Women's Views on News |
| Men’s lives, combat and violence against women Posted: 09 Sep 2015 11:27 AM PDT
One day, at a beach, Kathleen Barry witnessed an accidental death. Seeing how empathy drew together the bystanders – strangers until that moment – in shared human consciousness, she asked: ‘Why do we value human lives in everyday moments but accept the killing in war as inevitable?’ So in her book Unmaking War, Remaking Men, Kathleen Barry probed what happens to the value we hold for human life in making war. And by revealing how men’s lives are made expendable for combat, she shows how military training drives them to kill without thinking and without remorse, induces violence against women, and leaves soldiers to suffer both trauma and the loss of their own souls. She also turns to her politics of empathy to shed new light on the experiences of those who are invaded and occupied and shows how resistance rises among them. And what of the state leaders and the generals who make war? In 2001, a fateful year for the world, George W. Bush became President of the US; Ariel Sharon became Prime Minister of Israel; and Osama bin Laden became the de facto world terrorist leader. Analysing their leadership and failure of empathy, Unmaking War, Remaking Men reveals a common psychopathology of those driven to ongoing war, first making enemies, then labelling them as terrorists or infidels. This book – with its exposé of how blinding macho at home finds its way into war – challenges the USA's pre-eminence in the world; Barry has a programme for demilitarisation of all states, and remaking the masculinity that drives men to combat. In uncovering how resistance forces come about under occupation – and the system of high civilian death tolls, house raids and humiliations – Barry shows that aggressor states are in the business of making enemies to perpetuate ongoing war. Considering Israel as an arm of US military power, Unmaking War, Remaking Men examines how both states have misused the term ‘terrorist’ by refusing to acknowledge that both Hizbullah and Hamas are resistance movements of self-determination. And Barry asks: ‘What would it take to unmake war?’ She has scrutinised the demilitarised state of Costa Rica and compares its claims of peace with its high rate of violence against women. She then turns to the urgent problem of how might men remake themselves by unmaking masculinity. And she offers models for a new masculinity drawing on the experiences of men who have resisted war and have in turn transformed their lives into a new kind of humanity; into a place where the value of being human counts. Feminist activist and sociologist, Dr Kathleen Barry, Professor Emeriat is the author of five books. Her first, Female Sexual Slavery, launched an international movement against trafficking in human beings. To watch a video of a launch of Unmaking War, Remaking Men: How Empathy Can Reshape Our Politics, Our Soldiers and Ourselves, click here.  |
| The UK is deporting 18 year-olds Posted: 09 Sep 2015 07:58 AM PDT
Britain will resettle up to 20,000 refugees who have fled from the conflict in Syria, the Prime Minister David Cameron has just announced. A pathetically small number in the first place, and to be spread over the next five years. MP Caroline Lucas voiced her disgust, pointing out among other things, that that was only 12 refugees a day for five years. And they will face then deportation after they have been in the UK for five years. And the former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Paddy Ashdown, said this suggested that orphans and children will be deported at age 18 having made a new life in Britain, and in saying this, has drawn attention to another aspect of the British government's appalling inhumanity. For the government is already failing to provide thousands of vulnerable children who come to the UK on their own with the long-term measures crucial to their stability and well-being, leaving them in a legal limbo, causing many to face homelessness and feel anxious, new research from The Children's Society revealed recently. Many of these children are in the UK seeking safety from war, violence and persecution. Others have grown up here after being sent to this country to live with friends or relatives, or have been left on their own after their parents died, or they were abandoned. The situation becomes particularly acute for many when they turn 18 and have to leave local authority care and return to a country they may not know or that is dangerous, where they have no connections, the report Not Just a Temporary Fix: The search for durable solutions for separated migrant children shows. Clearly the government needs to develop policies that provide lasting solutions for these children, not just ones that focus on their short-term needs. And all the agencies involved in their lives — including immigration and care — need to work together to make sure these young people's best interests are always at the heart of any decisions taken about them. Currently, there is no formal process in place to assess these children's best interests for the long-term. As a result, children face an ad hoc system to determine what will happen to them as they approach adulthood, based on their immigration status rather than their needs. This violates the government's commitment under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to prioritise children's welfare. Furthermore, making it possible for local authorities to prepare for a child's future is part of the care system's core responsibility. There are 3,612 unaccompanied/separated migrant children in the care of the 107 local authorities that responded to The Children's Society's Freedom of Information request. Many others will be living in private fostering arrangements. Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children get 'leave to stay' called Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Child leave. It is granted for 30 months or until the child is 17½, whichever is shorter. But because many of these children get at most 30 months leave to remain in the UK at a time, they cannot plan. And once they reach adulthood, many are left stranded with no status, even in cases where they have grown up here. Matthew Reed, chief executive of The Children's Society said: ‘This group of children is among the most vulnerable in the country, yet they are left with no sense of what will happen to them as they reach the brink of adulthood. 'It is crucial that the government helps children who are in the UK on their own over the long-term. 'The authorities need to make sure children have the stability necessary so they can develop, thrive, and have the best possible chance in life.’ Ashdown’s claim exposed the sting in the tail of the government’s plans, which were immediately met with shock on Twitter, the Independent reported. Ashdown’s own Twitter post was quickly shared over 3,000 times in the space of two hours. “What a disgusting policy,” one Twitter user responded. Which sums it up neatly.  |
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