Women's Views on News |
| Help make safer schools a priority Posted: 03 Nov 2016 01:13 PM PDT
Groped in the corridor, a hand up our skirts at break time, shown pornographic images in class, or sexual comments about our bodies yelled after us down the corridor. These, say Girlguiding Advocates, ‘are some of our day-to-day experiences of sexual harassment at school and we know we're not alone’. In a petition to go to education ministers, they say: ‘So many times, as girls, we're told our school skirts are too short and 'distracting', we should be flattered not offended when we're cat-called, we shouldn't be so sensitive when boys spend a whole lesson rating our 'boobs' out loud and we should take sexist jokes as just a bit of 'banter'.’ But this isn't about what girls wear, how they behave or how they do or don't react. Three in five girls and young women across the UK say they've experienced sexual harassment at school or college, including sexual taunts and unwanted touching. We need urgent action to end this widespread and often hidden scandal. The Girlguiding Advocates are petitioning the Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities, Justine Greening MP; the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills (Scotland), John Swinney MSP, and the Cabinet Secretary for Education (Wales), Kirsty Williams AM, to end sexual harassment in schools. We believe all girls and young women deserve to feel safe and happy at school, not objectified and harassed. It sounds obvious, but the culture of sexual harassment at schools today is so normalised that feeling safe is far from our reality. Now is a crucial moment to make real change because the government is up against the clock. The Women and Equalities Select Committee has made common-sense recommendations about how government should tackle this issue in schools in England and it has two months to respond. This petition is calling on government ministers with responsibility for schools across not only England but Scotland and Wales too to listen and to act. Girlguiding Advocates want to see: All schools have a duty to prevent and tackle sexual harassment and be held accountable; National guidance to ensure schools know how to take a zero tolerance approach to sexual harassment; and Compulsory, high-quality Relationships and Sex Education in all schools, covering consent, online abuse, gender equality and healthy relationships. If you agree, sign the petition and help make safer schools a top priority. Girlguiding Advocates: Abiee Harris, Annabel Davies-Ray, Ashvini Rae, Charlotte Forrester, Elena Veris Reynolds, Emma Cooper, Hannah Brisbane, Hannah Stubbs, Katherine Bradfield, Katie Horsburgh, Larissa Kennedy, Maria Fernandes, Mathilde Tranter, Niamh Griffin, Olivia Taylor, Susie McGuinness, Victoria Jenkinson. For sources for statistics and more information click here. To sign the petition, click here.  |
| Benefits and the third child: consultation Posted: 03 Nov 2016 12:46 PM PDT
The government is holding a public consultation regarding its idea that there should be some kind of penalty for people receiving benefits who have more than two children. Or rather, a public consultation regarding the exemptions from the penalty. It has proposed some exceptions to this limit, and has started a consultation regarding these exemptions headed ‘Exceptions to the limiting of the individual Child Element of Child Tax Credit and the Child Element of Universal Credit to a maximum of two children’. The Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 restricts the number of children or qualifying young persons in respect of whom the Child Element in Universal Credit and the Child Element in Child Tax Credit is payable to a maximum of two. The Chancellor, at the time George Osborne, announced the policy at the presentation of the Summer Budget 2015 and during the passage of the legislation through Parliament four exceptions to this policy were announced. There was a huge outcry at the time, with questions raised about stepchildren in re-marriages, new children on a second marriage, religious teachings on contraception, accidental pregnancy, an employment crisis and a pregnancy, and then the issue of a third child born to a women or girl who was raped. There is also the problem of sex education in our schools – or lack of – and the government apparently having no idea that far too many young couples have no idea whatsoever about conception or its prevention. However, as the consultation says, the government is keen to hear views from all parties with relevant knowledge or experience, including charities and support groups, medical, health, social work and education professionals and affected individuals. The consultation seeks views and evidence in relation to the detailed design and implementation of the exceptions to the policy to limit the Individual Child Element of Child Tax Credit and the Child Element of Universal Credit to a maximum of two children. It is not a consultation on the policy itself. The exceptions being consulted upon in this document apply to both Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit. Universal Credit extends across Great Britain and Child Tax Credit across the United Kingdom. Currently, benefit entitlement adjusts automatically to family size, whilst families supporting themselves solely through work do not see their incomes rise in the same way when they have more children. Households will need to think carefully about whether they are financially prepared to support a new child without relying on the tax credits or means-tested benefit systems. The government has recognised, however, that some parents or carers for children are not in the same position to make choices about the number of children in their family as others are. In acknowledgement of this, the government announced the following exceptions to the policy in respect of a third or subsequent child who is: part of a multiple birth where there were previously fewer than two children in the household (Chapter 3); living long term with family or friends because they are unable to live with their parents and could otherwise be at risk of entering the care system (Chapter 4); born as a result of rape (Chapter 5); or part of a sibling group adoption where there were previously fewer than two children in the household. However, as part of the Children and Social Work Bill, the government has given further consideration to the position of children who are being adopted from Local Authority care and will be extending the announced exception to all third and subsequent children in these circumstances. This change will support families that care for our most vulnerable children and will be provided for, along with the other exceptions, in regulations. Here is a summary of the consultation questions. Multiple births: Q1. Do you have any views on the proposed model (set out in Chapter 3) for implementing the multiple birth exception? Children living long term with family or friends: Q2. Are there any other formal arrangements not covered in Chapter 4 for caring for the children of friends and family? Q3. Where a formal order does not exist, do you agree that evidence from a social worker is the best approach to providing the necessary evidence of the need for an informal family and friends care arrangement? Q4. Are there circumstances where a professional, other than a social worker, may be able to provide such evidence? Q5. Are there any further considerations we should make in relation to exempting grandchildren/new children (where the parent is under 16 and the grandchild/new child is on the claimant's/grandparent's Child Tax Credit or Universal Credit claim)? Children likely to have been conceived as a result of rape: Q6. Do you have views on using a third party evidence model? Q7. Do you have any views on whether the list of professional third parties mentioned in paragraph 34 is the right list, or whether there are other professionals and bodies that should be added? Q8. Do you have any views about any considerations we should take account of as part of the process of providing evidence for the exception. In particular, if there are any issues which might make it more difficult for a third party to assess a claim for exception, including non-recent cases. Q9. Are there other considerations we should take into account in respect of the requirement to not be living with the alleged perpetrator? Q10. Do you agree that where there is a successful conviction or award of compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority for rape occurring at or around the time of the child's conception, the exception will apply? The full questions – and space to answer them – are on this link. You can respond by email or by writing to: DWP Universal Credit Policy Team, Department for Work and Pensions, 3rd Floor, Caxton House, London SW1H 9NA.  |
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