Women's Views on News |
| Women, children and the Executive crisis Posted: 05 Nov 2015 07:14 AM PST
If the public thought the Northern Ireland political institutions were failing to meet their expectations before, then the recent shenanigans can only have confirmed this view. The response by the Deputy Leader of the DUP to the murder of Kevin McGuigan in mid August was that 'it can't be business as usual' in the governing of Northern Ireland until the question of whether the Provisional IRA was involved – and by some form of implication, Sinn Fein – has been sorted out. And apparently the Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, seemed to have agreed. So the First Minister Peter Robinson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) stepped aside and executive ministers resigned – including the Heath Minister Simon Hamilton – and the Ulster Unionist Party’s (UUP) ‘withdrew’ from the Northern Ireland Executive’. And demands have been made for Sinn Fein to be excluded from the Executive. Meaning that any action taken by the Northern Ireland Executive to counter problems in the province that need dealing has been delayed – again – and four significant strategies and action plans which would have a positive impact on women remain outstanding. The Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse Action Plan is one of those which is on hold. Police records show that in the last 10 years 67 people in Northern Ireland were killed by their partner, ex-partner or a family member. And 28,287 incidents of domestic abuse were reported to the police during the 2014/15 financial year alone. This equates to 77 incidents reported every day. Or three every hour. The Women's Aid Federation NI have expressed their concern, asking what will happen to the work their organisation has been carrying out and pointing out that ministerial action – or inaction – is 'a matter of life and death for victims of domestic violence’. Other strategies that remain pending include the Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan, a Sexual Orientation Strategy and a Childcare Strategy and Action Plan. While being completely opposed to the changes to welfare the Conservative party is pursuing, Reclaim the Agenda and the Women's Resource & Development Agency (WRDA) having had to admit that as things stand ‘welfare reform’ was going to be instigated despite protests, has begun taking steps hoping to mitigate the effects of welfare reform on women in Northern Ireland, particularly Universal Credit. Specifically with Universal Credit there were a number of issues for women in Northern Ireland – as in the rest of the UK. One is that Universal Credit will be given to only one worker/earner in a household – likely to be the male; for second earners (likely to be women) there will be a financial disincentive if they work more than 10 hours a week. Another is that Universal Credit will erode women's economic independence and enforce dependence on their partner, and that in turn will encourage the male breadwinner/female homemaker model a massive step backwards in women's equality. The third is an issue more specific to Northern Ireland: the welfare changes have not taken into account the high number of people receiving Disability Living Allowance in NI as a result of physcial and mental health problems suffered in the province as a direct result of ‘The Troubles‘; a significant number of Northern Irish people rely on disability benefits. And as Siobhan Fenton, writing in the New Statesman last month pointed out, large families, particularly among Northern Ireland's Catholic communities, are more common than in England, meaning that changes to child benefit, for instance, affect them disproportionately. Reclaim the Agenda and WRDA did however run the very successful Empty Purse Campaign, calling for Universal Credit to be paid to the main carer/second earner in the household, for Universal Credit to be split in workless households, and that recipients should be able to decide on the frequency of payment – whether it should be fortnightly or monthly – to fit in with their household budgetary needs. The campaign was instrumental in the Executive agreeing a mitigation package whereby all claimants will receive twice-monthly payments; a range of options will be available to split the payment; lone parent flexibility is considered – a lack of childcare will not constitute a good reason for someone to be sanctioned; a reduction in the maximum sanction period from 3 to 2 years; and that the housing element of Universal Credit will be paid directly to landlords. And there were other measures relating to the Stormont House Agreement included mitigation of the so-called bedroom tax, a disability protection scheme, and a discretionary support scheme. According to the Global Gender Report launched by the World Economic Forum, in the nine years of measuring the global gender gap, Northern ireland has only seen a small improvement in equality for women. And then according to The Guardian, the report into the current ‘state of the IRA’, when it did come, said the IRA’s ‘army council’ still existed and influences Sinn Féin strategy – but the decision-making body has a 'wholly political focus' and poses no threat. The report also investigated the continued existence of other paramilitary groups, including the Ulster loyalist paramilitaries. It found, according to The Guardian, that the UDA also holds on to some arms, despite claiming to have decommissioned its weapons in 2010. The report said the same was the case for the other main loyalist terror group, the UVF. And members of both those organisations continued to be engaged in crime including drug dealing, while the rival LVF exists now as a purely criminal enterprise operating in the Antrim and Mid Ulster areas. Not much new there. The report was apparently based on current MI5 and police intelligence, and one has to consider whether politicians in the Northern Ireland Executive had access to such information. In the meantime, as the politicians continue to do just fine and receive their salary, it is women, children and families who suffer.  |
| Guarding abortion law in Scotland Posted: 05 Nov 2015 07:01 AM PST
David Mundell MP, the Secretary of State for Scotland, announced recently that abortion law is to be devolved to the Scottish Parliament. What now? 'Abortion Rights' is a national pro-choice campaign; it has supporters throughout the United Kingdom, including an active Abortion Rights Scotland Committee. Abortion Rights is apprehensive that hurried devolution has been orchestrated by anti-choice MPs in order to compromise choice, although statements by both the UK government and the Scottish government indicate there is no intention to alter the legal framework set by the 1967 Abortion Act. Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, is on record saying that "the Scottish Government's position on abortion law remains unchanged. We have no plans to change the law on abortion" Rather than restricting access, devolution could give the Scottish Parliament an opportunity to make improvements. Most women in Scotland have positive experiences of abortion services, the vast majority of which are provided by NHS Scotland. A recent poll carried out by Survation in Scotland established that consistently, 75 per cent of Scots want abortion to remain legal and accessible according to current law. But Abortion Rights still has concerns. One is the anti-choice agenda: SNP MSP John Mason has lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament with the aim of restricting a woman’s right to choose. It reads: ‘That the Parliament notes the stated intention of the Secretary of State for Scotland to amend the Scotland Bill to achieve the devolution of abortion law; recognises what it considers the fundamental rights of babies to be protected both before and after birth as well as the importance of women’s sexual and reproductive rights, and commits to achieving a proper balance between these respective rights. The concern here is that attempts to introduce foetal rights into law are attempts to limit abortion rights – and indeed women's rights. Another concern is regarding later abortion. Research on women's experiences of later terminations – those after 18 weeks – exposed that women are generally unable to access surgical abortion services in Scotland and so are forced to travel to clinics in England. While both travelling and treatment are funded by NHS Scotland, in line with the provisions of the 1967 Abortion Act, it is unacceptable, and we look forward to the Scottish government taking urgent action to ensure that such services are provided through NHS Scotland, in Scotland. This issue is currently being raised with the Scottish government and NHS Scotland. And Green MSP Patrick Harvie has lodged a Member's Motion in the Scottish Parliament in support of women's sexual and reproductive rights and committing to resist any attacks on abortion rights. It says: That the Parliament notes the stated intention of the Secretary of State for Scotland to amend the Scotland Bill to achieve the devolution of abortion law; recognises the fundamental importance of women's sexual and reproductive rights, and commits to defend those rights against any attempt to undermine women's access to safe and legal abortion in Scotland. As of this week is was supported by John Finnie, Malcolm Chisholm, Alison Johnstone, Jean Urquhart, Dennis Robertson, Colin Keir and Rhoda Grant. Please show your pro-choice support for Patrick Harvie’s motion; lobby your MSPs to sign the motion, here. To discover who your MSPs are go to writetothem.com and enter your postcode. This website makes it easy to write to all of your MSPs quickly. All you need to do is send your MSPs a short note to say you support the motion lodged by Patrick Harvie on the Commitment to Women's Reproductive Rights and would like to know if they will sign it too. And if you get replies, could you forward them to Abortion Rights? Thanks.  |
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