Women's Views on News |
- Nicola Adams launches Gear 4 Girls
- I’m not a little princess, thanks
- Muslim women bear brunt of white male aggro
- Ending violence against women and girls?
| Nicola Adams launches Gear 4 Girls Posted: 22 Mar 2013 09:45 AM PDT
Nicola Adams, who won the first ever Olympic Women’s Boxing Gold Medal at the London 2012 Games, is leading a campaign to enable young women and girls from disadvantaged communities to participate in sport. Gear 4 Girls aims to raise money to supply sports clothing and equipment to young women and girls who may be deterred from taking part in sport because they do not have the appropriate gear. Adams used International Women's Day to launch the campaign in her role as president of Us Girls, a programme focused on increasing and sustaining women's sport participation in England's most disadvantaged communities. She described her campaign as "providing young women and girls in areas of need with equipment and clothing, so they can access sport, enjoy it and get active". Young women and girls in such areas face particular barriers to participation in sport, according to National Programme Manager for Us Girls Karen Keohane. She said: "There are hundreds of young women and girls in our local communities who would like to participate in sport but either don't have anything to wear or can't afford to buy a netball or football to use in the local park, or a tennis racket and ball so they can make use of the local tennis courts. “These are all types of barriers which we are trying to remove in order to get girls active and having fun." Adams has already donated the £6,450 that she recently won on the game show Family Fortunes to the campaign, as well as running taster sessions in boxing and other sports. And sports organisations – including the FA and England Handball – will be working alongside Us Girls, donating equipment to the campaign that will be distributed to where it is needed. Keohane said that Us Girls is "all about getting young women active and with Nicola's campaign we move it up a level and provide them with the appropriate equipment". Us Girls would like to encourage any organisations which would like to donate funds or equipment to get in touch with them by emailing activewomen@streetgames.org.  |
| I’m not a little princess, thanks Posted: 22 Mar 2013 07:00 AM PDT
I work evenings, so I have a higher than average exposure to daytime TV. To avoid the temptations of the Real Housewives, I try to stick to E4, on the basis that at least some of the rubbish there is ironic. But recently, the advertisements for new dating programme ‘My Little Princess‘ have been ruining my daytime telly viewing by filling me with righteous anger just when I'm trying to be as apathetic as possible. If you haven't seen My Little Princess, good for you, but here's the basic premise: a group of preening, perma-tanned "prince charmings" compete in a series of challenges to win the affections of… the king, who then grants the victorious challenger the right to date his daughter the princess. First reaction: ew, followed by that righteous feminist anger. But to give the thing a fair shot, I watched an episode. I wasn't expecting much, given the reviews. E4 might jokingly call it the biggest thing since the Second World War, but Caitlin Moran thinks it's the stupidest thing on TV, and I know who I'm going with. Even with such low expectations, actually watching the thing caused my eyes to roll right out of my head within the first few minutes. The misogynist angle is hugely played up in the introduction, as we discover that the princess's quest to find love will be directed by the "true ruler" of the land, aka her dad. Well, I live in the 21st century, and I'm pretty sure that my dad doesn't need to be told that he's not the true ruler of my anything. It doesn't stop at medieval ideas of female agency. We also have a casual mention of the idea that women don't go for nice, caring guys, as though a man being nice to a woman requires her to reward him with a relationship. Then there are the constant judgements on the masculinity of the challengers: one isn't brave enough, another not strong enough, a third not ripped enough. The ick factor is played for laughs, too. During the first silly challenge, the princes must answer the king's questions truthfully, or be catapulted into a lake. What does dad think appropriate to ask his daughter's potential dates? "Have you ever made a sex tape?" "Have you ever looked at a another man's penis and thought, 'Hmm, nice penis'?" Cue nausea. And then we're right back to straight-up misogyny. According to "Prince Martin of Blackpool", the winner of the episode I watched, the feeling that “girls are just a bit of meat to bite into” is one common to all lads. This programme couldn't be more sexist if it tried. In fact, I'm quite sure they did try. I'm also sure there will be those who'll say that I'm taking this much too seriously, and that it's just harmless fun, not representative of any deeper cultural issue. To which I say, that's precisely the problem here. Because the programme is so idiotic, it would be easy to dismiss its misogyny as just part of the prank. But doing so allows its sexist ideas to remain out in public, and devalues the fight for equality in areas where it is deadly serious. If we don't call out sexism in a target as easy as this, what chance have we got of changing attitudes on rape, for example? Martin of Blackpool probably doesn't really think women are pieces of meat, but there are plenty of people who do, and this kind of thing lets them think the masses agree with them. Let that idea float around, and we end up with a society in which women can be blamed for sexual assault against them. My Little Princess is just another sorry example of casual sexism masquerading as (retch) humorous banter, and pretending it has no consequences. Don't watch it.  |
| Muslim women bear brunt of white male aggro Posted: 22 Mar 2013 05:42 AM PDT
The majority of the UK’s Muslims who are being physically attacked, harassed or intimidated because of their faith are women, according to recent figures. And those doing the attacking are white men, increasingly likely to be linked to far-right groups. Tell MAMA, a public service for measuring and monitoring anti-Muslim attacks set up one year ago, says that 632 anti-Muslim hate incidents have been reported to 'MAMA' since March 2012. Muslim women were targeted in 58 per cent of all incidents. Extreme violence featured in 23 cases. Three-quarters (74 per cent) of incidents reported to MAMA took place over social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc), but there have also been attacks on mosque buildings, against pregnant women and ‘visible’ hijab (veil) wearers, even children and pensioners in their 80s. In one incident recorded in Nottinghamshire, a family was forced from their home; in another, a five-year-old girl was run over. High-profile figures such as journalist Jemima Khan have also been subject to online threats picked up and reported to the police by MAMA. The majority of those physically attacked on the street were Muslim women, wearing either the hijab (covering their head out of religious beliefs) or niqab (full face covering). These street based incidents seemed mostly ‘random’ in nature, according to victims, and often took place where interactions with others were common: at schools, using a taxi service, etc. Visibly-identified far-right British National Party (BNP) or English Defence League (EDL) members were linked to over half (54 per cent) of all incidents. Tell MAMA's work has led to the arrests of 21 far-right EDL supporters, with over 40 incidents reported against EDL leader ‘Tommy Robinson’ alone. Eighteen prosecutions have taken place. Only two police forces – the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police – record Islamophobia as part of their crime statistics. But research shows that there is no conflict between being ‘British’ and being ‘Muslim’ ; 83 per cent of Muslims said they were proud to be British, compared to 79 per cent of Britons overall. Demonisation of ‘the other’, misguided beliefs that Muslims are somehow a monolithic block, unchecked lies that Islam is a violent religion wishing to ‘take over’, or that British Muslims wish to abuse white girls, must be challenged. Recent history shows us what happens if we allow our fears to run unchecked. But there is hope. Recent poll shows that young and old Britons subscribe to markedly different outlooks. Whereas 77 per cent of the over-60s view Islam as a danger to the West, the figure among 18-24 year-olds tumbles to 38 per cent. And while 71 per cent of the older generation view the growth of Muslim communities as a threat to white Britons, the figure among 18-24 year-olds slumps to 31 per cent. And whereas 65 per cent of the oldest reject the suggestion that Muslims are compatible, this figure dwindles to 31 per cent among the youngest. So there is hope that good sense will win. But its not just the white men that Muslim women have to deal with. Sara Khan, director of Inspire, a women’s human rights organisation which seeks to address the inequalities facing British Muslim women wrote in the Guardian recently that many British Muslim women face serious challenges. Seven in 10 Muslim women are economically inactive; Muslim women have worse health than any other faith group; they can be victims of culturally based crimes, such as forced marriages and honour-based attacks; and there is a lack of female leadership among British Muslim organisations and mosques. None of these issues are condoned by Islam; they often arises from socioeconomic barriers and cultural practices. And some vulnerable Muslim women experience victimisation on multiple fronts: they face violent anti-Muslim attacks at the hands of racist bigots, and encounter gender discrimination from within their own communities. Worse still, some women refuse to speak out against gender-based discrimination fearing this would only fuel anti-Muslim hatred – of which they would be the likely victims. And Sara Khan writes that it is disheartening to hear the deafening silence on gender issues. It is, she says, imperative that Muslim organisations and mosques do more to tackle gender discrimination experienced by female members of their communities. Muslim organisations not only need to speak out more, they also need to actively begin to tackle this socioeconomic and cultural discrimination and to challenge Muslim preachers who promote unacceptable and extreme views about the role of women in Islam. Fiyaz Mughal director of Faith Matters and the Tell MAMA project said in a recent article in the Huffington Post that the Muslim community must show some leadership here, of course, and make sure it is engaging through its leaders with wider society. Muslims must not tolerate those who call for intolerance or hatred towards secular Britons or other faiths, or promote evils such as homophobia. But Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred is something we must all take responsibility for, and deal with it before the situation escalates out of control.  |
| Ending violence against women and girls? Posted: 22 Mar 2013 03:07 AM PDT
A United Nations pledge to end and prevent violence against women and girls has been signed, following tense two-week negotiations between 130 member countries. The declaration by the UN Commission on the Status of Women calls on governments to commit to new and concrete actions to end abuse and places an emphasis on prevention as well as response. Implementation is voluntary but being a signatory means there is peer pressure expectation of progress. A delighted Michelle Bachelet, ambassador for UN Women, declared: "The world has been watching us. “We came here two weeks ago with the opportunity, and the obligation, to do all we could to protect the rights of women and girls, the right to live in dignity, free of violence and discrimination. “People expected action and we have no right to let down the world's women. And we have not failed them. Yes, we did it!” The declaration had faced being derailed after some conservative Muslim countries and The Vatican expressed concerns about language used concerning sexual, reproductive and gay rights. Eqypt’s ruling Muslim Brotherhood warned that the declaration could ‘ruin society’ by giving women the right to travel, work and use contraception without their husband’s approval. Reuters reported that the Muslim Brotherhood objected on ten grounds. They said the declaration would give girls sexual freedom, legalise abortion, provide teenagers with contraceptives, give equality to women in marriage and require men and women to share duties such as child care and chores. But an amendment proposed by Egypt that would have allowed countries to avoid implementing the declaration if it clashed with national laws or religious and cultural values failed. A coalition of Arab human rights groups – from Egypt, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Tunisia – called on countries at the Commission on the Status of Women to stop using religion, culture, and tradition to justify abuse of women. “The current positions taken by some Arab governments at this meeting is clearly not representative of civil society views, aspirations or best practices regarding the elimination and prevention of violence against women and girls within our countries,” said the statement, issued by the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies. However, in the end, no country blocked the adoption of the 18-page report. The signing came at the end of two weeks of talks at the 57th Commission on the Status of Women in New York and succeeded where a similar attempt in 2003 failed in getting a consensus. At the start of the two weeks of talks, Bachelet said: "Up to seven in ten, yes 70 per cent of women globally, will be beaten, raped, abused, or mutilated in their lifetimes. “This pandemic strikes the lives of millions of women, fractures families and communities and impedes development, costing countries billions of dollars each year in healthcare costs and lost productivity. “I really cannot say it strongly enough – the 21st century has no place for violence and discrimination against women." UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said states now had a responsibility to turn the 2013 declaration into reality. “Violence against women is a heinous human rights violation, global menace, a public health threat and a moral outrage,” Ban said in a statement. “No matter where she lives, no matter what her culture, no matter what her society, every woman and girl is entitled to live free of fear.” The UN declaration is explained in more detail here.  |
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