Women's Views on News |
| Women’s lobby calls for action – now Posted: 19 Feb 2015 04:32 AM PST
A message to all the United Nations' member states, in light of the CSW59 on Beijing+20. In March, in the context of the 59th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW59), all the UN’s member states will adopt a political declaration commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action. While we should be celebrating the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, we know and see that women and girls still face inequality, violence, discrimination and insecurity in all spheres of life and society. And really, there is no more time to waste, no more negotiating to undertake. Women's and girls' rights are universal goals, which cannot tolerate any exception, justification or excuse. Peaceful and sustainable development cannot be achieved if half the planet's population is not fully enjoying their human rights. CSW59 is a unique chance to deliver change for all women and girls on the planet, and for the human community as a whole. This is why the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) and its members call on all UN member states to ‘Commit, Accelerate and Invest’. COMMIT to the realisation of the Beijing Platform for Action: Reaffirm your commitment to all interconnected and universal human rights, and systematically ensure a women's rights perspective in your work, including in the adoption of the post-2015 agenda. Reaffirm your commitment to existing United Nations agreed language and instruments on women's rights and equality between women and men, including the Cairo Programme of Action (on sexual and reproductive rights) and the 1949 UN Convention (on prostitution and trafficking). ACCELERATE the implementation of all women's rights instruments, especially the Beijing Platform for Action and CEDAW, and of existing regional and national laws and programmes on women's and girls' rights and gender equality: Keep women's rights on the highest level of the political agenda, at all times, including by strengthening institutional mechanisms for women's rights. Elaborate comprehensive and ambitious strategies to realise women's and girls' rights which should not only develop and implement legislation, but also make a concrete change in mentalities and values. Make sure that all policies are designed to not leave a single girl or woman behind. Reiterate your commitment to end all forms of violence against women and girls, in order to reach the highest level of equality, development and peace for all. INVEST in women's and girls' rights, and in women's organisations: Ensure that national budgets include increased dedicated investment to secure women's rights: investment in women's labour market participation, social services for women, sustainability of women's organisations, etc. Equally include women's organisations and experts in all global discussion on all issues, including on the post-2015 agenda, and in your national delegations to the UN meetings such as the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). Abide by your duty to develop democratic societies and civil dialogue, and protect all human rights activists. Deliver a new model for development and peace, with women's and girls' rights, and feminist economics and values at its core. As the largest coalition for women's rights and gender equality in Europe, the European Women's Lobby has also sent a letter to the Latvian Presidency of the European Union (UE) to express its expectation of seeing a leadership role played by the EU and its Member States in the adoption of an ambitious, serious and forward-looking declaration. The letter includes recommendations on the new working methods for the Commission on the Status of Women. The European Women’s Lobby asks UN member states to reaffirm the norm-setting role of Commission on the Status of Women on gender equality and empowerment of women, and decide that the Commission on the Status of Women will contribute to the follow-up of the post-2015 agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Commission on the Status of Women has a critical role in accelerating the realisation of the Beijing Platform for Action and all women's and girls' human rights and instruments; it should also further enhance its catalytic role for gender mainstreaming in all UN entities and activities, including in support of the implementation of the post-2015 agenda and the SDGs. Moreover, women's organisations should be supported to participate in the work of the CSW and regional meetings on gender equality, including on the post-2015 agenda, given their instrumental role in promoting women's and girls' rights. Women's organisations and feminist groups should also be included in national delegations to the Commission on the Status of Women, should be given access to negotiations, and should be able to speak and intervene during general and panel discussions. The convening role of the Commission on the Status of Women is a question of democracy and transparency. Join this EWL call for action: Tweet your ministers with #CommitAccelerateInvest #Beijing20 or #CSW59.  |
| Domestic abuse victims housed in bed and breakfast places Posted: 19 Feb 2015 01:30 AM PST
The number of domestic violence victims forced into bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation in England has shot up by 16 per cent in two years. A total of 125 responses from local authorities to Freedom of Information requests show that councils placed 1,980 domestic abuse victims in bed and breakfast accommodation in 2013/14, compared to 1,701 in 2011/12 – an increase of 279. These findings by Inside Housing will fuel ongoing fears that cash-strapped councils' reductions in funding for providers of refuges is leading to more abuse victims being placed in unsuitable accommodation. B&Bs are not as secure as refuges, and the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has said local authorities should not place victims in such accommodation. Polly Neate, chief executive of Women's Aid, said: “Women and children are often placed in B&Bs when they cannot get a space in a refuge, and recent cuts to refuge budgets are making the situation even worse.” A number of councils have blamed the rise in B&B placements on an increase in reports of domestic abuse. Luton Council, which has seen B&B placements for domestic abuse victims rise from just one to 56 between 2011/12 and 2013/14, said there had been 'a steady increase' in the numbers of people approaching the council for advice after experiencing domestic violence. A spokesperson for Croydon Council, where B&B placements for victims increased from 55 to 63 over this period, said there had been a 26 per cent rise in the number of reported domestic abuse incidents in the last year, as well as 'ongoing council budget pressure'. And according to the National Audit Office, the government will have reduced its overall grant funding to local authorities by an estimated 28 per cent in real terms between 2010/11 and 2014/15. David Sparks, chair of the Local Government Association (LGA), said in a radio interview recently that councils are being forced to cut other services to maintain social care budgets. In November, the Department for Communities and Local Government expressed concern that local authorities were closing domestic abuse provision because of budgetary pressures and launched a £10m fund to stop refuges closing down. A survey by Women's Aid published recently showed that 13 per cent of 132 domestic violence services in England had suspended or closed an area of service due to lack of funding in 2013/14. Polly Neate said women and children escaping domestic violence 'need specialist, needs-focused support and a place they know they will be safe'. “B&B accommodation cannot provide this support, and is unsuitable for women leaving violent perpetrators, who will often try and track them down to further abuse them,” she pointed out.  |
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