UK: Defending secular spaces

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Posted on August 6, 2008
womensgrid
Filed Under Faith, London, Opinion Comment, Women’s Group
by Pragna Patel, chair of Southall Black Sisters and a member of Women Against Fundamentalism

In the rush to be tolerant or sensitive to religious difference, the space is created for the most reactionary and even fundamentalist religious leaders to take control

On 18th July 2008 at the High Court, Southall Black Sisters (SBS) won an important legal challenge affirming its right to exist and continue its work. At stake was a decision by Ealing Council to withdraw funding from SBS – the only specialist provider of domestic violence services to black and minority women in Ealing – under the guise of developing a single generic service for all women in the borough.

The council sought to justify its decision on the grounds of ‘equality’, ‘cohesion’ and ‘diversity’. It argued that the very existence of groups like SBS – the name and constitution – was unlawful under the Race Relations Act because it excluded white women and was therefore discriminatory and divisive!
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Procedura avortului, in cazul minorelor sub 15 ani

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(en: “Romania to Allow Girls Under Age 15 to Have Abortions Up to 24 Weeks”)

24 Iulie 2008
Avocatnet.ro

Ministerul Sanatatii Publice a elaborat un proiect de Ordin privind aprobarea procedurilor de interventie in situatia constatarii sarcinii in evolutie la minore care nu au implinit varsta de 15 ani.

Potrivit proiectului de Ordin, lansat deja in dezbatere publica, “orice sarcina survenita la o minora care nu a implinit varsta de 15 ani este considerata sarcina cu risc obstetrical inalt, a carei supraveghere va fi in responsabilitatea medicului de specialitate obstetrica-ginecologie, din momentul depistarii acesteia.”

Propunerea Ministerului Sanatatii stabileste procedura intreruperii de sarcina, in cazul minorelor sub 15 ani, atat in situatia in care sarcina nu a depasit 14 saptamani de gestatie, cat si in situatia in care sarcina a depasit aceasta perioada.

Intreruperea sarcinii va putea fi posibila pana la cel mult 24 de saptamani de gestatie.

Proiectul de ordin prevede si proceduri de consiliere psihologica si juridica, inainte de intreruperea sarcinii.

Totodata, medicul de specialitate obstetrica-ginecologie caruia i se solicita efectuarea unei intreruperi a cursului unei sarcini va fi obligat sa realizeze informarea medicala a reprezentantului legal si a minorei privind alternativele intreruperii de sarcina, sprijinul pe care femeile gravide il pot primi, tehnicile de efectuare a intreruperii de sarcina, riscurile potentiale, precum si complicatiile si sechelele care pot aparea.

Intreruperea de sarcina se va efectua doar cu acordul informat al reprezentantului legal, ascultand si opinia minorei.

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Proiectul de Ordin al Ministerului Sanatatii poate fi vizualizat integral, aici.

a link re: the intersection of sexism and speciesism

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donnEanimali [en] / it / fr

Women and non-human animals: objects of oppression, subjects of liberation.

so far, the site (which is italian) hosts only a mission statement, a declaration in support of the mobilization of the 24th of november 2007 against violence towards women, a declaration in support of the mobilization of the 8th of march 2008, and a list of “friendly sites.” hopefully there will be more content in the future, but it’s still a pretty good read/start.

more on the general subject here [ro] and here, here, here, here or here [en]

h/t m.

make/shift

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“Feminist Media Reconsidered: An Interview with make/shift“

… It’s about making – making media, making change, making communities, making movements, making art, and making shifts – shifting power, shifting paradigms, shifting society. And it’s about doing it with what you’ve got, in a non-institutional, resourceful, do-it-yourself makeshift way.

via la chola

fwd: Pentru ajutorarea femeilor din zonele inundate

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COMUNICAT UNIFERO – AJUTOR PENTRU ROMANIA 2008

Avind in vedere inundatiile catastrofale cu care se confrunta populatia din teritoriile de nord ale Romaniei – cele mai afectate fiind zonele Sucevei si Viseului de Sus, unde mii de locuitori au fost evacuati si apele continua sa faca ravagii, UNIUNEA INTERNATIONALA A FEMEILOR ROMANE, UNIFERO, Inc., organizatie nonprofit inregistrata in Statele Unite, initiaza campania pentru stringerea de fonduri in vederea ajutorarii femeilor, a familiilor lor din zonele sinistrate.

In urma informatiilor primite ieri, 29 iulie 2008 din partea reprezentantelor organizatiei, UNIFERO se concentreaza pe comuna Radauti Prut (jud.Botosani), aflata pe lunca Prutului, in apropiere de barajul Stanca-Costesti: 320 case sub ape, din care 120 s-au daramat deja, peste 500 de sinistrati. Continue reading →

A reckoning for the women victims – rape recognized as war tactic

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“A reckoning for the women victims of the Bosnian war?”

… We will never know how many women were raped in Bosnia and Croatia. What we do know is that mass rape occurred and it was not a specific aspect of Serb brutality. There has always been rape in war. What this war did was to bring it out of the shadows, out of the dismissive inattention that accompanies the phrase “war propaganda”, or “the fog of war”. Rape is as much a fact of war, of the control of civilian populations, as ethnic cleansing. It took a modern women’s movement to collect the data and a critical mass of women journalists to insist on writing about it. From then on, rape in war would be taken seriously.

With the arrest two days ago of Radovan Karadzic, and his forthcoming trial in The Hague, there might now be some debate about justice for the women so abused.

hartuirea sexuala interzisa

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“Hărţuirea sexuală în Spitalul Universitar, interzisă prin regulament”

Invitaţiile compromiţătoare şi gesturile indecente vor fi pedepsite
Asistentele din unitatea sanitară, încurajate să depună plângeri

(articol din 21 iulie in Gandul, cu o ilustratie absurda) – h/t c.

ps: legislatie contra hartuirii sexuale la locul de munca exista deja (desi nu multi stiu acest lucru, iar primul caz a aparut abia anul trecut)… o resursa utila (de la centrul parteneriat pentru egalitate): managementuldiversitatii.ro