering into sexual relationships. During his ruling Tugenhadt appeared to base some of his rationale on James Bond’s behaviour. The Guardian reports him as saying that Bond gives credence to the view that the intelligence and police services had for years let spies form "personal relationships of an intimate sexual nature" for intelligence purposes. Jonathan Freedland lambasted the judge for making the link in a forthright comment piece – also in The Guardian – saying: “But that the judge thought to mention Bond is perhaps revealing. “For even those who would defend Ian Fleming’s character from charges of misogyny would concede that he often regards women as disposable. “And that is the crux of this case, brought by a group of women who believe that their innermost lives were regarded as so valueless they could be used by covert police as mere props, devices to shore up agents’ cover stories.” The Guardian also notes how the authorities’ views on whether police officers should be allowed to sleep with people they are investigating have shifted from being not allowed under any circumstances to being ‘almost inevitable’. The Police Spies Out of Life website set up to support the claimants gives the claimants’ lawyer Harriet Wistrich’s reaction to the ruling. "We brought this case because we want to see an end to sexual and psychological abuse of campaigners for social justice and others by undercover police officers. “We are outraged that the high court has allowed the police to use the IPT to preserve the secrecy of their abusive and manipulative operations in order to prevent public scrutiny and challenge. “In comparison, the privacy of citizens spied on by secret police is being given no such protection, which is contrary to the principles we would expect in a democratic society. “It is unacceptable that state agents can cultivate intimate and long lasting relationships with political activists in order to gain so called intelligence on political movements. “We intend to continue this fight." The five officers named in the case were all involved in infiltrating environmental and social justice campaigns groups during the past 30 years. The complete judgement can be read here. |
Cooke reveals sexism in cycling Posted: 23 Jan 2013 01:00 AM PST
In a week that has seen cycling take a body blow from a man who had once been its figurehead, a leading light in the women’s cycling arena announced her retirement this week with much less fanfare from the malestream media. Casting a light on the insidious sexism in cycling, Nicole Cooke’s retirement speech was tinged with regret for a sport that has not paid her – either financially or emotionally – her dues. Even from her earliest days in cycling, she challenged inequality in the sport. When a BBC journalist asked the 12 year-old Cooke what she’d like to achieve in cycling, she answered: “I want to win the Tour de France and win the Olympic Road Race.” Both of which she did, but not without a fight. “At the age of 12 one is unaware of the problems ahead. One expects there to be an infrastructure for both boys and girls to develop and demonstrate their talents; to nurture them. “One does not expect that nothing is available if you are a girl or that worse still, girls will be specifically excluded, not allowed to compete. It is somewhat of a handicap trying to demonstrate just how good you are on a bike when you are not allowed to ride.” “Somewhat of a handicap,” may be a comic understatement, but the resolute determination of Cooke and her family was not deterred by the non-existence of a British Championship event for girls. Despite being expressly forbidden from starting on the scratch mark with all the other handicappers for the women’s event, she started at the rear with the British Women’s Champion, Helen McGregor, and crossed the line first – at 14 years old! The next year, following letters from her father to the then British Cycling Federation, a girls event was established. In like manner, when there was no British Championship Youth Road Race for Cooke to enter, her father trawled through the bylaws and discovered that she could compete in the senior equivalent event on a technicality – that technicality was all she needed, she won the race. The changes that occurred in British girls cycling were a direct consequence of Nicole Cooke and her refusal to accept the status quo. She humbly reflected on this achievement in her retirement speech. “There is [now] an infrastructure that supports [girls] and nurtures their talent. I am just as proud of my part in bringing about those permanent changes as I am of being the first ever British winner of the Olympic Road Race or a major tour.” Nonetheless, while she may have changed the face of the youth event, sexism in the adult event was more deeply entrenched. Doping, now synonymous with cycling, has been the downfall of many of the male legends in the sport and each time a scandal breaks, she explains, more sponsors pull their financial support. The effects of these financial losses, however, are more keenly felt on the women’s side where budgets are already stretched. Unsurprisingly, then, Cooke is hard on drugs cheats. “I have been robbed by drug cheats, but I am fortunate, I am here before you with more in my basket than the 12 year old dreamed of. “But for many genuine people out there who do ride clean; people with morals, many of these people have had to leave the sport with nothing after a lifetime of hard work – some going through horrific financial turmoil.” While the cycling governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), has been busy defending the “indefensible” Lance Armstrong, they have allowed the women’s road cycling to crumble, Cooke reveals. Many of the major events are currently without planned routes, let alone sponsorship to offer commensurate prize money. This, however, is not a new feature to women’s cycling. During her 11 years of professional cycling, Cooke took four teams to court just to get wages that were owed to her. How is this possible? Because as recently as October, the UCI Road Commission has stated that the minimum wage requirements for riders only applies to all male riders . Women are persona non grata. “Are these girls that race for a living an underclass? They are somehow a sub-race not worthy of the most basic protection we afford the rest of our citizens in whatever employment they find themselves.” As Jane Martinson wrote in The Women’s Blog, ‘”her medal-winning days may be over, but Cooke deserves another one for turning the spotlight on the injustice and inequality in a way that should make a difference to us all”. And while it most definitely should, I can’t help comparing the media flurry surrounding Lance Armstrong’s confessional interview to Nicole Cooke’s retirement speech and seeing it as emblematic of everything that she has tried to raise awareness about. You can read Nicole Cooke’s full retirement speech here. |
Having children benefits working fathers Posted: 23 Jan 2013 01:00 AM PST
It seems procreating puts men even further ahead of the game when it comes to quality of life, and boosts their bank balance. While women still have to contend with the penalties of motherhood, in terms of diminishing pay and career prospects, men apparently enjoy an improved quality of life and a boost to their income when they have children. According to the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank (IPPR), what they call the 'fatherhood bonus' means fathers can expect to earn 19 per cent more than their childless colleagues by the time they hit 40. Working mothers, however, will earn 11 per cent less than women who don't have children when they reach the same age, and 26 per cent less than fathers of the same age. The report, due out next month, will suggest a number of reasons for an increase in men’s income; one being the patriarchal view of a man's being the main breadwinner, meaning men are more eager to push for promotion or take a higher paid job when they start a family. It also suggests that fatherhood is valued and rewarded by some employers because of the perceived loyalty it brings. This stands in stark contrast to attitudes towards working mothers who can be perceived as being less reliable once they have a family. It seems men's careers benefit from fatherhood no matter what age they have children, but inequalities in the workplace mean women will only be less worse off if they delay motherhood. Dalia Ben-Galim, associate director at IPPR, said: "Women have made lots of progress. “Female employment soared in the 1980s, since the mid-1990s girls have been outperforming boys at school at university and in the last decade the gender pay gap between men and women in their twenties has almost disappeared. "But discussions about gender and pay are often divorced from the wider structural context that drives female disadvantage in work and wages, which is closely associated with their primary responsibility for care, particularly childcare." "We were surprised to find a 'fatherhood pay bonus'. If the gender pay gap between men and women in their 20s has 'almost disappeared', this does suggest the role women assume in childcare remains one of the biggest barriers to equality in the workplace. In a Telegraph article, Hilary French, president of the girls' schools association, warned that a generation of girls is still being brought up to believe raising children is their fundamental role in society. "We are still creating a generation of girls who think that the whole idea of looking after children is really the most important thing, once you have a child,” she said. "We do still expect women to be at the core of the relationship, the homemaker, the person who brings up children and thinks about what everyone’s going to eat every day. “It’s still, I think, unusual to find a man doing that.” The high cost of childcare in the UK has been widely cited as one of the biggest barriers to female employment; WVoN recently reported from the Resolution Foundation's debate on the subject. It seems obvious, but the countries with high-quality affordable childcare and parental leave policies that promote gender equality, such as Iceland, Sweden and Denmark, have the highest maternal employment rates. Another report suggests that as well as being better for fathers' wallets, fatherhood makes a man happier and more satisfied with his life, compared to his childless peers. A paper published in Psychological Science – In Defence of Parenthood: Children Are Associated With More Joy Than Misery – looked at three studies to see if being a parent has any advantages. It seems that for men, it does. Mothers, however, were reported to be no better or worse off than their childless contemporaries. The findings come with their own heath warning, and the conclusion – that 'child care may actually be linked to feelings of happiness and meaning in life’ – is not necessarily groundbreaking. In contrast to the findings by the IPPR however, a survey by recruitment consultancy Office Angels suggests that more than half of Britain's working fathers would like to work part-time and spend more time with their families. However, seven out of ten fathers who do work full time believe there is a stigma attached to such an idea. Sarah Jackson, chief executive of Working Parents, a charity that lobbies for a better work-life balance, said: “As the survey shows, men are very aware of the stigma attached. “Men are not stupid, they look at what happens to women in the workplace when they have children and why would they want that to happen to their career?” |
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