Women's Views on News |
| Love in a time of Cameron wanting change Posted: 03 Feb 2016 11:39 AM PST
David Cameron's negotiations with the EU have been all over the news these last few days, with a lot of focus on Donald Tusk's response to Cameron’s key demand for a 4-year ban on in-work benefits for EU migrants. Campaign group Love Letters to the Home Office, remarking on this, said: While the European Council has proposed a compromise which many are calling a defeat for Cameron, there are other, less noticed, concessions in the proposed changes to the free movement laws, which could have a direct bearing on the ability of UK citizens to bring their non-EU family to the UK. In short, the proposal seems specifically targeted at closing the option of moving to an EU country with less restrictive rules than the UK, getting married, and then applying for a family permit. The second part of the proposal is I think even fuzzier, as there is no way to objectively quantify "sufficiently genuine." It goes beyond proving your relationship is "real" into forcing people to prove the underlying motivation of having moved abroad in the first place, and leaves the decision open to a completely subjective opinion. Full information on the EU proposals is available here. It is just a draft proposal, and it may yet change, but it is important that people know what is on the table. As it stands it would appear that the Surinder Singh route would still be possible, but could be significantly harder. It's not clear how non-spouse family would be affected, and as Steven points out in the BritCits newsletter, these proposals raise more questions than they answer. There is far more that we don't know about what the impacts might be than what we do know right now. There are some things you can do, right now, though: As ever, write your MP (or MSP, or MEP) and express your opinion. And if you are in London and/or can travel, consider attending the Supreme Court hearings in February, where appeals on two different important cases will be presented. The outcome of these cases is likely to have a direct impact on what the government can and cannot mandate, and a large public presence will help illustrate to the court what a real, human cost there is to the Family Migration Rules. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear appeals in not one but two important cases relating to the minimum income rules. The case known as MM (Lebanon) is the one we were all watching keenly last year as the Home Office appealed an earlier ruling which declared the cuurent income rules in violation of EU Human Rights Law. That appeal what disappointingly upheld – here is an in-depth analysis of the ruling – but the court has given permission to further appeal, with hearings before the court happening on 22-24 February 2016. The court has also agreed to hear an appeal on a related second case, SS (Congo) & Others at the same time. Quoting 43templerow, the legal firm representing many of the plaintiffs: "The case of MM deals with whether the rules are so harsh that they represent an inherently disproportionate interference in the right to a family life under Article 8 ECHR, or alternatively that they are lawful because the Secretary of State or a tribunal can allow cases on a discretionary basis even where the rules are not met. "The case of SS looks at the width of that second stage – Theresa May arguing that consequences such as those identified […] by the Children's Commissioner are simply not good enough to qualify as an exception." Either case could prove a vital turning point in the struggle for thousands of families affected by the minimum income rules. As 43templerow said: "The decision of the Supreme Court is likely to be the most significant human rights cases it has decided in years: in legal terms the extent to which government policy can determine the outcome of assessments of proportionality in Article 8, and in human terms by the tens of thousands of people's lives it will affect." Campaigners BritCits are inviting people who are able to go to the Supreme Court to attend the hearings as audience in the gallery. The hearings are public, people are welcome to attend, and entrance is free. BritCits said: "The more people who are seen in the gallery the more public interest this case will generate, and it also shows the judges the people directly affected by these rules – we're not just Home Office statistics. "For those who cannot attend the hearing should be broadcast live, but again, please do attend if you can – all three days or just part of one day. "Your presence does make a difference." BritCits has created a Facebook event here. The live broadcast should be availble to watch here. And on Twitter you can follow the hashtag #mmcase. You can also tweet Love Letters to the Home Office, like Love Letters to the Home Office on Facebook, and share your stories to help raise the voice of everyone affected by the rules.  |
| Scotland votes in May: take action Posted: 03 Feb 2016 11:35 AM PST
And this year Engender, a feminist organisation that has worked in Scotland for 20 years to advance equality between women and men, is encouraging women across Scotland to get involved by asking candidates about their commitment to equality and by organising ‘gender matters’ hustings. We all want to help as many women as possible engage with the Scottish Parliament elections on 5 May and to make sure politicians and parties know that gender matters. So it is excellent news that Engender's new website has lots of advice about how to organise an event and contact your candidates, how to put on hustings and other events, how to see where your candidates stand on issues that are important to you – and how to spread the word about Engender’s 20 by 2020 manifesto. It is asking the Scottish government to: 1. Bring forward a Gender Equality Bill. 2. Commit to gender balancing mechanisms at all levels of politics. 3. Implement a gendered economic development strategy. 4. Establish a national equality and wellbeing index. 5. Increase the strategic influence of the Equality Budget Statement. 6. Create an independent social care tribunal system. 7. Commit to a system of universal childcare provision. 8. Hold a summit on women's social security. 9. Use new powers to promote gender equality in social security. 10. Create an Occupational Segregation Commission. 11. Establish a Gender Equality in Business scheme. 12. Invest £50m in a Women's Employment and Enterprise Challenge Fund. 13. Bring forward a holistic gendered education strategy. 14. Create a 'Women in Media' watchdog. 15. Improve women's representation in Scotland's creative industries. 16. Guarantee access to justice for survivors of domestic abuse, rape and sexual assault. 17. Prevent homelessness for women and children experiencing domestic abuse. 18. Commit to a sustainable funding plan for violence against women services. 19. Incorporate CEDAW into Scots Law. 20. Commit to a progressive abortion law for Scotland. As part of the lead up to the Holyrood elections, Engender will be promoting a different ask from the Gender Matters Manifesto each week. This week the focus is on a Gender Equality Bill, and Engender needs your help this Friday. A Gender Equality Bill would enshrine a high-level strategy to tackle gender inequality in law, to hasten the pace of change. The specific content of the bill would be developed in collaboration with women and women’s organisations, but could, for instance, commit to deliver the pooints raised in the Istanbul Convention, establish a Women’s Commissioner for Scotland, or set targets for delivery of key public services that are vital for women’s equality, such as childcare and social care. You can help to promote the call for a Gender Equality Bill by sharing your response to ‘I need a #GenderEqualityBill because…’ on social media. As the bill is fundamentally about the need to prioritise women’s equality, the reasons for the bill are largely the same as the reasons we need feminism itself – so your message could be about your personal reasons or any of the asks in Engender’s manifesto. There is a sign on the Engender website which you can download and take a selfie with and then share on Facebook and Twitter – and Engender will also upload yours on the website if you are happy for that to be done. Of course, you can also share the message without a photo if you prefer. The idea is for you to share these images and messages on 5 February. Please make sure you include #GenderEqualityBill in your message – and you can tag Engender as well. You can also send the photos in advance so they can be put up on the website. To get more info on the Gender Equality Bill, or to download the sign to print, or see some other examples of photos, click here. You can also email Alys or call the office on 0131 558 9596 if you want to chat about your ideas or get some support. Scotland votes in May: it is time to take action!  |
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