Women's Views on News |
- Start of 16 Days of Activism
- Orange the world: end violence against women
- Sweden leads fight for our health
- Cuts to public health spending a false economy
| Posted: 25 Nov 2015 08:32 AM PST
The Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL) launches the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign on 25 November each year. Along with over 5,478 organisations and other participants from 187 countries and territories, The Center for Women's Global Leadership is calling for an end to gender-based violence and for accountability on the part of policymakers and community members to end violence, discrimination, and inequality. The '16 Days' campaign begins on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women – 25 November – and ends on International Human Rights Day, December 10, and emphasises that gender-based violence in its many forms is a human rights violation. This year, the 16 Days campaign will focus specifically on the relationship between militarism and the right to education in situations of violent conflict, in relative peace and a variety of education settings, while continuing to make the links with militarism, as an encompassing patriarchal system of discrimination and inequality based on our relationships to power. Responding to the increased violence against education, especially of young girls and women, the 2015 campaign theme, 'From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Make Education Safe for All', recognises that education is a public good and a fundamental human right recognised in Article 26 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is upheld in various international and regional human rights conventions and treaties. Nonetheless, the right to education is subject to political, economic, and social shifts and upheavals, leaving certain groups – especially women, girls, people with disabilities, LGBTQI people, migrants, and indigenous people – particularly vulnerable and liable to being denied an education. As many as 58 million children of primary school age do not have access to education, with approximately half of these (28.5 million) living in conflict affected areas. And recent data shows that approximately 38 million people are internally displaced worldwide, while 16.7 million are refugees. Girls and young women in particular are most adversely impacted by insecurity and crisis, with the most recent estimates showing that 31 million girls at primary level and 34 million at lower secondary level are not enrolled in school , and 15 million girls and 10 million boys will never see the inside of a classroom. In 2014, global military spending stood at USD1.8 trillion, while experts cite a USD26 billion financing gap to achieve basic education for all by end of 2015. Children and young people of all genders can face further disadvantage due to disability, race or ethnic origin, economic difficulties and family whether in times of violent conflict, after an environmental disaster, or during relative peacetime. Girls and young women face early marriage or forced marriage that can cut short their education; the threat of different forms of school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV), including sexual violence and abuse on the way or within education settings; and discrimination in the availability of essential infrastructure such as adequate and safely accessible sanitary facilities. "The political, economic, and social implications of the right to and denial of education must be at the forefront of the agenda for policymakers, communities, and concerned individuals," Krishanti Dharmaraj, executive director of CWGL, said. "When we have women, girls, people with disabilities, LGBTQI people, migrants, and indigenous people denied the right to education in safe and equal spaces, we as a world community stand to lose. "It is imperative that for gender-based violence to end, we work to end all forms of discrimination." Many events are planned worldwide to shed light on the impact of the global arms trade and militarism on communities all around the globe and to call for an end to gender-based violence. The 16 Days campaign is a powerful way to educate the public and governments about gender-based violence, human rights, and the intersections of political, economic, and social realities. Follow the 16 Days online @16DaysCampaign #16Days or on Facebook.  |
| Orange the world: end violence against women Posted: 25 Nov 2015 08:13 AM PST
Prevention is the theme of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence this year and the focus of the UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign's call for action. Violence against women is a human rights violation. Violence against women is a consequence of discrimination against women, in law and also in practice, and of persisting inequalities between men and women. Violence against women impacts on, and impedes, progress in many areas, including poverty eradication, combating HIV/AIDS, and peace and security. Violence against women and girls is not inevitable. Prevention is possible and essential. But violence against women continues to be a global pandemic. From parades to soccer matches, school debates, and the lighting up of hundreds of iconic monuments, starting on 25 November a United Nations call to "Orange the World" aims to galvanise global action calling for an end to violence against women and girls, violence which affects one in three worldwide. Unifying the large-scale social mobilisation and global events will be the use of the colour orange, which has come to symbolise a bright and optimistic future free from violence against women and girls. The call to action is part of the UN Secretary-General's UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, led by UN Women. It will be carried out during the civil society-driven 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, which run from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, until 10 December, Human Rights Day. This year's 'Orange the World" initiative will focus on the theme of preventing violence against women and girls, in the specific context of the adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, which includes targets on ending violence against women and girls. Coinciding with the 16 days of Activism, UN Women’s executive director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka will undertake visits to three continents, highlighting the urgent need for efforts to address the pandemic of violence at all levels – from global to the local – as well as all sections of society, during high-profile events in Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Spain and Turkey. The official commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November, which takes place in New York, will also see the launch of a landmark "UN Framework to Underpin Action to Prevent Violence against Women," jointly developed by a number of UN entities including UN Women, ILO, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA and WHO. "Violence against women and girls remains one of the most serious – and the most tolerated – human rights violations," Mlambo-Ngcuka, who is the UN's Under-Secretary-General as well as UN Women's executive director, said. "It is both a cause and a consequence of gender inequality and discrimination. "Its continued presence is one of the clearest markers of societies out of balance and we are determined to change that." "The focus must now be on prevention, and although there is no single solution to such a complex problem, there is growing evidence of the range of actions that can stop violence before it happens. "This comprehensive approach forms the core of the new framework developed by UN Women and our partner agencies." There has been some progress over the last few decades; today 125 countries have laws against sexual harassment and 119 against domestic violence, but only 52 countries on marital rape. Despite efforts, violence against women and girls continues in every country, with women being beaten in their homes, harassed on the streets and bullied on the Internet. Preventing and ending violence means tackling its root cause, gender inequality. In 2014, the WHO called it a 'global epidemic' and a public health crisis, given its impact on one in three women experiencing physical or sexual violence at some point in her life – mostly by an intimate partner, and sometimes rising to affect a staggering 70 per cent of women in certain countries. And among all women who were the victims of homicide in 2012, nearly half died at the hands of a partner or family member. An estimated 133 million girls and women have experienced some form of female genital mutilation/cutting. Adult women account for almost half of all human trafficking victims detected globally. With the recent adoption by world leaders of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a bold new global development agenda in September 2015, a critical juncture was reached in global recognition that violence against women and girls is a serious but preventable problem. The gender equality goal, Goal 5 of the SDGs, aims to end all forms of discrimination against women and girls. It recognises violence against women as an obstacle to fully achieving the development agenda and will provide comprehensive indicators on what we should do to address that goal. It focuses also on the provision of services to address sexual and reproductive rights. At the historic Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment event on 27 September 2015, many of the 70 world leaders who took the stage named ending violence against women and girls as a priority for action, demonstrating not only the size and universality of the problem, but also the recognition of heads of government or heads of state of this pandemic of violence being a major obstacle to fully achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women. The UN Secretary-General's UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign invites you to "Orange the world," using orange, the colour designated by the UNiTE campaign, to symbolise a brighter future without violence. Organise events to orange streets, schools and landmarks! read the Toolkit; see the poster. Join the conversation on social media: follow @SayNO_UNiTE and share your messages using the hashtags #orangetheworld and #16days  |
| Sweden leads fight for our health Posted: 25 Nov 2015 05:18 AM PST
A crucial court hearing against the European Commission took place recently when the European Union Court of Justice in Luxembourg heard Sweden's case against the European Commission for failing to fulfil its legal obligations regarding hormone disrupting chemicals, also known as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The European Commission failed to adopt scientific criteria by 13 December 2013 for the identification of hormone disrupting chemicals under the Biocides Products Regulation. That law, adopted in 2012, requires biocide substances to be examined for endocrine disrupting properties, and if any are found, the substances are to be taken off the EU market – except under certain circumstances. A similar, even stricter, law exists for pesticides. The European Commission Environment Directorate General had made good progress on draft criteria by spring 2013, but after immense lobbying by the chemical manufacturers and pesticide companies, the European Commission Secretary General decided an impact assessment on the criteria and further regulatory adjustments were necessary, and under the new Commission President Juncker, the work on biocides criteria was transferred to the Health Directorate General. Sweden's anger erupted after the European Commission missed its legal deadline to put forward criteria to identify EDCs by the end of 2013. The case is supported by the EU Council of governments, which is considered to be the highest political body of the European Union. The European Parliament and three governments – Denmark, France and the Netherlands – are individually backing Sweden. EDCs interfere with the body's highly sensitive hormone system. Studies point to EDCs causing obesity, diabetes and cancer. Even tiny amounts of EDCs pose particular risks to unborn children and infants. The Endocrine Society published its Second Scientific Statement on Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals in September 2015, in which it says there is no longer any doubt that exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), found in food and consumer goods, are contributing to some chronic endocrine-related diseases, including obesity, diabetes and cancer. The Endocrine Society is the world's oldest, largest and most active organisation devoted to research on hormones and the clinical practice of endocrinology. To read its 2nd Scientific Statement click here. The Endocrine Society's statement includes a review of 1,300 studies on EDCs, which show more evidence than ever of the links between EDCs and health problems including: obesity and diabetes, female reproduction, male reproduction, hormone-sensitive cancers in females, prostate cancer, thyroid, and neurodevelopment and neuroendocrine systems. Policies are urgently needed to reduce human exposure. The International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), which represents 125 national organisations, called for greater efforts to prevent toxic chemical exposure at its recent congress in October 2015. As far as FIGO is concerned: "Documented links between prenatal exposure to environmental chemicals and adverse health outcomes span the life course and include impacts on fertility and pregnancy, neurodevelopment, and cancer. "The global health and economic burden related to toxic environmental chemicals is in excess of millions of deaths and billions of dollars every year." (…) Costs attributable to exposure to a selected sample of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (with only the highest probability of causation) were recently estimated at €157 billion per year in the European Union. The EU Commission is currently conducting an impact assessment partly prompted by intensive lobbying by the chemicals and pesticide industry. This is expected to delay the setting EU criteria for defining EDCs until 2017 at the earliest. Over 20 campaign partners from the EDC-Free Europe coalition met with several MEPs on 11 November to raise awareness about EDCs and the need for urgent EU action. A group meeting was organised between the coalition and MEP Michele Rivasi. Lisette van Vliet, the Senior Policy Adviser for Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), who attended the hearing, said: "When all EU governments and the European Parliament join together to prosecute the European Commission, it is clear that the Commission is getting it wrong. "These delays are keeping Europeans exposed to chemicals that contribute to breast and prostate cancer, diabetes and obesity, infertility and learning disorders. "We look to the European Court to make the Commission abide by deadlines set in European law to protect the health of Europeans."  |
| Cuts to public health spending a false economy Posted: 25 Nov 2015 05:15 AM PST
‘Unprotected Nation 2015’ is a report commissioned by the sexual health chairty the Family Planning Association (FPA) which considers the knock-on effects of a 10 per cent cut in spending on contraception and sexual health services. It concludes that cuts to public health spending will have a devastating effect on these services, and any supposed savings will result in far higher costs in the long run. A 10 per cent reduced spending scenario could, for example, result in an additional £8.3 billion spending due to unintended pregnancies over the next five years and an extra 72,299 sexually transmitted infection diagnoses by 2020, at a cost of £363 million. Services already face a £200 million cut to public health spending, due to be implemented by local authorities in January 2016. If this kind of cut were to become the norm over the next five years, every £1 considered a “saving” in sexual and reproductive health could actually cost £86. Cutting contraceptive services could reverse teenage pregnancy rates to 2003 levels and lose years of progress. It could mean almost 20,000 extra gonorrhoea cases by 2020. And as the FPA's chief executive, Natika H Halil, said recently: "This report clearly shows that making cuts to sexual and reproductive health funding results in enormous costs further down the line and is incredibly short-sighted. "We have already seen evidence of service restrictions and the potential effect of further cuts is frankly terrifying. "This report must serve as a stark warning to the government ahead of announcing its spending review." And Shirley Cramer, chief executive of the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), added: "Cuts to public health budgets are a false economy, leading to much greater costs in the medium and long-term as we struggle to cure what could have been prevented. "This is as true for sexual and reproductive health services as it is for other areas of prevention, a point which has been starkly illustrated by FPA's Unprotected Nation report. “As the NHS Five Year Forward View has clearly stated, the future health of the nation and the survival of the NHS is dependent on a radical upgrade in prevention and public health – we need to make those words a reality."  |
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