Women's Views on News |
- Further and tragic disgrace at Yarl’s Wood
- How to spot a fake breast cancer campaign
- London campaign for a grope-free night out
- Put decent pay on the agenda
| Further and tragic disgrace at Yarl’s Wood Posted: 02 Apr 2014 08:05 AM PDT
She has been named as Christine Case, from Jamaica. One of her friends in Yarl’s Wood told Women for Refugee Women, ‘We are very sad and grieving for her now. ‘They want everything to return to normal but that isn’t possible for us. ‘We wanted to send a condolence card to her family but Serco told us they wouldn’t help us. ‘We all feel very unsafe and frightened and as if no-one cares about what happens to us here.’ There are unconfirmed reports that the woman had been previously complaining of chest pains and was not given appropriate medical attention. Women for Refugee Women cannot comment on whether or not this is true, but notes that in recent research for the report Detained, published in January this year, a majority of women who had been detained in Yarl’s Wood said that the healthcare was ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’. Asked about the quality of healthcare the majority of women (42 per cent) described the level of care as "very bad" and 67 per cent stated that they did not trust the medical staff in detention. Asked about detention centre staff, 50 per cent of women had been abused by staff by something they said; 22 per cent said that a member of staff had been racist toward them; the majority of women who were guarded by male guards felt uncomfortable; 3 women stated that they had been physically or sexually assaulted in detention by staff and the comments made by women about the staff described them to be patronising, bullying and uncaring. On 31 March, the Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, initiated a debate in Parliament about the death in Yarl’s Wood, and talked about how ‘research by Women for Refugee Women raises concerns about physical and mental health support [in detention].’ And Sarah Teather, LibDem MP for Brent Central, said, ‘During my various visits to detention centres, I have been alarmed by the number of times I have heard from detainees that they have difficulty accessing health care, usually in direct contradiction to the reports being put out by management. ‘The situation is particularly alarming given the number of detainees with serious health problems. ‘The Opposition spokesperson, the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper), has referred to a report by Women for Refugee Women that highlights the number with particular health difficulties, and we know that those in detention often find that things get worse.’ And she asked what James Brokenshire, the Minister for Security and Immigration, was doing to get underneath the skin of the data that management put out about access to health, and what he was doing to ensure that those with serious mental health and physical problems are not in detention at all. Other Members of Parliament voiced their concerns about the detention of women in Yarl’s Wood. Stella Creasy, MP for Walthamstow, said that there was ‘a growing chorus of concerns about the experiences of women at Yarl's Wood’, and Richard Fuller, MP for Bedford, said that ‘detaining women for immigration purposes seems to me to be ineffective, costly and unjust’. Meltem Avcil, who was detained as a child in Yarl’s Wood, has, as WVoN reported, started a petition calling for an end to the detention of refugee women. Please sign it.  |
| How to spot a fake breast cancer campaign Posted: 02 Apr 2014 06:16 AM PDT
But why do people believe it? The text is as follows: “You should not have liked or commented! Now you have to pick one of the 14 below and post to your status this is the 2014 breast cancer awareness game don’t be a spoil sport choose your poison and change your status For those of us who are somewhat savvy in how these things work, this is clearly a hoax. Firstly, there is no link to a donation button, website, or indeed anything to support the claim that a “breast cancer awareness game” even exists. Secondly, if you think about it for even a few seconds, there is no way that changing a status to absolute nonsense is going to help cancer awareness, especially if you aren’t allowed to post explanations. Thirdly, always check Snopes; this message sounds very similar to the bra colour post that went round a year or so ago. Thankfully, this kind of thing is often harmless; at worst, you’ll have to do some explaining to your nearest and dearest. But you have to wonder what on earth the motive could be for passing this kind of thing around; there seems to be no concrete benefit to the sender, not even a badly-disguised link to a virus. The only thing I can think of is that the original sender has a puerile sense of humour and would like to see their Facebook friends post embarrassing statuses for no reason. This is of course not to say that you should ignore everything on social media that claims to raise awareness for breast cancer; the recent fundraising campaign #nomakeupselfie has so far raised £2 million, as well as igniting the debate of why women feel that not wearing make-up is something daring and brave. That is the kind of campaign to trust. It has sources, serious stories, and a proper organisation backing it up. Don’t succumb to an online practical joke.  |
| London campaign for a grope-free night out Posted: 02 Apr 2014 04:17 AM PDT
The first ever London-wide campaign to end sexual harassment on nights out was launched recently, backed by some of London's most high profile venues, including Ministry of Sound and fabric. Posters informing patrons of zero-tolerance approach are now displayed in bars, clubs and venues across the city with staff resources provided by anti-harassment group Hollaback London. Julia Gray, co-director of Hollaback London, the group behind the campaign, said; "Groping, bum-slapping, and sexually aggressive behaviour are all too common aspects of night outs in London. "We started this campaign because so many women and LGTBQ people submit stories of harassment and even assault in clubs and pubs to our website; and these experiences are now so commonplace that they're actually putting people off going out altogether. "We're challenging our nighttime economy to create safer nights out for all their customers. "Taking on our up-front, coordinated approach means sending a public message that this behaviour won't go unchallenged. "We're completely independent and are encouraging everyone to tweet their experiences on #goodnightout so we can ensure the pledge is put into practice." Endorsed by the End Violence Against Women Coalition and Everyday Sexism, 'Good Night Out' signatories already working closely with Hollaback London on their harassment policies include: Vice-owned pub and venues The Old Blue Last and Birthdays; the University of London Union bar; fabric and Ministry of Sound; Shoreditch arts venue Village Underground and The Alibi, Dalston Superstore, Dance Tunnel and the Shacklewell. Kirsti Weir, from fabric, said; "We've always had a zero tolerance harassment policy and we've been working with Hollaback London to boost our patrons' awareness of our commitment to stamping it out with our online campaign and highly visible posters. "It's great that the Good Night Out campaign as a collaborative effort across London and it's something we fully support and endorse." Auro Foxcroft, director, Village Underground, said: "We're supporting Hollaback London and the Good Night Out initiative because we want everyone from the many communities and audiences we work with to feel comfortable and safe from harassment and prejudice." Dan Beaumont, owner of Dalston Superstore and the recently opened Dance Tunnel, said: "We have worked hard over the years to ensure we're welcoming in a gay-friendly crowd, so we already operate a zero-tolerance aggressive behaviour policy. "Good Night Out and its message chime perfectly with this, so it's great to see more venues taking this approach." And Sarah Green, from the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said; "This is a brilliant campaign by Hollaback London and we congratulate all the bars and clubs who have signed up for recognising the issues and taking a stand. "We asked YouGov to survey London women in 2012 about their experiences of sexual harassment in public places and found that almost half of younger women had experienced it in the last year. "Clubs and pubs have a critical role to play in making their spaces intolerant of this behaviour. We wish the campaign every success." Any business that is part of the nighttime economy is welcome to sign up for Good Night Out to receive a poster series and discuss staff resources and training. Get in touch via london@ihollaback.org Everyone else is welcome to Tweet us your experiences @hollabackldn on the hashtag #goodnightout  |
| Posted: 02 Apr 2014 01:09 AM PDT
Nearly half the jobs in some parts of Britain are paying less than the living wage, the TUC has revealed. The TUC's analysis of official figures from the House of Commons Library was released to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the introduction of the minimum wage and in the second week of the TUC's Fair Pay Fortnight which runs from 24 March until 6 April. The analysis shows that nationally on average one in five jobs pays under the living wage – currently set at £8.80 in London and £7.65 across the rest of the UK – but in some parliamentary constituencies nearly half of the people working there earn less than this. Across the UK, around five million people get paid less than the living wage. Kingswood, near Bristol, tops the list of living wage black spots with 48 per cent of people working there earning less than £7.65 an hour. It is followed by Chingford and Woodford Green in North East London where 43.4 per cent of jobs pay less than the living wage; Harrow West in North West London at42.4 per cent; and Sefton Central on Merseyside at 40.4 per cent. In other parts of Britain a substantial number of workers also get paid less than the living wage. Nearly two in five people working in Dwyfor Meirionnydd in North Wales (39.9 per cent), Rhondda in South Wales (39.7 per cent), Blackpool South (39.3 per cent), West Lancashire (38.2 per cent), Bexleyheath and Crayford in South East London (38.2 per cent) and Wells in Somerset (38.1) receive less than £7.65 an hour. For working women the picture is even more bleak. More than half of women working in Kingswood (56.1 per cent) and Bexleyheath and Crayford (51.3) per cent take home less than the living wage. And around half the women working in Heywood and Middleton in the North West (49.7 per cent), East Yorkshire (48.6 per cent) and Cleethorpes (48.4 per cent) earn less than £7.65 an hour. At the other end of the income scale, in some parts of the country – mostly in the South East – as few as five per cent of workers are paid under the living wage. Just 5.6 per cent of people working in Poplar and Limehouse (East London), 5.8 per cent in Runnymede and Weybridge (Surrey), 7.3 per cent in South Cambridgeshire and also 7.3 per cent in Islington South and Finsbury (North London) earn less than the living wage. The TUC’s General Secretary, Frances O'Grady, said: "Extending the living wage is a vital way of tackling the growing problem of in-work poverty across Britain. "Working families are experiencing the biggest pressure on their living standards since Victorian times. "Pay has been squeezed at all levels below the boardroom and it's costing our economy dear. "The number of living wage employers is growing rapidly and unions are playing their part in encouraging more employers to sign up and pay it – but government must show equal initiative. "We need to see a far greater commitment to pay the living wage from government and employers, and modern wages councils which could set higher minimum rates in industries where employers can afford to pay their staff more. "During Fair Pay Fortnight we're asking workers to back our call to MPs to get all political parties to put decent pay at the top of their agendas in the run up to the election." To sign the petition, click here.  |
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