Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Inspiring girls to aim higher

Posted: 22 Oct 2013 08:06 AM PDT

launch, inspiring womenCall for professional women to give an hour each year to talk to young women in local state schools.

Last week the The Inspiring the Future campaign launched  ‘Inspiring Women’, a campaign is to see 15,000 women from a wide range of occupations going into state schools, over the next year, to talk to 250,000 young women about the range of jobs available and entry routes into them.

The campaign was launched by Miriam González Durántez, an international lawyer and a partner at Dechert LLP and wife of the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg.

In the event brochure, she said: ‘Women suffer from stereotyping all over the world, including in Europe and in the UK: if we succeed in our professional lives, we're branded "scary"; if we follow fashion, we're "shallow"; if we like science, we're "geeks"; if we read women's magazines, we're "fluffy"; and if we defend our rights, we're "hard".

‘It is little wonder that girls struggle, amid so many absurd labels, to identify the right path for them.

‘According to research by Girlguiding UK, 55 per cent of girls aged between 11 and 21 say they feel there are not enough female role models.

‘However, in reality, there are not only enough female role models, but a surplus of them. Our new national campaign will encourage women from all walks of life to form a network of role models to talk about their lives and share their experiences in with state schools girls.’

The launch, at Lancaster House in London, saw a hundred girls from eleven state secondary schools talk about jobs and careers with ten high profile successful women, and a ‘career speed networking’ event which Miriam González Durántez hosted.

Other high profile women taking part included BBC Journalist Fiona Bruce, EasyJet CEO Carolyn McColl and Athene Donald DBE, Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Cambridge.

‘Inspiring Woman’ was set up after research revealed that girls respond best to other women and that 75 per cent of women still work in stereotypically female sectors such as cleaning, catering, caring, cashiering and clerical work.

There is nothing wrong at all with that, Miriam González Durántez said, but girls should also feel free to make a difference in science, IT, engineering or maths if that is what they like.

The campaign is run by the Education and Employers Taskforce charity with support from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Speaking at the event, Miriam González Durántez said: "Every woman can be a role model for the new generations, no matter the path they have chosen in their lives.

"Through taking women into state schools to talk face-to-face with girls around the country this campaign will help to remove the stereotypes and absurd labels that still surround women. Young girls deserve to feel free to aim high."

Inspiring Women is calling on professional women to give up an hour of their time each year to support young women in local state schools.

Anyone can volunteer with Inspiring the Future – you can be a young apprentice, graduate recruit or a seasoned chief executive, or you can offer insight into working for yourself.

To find out how to volunteer, or how your school can register, visit their website.

Rights for raped war victims agreed

Posted: 22 Oct 2013 04:06 AM PDT

women and girls, war zones, rape"Forcing women raped in war to bear the children of their rapists is not only immoral, it is illegal."

In an historic first, the United Nations Security Council has unanimously passed a groundbreaking resolution supporting abortion services for girls and women raped in armed conflict.

Although the Security Council did not use the term "abortion" in Resolution 2122, its language makes clear that Member States and the UN must ensure that all options are given women impregnated by war rape: "noting the need for access to the full range of sexual and reproductive health services, including regarding pregnancies resulting from rape, without discrimination."

This provision directly responds to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's September 2013 recommendation to the Council that girls and women raped in armed conflict be ensured access to "services for safe termination of pregnancies resulting from rape, without discrimination and in accordance with international human rights and humanitarian law."

The Secretary-General had previously recommended to the Council in March 2013 that women raped in war have access to abortion services.

"Forcing women raped in war to bear the children of their rapists is not only immoral, it is illegal," said Global Justice Center President Janet Benshoof.

"We applaud this historic step by the Security Council, which could save the lives of girls and women, some as young as 12, who survive rape in war only to die from risky childbearing, unsafe abortions, and suicide."

The Global Justice Center (GJC) a non-governmental organisation that works for peace, justice, and security by enforcing international laws that protect human rights and promote gender equality, is leading an international effort, The August 12th Campaign, to ensure access to abortion for war rape victims globally.

And there is growing support among legal experts that deliberately omitting the option of abortion from the medical treatment provided to girls and women raped in war violates their rights, as war victims, to comprehensive, non-discriminatory medical care under the Geneva Conventions.

The former head of the International Committee of the Red Cross's Legal Division, Professor Louise Doswald-Beck, argues that denying abortions to female war rape survivors—while, at the same time, providing male rape victims and all other persons "wounded and sick" in armed conflict the medical care required by their condition—constitutes unlawful discrimination and amounts to torture or cruel treatment under common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.

"The Geneva Conventions are clear that all war victims must be given all necessary medical care in all circumstances," said Benshoof: "getting pregnant shouldn't expel girls and women raped in war from the Geneva Conventions."

Strongly supported by UN Women, Resolution 2122 also considerably strengthens the Security Council's earlier resolutions on Women, Peace and Security by calling for stronger measures regarding women's participation in conflict and post-conflict processes such as peace talks, gender expertise in peacekeeping missions, improved information about the impact of armed conflict on women, and more direct briefing to the Council on progress in these areas.

The Security Council's call for access to abortion for war rape victims stands in stark contrast with the United States' categorical ban on abortion attached to its humanitarian aid for war victims.

Because the United States is the largest humanitarian aid donor in the world, its anti-abortion policy, which contains no exceptions for rape, risk to life or incest, affects the medical care provided to women in every war zone.

"President Obama has shown incredible leadership on issues of equality for women at home and globally.

"This Resolution is an opportunity for him to lift the US ban and help save the lives of war rape victims around the world," said Benshoof.

"As rape is increasingly being used as a weapon of war in armed conflicts around the globe, it is critical that donor states, including the United States, abide by the call in Resolution 2122 to ensure all medically appropriate care to war rape victims.

"To do otherwise is to sentence female rape survivors to dire, even deadly, consequences," said Benshoof.

UK immigration policy puts women at risk

Posted: 22 Oct 2013 01:08 AM PDT

Refugee womanAnd the Immigration Bill, critics warn, puts migrant women and children at risk of sub-standard housing – or destitution.

On 22 October the UK parliament’s Immigration Bill 2013-2014 is expected to have its second reading debate.

The Bill requires short-term migrants such as international students and those working in the UK for less than two years to pay a levy for NHS services when they apply for their visas.

Private landlords will have to check the migration status of tenants, banks will have to carry out checks on those wishing to open a current account and illegal migrants will not be able to obtain or retain a driver's licence.

These measures have led to widespread concerns that women and migrant families will be denied access to healthcare, risk homelessness or be placed at the mercy of landlords offering poor quality and dangerous accommodation.

Although the government has given assurances that no patient in urgent need will ever be denied access to NHS treatment, there are concerns that the new restrictions will cause confusion and discourage migrants from seeking treatment.

The Roman Catholic Bishop for Migrants, Patrick Lynch, said: "The expectation placed on private landlords to conduct immigration status checks on tenants before providing accommodation, will deny many vulnerable migrants the right to suitable housing and could lead some migrant families into destitution".

"The [NHS] charging proposal will not only deny access to healthcare but increase inequalities among members of society and will have a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable migrants particularly women and children.”

Writing on the National Union of Students blog, international students’ officer Daniel Stevens explained why the NUS was against the bill.

Among other points, he said that the new proposals would make international students feel less welcome and deter them from coming to this country to study.

And, he pointed out, the new landlord checks would turn 'certain students over to a dangerous and illegal subsector of non-law abiding landlords, many of whom already prey on those who are unable to find accommodation elsewhere'.

The Home Affairs Select Committee has already criticised the standard of the accommodation that asylum seekers are forced to live in.

In a report published earlier this month, they said they were 'alarmed' by the 'sub standard' housing provided by companies like G4S, Serco and Clearel.

The committee also found that asylum seekers have to wait longer for a decision, some as much as 16 years.  It also criticised the authorities for forcing pregnant women to move around the country.

Committee Chair Keith Vaz said: “These companies must be held accountable and deliver a satisfactory level of service. It is unacceptable that in 21st century Britain thousands of people are forced into destitution due to the inefficiencies of the system.”