Women's Views on News |
| We need human rights not mere privilege Posted: 04 Feb 2013 05:36 AM PST
Guest post by Mairi Christine Oliver. When it comes to human rights, much of Britain's media coverage has been so manipulated that there is little room left for truth. Riding on waves of popular gripes, the Conservatives keep promising us our very own 'modern British Bill of Rights'. But beware the poisoned chalice. This is a carefully veiled attempt to roll back state accountability for human rights and undermine some major advances for women. A draft Bill, or outline of what it would entail, has yet to be produced and the recent Commission Report on a British Bill of Rights got us no closer to a clear picture. A confused and disjointed document, the report failed to provide an outright endorsement for such a bill or a road map for future developments. Having originally convened the commission, and shelled out £700,000 in taxpayer money for it, the Conservatives have unsurprisingly decided to dismiss its conclusions. Instead they have reiterated promises of a bill that untangles Britain from the European Convention on Human Rights – which they invariably, and incorrectly, conflate with the European Union (EU). Offers to replace our Human Rights Act (HRA) pander to Europhobia while obscuring the realities of the Conservatives’ alternative. Their 'British Bill of Rights' would protect British Citizens first, creating ‘privileges’ rather than ‘rights’ so the state can strip them away as it pleases. The premise and power of Human Rights, however, is that they are neither 'earned' nor 'deserved'; they are vested in individuals solely for being human. The greatest strength of the HRA, the aspect most demonised by the Conservatives, is that it protects us all. But the Conservative narrative places a collective 'ideal' above individual rights. In the words of Chris Grayling, Secretary of State for Justice, rights should not extend to those "operating outside the norms that apply to most people in our society". There was a time when the norms of the majority criminalised homosexuality, denied marital rape and allowed parents to beat their children. Mainstream norms hide all kinds of injustices. Nevertheless the Conservatives, and a vocal portion of our media, have painted human rights as the preserve of lawyers and criminals, the favourite being Abu Qatada. A critical eye easily flags up the nonsense in these assertions however. They are little more than politically motivated omissions or distortions of facts. The Daily Mail, for example, decried the case of CN v. UK as a grievous attack on our national sovereignty and a perversion of justice. The reality was that the Ugandan claimant, Ms C.N, successfully proved that between 2004 and 2010 the UK failed to provide adequate legal protection against domestic servitude. Legislation has since filled this gap, but CN's case is still important in bolstering the complaints of domestic slaves habitually ignored by authorities because their abuse doesn't fit a cookie-cutter mould of trafficking. To their great frustration, cases like this ensure that the government is held accountable for failing to protect even 'undesirable' victims – prostitutes, asylum seekers and illegal immigrants. And if that wasn't enough to make us bristle, the HRA also protects our reproductive rights. In the UK we have no 'right to abortion'; instead, European judgments oblige states to ensure women can access abortions if they are legal in the country in question. This protects us from waves of medical professionals declaring themselves 'conscientious objectors' and refusing to perform abortions – as was recently attempted in an NHS labour ward in a Glasgow hospital. Furthermore, the court has upheld the vital importance of access to abortion for rape victims, following the tragic case of a teenager in Poland. Her victory protects us in Britain from the likes of Northern Irish DUP MLA Jim Wells, who last year campaigned to prevent rape victims accessing abortions. When politicians attempt incursions on the freedom of our wombs the HRA helps protect us – something terribly inconvenient to our pro-lifers in Parliament. The HRA has also come to the defence of innumerable women outside the courtroom, by placing positive duties on the government to act where rights are threatened. Convention rights have been used to increase care support to mentally vulnerable women and fight arbitrary funding decisions. In one case it allowed an asylum seeker to challenge an eviction notice served on her family while she was giving birth. According to Detective Chief Inspector Matt Black, the HRA creates "a positive obligation to intervene to protect those at risk of inhumane or degrading treatment with regards to domestic violence", making it one of the most effective ways of assisting victims of domestic and institutional abuse. No other piece of legislation requires the state to act on these issues. The duties imposed by the HRA are onerous and costly, but our government is there to serve us, not the other way around. We must protect our Human Rights Act. It holds our government to account – and that's the real reason the Conservatives can't stand it.  |
| Sports round-up: 28 January – 3 February Posted: 04 Feb 2013 03:00 AM PST
Rugby: Amid all the coverage of the men's Six Nations, you might not have noticed that the women's tournament has also started, and in spectacular style for England. In their opening match on 2 February, England, the defending champions trounced Scotland, scoring 12 tries to win 76-0. They next face Ireland on 9 February. England have now won 37 of their last 38 Six Nations matches. They beat Scotland with a team missing most of their best players; they are competing instead in the rugby Sevens World Series. And those senior players were busy winning the Sevens, beating hosts the USA 29-12 in the final in Houston on 2 February. With two events to go, England are third in the overall series standings. Cricket: The World Cup is finally underway in India, but defending champions England didn't quite have the start they were hoping for. After losing to New Zealand by 13 runs in their final warm-up match, they suffered a surprise defeat to Sri Lanka in their tournament opener on Friday 1. With Sarah Taylor sidelined due to a hamstring injury, England played below their best, losing to the number seven ranked team by one wicket. Captain Charlotte Edwards admitted that her team should have won. "If we'd held our catches we might have won the game by 30 runs, but we paid for that,” she said. “It's hard to take wickets in India, which is not helped when you don't field well. It's an area we need to improve." England needed to find their form quickly in their match, against India on 3 February. Edwards led the way with a century, boosting her team to a 32-run win over the host nation. Edwards' score of 109 saw her become the all-time leading run-scorer in women's one day internationals. England will next play the West Indies on 5 February. Meanwhile, the Pakistan team find themselves unable to leave the stadium amid security fears. Following cross-border tensions and protests against Pakistan's involvement in the tournament, a decision was made last month to move Pakistan's matches from Mumbai to the eastern city of Cuttack. Following the advice of Indian police, Pakistan are living at a stadium in the city, rather than at a hotel. Tennis: British women's tennis continues its modest but steady progress; Heather Watson and Laura Robson have been rewarded for their strong showing at the Australian Open last month with a jump up the world rankings. Both have climbed ten places, with Watson now ranked 40th and Robson three places behind. On 31 January Watson crashed out in the second round of the Pattaya Open in Thailand, losing in three sets to Anastasija Sevastova. Bad news, but it's nice to be surprised when a Brit doesn't win. Cycling: Men's cycling may still be preoccupied with what America’s Lance Armstrong did or didn't do a decade ago, but there is a steady stream of good news emerging from the women's cycling world. Following the launch last week of two new women’s teams, the road race season kicked of in style with the Tour of Qatar. Kirsten Wild of the Netherlands topped the general classification after four stages of thrilling racing, which for once could actually be watched by fans. Al Jazeera broadcast the entire race live, setting an interesting precedent for the future in a sport which suffers from a chronic and unfair lack of coverage. Skating: Following her success at the European Championships last month, track speed skater Elise Christie won two more medals at the World Cup in Sochi, Russia. A day after winning bronze in the 1500m on 2 February, she claimed gold over her favourite distance of 1000m. With only one event in the World Cup series remaining, Christie cannot be caught in the standings, and is guaranteed the overall gold medal. Her medal tally for the season is so far is now seven. Skeleton: Britain's Shelley Rudman won her first skeleton world championship in Switzerland on 1 February. The 31 year-old bobsledder became Britain’s second ever world champion in the sport, following in the footsteps of her partner Kristan Bromley, the 2008 men’s winner. Rudman has admitted that she has planned 2013 as a development season ahead of next year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, so her win came as a bonus. "I didn't expect to win until it was over,” she said. “Things went well, so I'm happy."  |
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