Women's Views on News |
- Why contraceptives?
- There are no blurred lines
- New European Commission announced
- London childcare still an issue
- Not more page 3
| Posted: 03 Oct 2014 05:10 AM PDT
By Katja Iversen and Jill Sheffield. What is contraception good for? The answer may seem obvious: As far back as the age of Cleopatra, who used gold pellets to prevent pregnancy, women have sought ways to plan the number and timing of their children. But critics of that idea go back just as far, and contraception remains controversial to this day. After the world celebrated World Contraception Day on 26 September, it's worth reviewing some of the ways that access to modern contraception improves not only the lives of girls and women, but also men, boys and society in general. Here are the top five benefits, in reverse order of importance: 5. Access to contraceptives makes the world a better place. When families have the option, they can delay having children until resources are more readily available for adequate food, health care and education. If half the population is able to avoid unplanned pregnancy after unplanned pregnancy and is free to be more productive, local and national economies cannot help but benefit. Smaller families compete less for resources, which can help ease a country's political tensions and move us all toward a more sustainable world. 4. Contraception saves money. For every dollar invested in family planning, at least $6 is saved for other uses. Families with fewer children can invest more of their income in each child as well as in improving their personal lives and communities with additional education, vocational training, farming, land and housing, or business ventures. 3. Control over her body is a woman's human right. Personal autonomy is a critical part of the definition of freedom. The idea of human rights is meaningless for girls and women who lack the right to decide for themselves, freely and without coercion, when and with whom to have sexual relations, or when and whether to become pregnant. While it remains controversial that access to contraception gives a woman power and allows sex for pleasure without anxiety, it is a basic human right to have autonomy over one's body. 2. Contraception empowers girls and women. A woman who wants two children will, on average, spend about five years of her life trying to become pregnant, being pregnant or recovering from pregnancy — and about 35 years trying to avoid pregnancy. Contraception makes that possible. Yet giving women a tool that allows planning for a life beyond motherhood remains controversial in some areas of the world. Some 39,000 girls under 18 are married off daily and often become pregnant immediately, leaving school and abandoning their personal dreams. Using contraceptives can allow women and girls to plan their lives and demand the education, training and work that will benefit society. Contraception makes it possible for girls and women to show the world all of what they can do. 1. It saves lives and improves health, and not just for women. This is the most important benefit of all. Presently, some 222 million women in developing countries want to delay or stop childbearing but are not using modern voluntary family planning. Investing USD8.1 billion a year to meet that need would reduce unintended pregnancies by more than 66 percent and prevent 30 percent of maternal deaths. It would avert 20 percent of newborn deaths and reduce unsafe abortions by 40 percent. Investing in voluntary family planning would also increase productivity for girls and women, developing a more sustainable world. Those figures don't even count the lives of both men and women that condoms alone could save by preventing HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, nor the lives of orphans and children who now die at rates higher than those of children whose mothers survive. But while the benefits of contraception seem obvious, decision-makers have not acted accordingly. Women still account for the majority of the world's poor — especially in countries with the lowest prevalence of contraceptive use. Young people under 30 account for half the world's population, and every year millions of adolescents enter their "reproductive age." A 2012 study from the Guttmacher Institute found that 645 million women of reproductive age, from 15-49 years old, in the developing world are now using contraceptives – 42 million more than in 2008. However, nearly half of the increase is due to population growth rather than a higher rate of contraceptive use, highlighting an unmet need for access to reproductive health services. The good news is that contraception has seen a lot of innovation. New technologies like long-acting reversible contraceptives, vaginal microbicide rings and one-size diaphragms are assisting in the prevention of unintended pregnancy, as well as sexually transmitted infections. Global partnerships such as Family Planning 2020 are also paving the way for women and girls to decide freely – and for themselves – whether, when and how many children they want. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development in Beijing, which called for universal access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care and services. It also marks the final year before the 2015 deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. As the international development community begins to review and reframe its objectives, the time is right to ensure that planning for the post-2015 agenda includes a renewed emphasis on the benefits of sexual and reproductive health and rights, including voluntary family planning and the urgent need for expanded investment in it. Contraception is a vital part of the sexual and reproductive rights of girls and women. It's a powerful tool that should be wielded much more strongly in order to spur development, enhance global security, and let girls and women live the full lives they want and deserve. A version of this article appeared in Devex on 26 September 2014.  |
| Posted: 03 Oct 2014 04:09 AM PDT
Devon and Cornwall Police have launched a new campaign targeted at students and young people; the idea is to help change attitudes to sexual offences. Their #NOBLURREDLINES campaign targets men and women aged between 16-37 to make clear to them that sex without consent is rape. The campaign is targeted at potential perpetrators and victims with the message that there are no blurred lines when it comes to rape. It also wants to dispel the misconceived notion that most rapes involve a stranger; 75 per cent of the victims in reported rape cases had previously met their attacker. And they are concerned that during Freshers week a student's judgement may be affected by peer pressure, alcohol, drugs or just lack of information regarding consent. Students are being given festival wristbands with the message to support the campaign for a rape-free culture as a visual reminder that they might need to consider their actions, and there will be an active social media campaign to encourage a discussion of the issue. There are also memo boards and information cards to help spread the word. The police are hoping to spell out the message that there are no blurred lines – sex without consent is rape. This campaign, when initially launched, was aimed at students at Freshers week anywhere in Devon and Cornwall. The facebook page is now live and the twitter account will be shortly. Both are called #NOBLURREDLINES, and the aim is to encourage discussion on the topic. If you need support on this subject, you can call the National Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 800 9999. If you require immediate assistance, call 999 or go to your local police station.  |
| New European Commission announced Posted: 03 Oct 2014 03:07 AM PDT
The good news is that one woman takes up the new position of Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality. Following the European Women's Lobby's (EWL) continued 50:50 campaign for gender equality on the new European Commission, some celebration was in order when Jean-Claude Juncker, the president-elect of the European Commission, announced the appointment of Věra Jourová as the new Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality. In his mission statement to Jourová, Juncker wrote that part of her responsibility will be in ‘ensuring that, within the scope of EU competences, discrimination is fought and gender equality promoted, including by exploring how to unblock negotiations on the Commission proposal for the Horizontal Anti-Discrimination Directive’. Many campaigners have said the appointment is not enough, particularly as the Commission is comprised of 19 male commissioners and only nine women. And gender equality is only mentioned once, and briefly – see above – in Jourová's list of responsibilities. The EWL's 50:50 campaign has already registered its dissatisfaction with the current make-up of the European Commision, and will continue to press for more rapid change, particularly among those countries, including Croatia, Estonia, Finland and Hungary, who have never appointed a woman as a Commissioner. Before her appointment as European Commissioner, Jourová was the Czech minister for regional development. The nine women on the current European Commission are Federica Mogherini (Italy), Elżbieta Bieńkowska (Poland), Alenka Bratušek (Slovenia), Cecilia Malmström (Sweden), Kristalina Georgieva (Bulgaria), Margrethe Vetager (Denmark), Věra Jourová (Czech Republic), Corina Creţu (Romania), and Marianne Thyssen (Belgium).  |
| London childcare still an issue Posted: 03 Oct 2014 02:29 AM PDT
The Family and Childcare Trust's London Childcare Report is the most detailed study to date on childcare in the capital, analysing childcare provision and costs, free childcare places, and whether London boroughs are meeting the childcare needs of working parents. In the report's conclusion they write: We set out to review childcare provision in London and look at the progress made towards addressing some of the problems we highlighted in the 2012 London Childcare Report. In this we identified the higher costs of childcare in the capital compared with elsewhere in the UK. There are also significant gaps in provision in many places, and most acutely for parents who have 'atypical' employment patterns such as shift-work. Where these parents are not able to 'shift-parent' or use informal childcare support networks, the absence of formal childcare may limit their work options. Since the publication of the 2012 London Childcare Report there have been some welcome developments at a national and London-wide level. The cost of childcare has risen up the political agenda and as a result of this debate parents will receive extra help with their childcare costs in 2015 through a new voucher scheme and in 2016 through Universal Credit. London local authorities and providers have created many new nursery places for two year olds who qualify for free early education. But at the same time a part-time nursery place for a child under-two costs 28 per cent more than the British average. There are also some serious gaps in provision which, in some cases, have worsened since 2012. Gaps in provision for the under twos and disabled children have worsened in the last two years. Moreover, there has been little progress to provide formal childcare for parents with atypical work patterns or a wider range of activities for 12-14 year olds. There are other childcare challenges in London. Despite much hard work, some local authorities have had difficulties finding sufficient places for two year old children who qualify for free early education. There is also a variation in the uptake of free early education. In 13 London local authorities more than one in ten of three and four year olds missed out on free provision in 2013. Another challenge in London is the quality of some nurseries, as it is only high quality provision that narrows developmental gaps and helps the most deprived children. Staff qualifications are strongly associated with quality and too many London children attend nurseries where no staff member is a graduate. Almost all research about parental employment highlights the importance of flexible and family friendly working in helping parents arrange their childcare. Legislation now gives workers the right to request flexible work, but for many London workers this right is in name only. The Government's most recent Work-life Balance Employee Survey indicated that just a third of workplaces allowed flexi-time where staff could vary their time at work outside core hours. The same survey showed that 8 per cent of workers had no access to any flexible work arrangement, which rises to 19 per cent where staff have no qualifications. London's most disadvantaged working parents are much less likely to have access to flexible work opportunities, usually because they have less power in negotiations with employers. This year's report made a number of policy recommendations that address childcare affordability, available and quality, as well as ensuring parents have access to family friendly employment. These are outlined in the report and its executive summary. We would like to see providers, London local authorities, the Mayor and national government prioritise childcare for parents with atypical work patterns. Another priority is to ensure that other gaps in provision are filled. One of the most pressing recommendations of the 2014 London Childcare Report is for reform to the childcare funding system, which comprises a mixture of supply-side subsidies to providers, mostly to deliver free early education, and demand-side subsidies to parents in the form of tax credits and voucher support. International evidence suggests that 'supply-side' funding where money goes to providers is generally more cost effective than directing funding to parents, as provider funding can be made conditional on meeting quality criteria, thus leading to improvements on early education and childcare. Channelling subsidies to providers has less potential to be inflationary, whereas demand-side funding to parents is more likely to push up childcare prices, as hard-pressed providers see extra money in parents' pockets as an opportunity to put up prices. The Family and Childcare Trust would like to see the Government set up an independent review of childcare funding that examines all options for funding reform, including a shift to supply-side funding. Throughout the report, we argue that access to good quality childcare makes London a better place to live and work. High quality early childhood education boosts the later educational achievement of children and narrows the gaps between the most disadvantaged children and the rest of society. Affordable childcare helps parents to remain in work and families to move out of poverty. Childcare helps London function as a global city – without it many skilled workers would be forced to leave the labour market. Investing in high quality and affordable childcare brings benefits for London children, their parents, employers and wider society. Ultimately, many of our recommendations will require financial investment from the Government. But we believe that this will pay off. Even a one per cent increase in maternal employment would result in a net gain to the exchequer of £200 million per year. This is a powerful argument for investing in childcare provision. To read the full report, click here. Please send the link for this report to your London Assembly member and your MP and ask what steps they intend to take to improve this situation. Thanks,  |
| Posted: 03 Oct 2014 01:09 AM PDT
A competition launched by the Sun recently offered members of the paper’s online fantasy football club a chance to win a date with one of the paper's Page Three models. The competition has particularly damaging implications, both for the views of women and the men they expect to enter the competition. And it has sparked outrage and feelings of disgust from feminists, campaigners and the No More Page Three campaign (NMP3). NMP3 has sent letters to the Gambling Commission (RGA) – and the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) – criticising the paper's use of women as an incentive to gamble, highlighting concerns that as some of the models involved are under the age of twenty-five, and the Sun may be breaking regulations which state that no one under this age should be involved with the promotion of gambling. This competition is especially worrying because it adds to the Sun's image as a sleazy publication, which views women not just as commodities but as ‘prizes’ to be ‘won’. It also speaks volumes about what the paper thinks of the male readers that the competition is aimed at. While Page Three models have long been used to encourage men to buy the paper, this competition invites them to actively engage with the women. It dangles the possibility of making their objectification fantasies a reality and at the same time gives them the opportunity to share and discuss the competition with their friends and fellow competitors. And while this is happening, the paper is able to gain access to their details, secure stronger customer loyalty and get a more focused picture of the demographic they are so obviously exploiting. Another – for us – concerning side-effect of this competition is that it could actually be trying to strengthen the voice against the No More Page Three campaign. If male readers enter in their droves, the Sun could easily use these figures to try to prove once and for all that 'sex sells'. As these readers now have a personal investment in Page Three, it's likely that they could take the campaign more personally and become much more vocal in their opposition. And a date with the model in 'real life' could be seen as being be a reminder that these models are real people who chose to appear in the paper. Since posting the open letters, the campaign has received a response from the ASA, stating that they have taken the complaint to their Investigations team for further assessment. It may be too soon to say whether or not this will have any effect on the competition itself. However, the Sun's depressing view of women as marketing tools (and of men as sex-obsessed consumers) doesn't seem likely to change anytime soon. An unlikely attempt to spark debate on the subject did come from media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, but his comments have only served to confirm the company's sexist attitudes. On 10 September, Murdoch suggested via Twitter that feminists who bashed Page 3 had probably never bought the paper. After saying that he personally thought the use of topless models in the paper was "old-fashioned" he went on to tweet: "Aren’t beautiful young women more attractive in at least some fashionable clothes?" The message couldn't be clearer: with or without Page Three, representation of women in the paper is based almost entirely on the way they look and, more importantly, whether or not their appearance is acceptable to their male readership. While The Sun and Murdoch's attempts to suggest change may come soon are unconvincing, the No More Page 3 campaign has continued to gain momentum. In an article for the Metro, the campaign responded to the latest Twitter-storm with what is best described as a war-cry: "We have no intention of stopping until women are portrayed in our news media in the same way and for the same reasons that men are – for their abilities, talents and contribution to the news. “Clothed or unclothed, it's 2014 Mr Murdoch and women aren't just decorating the news, we are making it."  |
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