Friday, June 19, 2015

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

UN projects for cities and female safety

Posted: 18 Jun 2015 03:10 AM PDT

UN Women, Lakshmi Puri, safe cities, “No city can be smart and sustainable if half of its population is not safe and lives in fear of violence.”

Sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence in public spaces are an everyday occurrence for women and girls around the world—in urban and rural areas, in developed and developing countries.

Women and girls experience and fear various types of sexual violence in public spaces, from sexual harassment to sexual assault including rape and femicide.

It happens on streets, public transport and parks, in and around schools and workplaces, in public sanitation facilities and water and food distribution sites, or in their own neighbourhoods.

In London, for example, in a poll conducted in 2012 by the Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW) Coalition, 43 per cent of young women said that they had experienced street harassment just during the past year alone.

This reality reduces women's and girls' freedom of movement. It reduces their ability to participate in school, work and in public life. It limits their access to essential services, and enjoyment of cultural and recreational opportunities. It also negatively impacts their health and well-being.

Although violence in the private domain is now widely recognised as a human rights violation, violence against women and girls, especially sexual harassment in public spaces, remains a largely neglected issue, with few laws or policies in place to prevent and address it.

The Safe Cities Global Stakeholders' Planning Meeting "Safe Cities for Women and Girls – Implementation Essentials", was held in New Delhi, India, from 10-12 June 2015.

Designed as a learning and exchange platform, the stakeholders' meeting was convened to share and discuss evidence-based approaches, practices, tools, and lessons learned to advance the international knowledge base on how to make cities safe for women and girls.

Panels focussed on the Safe Cities teams' work in action, as well as community mobilisation and collaboration with women's organisations at the grass-roots level.

In her opening remarks on 10 June, UN Women’s Deputy Executive Director, Lakshmi Puri, said:

“In today's increasingly urban world, providing safe living environments, productive economies and equitable social benefits are challenges facing towns and cities globally.

In the early nineties the percentage of people living in urban areas was 42.9 per cent, in 2015 it is 54 per cent, and in 2030, it is expected to be 60 per cent. Within urban population, there is an increasing cluster of large cities underway, in particular those with more than 5 million people. This transformational process is being particularly felt among the Least Developed Countries.

How does all this affect women? From transport to access to information, to safe housing, it impacts them every day! Ensuring basic services to an increasing amount of people is a challenge, in particular for those women and girls living in poverty or marginalized groups.

Urban safety is intrinsically linked to the concept of the Right to the City, and encompasses every person's rights to mobility and access social, economic, political, cultural opportunities that the cities offer. Adequate gender-sensitive planning in the provision of services and infrastructure can become an empowerment force that enables the full enjoyment of women to their right to public space, gender equality, and equal access to income, education, health care, justice, and political participation and influence.

Yet, sexual violence in public spaces remains a universal concern. Women in every city in the world, without exception, in developing and developed countries, face sexual harassment and other forms of violence in public spaces. But few cities are courageous enough to hold themselves accountable and undertake actions to comprehensively address it.

The cities that are part of UN Women's flagship Safe Cities Global Initiative are pioneers, and an example for other cities to follow. This programme began in in five pilot cities and now spans 20 cities in both developing and developed countries. The major cities include New Delhi, Cairo, Dublin, Rio de Janeiro, Reykjavik, Marrakech, Sakai in Japan, Quito, Port Moresby, Mexico City, Metro Manila, and Kigali.

UN Women's ultimate goal with this programme is to ensure that women and girls in every city in the world are socially, economically and politically empowered in public spaces, spaces which are free from all forms of violence.

This is key to achieving gender equality by 2030, which is one of the proposed Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs. There are also other gender equality sensitive targets in the other proposed SDGs.

The SDGs are a new, universal set of goals, targets and indicators that UN member states are defining to frame their agendas and political policies over the next 15 years.

And SDG 11 is on safe and sustainable cities aligned with dignity, justice, people, planet, prosperity and partnership, is the foundation of such new development framework.

Around the world cities are being redesigned to meet the needs of sustainable development for all. No city can be smart and sustainable if half of its population is not safe and lives in fear of violence. Cities in India constitute a microcosm and macrocosm of that given their size, scale and scope. Safe Cities for women and girls must therefore be part of this new urbanisation movement and made part of its DNA.

In this context, UN Women's call for 'Planet 50-50 by 2030 – Step it up for gender equality' has been endorsed by international community as seen in the adoption of the recent CSW59's Political Declaration.

We would like to urge all the leaders who come to the Global Safe Cities Forum to be a part of this effort for the years to come.

And the role of local leadership in achieving the SDGs is critical. Most of these goals be decided at the local municipal level and therefore the SDGs must be the basis of a change that is locally relevant, locally owned and locally sustainable.

In this context, India's 100 Smart Cities Project, which will be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi this month, might provide a valuable and constructive way forward. We hope that this Smart Cities Project will fully integrate the perspectives of women and girls and be truly inclusive.

And as the various states prepare to nominate their candidate cities, we hope that women's safety will figure prominently in their proposals.

Let me conclude by calling on all stakeholders – governments, citizens, companies, and the media – to come together and make safe urban spaces for women a reality.”

And she closed her speech by calling on men and boys in particular to become champions for gender equality, women's empowerment and ending violence against women, saying: “Take a stand, show us your support by joining our global HeForShe campaign at heforshe.org!”

UN Women's Safe Cities Global Initiative launched its first programme in 2010 and has been progressively expanding the initiative around the world, facilitating global commitment to make cities smarter, safer and more sustainable through partnership and collaboration – between residents, government, the private sector and civil society.

UN Women's Safe Cities Global Initiative includes two main flagship programmes.

In 2010, UN Women, UN-Habitat and 50 other global and local partners, launched "Safe Cities Free of Violence against Women and Girls" in Quito, Ecuador; Cairo, Egypt; New Delhi, India; Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; and Kigali, in Rwanda.

It was the first-ever global comparative programme that develops, implements, and evaluates tools, policies and comprehensive approaches on the prevention of, and response to, sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls across different settings.

In 2011, UN Women, UNICEF, and UN-Habitat launched the "Safe and Sustainable Cities for All" joint programme in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; San José, Costa Rica; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Nairobi, Kenya; Beirut, Lebanon; Marrakesh, Morocco; Manila, Philippines; and Dushanbe, in Tajikistan.

UN Women's Safe Cities Global Initiative has generated a number of innovative results through partnerships with mayors' offices, national governments, women's groups and other community partners.

The municipality of Quito, for example, has amended a local ordinance to strengthen action against sexual harassment in public spaces. New Delhi has integrated Safe Cities approaches in social protection schemes, while Egypt's Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development adopted women's safety audits to guide urban planning. Port Moresby's National Capital District has taken steps to improve women's safety in local markets.

For as Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Women’s executive director said,"Development, democracy and urbanization do not automatically ensure safety for all citizens.

“Women and girls face risks of harassment and sexual assault at home, at work, at schools, on public transport and on streets."

Mumsnet takes a stand on abortion

Posted: 18 Jun 2015 02:58 AM PDT

Mumsnet, ASN, Ireland, NI, abortion rightsOne in three women will have an abortion, but it's this giant secret that very few talk about.

Online community Mumsnet  selected the Abortion Support Network as part of its Giving Week 2015 – a charity dedicated to helping Irish women access safe abortion.

This means that a tiny abortion-support charity has received the support and backing of behemoth Mumsnet, the largest online community of women in the UK.

Mumsnet users selected the Abortion Support Network as one of five charities to raise money for as part of the Mumsnet Giving Week 2015.

This landmark decision has caused a stir in the press, with The Telegraph even publishing an article suggesting that Mumsnet could potentially be colluding with criminals.

So why has Mumsnet chosen to stick its head above the parapet and support an organisation which has at its heart a topic so divisive?

Over 4,000 women travel from Ireland to the UK every year seeking safe abortions. That is 10-12 women per day.

In their own country these women receive little or no support, many are too scared to speak to their doctor for fear of prosecution regardless of whether they have been raped or their foetus had died or any other reason they may have to ask for a termination.

Women seeking an illegal abortion within Ireland risk up to 14 years in jail.

Amnesty International recently published 'She is not a criminal', a report into abortion in Ireland which makes for harrowing reading.

The report includes personal stories from a number of women and their experience of getting an abortion.

According to the report, "Their reasons for terminating their pregnancies vary; however, their reason for travelling is the same. They cannot access safe and legal abortion services in Ireland, as procuring an abortion there is a criminal offence except where the pregnancy poses a "real and substantial" risk to their life."

The definition of 'real and substantial risk' is hard to pinpoint, however, as is demonstrated by stories of women forced to carry a dead foetus for months and at a serious risk to their own health, because the law does not allow any medical intervention.

The fact is that abortion is a reality of life. Women choose to have an abortion for many reasons. No woman's story or reason is the same, and it is an incredibly nuanced topic.

But women living in Ireland or Northern Ireland seeking an abortion face an additional very difficult situation.

Their options are to travel to another country for an abortion, or attempt to acquire medical abortion pills – which are also illegal in Ireland.

Travelling from Ireland to the UK for an abortion can cost from £400-£2000, more when you take into consideration costs such as travel, accommodation and time off work, perhaps childcare.

For many woman it is difficult enough to organise. But for vulnerable women, those without any money, those who have or are being abused or who have experienced sexual violence, it is even harder.

Since 2009, the Abortion Support Network has assisted over 1,500 women in Ireland and Northern Ireland access safe abortions.

It does this by helping to meet the cost of the procedure as well as travel and accommodation. It is specifically aimed at helping women who cannot afford the costs involved in getting an abortion.

And it experienced a sharp increase in the number of women it assisted last year.

The Mumsnet and Abortion Support Network alliance originated with one woman's story.

A mother of two from Northern Ireland approached the Abortion Support Network for help travelling to England for an abortion.

With an openness not often seen when it comes to discussing abortion she chose to tell her story on Mumsnet, and in doing so received a lot of support from the Mumsnet community.

The interest led to Mara Clarke, the founder and director of the Abortion Support Network (ASN), being invited to take part in an hour long Mumsnet webchat to discuss the charity and its work.

Subsequently, Mumsnet users selected the Abortion Support Network as one of five charities for its Giving Week 2015. The level of support was so strong that the target of £4,000 was reached in a matter of days.

Speaking to WVoN about why Mumsnet had chosen to support the Abortion Support Network, Justine Roberts, Chief Executive, said: "Giving Week is all about the organisations that our users choose to get behind. The Abortion Support Network was one of the clear winners from the nomination process and was backed by lots of Mumsnet users."

When asked if there is any way of knowing how many Mumsnet members are pro-abortion, Roberts told WVoN "We haven’t ever surveyed our users on their attitudes to abortion, and like most things we suspect there would be a range of opinion among our seven million users.

"That said, there’s been very little dissent about the choice of Abortion Support Network, and Mumsnet users in general seem to be supportive of safe and legal abortion – although of course some would disagree."

The reality is that abortion is common – approximately 200,000 are carried out in the UK every year – but few women feel comfortable discussing it openly.

But according to Mara Clarke, talking freely about abortion is one of the best ways people can support the cause.

Discussing abortion as a reality of life that many different people have experience of helps to normalise it, removing the shroud of secrecy and shame.

Clarke told WVoN, "The easiest thing people can do, is simply to talk about abortion.

“One in three women will have an abortion, but it's this giant secret that very few people speak about.

“This means in places like Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man, people can stick their heads in the clouds and pretend that making abortion against the law stops abortion.

“When really it just stops SAFE abortion, and creates a two-tiered system in which, when faced with an unwanted or non-viable pregnancy, women with money have options and women without money have babies – or do dangerous and desperate things."

It is clear that the support of Mumsnet is huge news for the Abortion Support Network.

Not only is it providing the opportunity for much needed donations but it is also bringing the work of the charity to a larger audience.

Clarke, telling WVoN how she felt about the ASN being selected by the Mumsnet community, said: "It had been mentioned that ASN might be in the running for MumsNet Giving Week. But I never thought we'd be selected. The support has been overwhelming…

“The ASN is almost entirely funded by private individuals making donations, so public backing is something we're used to, and very grateful for."

Clarke explained "As a parent, I've always looked at the issue of abortion as a part of maternal care. People should be able to choose if and when to have children, or more children.

“It's wonderful that the users of Mumsnet support the rights of women in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man to have the same rights to abortion care that women in England, Scotland and Wales do."

Both the Abortion Support Network and Mumsnet have come under fire from pro-life groups, with the Chief Executive of the Christian Medical Fellowship accusing Mumsnet in The Telegraph of potentially colluding in illegal activity.

In response to this Justine Roberts told WVoN, "Obviously we don’t go out of our way to break the law. The ASN does not supply pills, it provides information as well as funding towards travelling to England. The ASN is registered with the Charity Commission."

Mumsnet, as a strong online community of women has once again shown itself as a force to be reckoned with.

Many women may be pro-choice and pro-abortion but unsure of how or where to voice their support.

While society continues to treat abortion as this dirty little secret, entirely the fault and problem of women, it is hard for people to speak out.

Which is why, in selecting to champion the Abortion Support Network, Mumsnet is doing just that – shouting out on behalf of women.

If you would like to help the Abortion Support Network, visit their website; as a volunteer-led organisation they are always interested in additional support.

Judicial review on Northern Irish abortion law starts

Posted: 18 Jun 2015 02:54 AM PDT

judicial review of abortion in Northern IrelandReality is a damning indictment of the executive’s failure to prioritise women’s healthcare.

A legal challenge to Northern Ireland's High Court in Belfast commenced on Monday, as part of a judicial review on the country's stance on abortion.

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) is seeking to have the law changed to allow abortion in the cases of rape, incest or 'serious malformation' of a foetus.

During the review, the High Court will hear the arguments from both the pro-choice and anti-abortion campaigners.

The legal challenge will include a submission from Sarah Ewart, a resident of Northern Ireland who has been an advocate of changing the law since she was forced to travel to England for an abortion in 2013.

At 20 weeks pregnant, her foetus was diagnosed with the fatal condition anencephaly.

However, because her own health was not at risk, she was told that she would have to carry the foetus to term.

Ms Ewart has spoken publicly about her ordeal in an attempt to have the law changed.

“I am an ordinary woman who suffered a very personal family tragedy, which the law in Northern Ireland turned into a living nightmare," she said.

“I was told that my baby was likely to die before being born or shortly afterwards. All I kept thinking was – ‘our baby has no brain, she cannot live’.

“I simply could not face it, but the law in Northern Ireland meant I had no option but to go to England and take myself away from the care of the doctors and midwife who knew me.

"I was 23 years old and totally devastated."

There are other groups submitting their arguments to the judicial review. These include Alliance for Change, the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child, Catholic Bishops NI, the Family Planning Association, Marie Stopes, Northern Ireland’s attorney general and Amnesty International.

“Northern Ireland’s laws on abortion date back to the 19th Century, carry the harshest criminal penalties in Europe and fail to protect women who have been raped, are victims of incest or whose pregnancies have been given a fatal foetal diagnosis,” said Grainne Teggart from Amnesty NI.

“Up to 2,000 women leave Northern Ireland every year to access termination of pregnancy services. That reality is a damning indictment of the executive’s failure to prioritise women’s healthcare,” she pointed out.

The review comes just days after figures were released by the UK's Department of Health which revealed that 3679 women from Ireland travelled to England to access an abortion in 2013.

The London-based Abortion Support Network, which supports women financially to travel from Ireland to the UK for abortions, believes that the numbers are increasing.

"Since we've started [in 2009] we've seen the number of people contacting us go up by 520 per cent," Mara Clarke, founder of the Network, said.

"I think the abortion law in Ireland is completely unfit for purpose. Ireland exports its abortion problem," she added.

Amnesty Northern Ireland agrees that this inequity within the UK is unacceptable.

"It's a dire situation," said Grainne Teggert. "Politicians are beginning to change their mind-set, but that's no good.

"We need the words of politicians to become actions and legislate for change. Women can't afford to wait."

Some see Ewart's case as sparking a sea change in public opinion in Northern Ireland, with people beginning to appreciate that the abortion issue is not a black and white, pro versus anti issue.

For example around 65 per cent of people surveyed by Amnesty last year in Northern Ireland believed that abortion should be legal in certain circumstances.

"For years, no one talked about it but people are talking about abortion now," Jenny McEneaney of the Belfast Feminist Network, said.

"Being anti-choice is the default in Northern Ireland. But when you have those conversations, you start to see people changing their minds."

Ewart's story has helped to speed up the conversation, with the justice department recommending that cases of fatal foetal abnormality should be considered grounds for abortion in light of her story.

Ewart said: “I, and many women like me have been failed by our politicians. After they left me with no option but to go to England for medical care.

"Now, by their refusal to change the law, they leave me with no option but to go to the courts on my and other women’s behalf.”

It may not exactly be a victory for the pro-choice movement in Northern Ireland, but at least it is the beginning of a conversation which can hopefully move towards a less draconian, more humane system where women can access basic, life-saving procedures.