Women's Views on News |
| Women policing and women’s safety issues Posted: 09 Jul 2014 06:43 AM PDT
Two organisations charged with highlighting issues faced by women across the world have joined forces to promote safety and security for women and girls internationally. The International Association of Women Police (IAWP) and UN Women National Committee UK (NC UK) recommend that more steps should be taken to support women police officers internationally to prevent violence against women and girls. The two organisations hosted a joint event at the House of Commons in London recently to discuss the outcomes of their joint panel discussion on gender responsive policing and security, which was held in New York in March. Speakers at the New York event, which was held in parallel with the United Nation's 58th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), included international experts on mixed gender responsive policing. Key areas covered by that event were the challenges of access to justice and legal redress; implementing gender-responsive policing; empowering and retaining policewomen; and the benefits of mixed-gendered international policing. Speaking in New York, Jan Grasty, President of UN Women NC UK, said: "Recognition of gender-responsive policing and security deserves to be given a high priority. "Without proper security and policing the poorest women and girls in society will be unable to take advantage of improved schooling, training, healthcare and development programmes designed to empower and move them out of poverty. We … focus on the 'universal' security and safety needs of women and girls." Outcomes and recommendations discussed in London included that: Security Sector Reform (SSR) budgets need to allocate greater funds to violence against women and girls prevention – the current allocation is less than 1 per cent; Current UN Women programmes build on indigenous peace and conflict reconciliation mechanisms to better reflect citizen security models; Future gender-responsive policing programmes need to ensure women officers are equipped with the skills and capacity needed to undertake such roles particularly in relation to low literacy rates in some countries such as Afghanistan; International police forces must be aware of internalised patriarchy when investing in male champions and male engagement efforts; and Gender-responsive policing strategies must avoid perpetuating damaging stereotypes, e.g. pushing women officers towards soft skills training. Jane Townsley, president of the IAWP, said: "Greater visibility of women police officers reassures female citizens that their specific needs will be met. "Police women in many countries can now enjoy equal status to their male counterparts but, unfortunately, that is not the case everywhere. "This is why the IAWP promotes greater female recruitment alongside strategic policy making with the emphasis not only on grassroots visibility for women, but lobbying influencers and decision makers for change." "The IAWP's educational conferences and holistic scholarship programmes for women police officers stand as an invaluable tool aiding their entry into police forces." Jan Grasty, president of UN Women NC UK, said: "Security must be at the forefront of change in the lives of women. "It is important that we go beyond just writing laws, there must be lasting implementation of gender-responsive security and policing mechanisms. "We need to create platforms to share and link global experiences of security with the hope of cascading successful initiatives to fit local needs. "It is also vitally important that men are involved in this process ensuring that gender responsive policing is successful because of the buy-in of all involved." The IAWP and UN Women (NC UK) will now work together towards the mainstreaming of gender responsive policing into global aid programmes.  |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2014 03:50 AM PDT
A new strategy, launched recently, sets out plans to eradicate all forms of violence against women and girls, aiming to create a society where all can feel equally safe and respected. Developed by the Scottish government, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and a range of partners, ‘Equally Safe’ is the first strategy of its kind in Scotland, and encompasses the full spectrum of violence against women and girls, including domestic abuse, rape, commercial sexual exploitation and female genital mutilation. It identifies the need to eliminate the systemic gender inequality that lies at the root of violence against women and girls, as well as seeking to ensure that when violence and abuse does occur there will be intervention as early and effectively as possible, the perpetrators of violence will be held to account and there will be help to keep women and girls safe. And it highlights the need for every area of government and wider society to play a role in tackling this issue. It calls on the engagement of the police, the NHS, community planning partnerships as well as the civil and criminal justice systems, social work, housing, media, businesses, employers, trade unions and third sector organisations to play their part in creating a society where all women and girls can feel safe, respected and equal in Scotland’s communities. The strategy is designed to help organisations and partners align their work with one shared, clear goal: to help create a strong, flourishing Scotland where women and girls live free from violence and the attitudes that help perpetuate it. In recognition of the key role that the justice system has in responding to violence against women and girls, Equally Safe also signals a comprehensive review of the justice system in Scotland. This review will include consideration of the law relating to sexual offences and domestic abuse and whether the current law reflects the true experience of victims of long-term abuse and whether additional criminal offences are required. The Cabinet Secretary for Equalities, Shona Robison, MSP, said: “Undoubtedly this is an ambitious strategy but to aspire to anything less is unacceptable. “No women or girl in our society should be subject to violence or abuse of any kind whether physical or non-physical. “It is our plan to eradicate violence against women and work to create a strong and flourishing Scotland where everyone can feel equally safe and respected. “There are, however, no quick fixes to this deep-routed problem. “We need significant social, cultural and attitudinal change over the long-term, change that calls for sustained commitment from a wide range of partners as well as individuals and communities.” Equally Safe is launched as new figures from two new Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) reports, which measure adults' experience and perceptions of crime in Scotland, reveal that there is still a broad level of consistency in the proportion of adults reporting experiences of partner abuse, stalking and harassment and sexual assault over recent years. The figures show that six per cent of all adults experienced at least one form of stalking and harassment in the last 12 months. While the overall risk of stalking and harassment was equal for men and women, the risk varied according to the type of stalking and harassment. Of those who experienced someone waiting or loitering outside their home or workplace, 71 per cent were female and 29 per cent were male. Three per cent of adults had experienced serious sexual assault since the age of 16 and this varied by gender, with four per cent of women experiencing serious sexual assault since the age of 16 compared with one per cent of men. The overwhelming majority of serious sexual assaults have been carried out by men (94 per cent) and 83 per cent of victims knew the offender. Fifty-four per cent of victims said their perpetrator was their partner. The partner abuse report shows that three per cent of males and females experienced partner abuse in the last 12 months. However, women were more likely to experience abuse since the age of 16 than men, 17 per cent compared to 10 per cent of men. The nature and impact of abuse reported by men and women were also very often different, with women more likely than men to have a partner threaten to hurt them, 37 per cent compared to 17 per cent of men. Twenty four per cent of women also have had a partner choke or attempt to strangle or smother them compared to three per cent of men. Gender rather than age is the factor that predicts an individual's likelihood of experiencing inequality and violence, with women and girls more at risk simply because they are female. While Equally Safe recognises that men and boys can also experience violence, what the strategy aims to highlight is that being female in itself can lead to a range of discrimination and disadvantage. Violence against women can also have significant consequences beyond those experienced by the individual. Children and young people growing up in an abusive family setting can also be badly affected, whether as victims of violence directly or as witnesses to it. The launch follows Police Scotland's announcement of the first meeting of the Clare's Law Disclosure Scheme pilot in Scotland which will allow police and prosecutors to ensure they use every means at their disposal to keep people safe. Clare's Law ensures the police, prosecutors and courts have the powers they need to hold the perpetrators of domestic abuse to account. Scottish Women's Aid manager Lily Greenan said: “Violence against women and girls affects everyone living in Scotland today. The publication of Equally Safe is a significant step towards addressing and preventing that violence. “Scottish Women’s Aid welcomes the publication of this strategy and looks forward to working with all of our partners to take the strategy forward.” The Head of Service at ASSIST, Mhairi McGowan, said she welcomed the publication of Equally Safe, which will provide the framework for combatting Violence Against Women in Scotland. “All women children and young people deserve to be safe and free from exploitation. We have a lot of work to do. “In particular, I look forward to having Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences all over Scotland so that victims of domestic abuse who are at high risk of further harm can get a coordinated response from agencies. “The next step must be to translate the strategy into actions so that all of us work together to ensure the necessary changes are made.”  |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2014 01:09 AM PDT
I was thinking today about how and when this happened and I’m sorry to say that the local football team was the height of entertainment in my teenage years at my little Welsh village. We spent our Saturday afternoons cheering them on and the Saturday evenings drinking pints with ‘the boys’. Anyway, now I really like footie, I don’t know many women who like football, never mind my feminist allies. Sometimes I feel guilty about liking it because it’s men, men, men isn’t it. Not a woman in sight. I have been excited about the World Cup. I’ve watched it where I can, made a sweepstake for the family and stayed up far too late on a school night to watch the drama of extra time and the voyeuristic stress of the penalty shoot out. What struck me immediately, and actually I wasn’t surprised, was the lack of women on the TV. What surprised me was my lack of surprise at the lack of women on my TV. Not even a token Claire Balding or Gaby Logan. It seems so odd now in 2014 that even equality doesn’t get any women on the TV when it comes to football. Even though the powers that be all know it’s wrong, they still get away with it and hardly anyone notices. Thirty days of football and not one woman commentator in sight. Why? I asked my 14 year-old football-mad son over dinner tonight, why do you think there are no women commentating on the world cup on TV? Because its sexist, he replied quickly (proud mum moment!). He went on to say that some ‘stupid’ people would think that women shouldn’t be commentating on the footie and in addition he said that ‘women probably didn’t have the confdence’ because he guessed they’d be shrugged off, laughed out, bullied even. Wow. I couldn’t have put it better myself. Our screens night after night are adorned with shiny, tanned, groomed men jovial and looking like they have got the best job in the world. Hansen, Wright, Hoddle, Chiles and of course our favourite Gary Lineker with his achingly perfect white teeth. The BBC were asked about their lack of women on their coverage this year and they responded that as it was about men’s football therefore they needed male footballers to comment. Isn’t that just another excuse to push their gender bias agenda. Should this be the case then surely it gives them a great excuse to get John Inverdale off the Wimbledon programme when the women are playing. Silver lining and all that. Sport of course in general is still just as heavily dominated by men: women remain the invisible competitor. And why is this? For no other reason it seems than for being female. Did you know there is in fact now no Tour de France for women? No actual event? Nicole Cooke, the World Champion cyclist rightly described it as a scandal, blaming (surprise surprise) sexism in cycling as the cause. In a weak compensatory gesture, the women will this year be allowed to join the final stage of the Tour for a few hours before the men finish their race in Paris. Ouch. And it goes on. The Grand Prix hadn’t had a female driver for 22 years, not until Susie Wolff took to the track at Silverstone in February this year. Along with this the female Wimbledon stars remain mostly forgettable, but their underwear became titilating headlines: about the fact they played without bras and apparently how their knickers could have been checked for whiteness. So we haven’t got the experience to commentate on the World Cup because we can never be a male footballer. The UK women’s football teams will never get the TV exposure of their male counterparts despite the fact they only need one point from their next two games to qualify for the World Cup, they have a 100 per cent record in their qualifiers so far… It’s very likely you don’t know that. We can’t cycle the streets of York with the men and our Wimbledon lobs and volleys disappear into the black hole of what colour pants we wear. I’m not a fan of the word normally, but in this instance I think my son is right. It’s stupid. And yes of course, it’s sexist..  |
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