Women's Views on News |
- Sterilisation hell for Indian women
- Sports round-up: 4-10 February
- EU budget row over family planning aid
| Sterilisation hell for Indian women Posted: 11 Feb 2013 07:21 AM PST
The treatment of over 100 women at a sterilisation camp in the district of Malda, West Bengal, has caused an outcry from human rights and health activist groups. The women had gone to Manikchak hospital for ligation surgery, but were left in unsanitary conditions in a field to recover, many unconscious and in pain, when the hospital was ‘unable to provide sufficient aftercare’. Most of the women who came to the camp were reportedly from poor minority communities, and they had to endure hours of indignity and suffering. It’s an appalling story in which women were treated little better than cattle, and the details are wretched. Although the number of doctors involved in the sterilisation drive is disputed, apparently just two performed over 100 sterilisation procedures when guidelines state that a maximum of twenty five such procedures should be carried out per day. The two doctors operated from 10am until half past seven in the evening, and neither of them were specialist gynaecologists. Over 100 women were permitted to undergo the surgery when the hospital itself has only seventy beds, thirty-five of which are designated for male patients. Hospital helpers carried the women, many unconscious and in pain, into an adjacent field and left them there without medical supervision or after care. Some were sent home on crude rickshaws when there is supposed to be a mandatory safe observation period of at least three hours. Local health officials have acknowledged that the treatment of the women was unacceptable, and have promised an inquiry. Keya Dutta, a local district health campaigner, said, 'Patients expect minimum medical care from their doctors. But in this case that aspect is completely ignored. They [the women who underwent the programme] were treated in an inhumane manner [like animals] without [anyone] paying any attention towards their pain.' The narrative of how these women were treated is horrific but there is another serious issue attached to this story and it runs far deeper and says much about how Indian women are viewed and treated as citizens, particularly those from poor backgrounds. It concerns the sterilisation process itself. While it is a far easier and less risky procedure for a man to undergo sterilisation, it is still predominantly women who have the surgery. Depressingly predictable maybe, but the reasons for doing so in the first place are somewhat sinister. The population in India is somewhere in excess of one billion. In 1976, the Indian Government launched a programme of initiative for sterilisation, whereby couples were offered benefits such as loans, cars or land. As a result, thousands of people opted to undergo the procedure, but with the majority of couples, it was the woman who had the surgery. There have also been reports from health rights campaigners that women are being coerced into sterilisation to meet population reduction targets, and that health workers are placed under extreme duress to meet these targets. According to Human Rights Watch, as well as coercive female sterilisation practices, women are also not given consistent and comprehensive information on the risks involved or the alternative contraception choices available to them. In a report last year, Human Rights Watch said 'In much of the country, authorities aggressively pursue targets, especially for female sterilization, by threatening health workers with salary cuts or dismissals. ‘As a result, some health workers pressure women to undergo sterilization without providing sufficient information, either about possible complications, its irreversibility, or safer sex practices after the procedure.' While the Indian government has now adopted a 'target free' approach and has stopped setting centralised sterilisation targets, the reality is that individual states and districts continue to do so, often aggressively. The report went on to say, 'India's family planning program focuses predominantly on women, with little interaction and engagement with men. ‘At the same time, it is men who often decide when to have sex and how many children to produce. ‘For India to be successful in its renewed efforts at family planning, it should engage effectively with men too.' None of this is good news for India, particularly in light of the recent publication of the 'World Report 2013', also by Human Rights Watch. The report notes a serious decline in human rights protections with respect to, in particular, violence against women, with increased reports of sexual assaults and rape. More evidence, if any were needed, that women in India have a pitifully long way to go before they achieve anything like gender equality. As long as the Indian government continues to fail in protecting and promoting the human rights of their women, the media will continue to aim its hard glare their way. Tragic, isn't it, that it could be media attention, rather than a genuine concern for the welfare of millions of women in India, that instigates change.  |
| Sports round-up: 4-10 February Posted: 11 Feb 2013 03:00 AM PST
Athletics: At the European indoor trials in Sheffield, world indoor pole vault bronze medallist Holly Bleasdale continued her great start to the season by claiming a fourth successive victory with a vault of 4.77 metres. Asha Philip, whose career was almost ended by a serious knee injury after she won the world youth 100 metres title in 2007, showed won the 60 metres in a time of 7.15 seconds. This puts her third on the all-time UK list and equal fifth in this year's world rankings. Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis has opted to miss this year's indoor season, instead preferring to concentrate on winning at the World Championships this summer. Her outdoor season will commence at Meadowbank on June 8. Cricket: England face an uphill task if they are to make the final of the Women's World Cup. Results in the group stages meant that they had to win all three of their Super Six matches to ensure qualification for the final on 17 February. Their first game, against Australia, was a nail-biter. After dismissing Australia for 147, it seemed odds-on that England would win. However, after a terrible batting collapse, including a second golden duck in a row for Sarah Taylor and a poor lbw decision against captain Charlotte Edwards, they were all out two runs short of their target. The second game, on 10 February, was a completely different matter. With the prospect of net run rate deciding the finalists it was essential that England completed their win against South Africa as quickly as possible. This they did with a stunning performance with both bat and ball. Anya Shrubsole took 5 for 17 as South Africa were bowled out for 77 in 29.3 overs. England took only 9.3 overs in response to knock off this total and gave themselves a chance to make the final. Their last Super Six match, against New Zealand, takes place on Wednesday 13. Even a win may not be enough, and England must hope that other teams’results go their way if they are to progress. Australia have already qualified for the final with a convincing win against Sri Lanka of nine wickets. Rugby Union: Following England's record win against Scotland in the Six Nations last week, they were firm favourites to beat Ireland in Ashbourne, near Dublin on Saturday 9. However, the Irish didn't follow the script and thrashed them 25-0, England's first defeat in the competition since 2009. England play France in a fortnight's time, while Ireland go to Scotland. In this week's other fixtures France beat Wales 32-0 in Laon. The French had sunk to a shock defeat to Italy the previous week and so it was with great relief that they got back their winning ways. Italy carried on their good form, though, this time against Scotland in a muddy match played at Mayfield in Dundee on Sunday 10. Scotland largely dominated the game but eventually went down 8-0. Skiing: On Friday 8 Katie Summerhayes became the first British female skier to get a medal at a World Cup meeting in 19 years. The 17 year old from Sheffield took silver in slopestyle at the event in Switzerland. This was Summerhayes' first event after a six month lay-off through injury. “To finish second in my first event back is just amazing," she said. Slopestyle will make its first appearance at an Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014. After Lindsey Vonn's high-profile crash last week, 30 year-old British skier Chemmy Alcott has also had to pull out of the World Championship due to a crash in training. Alcott suffered a high-speed crash in Schladming, Austria, which has caused "excessive stress" to a plated fracture in her leg. The leg was fractured two years ago, threatening to end her career, so this is a serious setback. Alcott remains positive though, posting on Facebook: "This is by no means the end. I have shown my strength before. The timing blows but better now than in a year!". She is referring to the Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014, which must now be her goal for a return. Speed Skating: After taking the 1000m short-track title last week, Scotland's Elise Christie has struck gold again in Dresden, this time winning the 1500m short-track title. The 22 year-old finished ahead of Kim Min-Jung from South Korea and the Canadian Marie-Eve Drolet. Dresden is the last World Cup meeting this season, but the World Championships are still to take place in Debrecen, in Hungary, at the beginning of March. Swimming: Rebecca Adlington announced her retirement this week at the age of 23. Adlington won two gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in the 400m and 800m. In doing so she became the first British woman to win a swimming gold medal for 48 years. She also won two bronze medals at London 2012. "I have she said achieved everything I wanted to,” she said. Tennis: Great Britain's Federation Cup team secured a World Group II play-off last weekend after winning their Euro/Africa Group I tie in Eilat, Israel. The team, comprising Heather Watson, Laura Robson, Johanna Konta and Anne Kothavong, won four matches in a row to go through. The team dispatched Bosnia-Hercegovina 3-0 on Thursday 7, with wins for Keothavong and Watson in the singles and Robson and Konta in the doubles. Next up came Portugal. Laura Robson beat Margarida Moura 6-2 6-1, but Heather Watson lost her rubber 6-1 6-4 to Michelle Larcher de Brito. All depended on the doubles, which the pairing of Watson and Robson won easily 6-2 6-1 to take the tie. Their third match came against an unbeaten Hungary. Big guns Robson and Watson were victorious in the singles again which meant the tie was dead when Robson and Konta came to play their doubles rubber. They lost this 6-3 6-2, but a 2-1 result was good enough. The play-off was finally secured by a win over Bulgaria on Sunday 10, with another win for Laura Robson against Dia Evtimova 6-0 6-4 and for Heather Watson against Tsvetana Pironkova 1-6 6-4 6-2. The GB team finds out who they will face on Wednesday 10, and the tie will take place on April 20-21.  |
| EU budget row over family planning aid Posted: 11 Feb 2013 01:18 AM PST
The 7-8 February EU budget summit this year saw the European Union's budget cut for the first time in its 56-year history. During the controversy over which areas of the budget to cut, Conservative MEPs have specifically been pushing for cuts in the EU’s financial contributions toward family planning services in developing nations. The Guardian reported that "the relatively small sum for sexual and reproductive health fuels an outsized debate over how European money is spent". Although aid accounts for only 5.47 per cent of EU spending – or €0.32 per person per week – it is facing a cut of 12 per cent, whereas other much larger areas of the budget are facing a cut of only 5 per cent. While the fiscal crisis may mean that allocating EU funds to foreign beneficiaries is a particularly sensitive issue, it appears that the controversy has its roots in a much more polarising debate – abortion access. Those who object to EU money being spent on family planning advice in the developing world do so on grounds that the money will go towards funding abortion. Anti-abortion campaigners in Italy have been collecting signatures for a European Citizens’ Initiative to ban the use of EU money for abortion at home or abroad. And closer to home, British Conservative MEP Nirj Deva, vice-chairman of the European Parliament's development committee, said: "I will not allow, and tolerate, the idea that you can improve development parameters by killing children to keep the population under control." However, Britain's Department for International Development did declare in 2009 that it supports access to safe abortion for women worldwide. Portuguese MEP Ana Gomes has vowed to fight any cuts to reproductive health funding. With 800 women dying worldwide every day from maternal complications, including the consequences of unsafe abortion, reproductive health initiatives in developing countries are crucial. One of the UN Family Planning Association's goals is to reduce maternal mortality by 75 per cent by ensuring contraceptive access for all women and proper obstetric care. Yet with the EU funding that goes towards family planning services already cut from €234 million in 2007 to €150 million in 2012, further cuts are likely to see this goal missed. Something opponents fail to acknowledge is that preventing access to legal abortion does nothing to decrease the amount of abortions taking place – it simply means women will seek unsafe abortions from unregulated providers. The Guttmacher Institute reports that: "Virtually all … unsafe abortions take place in the developing world, where the unmet need for contraception remains high and very restrictive abortion laws often are the norm." The USA is no stranger to this issue, having witnessed the back-and-forth of the 'Global Gag rule'. This piece of legislation effectively forbids US funding reproductive health organisations in the Third World if they have any involvement in abortion provision. Introduced in 1984 by the Reagan government, the rule has been repealed every time a Democrat government has taken office, and reinstated every time the Republicans have won an election. Director General of Planned Parenthood Dr Gill Greer said that "The gag has done immense harm … it has undermined health systems and endangered the lives and health of some of the most vulnerable women on the planet". One of Barack Obama's first actions after taking office in 2008 was to repeal it. So why are some EU politicians trying to push for a clearly harmful policy – and endanger the lives and health of some of the most vulnerable women on the planet?  |
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