Change of government - what does that mean for the End Violence Against Women campaign?

by Janet Veitch, Vice Chair, EVAW

Watching TV and reading the papers it seems everyone is waiting with bated breath to see what changes our new Prime Minister will bring in when he takes over this week. Lots of hints have been dropped – so what will this mean for women and tackling violence against women?

This government has done more than any other to work on violence against women. But the statistics are still appalling and there are still shocking gaps in services. The British Crime Survey show that around half of all women experience some form of violence – rape, domestic violence, stalking, harassment....So what can Gordon Brown do to make a difference?

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Women In Prison

by Chelsea McKinney and Althea Cribb from GLDVP

There are over 4000 women in prison – most should never have been sent there. Approximately two thirds are on remand awaiting trial or sentence – under half receive a prison sentence, while one in five is acquitted altogether...

The punitive environment can be damaging to women’s mental health and compound experiences of victimisation, while often doing little to support them or stop them re-offending. It costs £77,000 a year to keep a woman in prison, yet in 2003, 63% of women released from prison were reconvicted within two years.

Momentum is building behind a campaign to change this situation, and provide alternatives for women offenders – and those at risk of offending – who are often very vulnerable. Pressure comes from the Corston Report on vulnerable women in the criminal justice system, from a petition supporting her recommendations and calling on the government to implement them, and most recently from Cherie Blair , who highlighted the fact that 100 babies are born in prison each year.

Prison is inappropriate, unnecessary and harmful for most women offenders – as well as expensive and usually ineffective. It is worth quoting just some statistics, which highlight the many issues faced by women prisoners: only 16% have committed violent offences – most are imprisoned for theft or handling of stolen goods; more than 60% are mothers; 70% suffer from two or more mental health problems; 37% have attempted suicide; nearly a quarter have experienced self harm; and over 50% have experienced domestic violence – though other estimates put this figure much higher; there are a disproportionate number of black and minority ethnic women in prison; and around 20% of the female prison population are foreign nationals.

As Baroness Corston so rightly recommends, the solution is increased use of community punishments, and the development of holistic women’s centres. Such centres could then more effectively address women’s offending by considering their experiences of domestic violence and abuse, mental health problems, and drug and alcohol use, being aware of how these intersect and lead to criminal behaviour.

Appropriate interventions in the community would prevent the unnecessary and damaging situation where so many women who lose their homes on imprisonment, and have nowhere to go on release, leading to separation from their children, families and homes. Neither community punishments, nor a more therapeutic prison environment, are ‘soft’ options. They are not only more effective, but are much more challenging for women than interventions which do not require such personal exploration and development.

http://www.gldvp.org.uk/
http://www.womeninprison.org.uk/

Corston Report: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/corston-report/

Petition: http://www.womeninprison.org.uk/index.php?option=com_mospetition&Itemid=83

Gender Equality in Northern Ireland

Posted by Bronagh Hinds WNC Commissioner for Northern Ireland

Even Northern Ireland’s cynically hardened journalists were surprised to find how moved they were at recent political developments in Northern Ireland. The Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein, two apparently implacably opposed opponents described by some as arch enemies, sat together on 26 March to announce they had agreed terms to share government. And just a week later they agreed on how to carve up Ministerial posts. Roll on D-Day - 8 May - when the Assembly and the Executive will really start business.

But what does all this mean for women?

The 2007 Assembly Election did not demonstrate a model of good practice in political leadership in advancing equality for women. Overall, there were three less women candidates this year than in the last election. Disappointingly, the same number of women of MLAs were elected in 2007 as in 2003 – so no advance there. In fact, women did proportionately worse in all political parties, even in the one party in which the number of women MLAs increased. Why? Because when parties increased their votes the extra seats went to men. When parties lost votes women were casualties.

Sinn Fein was better than other parties, increasing its women MLAs to 8 with its 9 women candidates running mainly in winnable seats. While 40% of SDLP candidates were women just 4 were elected – one less than in 2003. The DUP was also one woman down from 2003 with 3 women MLAs, while the Ulster Unionist Party’s sole woman candidate failed to get elected. Alliance retained 2 women MLAs; and Anna Lo is the first MLA from a minority ethnic background and the first Hong Kong Chinese person to be elected to any European parliament.

But electing women is only half the story. The other half is what is the Assembly going to do for women?

Women’s organisations got together before the election to prepare a Women’s Manifesto. It is really time the parties did something for women. Here are some things that women want prioritised:

· Strong Ministerial leadership of a Gender Equality Strategy for Northern Ireland that is properly resourced
· Adequate funding for the infrastructure of women's organizations rather than fostering competition and division
· Consultation with women on all policies and services
· Gender proofing of all public policy
· A programme to end trafficking and violence against women
· Investment in entrepreneurial activity by women
· Support for family planning and education on sexual health for young women

Every party made demands before they would share power, allow others into government, decommission weapons, join policing arrangements or whatever. Yet women are still waiting for ALL parties to make good on these promises to women in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement: ‘the right of women to full and equal political participation’ and ‘the advancement of women in public life’. We know from experiences in legislatures where women form a critical mass – like those in Scotland and Wales – that there are new perspectives, policy priorities change, outreach and involvement are more inclusive and cultures are transformed. There must be more women appointed as Chairs and Members of public bodies; and parties must select equal number of female and male candidates in winnable seats in all future elections starting with the next Council elections.

Bronagh Hinds is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Governance, Queen’s University Belfast with interests in equality, democracy and governance. She previously held posts in the voluntary sector and has been active on gender and other matters at European and international level. As Deputy Chief Commissioner of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland she led the introduction of the statutory duties on equality and good relations. She was a founder of the Women’s Coalition and involved in negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement. She runs DemocraShe to improve women’s access to politics and public life and is a partner in an initiative to advance women in local councils. She is a Member of the Local Government Staff Commission.

Female Genital Mutilation: The Power of the Clitoris

Posted by Enshrah Ahmed of FORWARD

The World Health Organisation defines Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) as “Comprising all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for cultural or other non-therapeutic reason.”

There are four main types of FGM, the first three are classified according to the severity of the procedures. For example FGM type one consists of the excision of the prepuce with partial of total removal of the clitoris itself while FGM type 2 consists of the removal the prepuce and the clitoris with total or partial excision of the labia minora. The most serve type of FGM is type three which consists of the excision of part or all of the external genitalia and a stitching or narrowing of the vaginal opening.

Why People Practice FGM:
Each practicing community has explanations / rationalisations of why they practice FGM. These explanations include religion, culture, hygiene, health and beauty. For example it has been documented in Mali’s oral culture that clitoris harms men’s penises during intercourse, due to this belief they carry out FGM as proactive and preventive measure. It has also been reported that some of the Yoruba people in the west African coast think the clitoris harms the baby’s head during delivery, therefore, they practice FGM on pregnant women during the second
trimester i.e. FGM is carried out before the delivery of the baby. Likewise some communities in Northern Ghana, they hold the believe that if a woman doesn’t go through FGM and touches /steps across a tree, the tree would not bear fruit.
Interestingly, in the Horn of Africa particularly Sudanese and Somali view women with their intact genitals as “wild” women. For some Muslim FGM practicing communities, the removal of the clitoris means lesser sexual desire for women which is thought to prevent them from being promiscuous.
Underpinning all these explanations is the fact that, these FGM practicing communities view the clitoris as distinctive source of women’s power .Thus for these communities to attain complete control over women, they opt for FGM. FGM like any other form of gender based violence(GBV), must be seen as an indictor of the dynamics of gender power within that community.
Throughout history societies have come up with various forms of GBV particularly violence against women to curtail women’s freedom and prevent them from the full enjoyment of their rights.

For more information on FGM please visit FORWARD’s website www.forwarduk.org.uk.