Women's Views on News |
- Resisting the war on welfare
- Fighting for an independent life
- Encouraging news for women in film
- An end to maternity discrimination?
| Posted: 04 Dec 2013 08:34 AM PST
The petition calls for a cumulative impact assessment of welfare reform and a new deal for sick and disabled people based on their needs, abilities and ambitions – rather than the political aims of the current Westminster administration or any motive to cut welfare budgets. WoW (it stands for resistance to the 'War on Welfare') demands an immediate end to the humiliating work capability assessment and a free vote on repeal of the Welfare Reform Act, along with an independent, committee-based inquiry into welfare reform. And it wants an end to forced work under threat of sanctions for people on disability benefits, along with other demands. Passing the magic 100,000-signature mark does not mean the petition has automatically won a chance to be debated in Parliament; the Backbench Business Committee has to agree to put it forward first. It is fortunate, then, that, according to the Daily Mirror, the petition has won the endorsement of celebrities including Stephen Fry, Russell Brand, Yoko Ono and Bianca Jagger. "This is a hugely important issue because many disabled and sick people cannot go out and protest against these devastating policies," said comedian Francesca Martinez, who launched the petition in December last year. "It is vital that those of us who can, join together to ensure these basic rights aren't eroded away. "With 83 per cent of disabilities acquired [rather than congenital], anyone can find themselves with an impairment, or [living] as a carer, and we must make sure that people are adequately supported when in challenging times. "This is what a civilised society does. "Instead of demonising those on welfare, we should be proud to create a society that provides for everyone regardless of health or ability. "We will never forget the many tragic deaths already caused by this government and we will continue to fight in the hope that we can protect those in need from despair, poverty and death." Of course we don't know exactly how many tragic deaths have been caused by the government because it is still refusing to tell us – the Information Commissioner recently upheld the Department for Work and Pensions' refusal of a Freedom of Information request on that very subject (by me). Let's all agree that we're a far cry from where we were in October, when the petition had just 62,792 signatures, didn't look like it was going to make it, and I wrote: "Are we all so apathetic that we are happy to sit around, eating our horseburgers and gossiping about whether the stars of our favourite soap operas are sex fiends… that we can't be bothered to spare a thought for people – perhaps people we know – who are suffering for no reason other than that the government we didn't even elect demands it?" We're not – and what a great feeling it is to be able to say that! But my gut instinct tells me that we should not sit back and expect others to finish the job – not yet. It's great that the petition will be considered in Parliament, but let's make sure that our MPs know how strongly we feel about this. What I'd like to suggest – and this is just a thought that has come to me as I was writing this – is that those of you who have taken part in the Twitter campaign might like to post another tweet saying something like “I want a Parliamentary debate for the WoW Petition bit.ly/XFS5Ur“. If you're emailing someone, you could add that line after your signature – and this could be especially effective if you are sending a letter to the press – a newspaper, magazine or online media. And you could also add it to any messages you put on Facebook or similar social media. We've got public attention now – let's make it all worthwhile. A version of this article first appeared on Vox Political.  |
| Fighting for an independent life Posted: 04 Dec 2013 07:23 AM PST
‘Dear Friends, I'm writing to let you know about an emergency that is happening to disabled people in the UK right now as you read this. Some of Britain's most disabled people – including me – are facing losing our right to living independent lives. The Independent Living Fund (ILF) is a pot of money that helps disabled people who need the highest levels of support to do more than just exist. But David Cameron's government has already closed the ILF to new applicants – and now he wants to stop it for the group of 18,500 people who already receive it. That will mean people like me will end up sitting alone looking out of the window for most of the day unable to even go to the toilet. Until now, despite being severely disabled by rheumatoid arthritis and unable to walk or use my hands or arms, I've been able to live a fulfilling life. In 2012 I was a Gamesmaker, and I carried the Olympic torch. Now, I will be imprisoned at home, and will even have to give up my beloved dogs Jack and Molly. At 66 years old, severely disabled, and totally human and wheelchair dependent, I have found myself looking at the deep pond at the bottom of my garden, no longer wanting to live. My weight has dropped down from 9 stone to 6 stone. But I didn't want to just sit around feeling sorry for myself, so I asked campaigners to make a 15-minute film about me. You can click here to read my full story. It's not just the ILF, the whole of social care provision is in crisis. Sooner or later this will affect most of you if you become disabled or when you get older. Disabled people are also under attack from the Bedroom Tax, from the – flawed – Work Capability Assessment process and ATOS's reviled tests, from the abolition of Disability Living Allowance, from cuts to council tax benefit and from Benefit Caps. We wonder what we've done to deserve it. We aren't the ones who caused the banking crisis. But it seems as if we are the ones who are paying for it. We wanted you to know what's happening to disabled people under 'Austerity', because we thought if you did you'd want to campaign with us about it. If you do, please write to your MP urgently, asking them to save the ILF. You can send them a letter at the House of Commons, or email them via theyworkforyou. And please forward this email to everyone you know. Signed: Mary Laver.’ Please write to your MP urgently, asking them to save the Independent Living Fund which exists to help disabled people who need the highest levels of support. You can contact your MP easily through this website. You could use this as a template: Dear MP, I urge you to watch this video, which gives a very real idea of how important this fund is, and to do everything you can to save this vital fund. Best wishes, Signed: Voter/Taxpayer/Human Being. A version of this post appeared on the False Economy blog and the Disabled People Against Cuts site.  |
| Encouraging news for women in film Posted: 04 Dec 2013 04:07 AM PST
Employing more women in writing and directing roles makes sound business sense for the film industry, according to new research from the British Film Institute, BFI. Analysis of the performance of UK films between 2010-2012 shows that a high percentage of the most successful and profitable independent British films had a female screenwriter and/or director. But women are currently still under-represented in writing and directing roles in the film industry. Of all UK independent films released between 2010 and 2012, just 11.4 per cent of the directors and 16.1 per cent of the writers were women. However, 18.2 per cent of the directors and 37 per cent of the writers of the top 20 UK independent films over the same period were female. And 30 per cent of the writers of profitable UK independent films were female. Amanda Nevill, CEO of the BFI, said: "Women are creating stories and characters that resonate with audiences in the UK and around the world, and it's encouraging, and absolutely no surprise, to see films from women writers in particular really making an impact. "Frustratingly, overall the numbers of women in writing and directing roles remains low and there is still much work to do to ensure female voices can come through." Notable successes included Jane Goldman, with ‘The Woman in Black’ and ‘Kick-Ass’; Phyllida Lloyd and Abi Morgan and ‘The Iron Lady’; Debbie Isitt and ‘Nativity 2′, and Dania Pasquini and Jame English with ‘StreetDance 3D’ and ‘StreetDance 2 3D’. A number of women also saw success on UK films which were financed by major studios in the USA, including Sarah Smith and ‘Arthur Christmas’; Susanna White and Emma Thompson on ‘Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang’; Jane Goldman with ‘X-Men: First Class’ and Lone Scherfig and ‘One Day’. The research found that a number of successful female writers and directors were attached to more than one project, and many of the directors were also working in other media including television and theatre. According to the BFI, this indicates that there is now a critical mass of women with established writing and directing careers. The report also shows that films with female writers or directors were more likely to have female producers or executive producers, and have received financial support through BFI Lottery and BBC Films or Film4. The report follows research from Creative Skillset, which showed that the number of women employed in the creative media industries grew by almost 16,000 between 2009 – 2012, with representation rising from 27 per cent to 36 per cent of the total workforce, reversing the decline seen between 2006 and 2009. And Bird’s Eve View, an organisation dedicated to supporting women filmmakers, has just launched FILMONOMICS, a business training programme consisting of six sessions on topics such as ‘understanding audiences and building confidence’ plus three months extra support from industry experts. According to Birds Eye View, "The 21st century filmmaker needs to know about digital delivery, audiences, positioning and marketplace. So participants on the FILMONOMICS programme ‘will gain an understanding and knowledge of the business behind film, enabling them to make smarter, targeted and market aware decisions on all aspects of their own projects including areas such as positioning, collaboration with key practitioners, distribution methods and reaching audiences’. FILMONOMICS is targeted at film teams of two, for example writer and director, producer and director or writer and producer. Between them they must have a portfolio that includes production of a short film that has been screened at an international film festival or a feature film in development with a public funder or a published script and/or book. And either the writer or the director must be female. Interested? The deadline for applications is 2 January 2014. To find out more, click here.  |
| An end to maternity discrimination? Posted: 04 Dec 2013 01:09 AM PST
A year’s worth of shared parental leave, where either parent could opt to take time off after the birth of their child – just imagine it! It would be like some kind of Scandinavian utopia, where men and women were equal and we all watched Borgen. Give it a few years – or the time it takes for hyper-masculine men to realise it’s not ‘sissy’ to take time off to look after your own child – and employers will no longer be able to discriminate against women of child-bearing age. Men might, one day, be just as likely as women to sack off their job for up to a year, in order to look after a new baby. Men might be just as likely to take emergency leave because their toddler tripped up in pre-school or request flexible working hours to tie-in with the school run. In fact, it could even swing in women’s favour because, let’s face it ladies, our procreation window is somewhat smaller than men’s; imagine a world where men were discriminated against because they could literally have a baby at any time (I know, I’m just getting carried away now). The government’s plan to introduce 50 weeks of parental leave from April 2015, shared between both parents, is of course good, if somewhat overdue, news (pun intended). It has worked in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Germany, all of which appear above the UK in the 2013 World Gender Gap Index. To me therefore, it is a no-brainer, and one of the most important steps towards equality in the workplace that I’ve seen during my working life. Not everyone agrees, however. The right-wing press has decreed this another attack on the ‘traditional’ (sexist) values of British society, suggesting that women will be ‘forced’ back to work too soon and that men are incapable of looking after another person under the age of 12. Women fear that “new laws on maternity leave could see them returning to work too soon" wailed the Daily Mail. Who the hell are these women? Oh, its middle-class campaign group Mothers at Home Matter again, justifying (to themselves probably) their roles as stay-at-home mothers. It’s fine to choose to stay at home to look after your children if you’re in the privileged position to be able do so, but shouldn’t that option be open to men too? Unless of course, like Judith Woods, writing for the Telegraph, said, you don’t think they’re up to the job. Women, she says, tend to have more empathy and more patience and are not nearly as grumpy when deprived of sleep. Speak for yourself, Judith. As if that isn’t patronising enough to all the men I know (or would count as decent human beings at least), apparently dad can’t be trusted to ‘mind’ the baby without forgetting to feed it or subjecting it to endless hours of online video games, so they should just bugger off to the office and leave mum in charge. As you might expect, British businesses are are not 100 per cent behind the proposals; for them it means more admin and increased uncertainty (all those men they employed instead of women might now decide they’d like to be a bit more involved in their new baby’s upbringing). The Institute of Directors called it a “nightmare” for smaller firms and other critics have cited surveys which suggest just one in 20 men will opt to take the leave. I don’t suspect every new dad will be ditching the laptop and late nights at the office in favour of baby yoga and monkey music; we still have the small issue of the pay gap to sort out, and as long as mum earns less than dad, she will still be the one literally left holding the baby. It’s a bit of a catch-22: the pay gap still persists – almost 40 years after the Equal Pay Act – largely because of maternity leave, yet women, because they often earn less, will still take on the majority of childcare responsibilities. Speaking to the Guardian about the reforms, Equalities Minister Jo Swinson asked: “Why does a man who works flexibly and part time get treated differently from the woman?" “It’s a symptom of how we do have cultural double standards in many workplaces, where for women to take flexible working or leaving early on a particular day to pick up the kids from nursery is deemed to be acceptable but for some reason we treat a man who is making the same choice differently. “We do really need to think about how we address some of those cultural barriers in workplaces. We need to get parents thinking about this and talking about it.” A change in attitudes like this will inevitably take time – I’m not even sure I’ll see it in my lifetime – but addressing maternity discrimination has to be a very big step in the right direction. Just because something is branded ‘traditional’ doesn’t mean it’s ok – some golf clubs are still using that old chestnut today.  |
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