Women's Views on News |
- Help women in prison be heard
- Counter sexist hate speech
- Human Rights Watch Film Festival: in London
| Posted: 07 Mar 2016 02:23 PM PST
Women currently make up 4.5 per cent of the prison population in the UK, and it is often said by women in the Criminal Justice System that women are a minority in a system that is designed with men in mind. The low proportion of women in prison has meant that the specific needs of women in the Criminal Justice System (CJS) are often neglected and their voices are not heard. But 80 per cent of these women have been convicted for non-violent offences; 53 per cent have reported experiencing physical, emotional and sexual abuse, and 46 per cent of women in prison have attempted suicide at some point in their life. And then 38 per cent of women who have been sent to prison do not have any accommodation arranged on their release. International Women's Day celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women. It also highlights that progress for gender equality has slowed in many places across the world. But gender disparity in the criminal justice system has often been overlooked, despite the feminist movement's attempts to be inclusive of all women's issues. Historically, women and offenders were seen by many to be outside the moral boundaries of society, and some saw this as justifying their marginalisation. And today, when female empowerment is a key concern in societies arounds the globe, the rights of women in the criminal justice system are still excluded from a discussion that is designed to help all women regardless of their status, economic background and life experiences. Why are they not being represented in a conversation that is meant to address the needs of every individual woman? User Voice, a charity set up to stop re-offending, is holding a campaign for International Women’s Day using the hashtag #HerVoiceCounts. #HerVoiceCounts wants to include those who are typically excluded from the conversation and to highlight their accomplishments. The campaign wants to emphasise that women's rights in the criminal justice system encompass a range of rights that are crucial to the empowerment of women in society. To make sure Her Voice Counts in mental health, Her Voice Counts in housing issues, Her Voice Counts in parental struggles – and Her Voice Counts when celebrating accomplishments. On 8 March 2016 User Voice is making Her Voice Count by giving these marginalised women the opportunity to share their stories. Read what they have to say on the User Voice website, and stay updated using the hashtag #HerVoiceCounts. User Voice was established in 2009 by Mark Johnson, and received its charitable status in 2010. The majority of the staff are ex-offenders, and the aim is to stop re-offending through collaborative work in prisons and the probation service. Join in making sure #HerVoiceCounts. For more information, click here.  |
| Posted: 07 Mar 2016 09:37 AM PST
Discrimination, multiple discrimination and hate speech against women are still serious issues in today's Europe. The Council of Europe’s No Hate Speech Movement now addresses sexism and gender equality through its actions focusing on combating and countering sexism and sexist hate speech online and offline. It is very important to explain that sexism is also a form of Human Rights violation and hate speech against women increases violence against women. Sexist hate speech aims to humiliate and objectify women, to destroy their reputation and to make them vulnerable and fearful. It is a form of social shaming, and it is spreading the message that the women are less human beings. The No Hate Speech Movement aims to raise awareness about sexist hate speech online and its risks for democracy and its tragic consequences for young people. If you want to support the European Action Day you can do one or more of the following actions on and around 8 March 2016: Add to your Facebook and/or Twitter profile photo the twibbon Image of the Action Day to support gender equality and to show you despise sexist hate speech; Report sexist hate speech to Hate Speech Watch; Answer and share the Question of the Day that will be published at 17.00 CET each day from 6-10 March on the facebook page of the Movement and on Twitter @nohate_speech; Make your own video message or a photo with your message and upload it on the Join the Movement page of the Movement; Or organise one of the recommended offline actions on 8 March: organise a CineForum or run an educational exercises – for example: Play Safe! or Understanding sexist hate speech or Roots and branches of sexist hate speech. Learn through the Infographic or the Useful Links about countering sexist hate speech and share them to raise awareness about the issue. Or sign and share this petition asking for 22 July to be made a European Day commemorating victims of sexist hate crime and raising awareness about the link between sexist hate speech and hate crimes.  |
| Human Rights Watch Film Festival: in London Posted: 07 Mar 2016 09:30 AM PST
The Human Rights Watch Film Festival will be in London from 9 to 18 March, 2016, and features 16 inspiring, topical and provocative documentaries and dramas. The Opening Night film on 10 March at the Curzon Soho is the UK premiere of ‘Hooligan Sparrow‘, which highlights the cost of defending human rights in China today. The filmmaker, Nanfu Wang, joins a group of fugitive activists, including the maverick Ye Haiyan (aka "Hooligan Sparrow") who go on the run across southern China to avoid government thugs and arrest after protesting the sexual abuse of six schoolgirls by their headmaster and government officials. The Closing Night film on 18 March at Picturehouse Central is Deniz Gamze Ergüven's Academy Award nominated debut drama Mustang, the story of five rebellious sisters growing up in Turkey who suddenly find their family home transformed into a prison, their schoolwork replaced by compulsory household chores and their futures dominated by arranged marriages. The complex ethics, opportunities and risks of human rights filmmaking and reporting will be discussed in another three special programmes, to give audiences a greater understanding of the work of Human Rights Watch and human rights advocacy in general. In one, Nadim Houry, the Human Rights Watch deputy Middle East and North Africa director, and Andrea Holley, strategic director of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, will discuss the investigative techniques used to assemble the Human Rights Watch report If The Dead Could Speak, which revealed the human stories behind a set of 53,275 photographs that were smuggled out of Syria by a military defector in August 2013. The final report, which took nine months of research, included at least 6,786 images of people who had died in government custody. Complex ethical issues are also revealed in two documentaries. In P.S. Jerusalem – following the death of her father the noted journalist and author Amos Elon – the director Danae Elon moves her young family from New York to her hometown of Jerusalem and intimately captures the experiences and endless questions of two of her young boys as they confront the reality around them. In Sonita – winner of Sundance 2016 Grand Jury World Documentary prize – the filmmaker Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami documents and ultimately alters the course of the life of the feisty Afghan teenager Sonita, who despite living as a refugee in Iran, where female singers are banned from singing solo, as well as her family's plans to sell her for USD9,000 as a teenage bride, remains determined to become a famous rapper. Among the eight festival films directed by women, is Gini Reticker's The Trials of Spring, a selection of shorts that look at women from Bahrain, Libya, Syria and Yemen who were on the front lines of the Arab Spring uprisings five years ago, and took to the streets beside men, their signs held high. But as the jubilation of revolution gave way to the convoluted process of governing – and often the chaos and blood of war – women have disappeared from the mainstream story. While the films are being shown at the Barbican, the British Museum, the Curzon Soho, Picturehouse Central, and the Ritzy Picturehouse, select films from the Festival will be shown online during the London 2016 event. The Human Rights Watch Film Festival is proud to continue its exciting partnership with MUBI, an online cinema community whose 6.5 million users watch, discover and share their thoughts on great movies from around the world. Learn more at mubi.com.  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Women's Views on News. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |