Proposed changes to the Health & Social Care Bill

I don't think it can have escaped any feminists' attention that Nadine Dorries, MP, is is trying to bring about a change to the Health and Social Care Bill as regards abortion. I know that Hazel is going to write a blog about this so I won't go into details on the proposed changes and implications, but at the end of July I wrote to various MPs about this, and received only one decent reply. I wrote to Lynne Featherstone, Andrew Lansley and Tom Harris, the MP for Glasgow South. I didn't receive a reply from Mr Lansley myself, and the response from Ms Featherstone told me that the changes in the H&SC Bill didn't apply to Scotland - as if I would just heave a sigh of relief and not worry about what's going on in England and Wales. My MP, Tom Harris, was the most helpful. He wrote me a very prompt reply saying that he didn't yet know the full details of the proposed changes but he would find out for me and then write me a fuller reply. I then received another letter from him telling me that he had received a reply from Anne Milton, MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - he enclosed a copy of her reply for me to read, and that's what I wanted to pass on here. I've copied it out verbatim, so you can all make of it what you will, and see how it measures up to what actually transpires. Dear Mr Harris, thank you for your letter ... I am replying as the Minister responsible for this policy are. "The amendments to the Health and Social Care Bill being proposed by Franks Field MP and Nadine Dorries MP are not Government ammendments. The current arrangements for counselling related to abortion services can be varies within the existing statuatory framework for the commissioning of such services. The Health and Social Care Bill, now before Parliament, expands that framework. "We are drawing up proposals to enable all women who are seeking an abortion to be offered access to independant counselling. We would want the counselling to be provided bu appropriately qualified individuals. Independant counselling will focus on enabling a woman to make a decision that would benefit her overall health and wellbeing. "Independant counselling will be for those women who choose to have it and will not be mandatory. Full proposals are still being worked up within the Department of HEalth and we are therefore unable to provide detailed answers while this prosess takes place. "However, I can clarify that I do not think that it is necessary to set out the requirement to offer independent counselling in primary legislation. I am confident that the necessary legal mechanisms already exist to enable this to be introduced. "The Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV (IAG) was abolished in October 2010 following the Cabinet Office review of Advisory Non-Departmental Public Bodies. The newly formed Sexual Health Forum has replaced the IAG, but has a different remit and accountability. "In considering the stakeholder groups that will sit on the core Forum, we felt that it was important to ensure that a wide range of views and interests are represented. This is why LIFE have been invited to sit on the Forum. Other organisations that sit on the Forum include Brooke (the young person's sexual health charity), the Family Planning Association, the Terrence Higgins Trust, the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health, the Association of Directors of Public Health, the British HIV Association, the Sex Education Forum/National Children's Bureau, Marie Stopes International (MSI) and the Association of Directors of Social Services. Everyone on the Forum has agreed to comply with standards of impartiality, integrity and objectivity in relation to the advice they provide. "MSI and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) have similar interests. We offered them shared membership but they declined. We therefore invited MSI to represent independent sector abortion providers on the Forum and they have accepted. "There will be opportunities for further organisations, including BPAS, to become involved in a meeting of the wider Sexual Health Forum that we are planning to hold in the autumn. The core Forum will provide advice to the Government on a range of sexual health issues but ultimately the Government will decide what advice to take forward in terms of policy, based on an assessment of the available evidence. Anne Milton."

As I said, I know Hazel has a blog post to publish so I won't go into details about how these changes will affect women looking for abortion etc, but I thought I'd stick this letter up anyway, for anyone that's interested or who hasn't received a reply from their MP.

Summer School: Take Two

There were many fantastic things about UK Feminista Summer School but my personal favourite was feeling like a student, but only this time at the world’s best University. Between rushing to a workshop on running campaigns whilst cramming a sandwich in my face, getting lost on campus, taking illegible notes, playing ridiculous drinking games in student halls, mainlining coffee, introducing myself to absolutely everyone, requesting early 90’s CHOONS in an old man’s pub and using monster munch as a hangover cure and then trying not to chunder in a seminar, it was like the good part of being at University, right before the bit you had to go move into the library and do some proper work. Student nostalgia aside, UK Feminista Summer School will probably be the most valuable thing I do all year.

The best way to describe Summer School is activist training. Basically, ‘How to be a better feminist’ in two short days. Workshops included: running a feminist organisation, effective campaigning, consensus making, how to influence MPs, using the media and taking non-violent direct action. Alongside the workshops were seminars on current feminist issues such as Women’s role in the Arab spring, abortion rights, the sex industry and how the public spending cuts affect Women. These seminars uniformly ended with a section on ‘what to do next’ or ‘how to take action’. The tone of these workshops and seminars is always an active one with the emphasis on concrete, completely achievable ideas of what we could, or should, be doing as feminists who want to influence the world around us.

Empowering: that’s how would I sum up Feminist Fantasy University- Here’s what the problem is and here is how to we can try and solve it. The amount of ideas that was presented to me as something which GFN could feasibly, easily infact, be doing was unbelievable. Add in knowing that perhaps everyone else in the room felt they were also champing at the activist bit made for a very powerful feeling. Sometimes, it can be difficult being an ‘ardent feminist’ (as I was introduced as earlier this weekend). Feminism is a label that some women still shy away from, or some people don’t get (‘ahhh you hate MEN’) and feeling like you’re the only person aware of blindingly obvious sexism is an advert or TV show that everyone else perceives as perfectly benign, can feel isolating. Summer School was like the antithesis of this feeling. The social event on a Saturday was like feminist respite. Taking over an old man’s pub with a feminist disco (mostly Blondie), finding someone else to discuss Bikini Kill vs. L7 with, and feeling like everyone was ready to be your friend instead of the competition was in a word: awesome. More feminist discos says I. See one of my co-students blogs what on socialising without a male objectifying gaze is like: http://petitefeministe.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/you-oughta-know/ Will I be back next year? So much so I’ve written to ask if Glasgow Feminist Network could host Summer School next year. I am sometimes aware that organisations use the label ‘UK’ but are in fact quite Anglo-centric. So I told them to come up to Glasgow, if they think their hard enough ;)

Hazel x

Summer School

Last weekend, I went down to Birmingham with a few of the others from Glasgow Feminist Network, to go to the 2-day Summer School event run by UK Feminista, and this year hosted by the Birmingham Fems at Birmingham University. We had a great weekend, and there was so much to do that I can't even write about it all - several classes were scheduled at the same time so we had to pick the ones we wanted to do carefully, though we didn't all go to the same ones. I went to:

How to set up and run a feminist meeting;How to engage men in feminist activism; The colour of beauty: race, gender and the beauty industry; Not for sale: resisting the sex industry Everyday Activism: promoting feminism in everyday life and The Global Struggle: International feminist resistance

Everyone that spoke was very well-informed, and there were always time for questions afterwards. The speaking panels were made up of people from groups such as Object, Eaves, The Anti-Porn Men Project, and Women For Women International.

There was a really great atmoshpere there, everyone was really friendly and open, and all weekend you could see groups of women (and occassionally men!) sitting talking about what they'd just seen, watched or heard. People in the halls of residence grouped together and hung out, people worked in groups at workshops and in projects. The whole experience was so positive and affirming - I'd recommend it to anyone who was considering going to next year's. I think this is something that's just going to grow and grow.

And that seemed to be the over-riding theme of the weekend: feminism is growing. It's back (if it ever went away) and it's stronger than ever. More and more people are coming to see the feminist movement as a question of human rights and civil liberties, and are becoming more willing to put their name to the feminist cause.

The Guardian wrote an article about it (which you can read here), a woman from the Glasgow Herald was there, and people were constantly tweeting updates, comments, messages and summaries of the events there.

I haven't been able to switch off my feminist brain since I got back, and I think the other GFN-ers are the same - we're bursting with new-found feminist energy, and raring to go! We've already got several things in the works: a new website, t-shirts, a fundraiser...

Watch this space, Glasgow feminism is coming your way!!

Clara xx

Still Life: Tales from the West Bank

Something on at the Edinburgh Fringe that might be of interest.

Still Life: Tales from the West Bank Three months, two human rights observers and countless accounts of occupation distilled into an hour of song, story and image. The two women performing ‘Still Life’ recently returned to the UK after volunteering with the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (www.eappi.org) working alongside Palestinian and Israeli peacemakers for three months. They lived in the villages of Jayyous and Yanoun in the northern West Bank, witnessing and experiencing everyday life in the occupied Palestinian territories. Catch a glimpse of the struggle and humour of village life under occupation. 14-20 August 2011 20:35-21:35 Free. Venue 84: Laughing Horse @ Cafe Renroc 91 Montgomery St. Edinburgh EH7 5HZ http://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/music/still-life-tales-from-the-west-bank

New Meeting

Hi everyone,

we have a date and time for our next GFN meeting, it'll be on 15th August 2011, 7pm - 9pm in the Free Hetherington Building at 13 University Gardens. View Larger Map

Everyone is welcome and here's some stuff to think about if you're coming along:

We're deciding on a new logo, so if you have any designs or ideas then bring them along so we can vote and make a decision.

We need to get our official website up and running, Christina's friend is going to build it for us, so we need to decide on content, such as a forum, an information page, and events page... if you can think of anything else then please bring your ideas with you.

Any ideas for new possible venues for future meetings.

Fundraising ideas: we really need to start getting some funds together so we can go ahead with LadyFest Glasgow, any ideas will be discussed, it'd be good if you have an idea of how we'd go about planning it, where we would hold it and out-going costs if possible.

Hope a lot of you can make it along, even if you don't have any new ideas for any of the above you're of course welcome to come along and brainstorm with us!

Norway

I'm sure there's not a reader who hasn't heard about the massacre in Norway recently so I don't need to go into details...

But some of you might not have heard about the two women who saved 40 people from the gunman, at huge risk to themselves. They heard the gunshots and saw people running away towards a lake, so they jumped in their own boat and went over to fish people out of the water and take them away to safety. As if this wasn't enough, they then made 4 trips taking survivors back and forth, whilst their boat was hit by bullets.

You can read the story here, and please do. I don't understand why this has not been more widely publicised and why these women have not been hailed as the heroes they are. I'd like to hope that it is not because of their sex and sexuality, but unfortunately I think this may well be the case.

Sorry to direct you to the Daily Mail (!) but I couldn't actually find articles on this story in any other newspaper when I just did a quick search, which helps prove how under-reported this story is.

Read it and pass it on. These women acted with incredible bravery and humanity and deserve recognition for risking their own lives to save so many others.

True Story

I saw this on another blog, and though it deserved a mention here, too. You can check out the supplying blog here: http://blog.lapetitefeministeanglaise.co.uk/ - it's definitely worth a read!

HollaBack

The other night I was waiting on a lift from my dad, and I was meeting him in George Square. So I stood on the corner ready to jump in the car in case he couldn't stop in the traffic. As I stood there, two guys about my age came past and one of them - a short, podgy, wee thing - asked if I was 'looking for business.' Now, I was well covered up in trousers, woollen cardi, and scarf and was clearly waiting for someone - in no way can I have looked like I was standing there waiting to be picked up for sex. So why did this rat-boy come up and say that to me?? At first I was so shocked I asked him to repeat what he said... and then I gave him hell. I said I was sorry if the only way he ever got to have sex was to pay for it, though I wasn't surprised as he was a bit of a runt, and then I asked why he thought that a woman standing on her own in a street must automatically be a hooker, and what the hell right he thought he had to harrass me the way he did? I think he was a bit taken aback but he also seemed quite pleased with himself. Even though it was just me and him, I'm sure he thought he'd given himself some kind of cred by approaching a 'hooker' and then obviously pissing off this woman who wasn't a hooker at all. Eventually he backed off, but I was a bit shaken up - though I must admit, when he reached his friend on the other side of the square and they both looked back at me (I knew they would), I was ready, and quite clearly and openly flipped them the finger. I quickly gave in to rage and wished I'd said more to the wee bastard - even thinking about it now, days later, I get so mad! - and said it louder, too! It wasn't until later, at home, that I remembered the Hollaback UK campaign - shaming any man that gives you hassle on the street, or anywhere else for that matter. I had my phone in my hand, and with 3 quick clicks I could have had his photo plastered on the internet for anyone to see. I cannot believe that I forgot about this in the heat of the moment, and although I'm glad I stood up for myself, I still feel I could have said and done more. Like kick him in the nuts in my epic 4-inch heels.

Next time, I will not forget and any sexist bull-shit merchant that gives me hassle on the street will be plastered all over the web before he's even finished harrassing me.

Hollaback indeed, and don't take any crap!

Clara xx

Once in a Blue Moon a woman decides for herself.

I know that this 'news' story has been and gone but I found this cartoon a while ago that I wanted to put up here and then I lost it... and seeing as I've just found it again I thought I might as well blog it now. It's a bit blurry because I stretched it here - I hope you can still read the words.

Nigella Lawson recently wore a 'burquini' on a beach in Australia and caused uproar in the national tabloids. The Daily Mail declared that she looked 'utterly daft' and Judith Woods for the Telegraph went so far as to say that Nigella had 'betrayed her own brand' by choosing to cover up on the beach, thereby apparently negating all she's ever said about liking her body, enjoying food and celebrating curves. People have very quickly refuted the fact that she might have covered up to protect her skin - despite the fact that Nigella's mother, sister and late husband all died of varying forms of cancer, and Nigella is a supporter of the Lavender Trust which helps women with breast cancer. It's also worth remembering that Nigella has pale skin and she was on a beach in Australia which sits right below the biggest hole in the O-Zone layer... But the reason she decided to wear burquini really is irrelevant. This a clear case of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" - had pictures been published of Nigella in a string bikini alongside her slender friend, the tabloids would have been out with their red-pens and "Circles of Shame" to highlight her cellulite, her tummy rolls, her fat thighs... and would have gleefully declared that they were right all along: you can eat all the Nigella's Chocolate Fudge Cake you want... but don't dare go out in public afterwards and show yourself to be anything less than picture perfect! Woods asks: "does [Nigella] not give a damn at all? Does she give a damn just too darned much? Is she hiding her thighs or concealing an ill-judged tattoo?"

and seems to be outraged by both the idea that Nigella might be so ashamed of her body that she chooses to cover up in a burquini (though she decrees that a tankini or a kaftan would have been fine), and by the idea the idea that Nigella really might not give a damn - about being photographed , about what people would think, about how she would look, or how people would analyse her choice. In Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism and the Future, Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards argued that

'feminism isn't about what choice you make, but the freedom to make that choice.' I think the real reason there was so much made of Nigella's burquini is that so many people just couldn't understand how she'd been able to make that choice in the first place, and ignore the 'choice' presented to us the media and beauty industry: look good, lose weight, remove all your body hair or accept the ridicule that will be poured on you as punishment for not achieving this Feminine Ideal. If you wear a bikini and are less than body perfect then you will be scorned and abused for it, but don't worry! If you lose the weight, shave your legs, and have your boobs lifted you'll be rewarded with glowing accolades of your 'hard work' and dedication.

Nigella has looked at these options and said No, thanks to both - and then gone for a third option which she decided on herself. This, naturally, outrages the people who make the rules and the only form of revenge seems to be public scorn and tabloid fury.

Luckily, Nigella really doesn't seem to give a damn.

Clara xx

Clara xx

The Truth Behind The Fantasy Of Porn

There's a group on Facebook called Scottish Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation that often put up interesting links and articles.

One that I saw today is a video by a woman called Shelley Lubbin who used to work in the porn industry in California, and who went on to set up Pink Cross Foundation which pledges to 'heal lives from porn.'

This is the video below, of a speech given by Ms Lubbin at U.S.A. Capitol Hill. Some of the facts and statistics are unsurprising - prevalent sexual disease infection, drug addiction, physical and emotional abuse - but it makes for interesting listening.

Unfortunately, blogger wouldn't upload the video to this post, but follow this direct link to see it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9P4a3uhcUQ&feature=youtu.be

You can also visit the Pink Cross Foundation website for more information, blogs, videos and statistics.

Clara xx

Equal Opportunities

Just a quick note on a story that caught my eye:

Professor Helen Atkinson has become the first woman to be made president of the Engineering Professors Council, since it was set up 50 years ago. It seems hopefully that Professor Atkinson will encourage more young women to go into the field of engineering, and will champion the need for more flexible working hours and a woman-mother-child accepting policy.

I don't know much about engineering, but I do know that the first woman president in an organisation's 50-year history is cause for celebration! A woman-success story always brightens my afternoon!

For the full story, and more details, follow this link.

Clara x

"Gentlemen's Club"

Spearmint Rhino, the strip-club chain, is planning on re-opening a 'venue' in Glasgow city Centre. According to The Glasweigan newspaper, they plan to buy out an existing strip club and transform it into one of their own, with only the 'highest standards.' Glasgow City Council supposedly take a hard line on lap dancing clubs, and is of the view that, "lap dancing is a form of sexual exploitation which degrades women and encourages their objectification by men." Despite this, a spokesperson for the Glasgow Licensing Board says an application by Spearmint Rhino to open a new strip-club will be 'judged on its own merits,' and thus will not be automatically opposed. I don't know when the planned opening for the strip club is, and hopefully it will be opposed by the Council, as to allow this chain to re-open one of their clubs would be a big step backwards. If I find out any more about this, I'll post it here. In the meantime, I guess writing a few letters to the Council and registering your feelings about strip clubs in Glasgow won't do any harm.

Clara x

The Glasweigan article available here.

Girls Gone Wild

I thought I'd try and get a few more blog posts up and running seeing as it's been a while since anything was published, so I thought I'd stick up a few shorter posts linking into other things you might have heard about.

Number 1 on the list for today is the news that the US TV show Girls Gone Wild is planning its first UK tour and will be aired on Sky. If you're unfamiliar with the concept of the show, this is it in a nutshell: a camera crew go round clubs and bars and, in exchange for free GGW t-shirts, caps, nipple tassels and 30 seconds of dubious glory, they persuade women to flash, dance, strip, kiss each other, and fake sex acts. From what I understand, GGW is huge in the US and women need little persuasion to showcase their skills for the cameras.

If you think you can stomach it, you can see an average clip here.

According to the Scottish Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation, GGW will be undertaking its first UK in May 2011.

There is a campaign running to stop the UK tour from being allowed - if you follow this link you can download a standard letter and send it onto your MPs, Councils, Sky TV and anyone else you think is appropriate. Hopefully it's not too late to stop this women-hating trash 'entertainment' from being giving air time in the UK.

Spread the word!

Clara x

Calm Down, Dear

If you haven't heard by now that David Cameron told Labour front-bencher Angela Eagle to 'calm down, dear,' when she argued with him in the House of Commons...well, you must have been living under a rock. Follow the link to see it now.

Mr Cameron has eleceted not to apologise for his comment, and his Tory buddies think it was a joke, and he was 'mocking a popular TV advert.' Presumably the peeving Michael Winner adverts, which are condescending enough on their own. The jeers and sneers from the rest of the Conservatives just add to the overall feeling of derision. Interesting to note, though, if you watch a video of it, that you can see Ed Miliband having a good chuckle, whilst Nick Clegg sits next to Cameron without cracking a smile, looking distinctly uncomfortable. They're talking about this on the Wright Stuff just now, and the overall feeling seems to be that Cameron was offensive, condescending, and patronising. Natalie Pinkham pointed out that UK Parliament is hardly a women-friendly place anyway, with women being seriously outnumbered in the Commons, and under-represented in the Cabinet. Having ridiculous remarks like this being fired at you across the House of Commons is another way of undermining women's authority, and, consequently implying that they have no business being there.

Ms Eagle herself had this to say: "[Cameron has] done it before in the House of Commons, especially when he's been on the back foot... when you are the prime minister, that kind of behaviour to women members of the Commons isn't exactly what you'd like to see, is it?...It's kind of par for the course for me. I expect him to do that. I've seen him do it before."

The fact that this behaviour from Cameron is not new and, in fact, seems to be quite common practice surely shows that this was not some pop culture reference/joke but in fact just another women-bashing remark founded on deep-rooted sexism. As Harriet Harman said:

"Women in Britain in the 21st century do not expect to be told to 'calm down dear' by their Prime Minister."

Ms Harman is one of the few women MPs who really stands up for, and champions, women's rights and equality. Thus her ridiculous epithet, Harriet Har-person - nothing more than a way of undermining her and everything she stands for every time her very name is mentioned. Politics in this country has a long, long way to go before we reach any kind of real equality and respect. So if this story made you mad, or even uncomfortable- - get out there on 5th May and show it in your vote!

Hollaback - Name And Shame!

Rae from GFN just posted a link to a BBC article, which I shamelessly stuck up on my own Facebook profile, too. It was about men abusing women in the street, and the Hollaback initiative that was set up for women who'd experienced this, to post on the website what happened and where, and also, if they like, to put a photo up of whoever did it.

This started in NYC but there's now a UK forum, too, you can find it here on blogspot, and similar ones are being set up in countries across the world. I think it's a really great idea, and even if you don't take a picture to upload, it's still nice to know that there are plenty of others out there experiencing the same thing as you, and it might help give you the courage to shout something back. The sisterhood of feminism, feel the love!

Some of the stories you read on the blog are quite scary - tales of women being followed by packs of men in cars; men following women in the street after their 'funny, sexy' comments were met with a grim BLANK; men sticking their hands up a woman's skirt in the street; people being groped on the train...

Some of the stories have a good ending, with the woman confronting the man and asking what the hell he thought he was doing, calling him a perv, or managing to take a photo of him, and these, at least, are quite uplifting and the theme there seems to be: as soon as you stand up for yourself and make a bit of noise the man becomes mortified, apolosgies and slinks off.

But the over-riding theme of these posts is fear. A woman being scared to continue the two blocks to her own flat after dropping off her friends; a woman being scared on the Tube after previously being assaulted; women feeling so embarrassed and angry that they just doesn't say anything.

The fear is, of course, totally justified. Whilst a lot of men, if confronted, look shame-faced and sidle off with their tail between their legs (no pun intended!), there are men who would become aggressive or even violent if a woman he'd just abused in the street dared shout something back.

While it's a good idea taking photos of men who shout at you or feel you up, imagine sticking your camera-phone in the face of an unknown man when you were on your own in the middle of Glasgow. Scary thought, isn't it? I wouldn't say that you shouldn't shout back, take a pic or even deliver a swift kick to the shins of anyone who degrades you like this in the street, but I would say 'know your enemy,' and watch out for your own safety above all else.

Recently when I was in the Tesco Express at Charing Cross, I bent over to get something off the bottom shelf, and stuck my be-jeaned bum in the air as I did so. Whilst I was bent over the security guard said to me, 'Alright hen, gonna give us a wee dance there?' And then walked on without a backwards glance. I was so shocked and taken aback that - yup, you guessed it - I didn't say anything back, much less take a photo.

But I'll tell you one thing, after reading these stories on HollabackUK...

I bloody well will next time!

Clara xx

needle and the damage done

It is safe to say that of all the women in our society those who are drug addicts and the severely mentally ill are perceived to be the lowest common denominators. When one considers how these two groups are represented in the tabloid media then there are some parallels that can be drawn between them:

• reliance upon the public purse and cost to the tax payer
• threat to the lives of the typical British citizen be it drug addicts stealing purses or the mentally ill causing violence
• that they are unfit to raise a family and intervention from social work is required

I personally think that those with addictions fair the worst in the media, partly because there are precious few organisations campaigning on their behalf. (at least for us nutters there are a plethora of anti stigma campaigns) According to Action On Addiction, one of the few registered charities dealing with substance abusers, addiction affects 1 in 3 people at any given time. I found this surprising as unlike mental health, where the 1 in 4 statistic has been well publicised, addiction is both more common place (even with many drug users having mental health issues as a co morbidity) and much less discussed.

Unlike mental health (where I am well versed as a service user) I know very little about drug addiction beyond the negative slant that is reported in the newspapers. Addiction is a powerful force that breaks up families, damages communities and ruins lives. How can I know so little about it? Firstly there is not much in the way of balanced reporting – I am well aware that addicts steal, contract diseases and cost the taxpayer millions each year. However as a liberal feminist I want to go beyond the headlines, I want to know what factors led to these women making this horrible choice. I want to know the true statistics of cost and crime. I also want to know what the hell the government is doing to help them and their families.

First of all we need to address what inspires people to abuse? In amongst the tabloid bile, it must be remembered that no drug user sets out to become an addict. People start using drugs for reasons such as to escape problems they are having in their lives, to fit in amongst their peers and simple curiosity regarding their effects. Women today face major issues such as sexual exportation, reduced earnings and the bulk of parental responsibility. All of which are majorly stressful and can be implicated in the use of drugs.

Women, in the past, faced special stigmatization in regards to receiving treatment for their addictions. According to research from America until the 1970s drug therapy was designed with mainly men in mind and little in the way of studies concerned women's issues. Whilst drug treatment has now mainly caught up between the genders: women are still unique in that their relationship with drugs is linked to experiences such as domestic violence and the raising of children. Drug using women who fall pregnant are demonised to an extent never felt by a man. Such is the rights of the unborn child placed over the mother, an angle the media are often only too happy to take.

This follows onto the reproductive rights row. In October last year the BBC reported that Project Prevention (an American charity) was offering £200 to addicts in exchange for their sterilisation. Personally I find this move horrifying and that discouraging the less desirable members of our society from bearing children amounts to little more than eugenics. I find that the offering of a cash reward is exploitative and with many drug addicts desperate for cash many may be led down this route without having the freedom to consider the implications of their actions. Whilst I believe that no-one wants a child to be brought up by drug addicted parents I am also of the firm opinion that humans should not be selectively bred like cattle.

In regards to what might make life a little easier for drug affected families scrapping the illegality of drugs is an option. Prohibition does not work, prohibition has never worked. We only have to look to America at the start of the last century and the Volstead act to see this. Many parallels can be drawn between society's attitude to alcohol back then and to illegal drugs just now. The anti saloon league who heralded in the changes saw alcohol has a destructive force for families and marriages. When the ban first came in it appeared to work at first arrests for drunken disorder fell but it was not to last. The illegal production and distribution of alcohol rose and was in the hands of often violent criminals from organised crime. Sound familiar?

Releasing drugs from the hands of organised gangs would prevent exposure to the vast criminal underworld by drug users – saving them from harm. Prescribing drugs to addicts would decrease demand from the streets, effectively putting drug pushers out of business. It would also decrease prostitution as women would no longer have to sell their bodies to finance their addiction. It would encourage them to be better parents as they would no longer be prowling the streets after their next fix. Prescribing drugs with clean needles could also lower rates of blood transmitted infections and thus save the NHS thousands each year. A pilot study by King's college found that :

“Of 127 users involved in the pilots, three-quarters "substantially reduced" their use of street drugs, while their spending on drugs fell from £300 to £50 a week. The number of crimes they committed fell from 1,731 in three months to 547 in six months.”

It also revealed a financial saving, where the project cost £15,000 per addict per year compared to prison costs of £44,000. This does not go anywhere near solving all the issues connected to drugs but as stated by Julian Critchley (former director of the UK Anti-Drug Co-Ordination Unit) :

“Ultimately, people will make choices which harm themselves, whether they involve diet, smoking, drinking, lack of exercise, sexual activity or pursuit of extreme sports. In all these instances, the Government rightly takes the line that if these activities are to be pursued, society will ensure that those who pursue them have access to accurate information about the risks; can access assistance to change their harmful habits should they so wish; are protected by a legal standards regime; are taxed accordingly; and – crucially – do not harm other people. Only in the field of drugs does the Government take a different line”

To further prove the point the government like to run their drug policy to appease the average tabloid reader, though as can be seen even the tabloids are now moving with the times, the government are now looking to cut benefits from addicts who refuse treatment. The Daily Mail, whilst they are at pains to point out that “£1.2billion of taxpayers’ money “ is spent on addicts annually they also report in the article that cutting benefits from addicts will drive the market further underground, result in an increase in crime and prostitution as individuals finance their supply. Making the situation worse for drug abuser and non drug abuser alike. I find this a very positive line of reporting from a tabloid newspaper. The article goes on to quote Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, former president of the Royal College of Physicians who believes that there is a strong case for putting a regulatory framework around illicit drugs, rather than the current blanket ban. Only when the government admits that the “war on drugs” is making things worse and listen to the gathering voices of experts in the field will much needed reform take place. Until then our most vulnerable women will roam the streets risking murder and rape to fuel their addictions. Steff xxx

EU Directive on sex trafficking

The following is a copy of an email I received asking for signatures on a petition, and letters to appropriate MPs regarding the EU directive on human trafficking. The link to send an 'easy letter' to your MP is attached, and it only takes a couple of minutes. I'm sure everyone is aware that human trafficking affects a dispropotionate number of women and children, and this is a quick and easy way to make your voice heard on this issue.

--Clara x

http://www.38degrees.org.uk/trafficking-speak-out

Will out government join European efforts to tackle human trafficking? It's on a knife edge. And there's no time to lose: the government is likely to make a decision, good or bad, in the next couple of weeks.

MPs could plat a key role in pushing the goverment to do the right thing. They need to tell David Cameron and Teresa May that their voters want actrion to tackle trafficking. Let's email out MPs today and demand they speak out.

Every year, criminal gangs traffic thousands of people into the UK> Once the victims arrive here, many of them, including children, end up in the sex trade. The new Europe-wide plan would make life harder for the criminal gangs, and mean better protection for the victims.

If our government refues to join in, that would be a disaster: great news for the trafficking gangs, but terrible news for their victims. If enough of us contact our MPs this week, we can help make sure this doesn't happen.

We will be delivering our petition - over 26, 000 strong - very soon. Contacting Mps now will mean the government feels the pressure from all angles. We know that the combination of a public petition and personal messages to MPs can make a difference. That's exactly what we did to change the government's mind about selling off our forests.

Send your MP a message asking them to stand up for action to protect the victims of human trafficking:

http://www.38degrees.org.uk/trafficking-speak-out

International Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day, one and all!

I hope you all managed to get some kind of celebrating done today, there seemed to be lots going on, so no excuses for not getting involved! I've had a great day, personally! Syma from the Glasgow Women's Library runs some of the projects that I volunteer with and she asked if I could help her with a card-making stall that she'd been asked to run as part of the IWD festivities at the City Chambers.

So, I went along and I got to sit in and listen to some of the talks and speeches from various people there. One woman did a funny poem about the menopause; another did a monologue about the life of St Enoch who was the mother of St Kentigern. (who is also St Mungo, in case you didn't know!)

There was a short fashion show, demonstrating various traditional or native dress from all over the world: India, Kosovo, Sri Lanka, Iran... plus a nice dance segment with the same women performing typical dances in a group. They started with a lovely solo Iranian dance, which merged into a highland fling, followed by some Charleston action and what looked like a bit of Bollywood thrown in too!

Then during the break we went back to our stall and the crowds arrived to start making some cards! The idea was to make a card to give to a special woman in your life. So some people were making good luck, congratulations or thank you cards for friends, one woman made a card for her wee daughter and covered it in purple sparklies, purple pen, purple butterflies... because her daughter was 'purple mad!' And then two women came along and started making Mothers Day cards, and they ended up looking fantastic, really arty and pretty - at least as nice as anything you'd buy for a fiver out of Clinton's!

I made Mother's Day cards for my mum and my granny, too, as well as one to send to my friend who just got an awesome new job. It was good because I could stick my cards up so people could get an idea of what they could do, and I also got to go wild with glue dots, stampers, sticky gems and coloured pens!

There were various other stands there, though unfortunately I didn't get a chance to see much of them. There was one offering advice on breast-feeding, another selling hand-knitted (I think) baby clothes and *drum roll* a cupcake stand with some amazing looking cakes!

Syma bought me a Raspberry Ripple cupcake for my crafting efforts, and it was so tasty I took a picture of it. Should really have thought of taking the pic before I'd eaten half of it, but never mind. Edible glitter, lush icing and big juicy raspberry. It's everything I ever wanted in a cupcake.

All in all, it was a really good event, quite heartening to see so many people there, all different ages, backgrounds and ethnic groups seemed to be represented, and some of the speakers were really impassioned and uplifting, especially one woman who spoke about the need for more women board members in FTSE 100 companies, more women editors in newspapers and on the news, more recognition for women scientists, in Scotland and across the world... If ever a good dose of feminism was called for, it was definitely available in the City Chambers today.

Although I guess you all know that the GFN vigil is on Friday evening, a quick reminder doesn't hurt: 5pm in George Square, I hope many of you can make it, and bring lots of support!

This is the video I shot if the dancers at the City Chambers today, sorry the sound quality isn't great but I was just recording on my phone. You can get an idea of it though, and the women are still wearing some of the lovely outfits that they showed us during the fashion show earlier.

Once again, I hope you all had a lovely International Woman's Day 2011 - which, I found out today, is the 100th Anniversary if IWD. If that's not cause for celebration, then I don't know what is!

--Clara x