The real scandal
“Each year, around 1 in 10 women in Britain experience rape or other violence. One in four local authorities leave female victims of violence without the specialised support they need.”
continue reading… »
Girls need real role models
Last year I read a piece by Polly Toynbee about ‘girlification’ and its part in the backlash against feminism. By ‘girlification’ she means the relentless way young girls are targeted from the minute they’re born with pink toys, pink clothes, pink accessories, princesses, Barbies, Bratz, makeup and heels. The way they’re encouraged to judge each other on the way their look and how much they weigh and pick at ‘flaws’ in their own appearances from a progressively younger age.
As I don’t have children of my own I don’t get year-round exposure to this sort of thing but you can’t fail to miss it at Christmas, when the television is filled with adverts for the year’s ‘must-have’ toys and gadgets. Boys get to be superheroes, pirates and soldiers, work with their hands and go on adventures. Girls get to be princesses and learn to be ‘just like mum’ by playing with toy kitchens and home appliances.
continue reading… »
Cambridge University’s lacking equality
Cambridge – bastion of male dominance – still! So I’ve referred the buggers to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission for investigation.
It’s because of the appallingly wide gap between what the university pays men and women. The university’s own Equal Pay Report shows that men are paid on average nearly a third more than women – £37,157 compared to £28,247.
There are two reasons for the gap.
continue reading… »
The politics of beauty are constrained.
In a friendly meeting with fellow conspirators this evening, we discussed over coffee and snow-spattered mutterings the viability and ethics of our favourite Lib Dem and Labour MPs and PPCs. This is one of the many topics upon which I am both knowledgeable and possess an opinion, and although I was the youngest, least famous and most currently chest-infected person there, I felt that I had a right to be present, to listen and to be heard. I was amongst allies, or potential allies.
And then it all turned sour.
continue reading… »
Domestic violence: whose problem is it?
In a previous post, which suggested a few measures government could take to reduce domestic violence (or at the very least improve care for its victims), I mentioned the necessity for greater provision of refuges where women could seek shelter from their tormentors.
Conveniently, this survey by the Equality and Human Rights Commission details the extent of the current provision – or lack thereof – and produces some quite troubling figures.
The commission found that one in four local authorities in Britain has no specialised support services whatsoever, that a quarter of the rape crisis centres which do exist fear closure or cuts in funding, and that ethnic minority women – whose circumstances can be slightly different due to the intersection of culture, relgion and misogyny – are particularly poorly-served by current provision. In short, we’re just not doing enough to care for victims.
continue reading… »
Two events: on prostitution and trafficking
Wednesday 21 January 2009
Speaker Fiona Mactaggart, MP
Subject Sexual exploitation, trafficking and prostitution.
Venue 7.30pm, the Cole Room, 11 Dartmouth Street, London SW1H.
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Whatabout Prostitution
There’s never a dull moment at Lib Con.
One minute we’re issuing statements condemning the trenchant ‘whataboutery’ that habitually poisons the public discourse on the politics of the Middle East, and within a matter of days a debate opens up, on an entirely different subject which, itself, neatly demonstrates the absurdities of credo of whataboutery.
I’m talking, as the title of this piece indicates, about prostitution.
On a working definition of ‘whataboutery’, you can see this explanation from Slugger O’Toole as a general definition.
Whataboutery is a general phenomenon in political discourse, one you’ll find in any debate between two diametrically opposing viewpoints where there are the participants in the debate who are so concerned with the presumed moral, intellectual or ideological ‘purity’ of their own position that they flat out refuse to concede that their opponents might have valid arguments of their own or that there may be evidence which fails to fully support their chosen position.
Debating the moral, legal and ethical status of prostitution is an argument that lends itself very well to whataboutery, albeit one that can be a little more interesting than most because participants on both sides of the debate make their most fundamental mistakes in exactly the same place and for the pretty much the same reason -they habitually treat prostitution as a singular phenomenon, a single uniform market to which one can apply a generic set of ‘rules’ that are applicable to all forms of prostitution, rather than see it for what it actually is, a complex social and economic phenomenon in which one size definitely doesn’t fit all.
continue reading… »
Betraying sex workers
In any discussion that takes place these days about prostitution and other forms of sex work it’s virtually guaranteed that at some point in the debate either the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) or the International Union of Sex Workers (IUSW), or indeed both, will be cited by someone as being the authentic voice of those working in the industry.
Whenever those of us who are opposed to legalisation or across the board decriminalisation air our views, we’re invariably shouted down and accused of not listening to what prostitutes themselves want: “Go and talk to the IUSW” we’re told: “they represent prostitutes: they know what they’re talking about.”
The IUSW in particular seems to be working hard just lately to raise its profile, and has managed to garner support from Feminist Fightback among others. But then, as the IUSW is a recognised branch of the GMB, one of Britain’s biggest trade unions, it’s not hard to see why a left-wing, rights-orientated group like Feminist Fightback would be drawn to them.
After all, there’s no doubt that women working in prostitution suffer some of the worst abuses and are some of the most vulnerable women in society, so if there’s a trade union group out there that can offer them support and representation, then what could be wrong with that?
But as this discussion over at the F Word showed recently, the reality is more complicated. continue reading… »
Nadine Dorries’ sex education ‘policy’ in tatters
Conservative MP Nadine Dorries doesn’t like politically correct health advice such as teaching children about contraception. In a blog-post on her website in April, titled ‘Beyond the School Gates’, she said:
Throughout the session it struck me that the discussion focused on dealing with the consequences of teenage sex, in the form of STIs and pregnancy; whereas the fundamental problem, the fact that sex is now regarded as a recreational pastime, no relationship required, is largely ignored. Much easier to focus on how quickly we can get treatment to an infected sixteen year old, than how we get the same sixteen year old to think twice before having sex again, until at least within the confines of a stable relationship.
…
The money that the Department of Health spent on their campaign could have been used on developing a national standard for sex education within schools, which taught the principles of self respect and at least began to address the issue of values, morals and ethics within education and wider society.
Ahh yes, I smell thinking along the ‘silver ring thing‘ phenomena. Except, new research from the US now shows these gimmicks don’t work.
Teenagers who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are just as likely to have premarital sex as those who do not promise abstinence and are significantly less likely to use condoms and other forms of birth control when they do, according to a study released today.
The new analysis of data from a large federal survey found that more than half of youths became sexually active before marriage regardless of whether they had taken a “virginity pledge,” but that the percentage who took precautions against pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases was 10 points lower for pledgers than for non-pledgers.
(via NHS BlogDoctor). In other words, not only does trying to teach abstinence of responsibility not work, but it leads to even more unprotected sex. Despite the evidence however, I doubt a minister who regularly hangs around with Christian fundamentalists is likely to take any heed.
Suggestions to reduce domestic violence
All we know are the facts. We know that domestic violence accounts for 16% of all violent crime and that a quarter of women & 15% of men will suffer abuse in their lifetimes. We know that women are overwhelmingly more likely to suffer repeated abuse, that two women a week are killed by a current or former partner and that one incident of abuse is reported to the police every minute of the day. Sadly, we also know that these reports only account for a fraction of the true number of attacks, many of which go unreported.
We know, too, that no government, no matter how active or intrusive, could stop partners from being violent to each other, and as the goal of eradicating domestic violence will always be unreachable, the question we must ask is whether we – as a state, as a society, and as individuals – are doing the most we can to condemn, prosecute and punish its perpatrators, and protect, counsel and care for its victims.
That question has been raised again this week as Labour and the Conservatives lock horns over who has the better policies to reduce domestic violence and improve care for those who’ve suffered from it.
continue reading… »
Lads’ mags and Labour: Claire Curtis-Thomas campaign
Lord Mandelson – back when he was just plain Peter, and resolutely still in the closet – used to write a column for FHM. Given that this publication is known chiefly for its annual rundown of ‘the world’s 100 sexiest women’, I always found that idea amusingly incongruous.
But not all Labour MPs view lads’ mags as a straightforward media opportunity; Claire Curtis-Thomas is campaigning to get them reclassified as pornography. I fear that she is entering a world of pain, and all for no good purpose.
We have been here before, more or less. Back in 1987, Clare Short – then a backbencher on the Labour left – introduced her Indecent Displays (Newspapers) Bill into the Commons. The target of her ire was the topless pin ups that used to feature prominently in The Sun and – if I remember correctly – the Daily Mirror, too.
Is Feminism Political?
This might not be as daft a question as it at first may seem. It arises from a reply I got to an email I sent to Wikio, earlier, regarding my categorisation in their blog rankings, and the categorisation of others.
Politics is defined quite well on Wikipedia, for my money. They say that:
[p]olitics is the process observed in all human (and many non-human) group interactions by which groups make decisions, including activism on behalf of specific issues or causes.
I therefore consider my Lib Demmery-focussed blog to be pretty political, but not exclusively so, and I wasn’t massively offended to be put in the category “other”, since I do talk about Doctor Who and Top Gear sometimes. However, when Steph Ashley told me that Dib Lemming is also classed as “other” I had a closer look at some of the categorisations. And, what do you know, pretty much all the blogs I would call political blogs that are written by girls are also in “other”. To be fair to Wikio, there are also lots of blogs which are written by boys which are in “other” which read like politics blogs to me – Amused Cynicism, for one. And they do cover a lot of blogs, and can’t be expected to examine the minutiae of each one… And then I noticed The F-Word’s categorisation.
Now, some of you might be aware of my annoyance when people assert things that aren’t true, like They’re trying to ban Christmas!!
and The Daily Mail is a newspaper
and girls don’t blog, especially not about politics
… Ah yes. Girls don’t blog, do they? Especially not about politics! Politics is boys‘ stuff! Well, of course, depending on how you define politics, this is exactly so. For instance, if you define “politics” as only including electoral politics, then that is going to be a mostly male space. Which seems an unnecessarily narrow definition to me, but what do I know? I’m a girl.
And, of course, if you explicitly exclude feminist blogs from your definition of political blogs, as the gentleman (and he has been very gentlemanly, BTW, even though I have ranted at him rather a lot) who emailed me from Wikio tonight does, even though he believes (but isn’t sure) that the writer of The F-Word has asked him to include it under politics, then that is going to take vast swathes of women outside the remit of politics…
Now, obviously: your site, your rules. This is the way of the internet. But the whole purpose of feminism is to effect political change so that women are treated as equal to men. If that is not political, then (with the greatest of respect to the very gentlemanly gentleman from Wikio, and apologies for my unladylike language) what the blue buggery fuck is?
Abortion Rights: A delay not a setback
So, efforts to update the UK’s existing abortion law through amendments to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill appear to have ended in a politically expedient cop-out and some of the worst excuses in living memory, despite bill having originally been drafted in such a way as to allow, if not invite, the submission of abortion-related amendments.
Oh well, at least it saves me the bother of pointing out the belated Field-Dorries amendment, which proposed that a joint ‘grand committee’ of 17 MPs and Peers would ruminate on the subject of abortion for 9 months before bring forward recommendations that parliament would be required to enact within two years is a complete and utter constitutional nonsense – parliament cannot be bound, in advance, to a future course of action even by a unanimous vote of both houses let alone by the deliberation of ad hoc committee.
Meanwhile… continue reading… »
I blame the lazy liberal media
Both Polly Toynbee and Cath Elliott have written good pieces for the Guardian on this government’s failure to stand firm on HFE Bill amendments and follow through with a progressive pro-choice stance that should be the cornerstone of any vaguely left-wing government.
Instead, as Ms Toynbee rightly points out, New Labour has become scared of Nadine Dorries MP and the tons of supportive, misleading propaganda that has poured from the Daily Mail and Telegraph. Which begs me to wonder why the hell there wasn’t an equally vicious counter-attack in the left-liberal press. Why haven’t the Guardian or the Independent asked the sort of questions about Nadine Dorries MP and her campaign that we have on this blog?
Partly, I’m beginning to agree with the feminist complaint that the male-dominated left actually ends up saying very little on issues like abortion. They’re out there campaigning against the war in Iraq but when a bit of solidarity is needed with women from Northern Ireland, the comrades are busily inspecting their shoes. Liberals especially, too afraid to touch an issue like abortion for fear of offending anyone, have barely attempted to go on the counter-attack in the media.
The Channel 4 documentary that exposed Nadine Dorries’s close links to the bigoted, fundamentalist Christian organisation: Christian Concern For Our Nation, offered a veritable feast for an angle that could be used to ask questions about how was funding Ms Dorries’s campaign and why she was hiding her true agenda on abortion and smearing journalists like Ben Goldacre. What did we get? Uncomfortable silence, and some bleating now the vote has came up again. I admire the right on this regard: they have ideological positions and they’ll run happily run a quasi-propaganda campaign to support it. The left-liberal press is on the side of public opinion and has a ton of bullshit to shoot down, and they still can’t do a good enough job to push their case. No wonder New Labour is in retreat.
Northern Ireland women on Northern Ireland and abortion
Before Sunny went to the USA, he and I created a Liberal Conspiracy photo gallery for photo articles and essays on some of the people and issues we’re covering at LC.
I’ve used it to post a collection of pictures of and quotes from some of the Northern Ireland women who are campaigning to have abortion rights extended to Northern Ireland when parliament votes on Abortion Act amendments at the report stage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. The women speak for themselves, which is surely at least as good as me ranting.
You’ll see that they are concerned that the great Gordon Brown has already done for their chances of a Yes vote by agreeing to an anti abortion deal with the Demoractic Unionists in exchange for the DUP’s support on 42 days’ detention.
They also talk about the role they expect Westminster to play in Northern Ireland, and about their disappointment in Stormont.
The gallery sits on my hangbitch site at the moment, and with a variety of logos, because we didn’t manage to integrate the gallery at LC before Sunny left. We’ll sort that out when he gets back.
I’ve also added audios of all the speakers at last week’s pro choice lobby at parliament.
Link to Northern Ireland photo gallery.
British Women (and Men) – Your Help Needed Now
I went to a meeting last night at the House of Commons about abortion rights and the up-coming amendments to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. At the meeting I heard some very moving stories about the experience of women in Northern Ireland.
For instance a woman who was told after having a child that if she became pregnant again she could lose her eyesight. Then her contraception failed but under Northern Irish law since she only MIGHT go blind she was not able to access abortion. Instead in desperation she borrowed money from a loan shark to pay to travel to England for a private abortion, leaving her life further at risk from trying to pay back the cost (which typically ranges from £600 to £2000) at interest rates of 150%. continue reading… »
Sins of Omission
Over the last year or so, perhaps the defining characteristic of the anti-abortion lobby’s ‘contribution’ to the public debate surrounding the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill has been their willingness to resort, increasingly, to tendentious and disreputable lines of argument.
Why this has happened is relatively easy to understand.
The major problem facing the anti-abortion lobby is that, for all their efforts to poison the public debate in support of their prohibitionist agenda, public support for the principle that women have the right to access safe, legal, abortions services remains rock solid at around 65-70% in any reputable poll. If nothing else, the majority of the British public understand that the alternative to legal abortion is not no abortions but a return to unsafe backstreet abortions will their attendant horrors.
The ‘moral’ argument for prohibition has been lost and lost decisively and its because of that, that anti-abortionists have turned, instead, to a stream of extremely specious and sophistic arguments about the supposed ‘rights’ of the foetus and to the wholesale misrepresentation and bastardisation of medical and scientific knowledge about pregnancy, foetal development and abortion. continue reading… »
Abortion rights lobby: meeting notice
Hey all,
Quick reminder re: tonight’s meeting:
Oct 7th, 7pm, Committee room 11, House of Commons
Join Abortion Rights for an update on amendments tabled for the report stage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, and to discuss the pro choice campaign.
Speakers: Diane Abbott MP, Annie Campbell – Alliance for Choice, Kay Carberry – TUC Assistant General Secretary, Katy Clark MP, Katie Curtis NUS, Evan Harris MP, Jacqui Lait MP; Wendy Savage – Doctors for a Woman’s Choice on Abortion, Dr Audrey Simpson – fpa Northern Ireland, Polly Toynbee – Guardian commentator.
More at Abortion Rights.
Palin scares Puffy
I’m sure the readers here are all savvy enough to know that rapper/actor/entrepreneur/wannabe Alan Sugar Sean ‘P.Diddy’ Combs ain’t scared of shit. A veteran of the mid-nineties Rap Wars, the onetime Puff Daddy made millions from reminding us that he’s a Bad Boy For Life, and with his reputation for unintentionally hilarious bust-ups in nightclubs, you get the feeling the dude could walk into a Mexican standoff armed only with a cucumber and still come out unscathed. continue reading… »
Back on abortion
I had a very useful chat with Abortion Rights campaign co-ordinator Louise Hutchins last week: the time fast approaches for the report stage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill – and for fighting attendant dingbat anti-choice amendments to the Abortion Act.
And there are plenty of them this time round, people – each more patronising to us girls than the last. What a display they make, too: you rarely see such a memorable range of turds outside of safari.
Floating atop the pile is the legendary Edward Leigh’s proposal to implement a compulsory cooling-off period of seven days for women who want abortions – Ed, I guess, having finally bought into the long-held – if unproven – pro-life theory that when you shriek a faceful of Jesus at a woman for a calendar week, her maternal instinct replaces all her other ones. continue reading… »
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» Obama is right to slam BP – and why capitalists should too
» Why does Phillip Blond see civil cohesion as a security issue?
» So what if the Labour candidates went to Oxbridge?
» Last night’s Labour hustings: will it get interesting or turn to torture?
» It’s now down to Ken to win London for Labour
» The Labour people need
» Blog Nation: what would you like to see discussed?
» The Labour leadership’s token contender.. and it’s not Diane Abbott
» In defence of these fraternal nominations
» Is this the end for the socialist left?
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