Women's Views on News |
- Events
- A UK lifeboat for Eastern Europeans
- Roller Derby: after the film a book
- No more women on English currency?
| Posted: 07 May 2013 01:31 PM PDT
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| A UK lifeboat for Eastern Europeans Posted: 07 May 2013 08:00 AM PDT
Most women who settle in the UK from Eastern Europe find work and are happy here. But some need support. Barka UK is an organisation that helps vulnerable Eastern Europeans in Britain. Barka is Polish for barge and the organisation provides a lifeboat for people who are homeless or out of work in London. It also runs a national telephone helpline where women can get immediate support and advice. Dorota Harembska, who runs the outreach and resettlement service, says that 90 per cent of the homeless people they come across are men, and they often suffer from severe drug and alcohol addiction. Most of the people who call Barka UK’s helpline however, are women. Agnieszka Baczkiewicz runs the helpline, and receives calls from Eastern European women, not just in London but from across the country. "I can have a call about something simple like free school meals, but there are quite a few calls about legal issues such as housing benefit, finding a private landlord that will be willing to accept them, or finding a council willing to house them. "We are not always able to find services that can reconnect people to their home country. "Someone living in the middle of nowhere can find themselves homeless with no language services. "A lot of the phone calls come from women, because women are quite pro-active in looking after their families. “They are worried about things going wrong," she said. Malgorzata Bachmiak runs the Social Economy Centre, which provides support with vocational training and job seeking. "We know quite a few people who were paid under the minimum wage. “They were paid £6 an hour which is illegal and were not being paid National Insurance," she said. Although most of her clients are men working in industries like construction and catering, Bachmiak says that most Eastern European women work, and they tend to return to work very quickly after having children. "I had this woman she had never worked before, she lived here for two years she had three kids and then she got pregnant again. "She went to the Jobcentre and applied for JSA, but she wanted to get some work and get some rights. "She had to return to work after two weeks [after giving birth]. “It was very difficult, as she had a caesarean. She gave her baby to her mother to look after. "It’s quite difficult, especially for single mothers, the father runs away, what should they do, should they go back to Poland? “They are in a different country. Maybe the kids are not three years old yet, so they can’t go to pre-school, but there is nothing for them in Poland," said Baczkiewicz. She said her helpline receives some calls about domestic violence, but not as many as she would expect. "Perhaps women are afraid, they just put up with it. Perhaps its not so much of an issue, but I don’t think so because of all the alcoholism. Maybe they find other services," said Baczkiewicz. The women thought Barka UK offered a unique and valuable service to their community. "We are different from other services first of all because of the language. We are able to communicate with people from Eastern Europe, some of the staff speak Russian as well. "We are closer to them culturally. We know their situation better," said Monika Zerbin, who worked as an outreach worker for the charity. However Barka UK has recently faced worrying funding cuts. Lambeth Council and the City of London decided not to continue commissioning it to provide reconnection services for Central and Eastern European migrants living in these boroughs, although they will still be able to access Barka’s helpline and Social Economy Centre, which are funded from other sources. Lord Roberts of Llandudno, President of the Friends of Barka UK, wrote last month: "Such decisions make little sense since migrants from countries such as Poland account for nearly a third of London's homeless population, a figure which may rise when barriers to Romanian and Bulgarian workers are lifted next year. “Barka UK must be allowed to continue making a difference. “London councils need to realise that organisations that know what they are doing in this difficult area should be supported in these tough times. “Now, more than ever, we need to reach out and help migrant rough-sleepers on the streets of our capital. “And we must ensure that inspirational groups such as Barka UK can continue to do their unsung and indispensable work."  |
| Roller Derby: after the film a book Posted: 07 May 2013 03:55 AM PDT
Featuring 14 short stories from roller derby players, referees and fanatics from all over the world, compiled following an open call for submissions from For Books’ Sake, Derby Shorts is the first collection of its kind. Aground-breaking anthology, it tells bold and brilliant tales from the track, from inter-team love, lust, rivalry and rebellion to rollerblading assassins in punk-apocalyptic London, brats and ballerinas turned derby superstars – and much more. But maybe first things first: what is roller derby? The Guardian has called it “one of Britain’s fastest-growing grassroots sports' and 'the perfect pastime for feminists with attitude,” Time Out calls it ”The most exciting sport on wheels.” The Independent reckons it is “becoming the next big thing.” And with over a thousand roller derby leagues across the globe, roller derby is now exploding out of the underground and into the mainstream. Part of its ‘taking off was in 2009 after Whip It! when cinema audiences worldwide saw Juliette Lewis, Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore on rollerskates. And it grew and grew. The first ever Roller Derby World Cup took place in 2011, and last year the National Museum of Roller Derby was established. There’s even been talk of the sport being included in the 2020 Olympics. The first, largest and longest-running roller derby league in the UK, the London Rollergirls came hot on the wheels of the sport’s American resurgence, making them the perfect partner for this ground-breaking collaboration with The stories in Derby Shorts feature emerging and established authors from across the UK, Europe, America and the world, range from the bittersweet and beautiful to the brutal and bizarre, but keep one thing in common; their obsession with a sport and subculture far too fierce, fearless and exciting to stay underground. The 164-page paperback, published by For Books’ Sake, Derby Shorts is out on 20 May 2013: to pre-order click here. For Books’ Sake was founded in 2010. It is – and it says so itself – the UK webzine dedicated to promoting and celebrating writing by women, ‘providing a dedicated platform for readers and writers alike’. With daily news, reviews, essays, features and interviews, For Books’ Sake shines spotlights on classic and contemporary writing by both iconic and upcoming women authors. It also has a national live events programme involving arts and literature festivals throughout the UK, panel discussions, workshops and ‘much more’. That’s what its blurb says. Click here to see.  |
| No more women on English currency? Posted: 07 May 2013 12:57 AM PDT
The Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King announced on 26 April that the current five pound note will be phased out in 2016. Social reformer Elizabeth Fry is to be replaced as the face of the five-pound note by Winston Churchill. This means that– barring the Queen – there will be no women depicted on English currency. The Bank of England has featured historical figures on its notes since William Shakespeare appeared on the £20 note in 1970. Of the 15 icons that have figured since then, only two have been women: Florence Nightingale and Elizabeth Fry. Caroline Criado-Perez, co-founder of The Women's Room, has launched an online petition, calling on the Bank of England to reverse their decision and keep a woman on English banknotes. Having an all-male cast on our banknotes would consign women to the sidelines of history, ignoring their achievements and contributions. Unfortunately, this is not a new trend; last January, leaked plans revealed that Education Minister Gove's overhaul of the history curriculum included the removal of Mary Seacole, to give yet more attention to – male – figures such as Winston Churchill and writer George Orwell. This tendency to airbrush women out of history sends the message that women have never been agents of change, but mere spectators. The way a nation interprets its past reflects its current values and priorities, and if no women are deemed worthy of being on the currency, we will not be able to build a culture that respects women as having a role as leaders and decision makers. With the currently small number of women Members of Parliament or in the Cabinet, a political climate deemed anti-women and a 'dearth' of women in the private sector's top jobs, this is a dangerous message to continue to send. Another reason for which this issue is crucial is that – as Perez says in her petition – currency is everywhere. "These notes will change hands every hour, every minute, every second. And every time they do, the message will drive a little deeper home: women do not belong in public life – they never have, and they never will." It's not as if there is a shortage of women to choose from. A Guardian poll suggested women's rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft, suffragette Emily Wilding Davison, author Jane Austen, scientist Rosalind Franklin and Crimean war heroine Mary Seacole. To this list, the Independent added paralympian athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson, educator Frances Buss, social reformer Octavia Hill and suffragette Millicent Garrett Fawcett. The Women's Room, has created a storify collating all the suggestions – of which there are plenty. The Huffington Post has even created a series of mock-ups of what five pound notes featuring some of these historical figures might look like. All these lists are one of the positives to come out of this situation, as they raise awareness, even if briefly, of female historical figures people might not otherwise have been exposed to. Considering that a poll on 'inspirational women' run a couple of months ago generated enthusiasm for mainly fictional characters, this is not an insignificant development. But one of Chancellor George Osborne's aides and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sex Equality, MP Amber Rudd, has called for women to be considered for other banknotes. With politicians joining the debate, growing media coverage of this issue and a petition that continues to collect signatures we may yet avoid having English currency devoid of women. To sign the petition, click here.  |
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