Women's Views on News |
- Supporting courage in the face of adversity
- Deaths in custody: memorial procession
- Breast cancer: remove the pink blindfold
| Supporting courage in the face of adversity Posted: 27 Oct 2016 02:24 PM PDT
The nominees on Liberty‘s Human Rights Awards 2016 shortlist had been made public earlier. The nominees for the Christine Jackson Young Person Award were: Luke Buckland – for his campaign to end the use of Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) to criminalise some of the most vulnerable people in society. After spending time with homeless people, and seeing first-hand the negative effect of PSPOs on their relationship with the police, Buckland created the #HomesNotHandcuffs campaign – challenging his local authorities to treat homeless people 'like citizens, not criminals'. Maria Munir – for advancing the rights of non-binary and transgender people. Munir works to raise the profile of non-binary people's rights, campaigning to rectify their omission from the Equalities Act, ensure better health services and is calling for the introduction of a non-binary gender passport. RECLAIM – for its work pushing young people from working class backgrounds into positions of leadership through #TeamFuture; and Young Minds VS – for bringing young activists together online to campaign for better mental health and wellbeing through its #LifeOnTheWeb campaign. The nominees for the Human Rights 'Close to Home' Award were: Justice for Laughing Boy, Charlotte Haworth Hird and INQUEST– for their tireless efforts to improve the standard of care provided for people with mental health and learning disabilities following the tragic death of Connor Sparrowhawk; Sisters Uncut – for reclaiming an empty council flat in Hackney in protest against the lack of living space for victims of domestic abuse and converting it into a community hub and safe space for women; and Coventry Council, Law Centre and Citizens Advice – for accepting more asylum-seekers under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme than any other city in the country, while also coordinating an innovative network of support. The nominees for the Human Rights Arts Award were: KEO Films for Exodus: Our journey to Europe – for shining light on the human story behind the migration crisis and laying bare the dangers faced by those seeking safety for their loved ones. Nikesh Shukla for The Good Immigrant – for challenging common misapprehensions of why people come to the UK and what it means to be an immigrant here today. The Alzheimer's Society's 'Singing for the Brain', a series of community choirs bringing people with dementia together to sing and create music – for developing a network of spaces across the country where those with dementia can express themselves, socialise and build confidence. In 2016, it inspired a new play, Before I Leave, by Patrick Jones, performed by three local choirs. It also prompted 'I'll Sing This Song' – a project by National Theatre Wales's TEAM, which will provide a new digital resource for choirs. Rebecca Crookshank for Whiskey Tango Foxtrot – for raising awareness of the sexual harassment and bullying suffered by many within the UK's Armed Forces. Based on Rebecca Crookshank's time in the Royal Air Force, from her basic training at 17 to her deployment as the sole female officer at her base in the Falklands. And the nominees for the Human Rights Lawyer of the Year were: Rebekah Carrier, of Hopkin Murray Beskine – for her groundbreaking challenges to the Bedroom Tax and benefit cap; Karen Quinlivan QC – for representing families in a number of Northern Ireland legacy cases and successfully challenging cuts to legal aid; and Mark Scott, of Bhatt Murphy – for his work on landmark litigation to establish safe legal routes for refugee children and vulnerable adults to travel from Calais to the UK. And on 26 October 2016 Liberty recognised the campaigners, lawyers and young activists for their commitment to protecting and promoting the rights of others presenting its annual Human Rights Awards at an event which also saw the inaugural presentation of the Jo Cox 'More in Common' Award. Created in the memory of Jo Cox MP, this award recognises those who work tirelessly to bring people and communities together – and the recipients were Help Refugees and Safe Passage UK for their remarkable efforts in safeguarding refugee children. The ceremony also paid tribute to Des and Doreen James, the parents of Private Cheryl James, and Justice4the21 – a campaign group established by the relatives of the victims and survivors of the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings. Both received the Human Rights 'Long Walk' Award, recognising those who have dedicated years to seeking truth and justice. Martha Spurrier, the Director of Liberty, said: "This year has seen the government reiterate its commitment to creating a 'hostile environment' for migrants while continuing to shirk its responsibilities towards those is desperate need both at home and abroad. "Following a surge in hate crime on our streets and the murder of a much loved MP, it's easy to feel the UK is more divided than ever. "But last night reminded us that there are people all over the country who are committed to standing up for the rights of others, fighting for justice, strengthening community bonds and campaigning for a more compassionate world." For the full list of winners, click here.  |
| Deaths in custody: memorial procession Posted: 27 Oct 2016 01:59 PM PDT
The fight against state violence, police brutality and deaths in custody is, among other things, undoubtedly a feminist issue. For – among other things – when state violence kills, it is so often mothers, sisters and aunts who are left behind to fight for justice. The United Families and Friends Campaign is a coalition of those affected by deaths in police, prison and psychiatric custody in the UK, and supports others in similar situations. And on 29 October at 12 noon members of the United Families and Friends Campaign (UFFC) and their friends and supporters will make their annual memorial procession through the streets of London. Established in 1997 initially as a network of Black families, over recent years the group has expanded and now includes the families and friends of people from varied ethnicities who have also died in custody. The campaign is calling for: Prison deaths to be subject to a system of properly funded investigation that is completely independent of the Prison Service; Officers involved in custody deaths to be suspended until investigations are completed; Prosecutions to automatically follow 'unlawful killing' verdicts; Police forces to be made accountable to the communities they serve; Legal Aid and full disclosure of information to be made available to the relatives of victims; and Officers responsible for deaths to face criminal charges, even if retired. On 29 October, as every day, the UFFC procession remembers friends and family members who lost their lives at the hands of the state: inside prison cells, at the hands of the British police, or in the living rooms of their own homes. Police brutality particularly affects men of colour, especially black men, in the UK and worldwide. And state violence often falls on the shoulders of our most vulnerable and oppressed men; migrants, or those with mental health issues or learning disabilities. Men like Sean Rigg, who was killed by violent police in 2008 instead of receiving the mental health support he desperately needed. But black women and women of colour are killed by the police too. Women like Joy Gardner a 40 year-old Jamaican student, who in 1993 was gagged and bound with 13 feet of tape in the living room of her home by the Metropolitan police who were trying to deport her. She died from her injuries. No police officers ever went to prison for her murder. If we stay silent when women like Joy Gardner are killed, we are saying that it is acceptable to use violence and extreme force to protect our borders and enforce immigration control. And as feminists, we must not ignore the violence perpetrated by our prison system. More than 53 per cent of women in our prisons were abused as children and up to 80 per cent are survivors of domestic violence. Suicide in women's prisons has risen 28 per cent in the last year alone. The rise in suicide is tragically unsurprising when vulnerable women face increasingly heavier criminal penalties for minor crimes committed for sheer survival. Self-inflicted deaths in prison are the result of a violent state that ignores abuse inside and outside of our prisons and fails to offer people the support they need. And women in prison are 5 times more likely to have mental health problems than women outside. Women like Sarah Reed, who in January this year, at only 34 years old, died in Holloway Prison following a catalogue of violent failures and indignities by police, prison staff and mental health services. Sarah Reed needed kindness, support and compassion and instead she was ignored, bullied and deprived of the medical care she needed to survive. If we stay silent when black women like Sarah Reed are killed we legitimise racist, sexist violence as a means of controlling mental health. If we stay silent when survivors of abuse are left to suffer and die in our prisons then it should be no surprise when the government continues to cut the vital specialist services we need to survive. When state violence kills, it is so often mothers, sisters and aunts who are left behind to fight for justice. And so the march on 29 October is also to honour and support the incredible work of women like Marcia Rigg, Carol Duggan, Stephanie Lightfoot-Bennett, Janet Alder and Sheila Sylvester in their powerful fight for truth. The UFFC’s annual procession is supported by 4WardEver, Migrant Media, INQUEST, BirminghamStrong Justice 4 All, Tottenham Rights, the London Campaign Against Police & State Violence, LARAG, Newham Monitoring Project (NMP), the Pan African Society Community Forum, Defend the Right to Protest, Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association (JENGbA), Institute of Race Relations, Edge Fund, UNISON, RMT, FBU, UNITE, and UCU. Join the UFFC memorial procession leaving Trafalgar Square at 12 noon on 29 October 2016. The hashtag for the event on Twitter is #UFFC18  |
| Breast cancer: remove the pink blindfold Posted: 27 Oct 2016 01:55 PM PDT
As we near the end of the global fundraising phenomena that is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the campaign group From Pink to Prevention is asking if environmental and occupational links to the disease are the elephant in the room. Caroline Lucas MP has tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) drafted by From Pink to Prevention calling upon the government to include environmental and occupational risk factors in all National Cancer Plans and strategies. The main text is 'That this House: recognises the ever rising incidence of breast cancer in the UK, up by 64% since the 1970s; (1) notes the considerable body of independent scientific evidence that connects a wide range of everyday environmental and occupational factors, such as carcinogens and hormone disruptors and night work, to breast cancer, including at least 216 chemicals to which women are daily exposed in their homes, workplaces and wider environment (2), (3) and 1,000 chemicals in regular commercial and industrial usage which can interfere with the endocrine system (4); understands that life-long and pre-birth cumulative and combined exposures to certain chemicals may also increase the risk of breast cancer (5), (6); believes that, along with lifestyle causes, better treatment and care, women's everyday exposure to environmental and occupational toxicants is the crucial missing piece of the breast cancer jigsaw and the public's right to know demands urgent attention; welcomes calls to action by leading public health bodies, the World Health Organisation (7), (8) , and the American Public Health Association, and their recognition of occupational and environmentally related breast and other cancers (9); [and] calls upon the Government to support and act on primary prevention through the urgent inclusion of environmental and occupational risk factors into all National Cancer Plans and strategies. We need to get as many MPs to sign it as possible, so please email your MP and ask them to support it. And From Pink to Prevention is asking this BIG QUESTION of the breast cancer charities: WHY do they persist in refusing to acknowledge the role of environmental and occupational toxicants by ignoring decades of evidence up to the present day on the link between our lifelong (womb to grave) exposures to toxics and the escalating incidence of breast cancer? And this: Why do breast cancer charities continue to focus solely on 'lifestyle' risk factors such as diet and exercise, while ignoring the potential 60 per cent of breast cancer cases for which they have no explanation. And this: What about the role of chemical, environmental and occupational exposures in this? Better diagnostics and treatment is not mutually exclusive with looking at how our profoundly polluted environment, homes and workplaces impact on our bodies and health, while also taking into consideration the 'precautionary principle' – ie better safe than sorry. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has stated that prevention – which is not the same as early detection – offers the most cost-effective long-term strategy for the control of cancer. So why do we not see this reflected in the UK’s cancer plans and strategies? Why is primary prevention – stopping the disease before it starts – not addressed equally along with better treatment and care? Why are those with the power to influence decisions on breast cancer policy not acting on what we already know? It is, as campaigners say, disturbing to discover the failure of leading breast cancer charities to inform women about all the risk factors, and they question the exclusive focus on lifestyle factors (alcohol, exercise and smoking) and the 10 per cent of cases linked to genetic factors, to the exclusion of the impact toxic chemicals are having on the health of every single one of us. From Pink to Prevention has produced an online 'tool-kit' to help the wider public understand the nature of the problem we are facing – both in terms of the links between environmental and occupational risk factors as well as the inaction of those with the power to address it. It includes an interactive webpage, PDF and poster which brings together some of the leading experts, writers and campaigners from across Europe (Belgium, France, Germany and the UK), USA, Canada, Australia and the Philippines. Please share the toolkit! As a first step it says it wants the annual awareness event renamed 'Breast Cancer Prevention Month'. And you can join the campaign to remove the pink ribbon blindfold: Take a photo of yourself removing the blindfold and share on your Facebook page or via social media: Twitter @pink_prevention; Instagram – pink_to_prevention; Flickr group – From Pink to Prevention Write to your Breast Cancer Charity to ask them the big question. Please send From Pink to Prevention a copy of their response. There is an example letter on the website. This is suggested text only – please feel free to adapt and personalise it. Visit From Pink to Prevention's Facebook page for a poster to share. And click here and sign the petition.  |
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