Women's Views on News |
- One big danger of benefit cuts
- Gender disparity in mental health
- The WRVS drops the w
- Ireland’s prostitution law change urgent
| One big danger of benefit cuts Posted: 31 May 2013 09:03 AM PDT
They say that cuts could be forcing people to remain in abusive relationships. The new universal credit shortly to be rolled out nationally merges six benefits – housing benefit, jobseeker’s allowance, income support, child tax credit, working tax credit and employment support allowance – into one monthly payment. And that monthly payment is to be paid to one member of the household only. In October 2012, Welsh Minister, Carl Sargeant said of the welfare reforms: “This single payment to one family member could have a detrimental effect on victims of domestic abuse who are still living with their partners. “It is likely to make it harder for an abused partner to leave a violent relationship if they have no financial independence.” And he said that a cap on housing benefit could also disadvantage people escaping violent relationships who flee to refuges. “This may result in them having to pay double rent for both the refuge and their existing property,” he said. Earlier this month WVoN reported on the legal aid changes in the family law system and their potential impact on domestic abuse relationships. Concerns have grown for domestic abuse victims, as benefits cuts make it harder to leave an abusive relationship. The cases for judicial review relate to the government’s £500-a-week benefit cap placed on single parents and couples with children. Four cases have been submitted for judicial review in Croydon, Bromley, Haringey and Enfield, where the benefit cap has been trialled. The basis for two of the four cases is that individuals could be forced back to abusive partners when they find they are unable to afford to live on their own. Concerns are, that as the benefit cap is rolled out nationally there will be in an increase in victims of domestic abuse remaining in an abusive situation for longer. As cuts imposed by the coalition government mean less social housing is available and refuge places are under particular strain, moving on from an abusive relationship is becoming increasingly difficult. The potential collective impact of these deep cuts is something which could have a severe impact on women and men in damaging relationships. It is thought that the introduction of the universal credit system currently being piloted in Tameside, Greater Manchester, could mean people sink further into debt and put victims off leaving the situations they are in as they will be unable to afford to move. The universal credit system and this placing of financial power in the hands of one member of the household will only add to the tensions and increase the potential for further abuse within an abusive relationship – domestic abuse is not always physical violence but can and often does incorporate economic abuse. Anyone in an abusive relationship and struggling with benefit cuts can contact their local Citizens Advice Bureau or domestic abuse support services such as Women’s Aid or Refuge.  |
| Gender disparity in mental health Posted: 31 May 2013 06:14 AM PDT
Analysis by clinical psychologist, Professor Daniel Freeman has identified women are up to 40 per cent more likely to develop mental health problems than men. The research was based on 12 epidemiological studies from Europe, America, New Zealand and Australia. Freeman’s study identifies women as approximately 75 per cent more likely than men to report having recently suffered from depression, and around 60 per cent more likely to report an anxiety disorder. The study identifies men as two and half times more likely to report substance-misuse disorders. Professor Freeman said that because the conditions most affecting women were more common than those affecting men, overall mental health conditions were more common in women than in men, by a factor of 20 per cent to 40 per cent. The differences reported in the types of conditions are interesting. Professor Freeman said: “There is a pattern within – women tend to suffer more from what we call ‘internal’ problems like depression or sleep problems, “They take out problems on themselves, as it were, where men have externalising problems, where they take things out on their environment, such as alcohol and anger problems.” He added that there was likely a complex mixture of factors contributing to the differences between the genders – related not only to physiological or biological factors, but society, too. Recent stories published on Women’s Views on News show how women in society today are far more likely than men to be juggling roles; to be trying to achieve sustained employment and an appropriate work-life balance, and taking responsibility for childcare. Professor Freeman said: “Where we think it has an effect is particularly on women’s self-esteem or self-worth: women tend to view themselves more negatively than men, and that is a vulnerability factor for many mental health problems.” Freeman analysed 12 large-scale epidemiological studies carried out across the world since the 1990s for his new book The Stressed Sex, published by Oxford University Press. The research is not a formal meta-analysis, regarded as the gold standard of evidence. Freeman’s findings have been criticised by Professor Kathryn Abel, of the Centre for Women’s Mental Health at Manchester University. She said that age was also a significant factor which should be considered with regard to the different ratios, particularly given physical and social changes at different stages of life. She also noted that much of the current data comes from the modern healthcare and society of the developed world where “stress” is lower for women and men than at virtually any point in history. “In terms of survival, we’re not exposed to stress compared with our ancestors,” she said. “It is estimated that over their lifetime nearly a quarter of women will suffer a depressive illness. "As a population, we are incredibly healthy, and in spite of continuing inequalities, we have never had it so good: women are living longer and more healthily than ever before – as are men. “Some populations show lower rates of some of these arguably ‘stress-related’ disorders; in those countries women and men remain under far more hardship.” She also criticised Freeman's analysis by saying that when choosing studies for analysis, it was often too easy to choose only those that supported the thesis. Professor Abel also said that specific studies focusing on physiological factors in gendered mental health were currently limited. It is also thought that depression and anxiety in men has been under-diagnosed because of men’s unwillingness to visit their GP with mental health problems and because they present with different symptoms.  |
| Posted: 31 May 2013 03:54 AM PDT
The decision to drop the W for women from their name – Women's Royal Voluntary Service – was made to represent the organisation's modern face – and to encourage more men to volunteer. This isn't the first time the name has been changed. When the organisation formed in 1938, in preparation for the onset of war, it was known as the Women's Voluntary Service (WVS). Initially it was formed to help recruit women into the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) movement and assist civilians during and after air raids by providing emergency rest centres, feeding, first aid, and to assist with the evacuation and billeting of children. In 1966, in recognition of services rendered, 'Royal' was added to the name by their patron Queen Elizabeth II. In a rebranding in 2004, they decided to be known simply as 'WRVS' . This latest name change is launched for their 75th anniversary, along with a new logo, and a new slogan: 'together for older people'. Originally founded in 1938 by Lady Stella Reading, throughout the Second World War more and more women joined and it had 1 million members in 1943. These women fulfilled vital roles, in often dangerous environments, assisting during air raids, helping with rescue efforts, providing first aid for those who were injured and refreshments for wardens and bombed-out civilians. They organised campaigns to knit gloves, collect clothes, give emergency food and collect salvage. They also played a crucial part of the government's evacuation program and aided in the mass evacuation of nearly two million children during the war. While many women were conscripted into paid employment, staffing Britain's factories and filling positions in the Land Army, the ATS, the WRENs and the WAAF, the women of the WVS were unpaid volunteers, often mothers and older women who were exempt from the National Service Act. After the war the service continued, funded by the government, with women volunteering to help where help was needed, and today more than 40,000 volunteers help older people all over the country to stay independent at home and active in their community. In 1956 the Queen agreed to become patron of the service. One initiative they began, which most people will have heard of, is the Meals on Wheels scheme, for people who are unable to leave their homes. The organisation is now a registered charity, and continues to serve those in the community who need extra care. Their focus is primarily on giving to support to older people. And the new strapline – 'together for older people' – aims to sum up the RVS’s commitment to older people ‘by keeping them feeling well, involved and valued’. The aim is, says RVS, that older people will receive a much greater level of care through new and improved services. The charity estimates that nowadays about 6000 of their 40,000 members are men, and hopes that the change of name will attract more male volunteers to help with their work. Chief Executive David McCullough said, “We know that more older people than ever are going to need the support that our volunteers provide, which is why we are changing our name to make it clear we are not a charity that only supports women or just wants female volunteers. “I’m really proud of the fact that since we were founded 75 years ago as the Women’s Voluntary Services, we have inspired volunteers to meet the main social challenges of the time and today we’re doing exactly the same. “As the state contracts and the number of older people grow we are able to provide a solution through our volunteers who want to make a positive difference to the lives of the older people they support.” In the UK today, as unemployment has risen, more and more people have taken the opportunity to volunteer, and these days volunteers can be found in a wide variety of areas. As government funding is cut, charities have to rely on volunteers to enable them to continue with their work. The charity Volunteering England says that each year over 20 million people in the UK volunteer in some way. June 1-7 is Volunteers' Week, which celebrates the efforts of those who give up their time in this way. I’ll leave you with the words of the WVS's founder, Lady Stella Reading: "Too many people think of volunteers as a means to an end, as cheap labour. “True voluntary service is nothing of the kind. It is, in fact, the gift of a thoughtful person of their skill, their energy and their time."  |
| Ireland’s prostitution law change urgent Posted: 31 May 2013 01:09 AM PDT
Last year, Ireland's Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality invited submissions to reform the country's laws on prostitution. Hearings were held over 2012 and 2013, where advocates for the sex trade, women's organisations, and networks which support sex workers gave their suggestions on how Ireland's growing prostitution problem should be regulated. Eight hundred submissions were also received from sex workers and members of the public. It had been anticipated that the committee's recommendations would be finalised by the end of this month. It is expected that the committee will propose the country's adoption of the Nordic Model, which criminalises "punters" and decriminalises sellers. While some activities associated with prostitution are currently outlawed in Ireland, such as curb-crawling and soliciting in public, it is not illegal to buy or sell sexual services. At the present time, the law protects these transactions as ‘agreements between consenting adults’. The current legal framework in Ireland is similar to that in the UK, but with one critical difference. As in the UK, it is illegal to buy sex from an individual who has been trafficked but, and this is not the case in the UK, a defendant can use ignorance about a person's status as trafficked as their defence. This absence of strict liability – a point of law that enables a defendant to deny culpability based on ignorance – also applies to charges for having sex with someone under 17 years of age – Ireland's age of consent. Another criticism of Ireland's current prostitution legislation is the definition of a trafficked person as 'a person in respect of whom a trafficking crime has been committed', which leaves ambiguity about whether a conviction must be or have been secured in order to validate an individual's status as a 'trafficked person'. Delays in reforming the prostitution laws have been criticized by Ireland's Immigration Council, who argued that every day of delay gives pimps and traffickers "free reign to carry out their abuse and criminal activity." Denise Charlton, chief executive of the Immigration Council, said: "Any delay in introducing laws benefits the criminal." Ireland’s Turn Off The Red Light campaign is a coalition of non-governmental organisations working to end prostitution and sex trafficking in Ireland through criminalising buyers of sex. Eleven local authorities have voted to support the campaign and three out of the four largest political parties in Ireland have also come out in support of the coalition's mission. But with the Irish government's review of prostitution law about to reach its first anniversary, the Turn Off The Red Light campaign is urging politicians to "move beyond the debate and take action. “Any delay will only benefit those behind a prostitution 'industry' which places 800 women for sale on-line in Ireland every day, has sex trafficked 134 people to Ireland over 3 years and is taking over €200 million a year from our economy." Sarah Benson, chief executive of Ruhama, an organization which supports women affected by prostitution, said: "Every day at the coal face Ruhama see the human cost of the Irish sex trade. “Legislation to criminalise the sex buyer and decriminalise those exploited cannot wait."  |
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