Women's Views on News |
| Posted: 24 Sep 2015 09:12 AM PDT
Monday was the International Day of Peace. Maybe it made you think of birds, of sunshine, of doves and smiling, happy children. Maybe you wanted to laugh hollowly. For the persistence of war and conflicts globally urges us to redefine ‘peace’ as ‘sustainable peace’; as the presence of human security, justice and equality, rather than simply the absence of war. And Europe really has to face the consequences of war and conflicts in other parts of the world and has a duty to act, not only in terms of addressing the situation of refugees and asylum seekers reaching European countries, but also to promote real peace and security for all of us on this planet. This year it is 15 years since the adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR1325) on 'Women, Peace and Security', which stresses the importance of including women in peace negotiations, in post-conflict reconstruction, in disarmament, and in humanitarian relief and peace building. It also highlights the increasingly pervasive violation of women's rights in conflict, namely the different forms of violence women and girls face, including the use of rape as a weapon of war. In this context, and in light of the 'refugee crisis' we are facing now, the European Women's Lobby (EWL) would like to bring everyone's attention a reality which the media and the decision-makers tend to ignore: women and girls fleeing conflicts and war face various forms of male violence in their journey towards a hosting country, as well as – multiple layers of – discrimination because of widespread prejudices about women refugees and asylum seekers. Of particular importance just now as the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says that the number of women and children fleeing countries of violence heading for Europe has increased sharply in recent months. And EWL members from Eastern Europe have raised the issue of the current widespread violence against women and girls in transit zones. Here are some examples EWL feels it is important to share, to make sure that the national and European responses to the current situation include a strong gender perspective, and in some hope that at some point – really soon would be best – governments will promote peace for all human beings, including women and girls. There is for example, the horrendous sexual violence committed against women refugees and asylum seekers. Sexual violence against women and girls is not related to exceptional situations only: the EU's Fundamental Rights Agency reminds us that 1 in 3 women have experienced sexual or physical violence in Europe, and 5 per cent have been raped. But many women flee their country because of a pervasive situation of male violence against women. Moreover, in the course of escaping, of being a refugee, male violence is part of women's experience. Women are being raped by officials, by smugglers, by other refugees, by traffickers. EWL's members in Hungary, for example, are aware of cases of rape perpetrated by Balkan police. And Women Under Siege's director Lauren Wolfe has reported: "Every single woman I came to meet in my reporting described or alluded to rape – either of themselves or of others – as they traversed the African continent through Libya to cross the sea to Italy." But because of the prevalent – patriarchal – structures, women rarely report these cases of violence to the authorities. They therefore don't get any support or justice. They might also face unwanted pregnancies but have no access to health care or choice regarding abortion. And then there is the problem of prostitution and the trafficking of women refugees and asylum seekers. For on the journey, fleeing war and conflict, women and girls are vulnerable to trafficking and prostitution. People smugglers might link with traffickers to abuse women and girls and exploit them in brothels or other prostitution sites. Women might have to use prostitution as a means to survive during their journey, to get a place to sleep or get some food, or to buy their way, or pay for their family's way. Which rasies the question of care for the sexual and reproductive health of women refugees and asylum seekers. Prostitution seems also to be widespread in the transit zones – and doctors report cases of sexually transmitted diseases. And according to UNICEF, 12 per cent of the women arriving in Macedonia are pregnant, saying – and reporting that "We got many stories of women starting bleeding and losing their child, for instance in Greece". Because of the lack of drinking water in the journey and the transit zones, many people, but mostly children, pregnant women and breastfeeding women, suffer from kidney problems. Women refugees and asylum seekers have trouble finding toilets and sanitary products in the countries they travel through or the countries they arrive at in Europe. Or in transit zones, some authorities set up showers, but with no hot water, no separation between women and men, and have made no provision for babies' hygiene. The European Women's Lobby has been working on the issue of asylum for many years, and has repeatedly said that Member States should ensure that asylum procedures at borders comply with the UNHCR's Guidelines on International Protection (Gender-related persecution within the context of Article 1(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugee, 7 May 2002). In particular, guideline no. 35 which states that 'Persons raising gender-related refugee claims, and survivors of torture and trauma in particular, require a supportive environment where they can be reassured of the confidentiality of their claim. This last since 'some claimants, because of the shame they feel over what has happened to them, may be reluctant to identify the true extent of the persecution suffered or feared'. And asylum officials should inform women of the gender aspects of the definition of refugee and make clear that fear of gender-based violence and discrimination may also constitute a valid basis for claiming refugee status. For as the EWL points out, the people who are transiting Europe now need our help, and every one of our gestures actually makes a difference. But this 'crisis' also needs to be handled at political level, with clear, relevant and transformative answers.  |
| Billing maternity care for migrants costs lives Posted: 24 Sep 2015 09:10 AM PDT
Despite campaigns to get maternity care exempt from charges for migrants in the UK, women are still being charged and thus deterred from seeking care. Under the Coalition government, NHS charges were introduced for some international visitors and migrants in an attempt to "keep services sustainable". The 2014 Immigration Act has seen hospitals billing some women thousands of pounds for their maternity care, while some reports show that women are being – wrongly – refused antenatal care because they cannot pay up front. The charges apply to undocumented migrants who have used the NHS’s emergency or maternity services, despite calls for maternity care to be exempted. This charge system has led to the harrowing experiences documented in a Doctors of the World UK (DOTW-UK) report published earlier this year. Women with no income report being presented with bills for the services they received during pregnancy. In two cases women were faced with four-figure sum bills soon after the deaths of their babies in hospital. The Doctors of the World’s report, covering cases known to the DOTW-UK's charitable London clinic between March 2013 and June 2014, was based on interviews with 35 women about their experiences. It found that while most women in the UK made use of maternity services in their first trimester of pregnancy, over two thirds of the expectant mothers surveyed did not have any maternity care until their second trimester and half of women did not have sufficient antenatal care appointments. Dr Clare Shortall, lead author of the report and a volunteer at the DOTW-UK clinic in east London, said that presenting bills to women after they have given birth acts as a deterrent to them seeking life-saving care. "We hear stories of people desperately trying to borrow money from friends and family and then eventually not going to hospital because they think they can't afford it," she said. "Many of these bills seem to have been sent out on autopilot with no thought to how they will affect those who will receive them. Just because they are able to do it does not make it the right thing to do. "It's not just inappropriate, it's wrong." Fear of costs and communication issues were often cited by women in the DOTW-UK report as being barriers to care. This echoes findings from the 2013 report by the charity Maternity Action which found that pregnant migrants were avoiding antenatal care because they could not afford hospital charges. The risks of missing antenatal care are potentially life-threatening. "It’s horrific when bad things happen that could’ve been avoided by better antenatal care. You can’t put a price on a child’s health," Dr Shortall said. On top of the financial cost of accessing care, migrant women may have their immigration application thrown out if they have an NHS debt of more than £1,000, but they often have no means of earning an income while waiting – sometimes years – for their applications for asylum to go through. For as Dr Shortall pointed out: "Hospitals will end up chasing someone that’s destitute and that person is pushed further into destitution." And Cathy Warwick, the chair of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), said; "Midwives should not act as gatekeepers to the maternity services," "They owe a duty of care to all pregnant women who seek care from them and they should provide care to all pregnant women irrespective of ability to pay. "We urge service providers to exercise compassion and sensitivity when dealing with migrant women, especially when they have suffered the tragic loss of their baby," she added. The problems of migrant women not accessing maternity care in the UK is having serious health consequences, with the latest Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths and Morbidity report finding that poor access to antenatal care was a major problem among women who died. The problem is not confined to the UK however, as a 2014 DOTW report found that migrants across Europe faced barriers to accessing healthcare due to lack of knowledge and understanding, administrative reasons, being denied health coverage outright, expense, language difficulties and fears of being arrested or reported. Considering the current influx of refugees and migrants into Europe this is an area of humanitarian injustice which needs addressing urgently – before any more lives are lost.  |
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