Women's Views on News |
- Know what’s what and help your health
- Another police failure another death
- Read about Infidel Feminism
| Know what’s what and help your health Posted: 15 Oct 2015 05:59 AM PDT
A lack of knowledge around the causes and symptoms of gynaecological cancers, leading to inaccurate assumptions about the links between sex and cancer, could be costing women in the UK their lives. This is one of the conclusions that has to be reached after the women's cancer research charity The Eve Appeal released its annual survey recently. It revealed that one in five women surveyed believed that gynaecological cancers are associated with sexual promiscuity, and almost 40 per cent felt that there was a greater stigma around gynaecological cancers than other forms of the disease. This stigma is preventing women from seeking potentially life-saving medical advice; a quarter of respondents said that they are put off talking to their GP about gynaecological health problems because they don't want to discuss their sexual history. While there is a causal link between some forms of gynaecological cancers and the sexually transmitted High Risk Human Papilloma Virus (HRHPV), the virus is so common that it can be considered a normal consequence of sexual activity since 80 per cent of people will contract some form of the HPV virus in their lifetime – even in those who have had one sexual partner. There is currently no known association between HRHPV or any other sexually transmitted diseases and the two most common gynaecological cancers – ovarian or womb cancer. These taboos are just one of the barriers to early diagnosis of gynaecological cancers identified by the survey. The data also highlighted a reluctance to seek medical help for many of the most common symptoms of these diseases, particularly amongst women aged between 46 and 55. Respondents within this generational 'danger zone' were most likely to ignore gynaecological health symptoms in the hope that they would go away (38 per cent) or think that they were not urgent enough to see a GP about (21 per cent). One in five women aged 46-55 even said they hadn't sought medical advice for symptoms such as changes to periods, persistent bloating or pelvic discomfort because they believed they were normal for someone of their age. But in fact postmenopausal bleeding is a key symptom of womb cancer, which women of this age group are at higher risk of developing with almost three quarters (73 per cent) of cases in the UK diagnosed being in women aged between 40 and 74. Age is also a significant factor in the incidence rate of other gynaecological cancers. Three quarters of ovarian cancer cases in the UK are diagnosed in women over 55, and vaginal and vulval cancers occur most commonly in women over 60. With so many factors contributing to the attitudes and perceptions around gynaecological health there is a clear need for further debate around the topic. And the survey’s findings support this too; 85 per cent of respondents agreed that discussing the symptoms of gynaecological cancer more openly could help save lives. A further 34 per cent stated that they would feel more comfortable talking about gynaecological health problems if the sexual stigma surrounding these issues were reduced. Every day in the UK 55 women are diagnosed with a gynaecological cancer, making Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month (GCAM) 2015 the perfect time to start what could be a life-saving conversation. The Eve Appeal wants to encourage women to host a fun night in to raise money for the essential research that the charity funds – as well as getting friends and family together to 'open up' about gynaecological issues and share their knowledge and experiences of gynaecological cancers. And learn what the bits are called. For as well as embarrassment, stigma and fear of and dismissive doctors contributing to a delay in cancer diagnosis, widespread 'health illiteracy' also compromises not just cancer treatment, but every aspect of healthcare.  |
| Another police failure another death Posted: 15 Oct 2015 04:43 AM PDT
A discretionary serious case review (DSCR) has found that murdered teenager Georgia Williams was failed by the police and by social services. Her killer, Jamie Reynolds, was known to police and had tried to strangle a girl in 2008, before he hanged 17 year-old Georgia in Telford in 2013. Speaking about the DSCR, Lynnette and Steve Williams, Georgia’s parents, said: “We appreciate West Mercia Police initiating this report having recognised that the 2008 investigation was inadequate to say the least. “However, considering that multi-agency resolutions are considered a way of achieving best results this report shows how this approach can be disastrous. “Having lost Georgia to pure evil we cried when we read this report and the failings of all agencies involved because it was so obvious that Reynolds was, if not one already, a murderer in the making. “Georgia’s death could have been prevented – learn if nothing else.” In the wake of these findings, national domestic violence charity Refuge has called for an end to the "culture of inaction" that is failing to protect so many women from violence. Sandra Horley, chief executive of Refuge, said: “Yet again, a young woman has been catastrophically failed by the very agencies designed to protect her. “How many more women have to be murdered by men before police and other state agencies take effective action? “Why, after so many damning reviews and reports, are we still witnessing such an appalling response? “In so many ways, Georgia's case mirrors many domestic violence homicide cases. “Agencies failed to join up the dots; police failed to collect evidence; the young woman at risk was not given information which could have better equipped her to keep herself safe. “Instead, Reynolds – someone who had previously tried to attack two other women – was able to lure Georgia to his home to murder her. “Chief Constable David Shaw, of West Mercia Police, says that the agencies "should have done better" to protect Georgia. “When will we see these empty words transformed into actions? “Two women a week lose their lives at the hands of a current or former partner – and many of these women are let down in their time of need.” In an attempt to put an end to this culture of inaction, Refuge is currently campaigning to open a public inquiry into the response of the police and other state agencies to victims of domestic violence. Please add your voice to Refuge's campaign by signing this petition here.  |
| Posted: 15 Oct 2015 02:00 AM PDT
‘Infidel Feminism‘ is the first in-depth study of a distinctive brand of women’s rights that emerged out of the Victorian Secularist movement. Anti-religious or secular ideas were fundamental to the development of feminist thought, but have, until now, been almost entirely passed over in the historiography of the Victorian and Edwardian women’s movement. In uncovering an important tradition of Freethinking feminism, this book reveals an ongoing radical and free love current connecting Owenite feminism with the more ‘respectable’ post-1850 women’s movement and the ‘New Women’ of the early twentieth century. And a Freethinker was a very scary thing: a person who forms their opinions on the basis of reason, independent of authority or tradition, and especially ‘a person whose religious opinions differ from established belief’. In this book the author, Dr Laura Schwartz, looks at the lives and work of a number of female activists associated with organised Secularism, whose renunciation of religion encouraged and shaped their support for women’s emancipation. These self-proclaimed ‘infidel’ feminists championed moral autonomy, free speech, and ‘the democratic dissemination of knowledge’. Alongside their rejection of god-given notions of sexual difference and a critique of the Christian institution of marriage such Freethinking principles provided powerful intellectual tools with which to challenge dominant and oppressive constructions of womanhood. Their contribution to the wider feminist movement was significant at a time when the issue of women’s rights was integral to the creation of modern definitions of ‘religion’ and ‘secularism’ and when feminists and anti-feminists, Christians and Freethinkers battled over who had women’s best interests at heart. Schwartz is Assistant Professor of Modern British History at the University of Warwick and a founding member of the History of Feminism Network. She has written on many aspects of the history of feminism in modern Britain.  |
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