Women's Views on News |
- Rowing against eating disorders
- Ask Tesco’s shareholders to act
- Domestic abuse is not a ‘fleeting thing’
| Rowing against eating disorders Posted: 25 Jun 2013 07:41 AM PDT
Their aim is to raise money for eating disorder charity Beat. The women, students at Oxford University‘s Corpus Christi College Boat Club, set out on the 180km row on 23 June, and are to pass through Henley and Windsor before finishing the final stretch of the challenge at Putney Bridge in London on Wednesday morning. As well as aiming to raise £10,000 for the charity, the women also hope to raise awareness about an illness which conservative estimates suggest afflicts 1.6 million people in the UK. "We will push out bodies to the limits to stop eating disorder sufferers from doing the same," reads the fundraising page set up by the crew. The charity is of particular significance for one of the rowers, Esther Rich. She was hospitalized for 9 months when she was 15 years old during a bout of anorexia which saw her weight drop to a mere 5 stone. Rich attributes her recovery partly to the tremendous support she received from Beat and she now works as a Young Ambassador for the charity. She has since visited inpatients to share her story of personal triumph over the disease and given various interviews to raise awareness about the issue. "Everybody knows somebody who is affected by an eating disorder, and if everyone gives something, we will go far in raising the much needed funds to enable Beat to continue its lifesaving work, which touches literally thousands of people a year, all over the UK,” she said. Her words certainly ring true for many of us, and for the rest of the crew, who all have personal narratives of close friends and relatives who have battled eating disorders. Crew member Francesa Cioni said: "My own sister struggled for years with her eating disorders, so I have personal experience of the pain eating disorders can cause to the sufferer… watching my sister fight her eating disorder means I have not been shielded from the difficulties sufferers face – not just in their minds, but also from the stigma society holds against them – and has also given me extra determination to meet the challenges posed by this row: every painful training session seems worth it if it can help to fight for better treatment for sufferers of eating disorders." This is a disease which continues predominantly to hamper women of all ages but especially those on the cusp of adolescence although approximately 10 per cent of sufferers in the UK are men. Figures released from the Health and Social Care Information Centre last year revealed that hospital admissions for young girls aged 10-15 years with eating disorders were up 69 per cent from the previous year, and one in every ten sufferers admitted to hospital is a 15 year-old girl. At a parliamentary debate earlier this year, Caroline Nokes MP revealed that, based on current figures, nearly 2,500 individuals in every constituency have been or are currently affected by an eating disorder. She also alluded to the prevalence of those hidden sufferers currently not included in current estimates, saying: “The Department of Health acknowledges that unreported cases of eating disorders are a huge problem, and the true figure could be higher than 4 million, which is 6.5 per cent of the UK population, or about 7,000 people per constituency.” Estimates about the number of women and men suffering with eating disorders in the UK are flawed, as episode statistics from the Department of Health only include those that are receiving inpatient treatment through an NHS facility, and do not take into account those that are being treated as outpatients, those who have not received diagnoses or those who have not yet come forward. We can only speculate about the size of this latter group of sufferers because, as many of us are only too aware, the problem with eating disorders is that sufferers can often keep their condition so well hidden that the illness, and the secrecy associated with it, become so deeply entrenched that the road to recovery can be long and painful. However, research suggests that when treatment for an eating disorder is sought and dispensed in its early stages, the sufferer's chances of recovery are vastly improved. With their helpline, website, and support groups, funded in part by donations, Beat's core services offer a vital lifeline for many of those in the early stages of the disease. You can support the rowers and the cause they are fundraising for by donating at their charity page. Or why not take the time to and go and cheer them on along the way. For those who need support and information relating to an eating disorder – including sufferers, carers, and professionals – you can call Beat on 0845 6341414. If you a sufferer aged 25 or under, you can call Beat's helpline on 0845 6347650.  |
| Ask Tesco’s shareholders to act Posted: 25 Jun 2013 03:37 AM PDT
But this week Tesco has its Annual General Meeting (AGM), where shareholders hold Tesco to account for how they are managing the business. This is a great opportunity for us to turn up the heat, say the Lose The Lads' Mags team. Tesco's senior managers are already under pressure – the papers are predicting it will be a tough meeting. The last thing they want is shareholders worrying about brand damage because they won't lose the lads' mags. Could you tweet Legal & General – one of Tesco’s biggest shareholders – and urge them to ask Tesco to lose the lads' mags? Tweet here: losetheladsmags.org.uk/tweet.php At the end of the day the shareholders are supposed to care about Tesco's bottom line. If they see that Tesco's brand could be damaged by selling sexist, harmful lads' mags they should start asking Tesco's senior managers difficult questions. If enough of us get in touch with shareholders now we can demonstrate that Tesco is going to remain in the spotlight until they lose the lads' mags. If you don’t yet have a Twitter account it’s really easy to set up. Just click here to get started. Already after just a few days progress has been made; Tesco have said they'll look at covering up lads' mags and they have even said they'll meet the campaigners. This is all good news, but not yet what they need to do – lose the lads' mags. So each day this week, join us as we contact their major shareholders. And if you live in London, come and talk to shareholders directly at the AGM this Friday 28 June at 10am. Or if know people who live in London could you invite them to? It’s at the Queen Elizabeth II Hall, on Broad Sanctuary, London, SW1P 3EE. The Facebook event is here. Thanks.  |
| Domestic abuse is not a ‘fleeting thing’ Posted: 25 Jun 2013 01:09 AM PDT
On 16 June photographs appeared in the press of Charles Saatchi grasping the neck of his wife Nigella Lawson. Public outrage and media frenzy ensued. On 18 June Saatchi gave his version of events to The Evening Standard where he is a columnist. 'About a week ago, we were sitting outside a restaurant having an intense debate about the children, and I held Nigella's neck repeatedly while attempting to emphasize my point. 'There was no grip, it was a playful tiff. 'The pictures are horrific but give a far more drastic and violent impression of what took place. 'Nigella's tears were because we both hate arguing, not because she had been hurt,' he added. Two days later saw what has been seen as an admission of guilt as Saatchi accepted a police caution Yet these were the words of Nick Clegg when he was challenged during a radio phone-in on his Call Clegg show LBC 97.3 and asked how he would have reacted had he witnessed the assault where Saatchi placed his hands repeatedly around Ms Lawson’s throat. “I don’t know what happened. There was this one photograph. I don’t know whether that was just a fleeting thing.” “When you see a couple having an argument…most people just assume that the couple will resolve it themselves. If, of course something descends into outright violence then that’s something different,” Clegg said. This represents the view of society. But when a politician – and not just any politician: that was the Deputy Prime Minister – holds this view, how are victims of violence to expect any kind of progress in how matters of domestic abuse are perceived and managed by society? Clegg's description of this as a possible 'fleeting thing' is abhorrent. This is violence, and unacceptable. The 'length of time' that passes while a perpetrator commissions an act of violence to his victim is utterly irrelevant. Violence is violence, abuse is abuse. In his statement to The Evening Standard newspaper, Saatchi said: "Although Nigella made no complaint I volunteered to go to Charing Cross station and take a police caution after a discussion with my lawyer because I thought it was better than the alternative of this hanging over all of us for months." I could make several – numerous – comments on Saatchi’s reasoning for accepting a caution, but this piece here is about the attitudes of society, not the abuser. According to a UK government website, a caution is issued for minor crimes. 'Cautions are given to adults aged 18 or over for minor crimes — e.g writing graffiti on a bus shelter," the website says. 'You have to admit an offence and agree to be cautioned. If you don't agree, you can be arrested and charged. 'A caution is not a criminal conviction, but it could be used as evidence of bad character if you go to court for another crime.’ When a perpetrator of domestic abuse can place his hands around the throat of his victim in public and still be compared to someone who scrawls words on a wall in spray paint, we have an undeniable social problem. The message this conveys to perpetrators of abuse is inexcusable. The message it conveys to victims of abuse is unforgivable. "Domestic violence is a massive social problem in this country," Sandra Horley, chief executive of UK domestic violence charity Refuge, said in a statement. "Last year over one million women were abused. “Every week in England and Wales, two women are killed by current or former partners. "There are still so many myths and misconceptions surrounding this horrific crime. “People often think that it only happens in poor families … but the truth is that domestic violence affects women of all ages, classes and backgrounds. “Abusive men are just as likely to be lawyers, accountants and judges as they are cleaners or unemployed." Horley said that perpetrators of domestic violence "frequently try to minimise or deny their behaviour," but that violent incidents rarely occur only once and can escalate to more extreme behavior. "Research shows that strangulation is a key risk factor for domestic homicide," she said. "Last year, almost 50 per cent of the women we supported had been strangled or choked by their abusers." The men who run our government have a duty to know these facts and figures. They have a duty to be aware that domestic abuse is a crime. A serious crime that kills two women every week in England and any incident can never be classified or justified as 'fleeting'. Our Deputy Prime Minister missed a vital opportunity to display and promote an attitude of zero tolerance to domestic abuse. Instead, the message was antiquated. Domestic abuse is not a private matter. It is easy to turn a blind eye but we should not expect domestic abuse to be dealt with behind closed doors by only the perpetrator and the victim. Such attitudes only serve to condone the behaviour of the perpetrator and place full power back in their hands. The Evening Standard has also adopted and endorsed these archaic attitudes. Its management has refused to drop Saatchi from his post as columnist with the paper, stating they do not wish to 'intrude with the complexities of a couple's marriage'. At some point someone must do just that. And for the biggest impact, that ‘someone’ has to be in a position of power, so that society will listen and will consider the validity of the message behind the action; the message that domestic violence is simply not acceptable and will not be tolerated. We need a massive change in attitudes from our government, perhaps supported by an improved balance of female ministers. We need strong leadership from our government and we need the general public to stop allowing domestic abuse to go unnoticed. You can sign the a petition to support Refuge’s campaign calling for a public inquiry into the police and state response to victims of domestic violence here.  |
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