Women's Views on News |
| Posted: 15 Apr 2016 05:16 AM PDT
Activists from human rights groups blockaded one of the entrances of Thales UK arms factory in Crawley, West Sussex, for nearly two hours recently to protest at the company's collaboration with Israeli arms giant Elbit Systems in the manufacture of drones. An industrial gases supply tanker and other vehicles were forced to use other entrances to enter and leave the factory compound. The protest was part of a larger protest starting on 8 April by Sussex Stop Arming Israel Campaign in response to a Palestinian-lead call for a comprehensive two-way arms embargo against Israel. That in turn follows a protest held on International Women's Day, 11 March, that took outside the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the British government, to draw attention to the plight of Palestinian women and young girls who are caged and routinely abused in Israeli prisons. Rigths group Inminds reports that ‘since 1967 over 15,000 women have been abducted and caged in Israeli occupation prisons’. Today Israel holds imprisoned 61 Palestinian female political prisoners including 13 young girls, some as young as 12 years old. Inminds reports that at least three of the girls have been brutally tortured during interrogation; 14 year-old Rama Jaabis, 16 year-old Malak Salman and 16 year-old Sajida Hassan have all suffered similar mistreatment, being forced to lie on the floor, shackled and then brutally beaten and abused by interrogators. Another girl, 16 year-old Marah Bakeer, was shot 10 times in the arm whilst on her way to school , then she was then stripped of her clothes to her underwear and soldiers took selfie photographs with her against her will as she lay in a pool of blood. Her wounds were not allowed to heal and she was imprisoned even though she was in need of medical care. Twelve year-old Dima Wawi was abducted on her way to school. Her parents were not allowed to see her and she was interrogated in contravention of international law without the presence of her parents or a lawyer. When her parents finally saw her at military court nearly two weeks later, she was still wearing the same school uniform she had on when she was arrested. In November 2015, the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, passed a law that authorised longer prison sentences for children convicted of throwing stones and that allows the government to suspend social welfare payments to their families while the children serve their sentences. Among the women prisoners are Palestinian human rights lawyer Shireen Issawi, who is being persecuted simply for defending Palestinian political prisoners; the military court sentenced her to 4 year's imprisonment for her work with Palestinian prisoners. Palestinian Members of Parliament are also regularly targeted. Khalida Jarrar is serving a 15-month sentence for her work in support of Palestinian prisoners. The longest-serving woman prisoner, Inminds reports, is Lena Jarbouni, who has so far been caged for 14 years of a 17 year-sentence, her crime was to support the just struggle against the illegal occupation of her land. To extract her forced confession they threatened to torture her elderly mother, after having already tortured her brother and sister in front of her. Mona Qadan, a university lecturer, was targeted and imprisoned because of her activism against the occupation, was not allowed to see her family in over 3 years. On the way to the Palace of Westminster protest, campaigners heard that Mona Qadan had finally been released. The first thing she did upon her freedom was to hold a press conference and appeal on behalf of the young Palestinian girls caged by Israel. Most of the women are held in Israel's notorious HaSharon prison. And there are repeated reports that at HaSharon Palestinian women prisoners have to endure beatings, insults, threats, sexually explicit harassment and sexual violence, and humiliation at the hands of Israeli guards. Women prisoners are often forced to undergo degrading strip searches during the middle of the night – forced to squat naked and subjected to intrusive internal body searches, for no reason other than as a punitive measure. Women have been beaten and left tied to their beds for a day and a half and not allowed to go to the toilet as punishment for spilling water. The cells at HaSharon prison are overcrowded, dirty and infected with rodents and cockroaches. There is a total absence of basic hygiene, women have even been denied sanitary pads when menstruating. The heat is unbearable. The windows are closed and covered so that hardly any air or daylight can enter. The food is insufficient, and of inferior quality and dirty, often containing insects and worms, at times there are not enough portions for all the women. The security system at HaSharon is provided by the controversial British security company G4S. They provide the entire security system for the prison, including the central command room from where the whole prison is controlled. In March G4S announced its intention to sell its Israel operation within the next 12-24 months. The announcement follows an intensive four year global campaign targeting G4S over its complicity in Israeli violations of Palestinian rights and continued abuses around the world. G4S provides equipment and services to Israeli prisons where Palestinian political prisoners are held in violation of international law, often held without charge or trial, and subject to torture. G4S also provides equipment to Israeli military checkpoints along the illegal Apartheid Wall. But this is not the first time G4S had made such a promise, and in the past it has not kept it, and protesters and speakers on International Women’s Day said they don't want G4S’s promises. They want G4S to take action, to go – and they want it now.  |
| Posted: 15 Apr 2016 04:36 AM PDT
The UK is lagging behind other rich countries in reducing inequality in child well-being, with concerning gaps in health, education, and income, according to a new report from UNICEF. UNICEF's Report Card series focuses on 'bottom-end inequality' – the gap between children at the bottom and those in the middle. Innocenti Report Card 13, ‘Fairness for Children: A league table of inequality in child well-being in rich countries‘, presents an overview of inequalities in child well-being in 41 countries and addresses the question 'how far behind are children being allowed to fall?' in income, education, health and life satisfaction. Innocenti is UNICEF's research centre. Each league table provides a snapshot of how far rich countries allow their most disadvantaged children to fall behind the 'average' child. Report Card 13 reveals just how far the most disadvantaged children in the UK are being left to fall behind. One of the key areas of concern is the disparity in healthy behaviours among children. Of all the countries studied, the UK has the largest difference in the levels of healthy eating (consumption of fruit and vegetables) between children from low and high socio-economic status, along with one of the largest gaps in the levels of physical activity. Another area of concern is inequality in education, where the UK is ranked 25th out of 37 countries – behind Slovenia, Poland and Romania – in reading, maths and science. One in 10 students falls below minimum proficiency levels in all three subjects by the age of 15. The UK performs better on the measure of income inequality, where it sits seventh overall. But the report reveals that social transfers – such as working tax credits – nearly halve the relative income gap. Without the significant contribution of social transfers, it is estimated that the income gap would be among the highest in Europe. The lack of progress means that ambitions to eradicate child poverty in the UK are unlikely to be realised in coming years. UNICEF's Report Card series focuses on 'bottom-end inequality' – the gap between children at the bottom and those in the middle. Innocenti’s Report Card 13, Fairness for Children: A league table of inequality in child well-being in rich countries, presents an overview of inequalities in child well-being in 41 countries and addresses the question 'how far behind are children being allowed to fall?' in income, education, health and life satisfaction. The report looks at inequalities between children during a time that spans the global financial crisis and recession and sees the UK ranked 14th out of 35 countries overall, tied with Germany, Greece and Hungary. For each of the four measures of inequality, the UK is ranked: relative income gap – 7th out of 41 EU/OECD countries; education achievement gap – 25th out of 37 EU/OECD countries; self-reported health problems gap – 19th out of 35 EU/OECD countries; inequality in life satisfaction – 20th out of 35 EU/OECD countries. Denmark is at the top of the overall league table with the lowest inequality among children, while Israel and Turkey are the lowest-ranked countries. "We must be more ambitious for our children," Lily Caprani, UNICEF UK's Deputy Executive Director, said. "Britain can and must do better. Inequality between children is damaging their lives and aspirations. "Taking children's rights seriously means acting with urgency to make sure no child is left behind. "The UK government should adopt, as a matter of urgency, a childhood obesity strategy that promotes and supports healthy lifestyles for low-income children. "It must also act to further reduce income inequality, which includes protecting social transfers." Sam Whyte, from UNICEF UK, remarking on the report, said: '…One of the most striking underlying messages of the report lies in the fragility of the gains made in the UK with regard to income inequality, and the central role played by social transfers (benefits and taxes) in shoring up the incomes of the poorest families. 'The progress we've seen in closing the gap is largely due to a fall in the household income of families with children at the median, and is unlikely to be sustained over the longer-term without further action. 'The report also shows that the relative income gap in the UK is more dependent on the level of social transfers than almost any other country, and would be almost doubled were these measures not in place, becoming among the highest inequality gap in Europe. 'It is inherently unlikely, and has been for some time, that we will achieve the eradication of child poverty in the UK by 2020, with the Institute for Fiscal Studies reporting instead that child poverty is likely to rise.'  |
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