Women's Views on News |
| Her body, her health, her life Posted: 24 Sep 2014 06:11 AM PDT
The Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion is on 28 September. As part of this year’s campaign, ICMA have joined forces with Ipas and International Planned Parenthood Federation – Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR) with a petition calling on Samantha Power, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, to urge world leaders to affirm sexual and reproductive rights – including the right to safe, legal abortion – in the post-2015 development agenda. We believe in a world where every woman has the right to make decisions about her body, her health, and her future. Yet this vision is far from reality. In much of the world, women still don't receive the sexual and reproductive health care they want and need. And the consequences are dire. This month, global leaders will meet at the United Nations in New York City to make long-lasting decisions that affect every woman in the world. That's why we're joining forces to demand that all governments fulfill their obligations to women. Nearly 60 countries have stood up for sexual and reproductive health and rights, like family planning and safe, legal abortion. And as a key global partner, US leadership is needed to ensure that these rights are prioritised in the UN's post-2015 agenda, particularly in the areas of health, gender equality, poverty eradication, and education. Join us in calling on the US Ambassador to the United Nations to encourage all world leaders to support a woman's right to make her own decisions about her own body. This is what the petition says: Dear Samantha Power, I'm calling on you to be a leading advocate for women's sexual and reproductive health and rights at the United Nations General Assembly. The post-2015 agenda must affirm a woman's right to make her own decisions about her body, her health, and her future. Despite signs of progress – like a 50 per cent reduction in maternal deaths in the last 20 years – more attention is needed by governments to fulfill their obligations to women. In the last two decades, a million women and girls have died and more than 100 million have suffered injuries due to complications from unsafe abortions. And today, at least 200 million women worldwide want, but cannot access, contraception. I urge you to be a leader in ensuring that women's sexual and reproductive health and rights – including family planning and safe, legal abortion – are not just present but prioritized in the post-2015 agenda, particularly in the areas of health, gender equality, poverty eradication, and education. Thank you. Please join us: please sign our petition.  |
| We need sex and relationship education Posted: 24 Sep 2014 04:33 AM PDT
Last year a survey of teenagers by the Sex Education Forum found that 48 per cent rated their sex and relationships education (SRE) 'OK' and 27 per cent rated it 'bad' or 'very bad'. This year, a Metro report found that more than three quarters of gay and bisexual young people received no support or information at school about same-sex relationships or safe gay sex. Meanwhile, according to Kat Smithson, policy and campaign manager at the National AIDS Trust, one in three 16-24 year olds do not know enough to prevent HIV transmission during sex, and HIV diagnoses among young gay men have doubled in the past 10 years. To counter this, a coalition of LGBTI, sexual health and HIV campaigners have come together to write an open letter to the government. The letter argues for age-appropriate SRE catering to all sexualities to be taught as a compulsory subject in all schools. Signatories of the letter include Stonewall, the Lesbian and Gay Foundation, the Terence Higgins Trust, the National AIDS Trust, and the Peter Tatchell Foundation. The editor of QX magazine, Cliff Joannou, who came up with the idea for the coalition letter, said: "It's shocking that in the 21st century schools are still not required to give children and teenagers the education they need to make informed decisions about their sexual health and relationships. "In addition, omitting LGBTI relationships from SRE means that too many children and teenagers grow up feeling further alienated by society." The open letter comes ahead of a scheduled debate in Parliament next month of the private member’s bill tabled by Green MP Caroline Lucas, which proposes that all schools be legally obliged to provide SRE as part of Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education. Lucas has expressed her support for the SRE campaign, but has argued that schools must go further than teaching inclusive sexual health and issues of consent. "[PSHE education] needs to go much further too, and include all forms of violence against women – including teenage relationship abuse, forced marriage, FGM, sexual exploitation." Lucas argued. "It should also be linked in to work on gender equality and challenging gender stereotypes. "Work in our schools must allow young people to be more in control of their sexual identity rather than being dictated to by the media or advertising. "Crucially, it must address harmful notions of masculinity and present boys with positive alternatives." The release of the letter also coincides with the launch of the Sex Education Forum's It's My Right campaign. The Sex Education Forum is campaigning for statutory sex and relationships education (SRE) as part of an entitlement to statutory personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education. Labour's shadow minister for preventing violence against women and girls, Seema Malhotra, agreed that schools have a huge role to play in helping develop healthy attitudes towards sex and relationships which are free of violence and misogyny. She also argued that we should be providing age-appropriate SRE from as young as Key Stage 1 (5-7 year olds). "There is a huge issue for young people who are growing up in a much more complex world – online and offline worlds which blend in a way they didn't when we [previous generations] were growing up," she explained in an interview with the Guardian. "I think young people are struggling to make sense of it all." However, the issue of compulsory SRE and PSHE in schools has faced opposition in Parliament, including direct opposition from the Department for Education. If you want to support the It's My Right campaign, email your local Member of Parliament to ask them to call for their party's commitment to statutory sex and relationships education. Or if you are 17 or under, click here to sign our petition for those under 18 years old.  |
| Posted: 24 Sep 2014 02:00 AM PDT
New research into gaming habits in the UK has found that female gamers now outnumber men. And this growing popularity of gaming among women could mean that the industry will become more inclusive and less tolerant of sexism. The study, commissioned by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), revealed that women make up 52 per cent of the gaming audience, a 3 per cent increase from 2011. Although the rise of smartphone and tablet use is thought to have influenced this figure, the study also found that 56 per cent of female gamers have played on a console. This is significant because big name game companies are running out of excuses for creating games with no credible female characters, or with dated, sexist tropes which purposefully exclude women from what has long been seen as a 'boy's club'. Now they will no longer be able to cling on to claims that women aren't interested in gaming, or that it is too time-consuming or complicated to animate female characters and costumes. Anita Saarkeesian is one person who has railed against the sexism in games culture in her web series Tropes vs Women. In response to the series, Saarkeesian has faced an onslaught of sexist comments from outraged male gamers, and threats to herself and to members of her family. Indie game developer Zoe Quinn has also faced a similar backlash following the release of her game Depression Quest, with gamers sharing her personal details and making harassing phone calls to her parents. The fact that gaming has become so popular amongst women could mean that such instances of misogyny will not escape without a fight. The Zoe Quinn backlash sparked what is being referred to as 'Gamer-gate' with both women and men in the industry showing their support to Quinn and Sarkeesian. The recent launch of a petition to end harassment is a glimmer of hope that the gaming community could be steadily becoming more inclusive. In an 'Open letter to the gaming community', Andreas Zecher wrote: ‘We believe that everyone, no matter what gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion or disability has the right to play games, criticize games and make games without getting harassed or threatened. ‘It is the diversity of our community that allows games to flourish.’ The sense of solidarity and community amongst women in gaming is on the rise. Social networking sites like Tumblr are helping women to connect with each other and to create their own space in a sphere that would have otherwise excluded them. More and more panels and conventions feature all-female lineups. With so much creativity and active, inspiring discussions taking place, it is clear that feminism is well and truly making its presence felt in gaming culture.  |
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