Women's Views on News |
| Make education safe for all: big campaign Posted: 17 Nov 2016 02:45 PM PST
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign’s 2016 Take Action Kit (TAK) is now available online. This year marks the 25th year of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, which runs from 25 November to 10 December. It was initiated in 1991 and coordinated by the Center for Women's Global Leadership. Given the insecurity and lack of women and girls face with regard to safety in relation to education, and informed by the results of a global survey, the theme of the 16 Days Campaign is "From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Make Education Safe for All". This theme recognises that structural discrimination and inequality is perpetuated in a cycle of violence that does not end even when girls and young women are in the process of gaining an education. Gender-based violence with respect to the right to education is a consistent threat in public spaces, schools, and homes and is contrary to the universal human right to education – and it is we find ourselves obliged to focus on the precarious situation of education for girls and boys, young women and men this year through the 16 Days Campaign. Education is a public good and fundamental human right recognised in Article 26 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and upheld in various international and regional human rights conventions and treaties. The right to education is subject to political, economic, and social shifts and upheavals, consistently leaving women, girls, people with disabilities, LGBTQI people, migrants, and indigenous people particularly vulnerable and liable to being denied this crucial right. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 on education makes it clear that education will lead to skills and knowledge for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship, as well as gender equality, a culture of peace and non-violence, and appreciation for cultural diversity. The current reality of access to the right to education is clear. Girls and young women face entrenched structural discrimination and violence. Children and young people of all genders can face further disadvantage due to disability, race or ethnic origin, economic difficulties and the obligations thrust upon them by families and by the situation many find themselves in, whether in times of violent conflict, after an environmental disaster, or during relative peacetime. Girls and young women face gender-based discrimination in the possibility of early marriage – or forced marriage can cut short their education. They face the threat of different forms of school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV), including sexual violence and abuse on the way to or within education settings. And they face discrimination in the availability of essential infrastructure such as adequate and safely accessible sanitary facilities. Consequently, many families choose to keep girls and young women from school and actively prevent them from continuing their education. Responses and commitments by national governments and the international community compound the problems. They are failing to deal with unsafe and unsanitary educational environments, failings caused by a lack of proper budgeting or attention by policy makers, the lack of classroom space or lavatories for girls, or policies that support or condone cultural values and taboos on girls in the school setting (whether this is about getting an education or being assaulted on campus). They seem to support inadequate curricula that are not gender-sensitive and continue to be framed within stereotypical patriarchal notions of gender and limited resource provision for the delivery of, or access to education. With this global theme, the 16 Days Campaign is asking you to join in advancing the right to education and challenging violence, discrimination, and inequity in education at the intersection of gender, race or ethnicity, religion, real or perceived sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and other social identifiers. Start thinking about what spaces and access to education look like in your community, country, or region and use the Guide to the 16 Days Campaign to help you get underway. Find out more about this year’s campaign, "From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Make Education Safe for All!" and more by reading the TAK. The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign also invites you to join its Twitter Teach-ins that will – also – be happening between 25 November and 10 December 2016. The teach-ins will explore the multiple effects and causes of gender-based violence (GBV) and how it affects the right to education for all, especially those of diverse and often marginalised identities. For info about how to do this, click here. Follow the events being held for the 16 Days on their facebook page.  |
| Report on NI women and government cuts out Posted: 17 Nov 2016 02:36 PM PST
The women's community and voluntary (CV) sector provides a range of services to women, children and families in some of the most disadvantaged areas of Northern Ireland (NI). The services are wide-ranging, to meet the often complex needs of Northern Ireland’s women and include advice and advocacy services including for those suffering domestic violence, training and education for entering/re-entering employment, academic and vocational courses, capacity building, community leadership, health promotion, positive parenting and childcare. But support services for women are under serious threat from funding cuts, with many organisations reducing services, losing staff or closing altogether. The Women's Resource and Development Agency (WRDA) carried out research recently to document how far the cuts have threatened the women's sector and the vital services provided by it. The result is a report called ‘Women at the Cutting Edge’. The material that has been gathered depicts a time of deep crisis for women in Northern Ireland, both in terms of the gendered impact of public sector cuts and austerity measures, and the specific impact of community and voluntary sector cuts on women-only services. It serves as a reminder of the amount of valuable work that is achieved by women's organisations in spite of a lack of financial commitment to this work by public funders. The analysis of the increased demand for services from women's organisations in the face of a worsening funding landscape begs the question, is the women's sector being adequately grant-aided or just being taken for granted? Like its women. The following are examples of reforms that are having more of an impact on women than men: The abolition of the Health in Pregnancy Grant (non means-tested £190 payment to all pregnant women); The removal of the Sure Start Maternity Grant for second and subsequent children (£500 paid to assist women on low incomes with the cost of a new baby); The raft of reductions in tax credits; The freezing of child benefit; Caps on housing benefits, increased rates for social housing and cuts in expenditure on social housing; Lone parents (92 per cent of whom are women) losing 18.5 per cent of their net income; and The new medical assessment for Disability Living Allowance. Women also face poverty in retirement as they are more dependent than men on the state pension having fewer occupational or private pensions since women are more likely to have been engaged in low paid, low skilled part-time work. And the UK government has also accelerated plans to equalise the state pension age for women and men and raise both to 66 by 2020. This accelerated timeframe has a disproportionate impact on women and has been criticised by the cohort of women most severely affected for the lack of adequate notice provided to women nearing retirement, and is currently a subject for debate at Westminster. The report makes the following recommendations: There should be a clear strategy to deliver on the public political commitments made to tackle the inequalities between women and men. The Executive should renew the Gender Equality Strategy with robust action plans containing responsibilities, budget allocations, outcomes, outputs, timeframes for delivery and key performance indicators. In acknowledgement of the important role the women's sector plays in addressing the inequalities and barriers faced by women, Executive departments and other public bodies should engage in a partnership approach to identify pragmatic, high quality and cost effective solutions to improve the lives of women, their families and local communities. To read the full report, click here. And please send the link to this report to your MLA or your MP. Thanks.  |
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