Women's Views on News |
| Coercive control could be criminalised Posted: 26 Aug 2014 06:10 AM PDT
The Domestic Violence Law Reform Campaign celebrated a victory when the Government announced that it was opening a consultation on strengthening the law on domestic abuse. There is currently a gap between the Home Office's updated definition of domestic violence, which now includes coercive control (a systematic pattern of abuse and control), and criminal law, which only prohibits incidents of physical injury. Home Secretary Theresa May announced the consultation, saying 'The government is clear that abuse is not just physical. 'Victims who are subjected to a living hell by their partners must have the confidence to come forward, [and] I want perpetrators to be in no doubt that their cruel and controlling behaviour is criminal.' Following the publication in March this year of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary's (HMIC) report that found that the police response to domestic abuse not good enough, with 'alarming and unacceptable weaknesses in some core policing activity,' the Domestic Violence Law Reform Campaign released a report calling for the Government to 'close gaps in the law around domestic violence which allow perpetrators to avoid prosecution for their abusive behaviour.' The consultation is open until 15 October 2014, and the governments says that is 'is particularly interested to hear from people who have experienced domestic abuse and from the experts who work with them.' If you want to comment, please click here.  |
| Posted: 26 Aug 2014 04:15 AM PDT
‘War, Women and Song’ celebrates the Lena Ashwell YMCA Concert Parties of the First World War when more than 600 performers signed up for a tour of duty with Ashwell between 1914 and 1919. They played whatever and wherever was needed, in freezing tents and packed huts, on ships at sea and at the bedsides of the dying. War, Women and Song is a theatrical journey across continents, through deserts, casinos and hospitals on cattletrucks and in limousines; hundreds of brave performers ventured beyond the footlights and into the arena of war carrying with them the belief that 'Art Can Heal'. From her first appearance on stage in 1891 to the end of her life, Lena Ashwell was determined to make the theatre accessible and relevant to everyone and she was crucial both for the advancement of women in the English theatre and for the formation of the National Theatre. She presented ‘new drama’ at the Kingsway and Savoy Theatres and was active in the Actresses’ Franchise League, (AFL), as well as being committed to the British Drama League. On the outbreak of World War I she initiated and raised money for thousands of concert-party troop entertainments at the Front, and organised companies of actors, singers and entertainers to travel to France and perform; by the end of the war there were 25 of them, travelling in small groups around France. She also organised all-male concert parties to perform shows near to the front line, concert parties immortalised in Siegfried Sassoon's poem ‘Concert Party‘. More than 300 professional performers took part in recitals between 1914 and 1919, including singer Elsie Griffin, singing in camps, at bedsides, on station platforms – in fact wherever they were needed. Elsie Griffin was a Fry's chocolate packer who joined Ashwell's group after winning at the Bristol Music Festival. Lawyer and composer, Fred Weatherly, who wrote 'Danny Boy', sent it to Griffin to perform. When peace was declared, the Lena Ashwell Players set about taking regular theatre performances into local communities around the country. War, Women and Song will be performed by actors trained at the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama and is produced by Harvest. Inspired by archives and recently discovered private notebooks, Anna Farthing and Bea Roberts have dramatised shattered fragments from the lives of those who toured to theatres of war to bring the harmony of home to soldiers reeling from the cacophony of battle. After its premiere in the British Library Conference Centre in London on 30 August, War, Women and Song will run from 31 August until 2 September at the Redgrave Theatre, Percival Road, Bristol BS8 3LE and starts at 8.00pm – and should be touring after that. Please note that booking is through Tobacco Factory Theatres and that some performances will be followed by an optional discussion.  |
| Posted: 26 Aug 2014 01:34 AM PDT
The Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that he has asked the Home Office to look into adding the names of mothers to marriage certificates in England and Wales. Currently, mothers' names are added only to civil partnership certificates and marriage certificates in Scotland and Northern Ireland. There is currently no legal requirement to have mothers' names on the marriage certificate in England and Wales. Speaking at a Relationships Alliance summit, Cameron said he wanted to address "inequality in marriage". "The content of marriage registers in England and Wales has not changed since the beginning of Queen Victoria's reign," he said. "At the moment, they require details of the couples' fathers, but not their mothers. "This clearly doesn't reflect modern Britain – and it's high time the system was updated." The announcement came after a petition to get the certificates changed on Change.org garnered 70,840 signatures. The petition, started by Alisa Burkimsher Sadler, accompanied a Twitter campaign with the hashtag #MothersOnMarriageCerts. It took a year for the campaign to see results; the petition was originally launched in August 2013. Burkimsher Sadler welcomed the Prime Minister's declaration as a "victory" but emphasised that there is still a long way to go, as it remains unclear exactly how the government will change certificates and if the changes will be applied retrospectively. "It's one part of a wider problem with inequality against women and it's simply ridiculous it took this number of years," Burkimsher Sadler said. "I just found it incredibly insulting to women that they had been discriminated against in a legal document." "We have been written out of history for years and I didn't think this was a situation that should persist any longer," she added. Over 100 Members of Parliament from across parties joined the call for the law to be updated to require the names of both parents on certificates. An Early Day Motion by Green MP, Caroline Lucas, argued that the “law should not perpetuate the offensive and outdated message that marriage is a business transaction between fathers”. And Sajid Javid, the Culture Secretary, has promised to look into changing the law. "I have discussed modernising marriage certificates with the home secretary and we are currently considering a range of options," he said. "The content of marriage registers has not changed since civil marriage was introduced in 1837, so it is right that we look at whether it still meets our needs." He also pointed out the need for certificates to recognise that some people will have parents of the same sex. A Home Office spokeswoman was quoted as saying: "We are currently reviewing the information contained on marriage certificates and a number of options are being considered." "Replacing all the certificates held by local authorities, in churches and other religious buildings is logistically complex and costly but we are investigating how this change may be achieved," she said. A Telegraph Wonder Woman poll also found that 81 per cent of 3,432 readers supported a law change on marriage certificates because the current law is 'totally anachronistic'. However some have argued that this important step is not enough to counter sexist traditions in the institution of marriage. Laura Bates from the Everyday Sexism project has proposed ways in which the institution of marriage could become more gender equal above and beyond the presence of mothers' names on marriage certificates. These suggestions include making it socially acceptable for women to propose, reducing the focus on the bride’s appearance during weddings, and increasing the equal division of household labour, childcare and decision-making during marriage. Despite the long way we still have to go in the journey to make marriage an equitable commitment between two people of any gender, the Prime Minister's announcement is at least one hopeful sign.  |
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