Category Archives: Wales

13 August 2014 ~ Women in Tune Festival 2014 – Llanfair Clydogau, Lampeter – until 17 August 2014

The theme for 2014 is: Envisioning Our Future – Remembering Our Past

Greetings WIT women old and new. WIT 2014 promises to be as much fun as ever with great music, chances to share skills and learn new ones. The focus this year is on building the world we want whilst keeping hold of what we know from the past.

Those of us that came to IdleWIT last year really enjoyed the opportunity of time. Time to be idle, time to chat, time to explore, time to play.

To bring a flavour of this to our usual hectic festival life we have decided to have our first day of festival (Wednesday) with nothing to do, yes we mean nothing to do! Well of course there’s the tent to set up, women to meet up with, a chance to see what and where the marquees are this year. But there will be no workshops and no performances. The café will open at lunchtime and the fire will be lit for the evening.

So come and soak up the energies of our fabulous camp and then you’ll be ready for all the organised fun!

Performers include:
Julie Felix, Kizzy Crawford, O’Hooley and Tidow, Ajah UK, The Ladies of Midnight Blue, Edina Balczo, Catherine Elms, Pearl Fish, Jo Bywater, Shanty Le Hara, Eleri Angharad, Jessica Alice, Harriet Earls, Sera, The Wyrd Sisters, Côr Gobaith, the Very Good Disco Band, Jan Allain, Gem Andrews, Avril Yospa, Marion Oughton, Nigelli + workshops and …

Thursday:
Main Stage:Wyrd Sisters, Cor Gobaith, Workshop Introductions, Catherine Elms, Sera, Harriet Earis. MC Gwenllian.
Twmpath dancing to the Scratch Band

Friday:
Main Stage: Kizzy Crawford, O’Hooley and Tidow, The Gem Andrews Band, MC Helen Sandler, Disco
Fringe: 1.15pm Jan Allain, 6.30pm Shanty Le Hara. MCs Avril Yospa & Helen Sandler

Saturday:
Main Stage: Ladies of Midnight Blue, Ajah UK, Julie Felix, MC Marion Oughton
Fringe: 1.15pm Jessica Alice, 6.30pm, Eleri Angharad, 7pm Jo Bywater. MCs Avril Yospa & Helen Sandler
Star Gazers Gather

Sunday : Workshop performances, Edina Balzco, The Very Good Disco Band, MC Nigelli.
Amazons and Goddesses special event 2pm – 4pm with Circle Dancing.
Fringe: 6.30pm Pearl Fish. MCs Avril Yospa & Helen Sandler
Sunday Market 11am – 1pm

Other:
Library corner with MajIkle
Creative Corner
Tee Shirt silk screen printing with Shonagh Glen
Campaign Corner (Gwenllian)
Rad Fem tent (Sabine & Tracey Carboni)
Manu’s remembrance

 Read  more about our performers

Fringe stage

See Avril in the cafe area or add your name to the log cabin list to book your 15min slot.
Fringe runs 1.15pm – 2.15pm and then 6.30pm – 7.30pm

Workshops

WORKSHOP TENT BIG TOP LONGWOOD
THURS 11-1 Maj – Surrealist Poetry Tympath Scratch Band
2.30 – 4.30 Jan Allain – Hullabaloo Harmonicas Witchazel – Permaculture
FRI 11-1 WIT Herstory project Paula – Feminist Songs Green wood craft
2.30 – 4.30 Genene – Exhale Massage Be in a Disco Band Green wood craft
SAT 11-1 When is a chord…Paula Zumba – Judy
2.30 – 4.30 Free Yourself to Our Rhythm – Ladies of Midnight blue Drama – Jane Wildlife Identification Walk
11pm Stargazers Gather in the Well Being Field
SUN 4-6pm Edina Balczo – Strum and Drum Guitar

There are two free slots each day Thursday to Saturday for You to offer your skills or have some kind of get-together/discussion/jam etc….see SunDyke to book a slot.

The Daily Sing is Thursday, Friday and Saturday 5 – 6pm in the Workshop Tent.

Read more about the workshops

RadFem Tent at WIT 2014

Come and join us at the RadFem tent to meet and network with other radical feminists. We will be running facilitated discussions, come and share your views, who inspired/inspires you or just hang out and network. The space will be also be available outside of the workshop sessions to network and socialise with women interested in radical feminist ideas.

The Campaign Corner is back!

Bring posters and info about the things you are involved in and hang them up on the washing line in the café tent.  Last time we had info from Reclaim the Night to great plants to grow to encourage bees! See what you can add to spread the word among WIT goers.  For more info phone Gwenllian on 07877836475

Ticket information http://www.womenintune.co.uk/index.php/coming-to-wit/tickets

Women in Tune Festival, Swn Y Ddol, Llanfair Clydogau, Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales SA48 8LD

For full details of how to get to WIT, disabled access and much more go to http://www.womenintune.co.uk/

See also about lift sharing etc., via facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenintune/

July 2, 2014

Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation welcomes new law making forced marriage a criminal offence

On Monday, 16 June 2014, forced marriage becomes a self-standing criminal offence in England and Wales and in Scotland punishable by up to 7 years in prison. At the same time, in England and Wales it also becomes a criminal offence to breach a Forced Marriage Protection Order, in line with Scotland where this is already the case.

The Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (IKWRO), which represents women and girls from Middle Eastern, North African and Afghan communities, has been at the forefront of the campaign to criminalise Forced Marriage across the UK over the last decade, is celebrating this crucial step forward in the movement to end forced marriage.

Diana Nammi, founder and Executive Director of IKWRO says;

We have campaigned long and hard for the criminalisation of forced marriage, which equates to slavery, for a number of years because this is what the women that we represent tell us they want. Criminalisation makes it absolutely clear to everyone that forced marriage is not tolerated in the UK. The absence of a specific criminal offence thus far has undermined the movement to end forced marriage. Criminalisation is a crucial deterrent; many of our clients have told us that if forced marriage had been criminalised when they were facing it, their families may not have gone ahead with it because they would have abided by the law.

The women and girls that we work with say that they want to know that the law is clearly on their side and that forced marriage is explicitly illegal. Those who have experienced forced marriage tell us that if they had been confident that the law was on their side when they were facing forced marriage, they would have felt empowered to seek help.

Some say that criminalisation will force the issue underground. But it is already a hidden issue and we must continue to work hard to change this. IKWRO are doing this, by working in schools and colleges. We are training all staff through inset says, influencing students who may be potential victims, perpetrators or have influence to prevent forced marriage of others, and we are reaching parents through school coffee mornings. But to ensure that everyone can be reached we need the government to get on board by making whole school education on this issue compulsory. We must see commitment from the Department of Education to ensure that the statutory guidelines on forced marriage and ‘honour’ based violence are embedded into safeguarding strategies, structures and procedures for all schools and colleges and for effective ongoing monitoring by Ofsted.

Our colleagues in Denmark at a charity called LOKK, tell us that since 2008 when forced marriage became a criminal offence there, the numbers of young people and professionals seeking help around the issue of forced marriage have soared. The same is already happening here in the UK; since the intention to criminalise forced marriage was announced by David Cameron on 8th June 2012, reporting has almost doubled. The same arguments were raised against criminalising marital rape but far from going underground, reporting has increased four-fold’.

With the new specific offence the law will be much clearer. It will be easier to for those at risk and also for people who have influence to prevent a forced marriage to tell perpetrators about. Criminalisation will also make it crystal clear to front-line professionals, such as teachers and social workers, that forced marriage is a serious safeguarding issue and that they must take action to ensure anyone at risk is safe. So now those at risk will be able have confidence that they will be taken seriously.

Some people have said that criminalising forced marriage will intensify negativity towards minority communities. IKWRO has repeatedly heard this argument made about all of our work raising awareness on all forms of ‘honour’ based violence. We have been told to be quiet about all negative issues within our communities. But we strongly disagree. We both represent and are largely made up of minority women and we must at the same time expose human rights abuses and fight racism; the two are not mutually exclusive. We believe that staying silent about human rights abuses faced by women and girls from minority communities is racist. By turning our back and allowing harmful practices such as forced marriage to continue unchallenged, we actually leave the community to face stigmatisation and discrimination. We must prioritise the safety of minority women and girls, we must protect their universal human rights and fight for equality.

Not only does criminalisation send a clear message within the UK, it also sends a clear message internationally, which is important because forced marriage is a global human rights issue.

Changing the law is a crucial step in the movement, but this alone will not end forced marriage. I call upon the government to implement a national strategy plan to address forced marriage. The plan must ensure:

    a) Effective training for all professionals working with the public, including the police, judges, health professionals and social services.

    b) Whole school education for students and all staff.

    c) Monitoring of prolonged absences by students and students not returning from holidays.

    d) That affected communities, including both potential perpetrators and potential victims are made aware of the changes in the law.

    e) A victim/survivor focussed approach to ensure they are fully protected and supported.

    f) Access to public funds for victims/ survivors.

    g) Provision within immigration law and procedures to permanently protect victims/survivors.

    h) Access to justice through legal aid for victims/survivors.

    i) Sustainable funding for specialist support organisations like IKWRO and for refuges.

Press Release at http://ikwro.org.uk/2014/06/welcomes-marriage-criminal/#more-2119

June 17, 2014

New report raises concerns about women’s access to healthcare – Maternity Action

A new report, by Maternity Action and the Women’s Health and Equality Consortium (WHEC) examines the barriers faced by women when using GP services. The report examines women’s health and health-seeking behaviour in light of social factors like gender, ethnicity, refugee status, disability, health and sexual orientation.

The research is based on a survey of 300 women across the UK, as well as a series of focus groups with asylum seeker and refugee women, BME women, women living with HIV, LGBT women and women with learning disabilities.

  • The report found that 69% of the women who had experienced domestic violence did not seek help from their GP and there was little confidence in the GP’s ability to help.
  • Many LGBT women found primary care services overtly hetero-normative, and had encountered negative attitudes when disclosing their sexual orientation. For some, this had become a barrier to seeing their GP. Ignorance about the sexual health needs of LGBT women was another concern.
  • Asylum seeking women reported encountering prejudice and discrimination, problems with registration associated with proving identity, needing an advocate to negotiate to obtain a GP appointment, and being referred to A&E or walk-in centres by reception staff.
  • Many women living with HIV had encountered ignorance and prejudice from GP’s, and raised concerns about confidentiality. This is especially concerning as the incidence of domestic violence in this group is high, and many women found that stigmas about single motherhood prevented them from seeking help.
  • Women with learning disabilities reported issues relating to the accessibility of mainstream services. Some of the main concerns related to the accessibility of registration processes, appointments and health related information.

You can read the report, entitled Women’s Voices on Health – Addressing barriers to accessing primary care here: http://www.maternityaction.org.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Access-to-Primary-Care-report-FINAL.pdf

You can listen to a podcast about the report here: https://audioboo.fm/boos/2200449-women-s-voices-on-health-addressing-barriers-to-accessing-primary-care

May 28, 2014

EVAW reveals – main political parties’ sexual harassment policies ‘hopelessly inadequate’

‘Parties should be aiming for a Gold Standard,’ say women’s groups citing Rennard scandal & other allegations of sexual harassment in Westminster

With European and local elections just days away and thousands of local political party activists making last minute appeals to voters, the End Violence Against Women Coalition today (20 May) published a legal analysis (1) of the three main political parties’ policies on sexual harassment which finds them “hopelessly inadequate”.

The national coalition of women’s organisations requested the policies be disclosed by each party leader when the Liberal Democrats failed to act decisively on the Lord Rennard ‘scandal’ in January this year (2).

A leading equality lawyer has reviewed the responses sent by Nick Clegg, Ed Miliband and Grant Schapps to the EVAW Coalition and says that as a set the policies are “hopelessly inadequate” and “demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of what the law requires.”

Cover letters and attached party policies in the main:

  • Appear not to appreciate that the sexual harassment of party staff or members is unlawful
  • Do not state that a person making an allegation will be protected from ‘victimisation’, that is, incurring further discrimination as a result of making an allegation, as the law also requires
  • Currently have poor procedures for making an allegation, or have not disclosed these.

The Conservative Party’s ‘Respect’ policy for MPs and their members worryingly opens with the statement that MPs “have the right to expect to carry out their parliamentary business free from unfounded allegations of discrimination, harassment or bullying”.

The Lib Dems will not implement new policy and codes of conduct until the end of 2014.

The Labour Party have disclosed policy for party staff only. It disclosed only a description of what it considers to be harassment and no details of procedures for how it should be dealt with. The party says it is following up recent recommendations on how better to publicise its procedures within the party.

Karon Monaghan QC who wrote the legal analysis said:

“None of the main political parties appear to understand that they are subject to the law against sexual harassment in their dealings with party members. The Equality Act 2010 makes clear that it is unlawful to subject members of a political party to sexual harassment.

“None of the documents produced by the party leaders evidence any understanding of the legal position. Even their policies addressing the harassment of staff indicate a lack of understanding of the legal position. The main political parties simply do not seem to understand their legal obligations and equally importantly what constitutes best practice.”

EVAW Coalition Director Holly Dustin said:

“We are publishing the three main political parties’ disclosed policies on harassment as thousands of party members and workers are working intensively on Euro and local elections campaigns, and as all are beginning their 2015 general election campaign at the grassroots level.

“We are disappointed that these policies are not better. Indeed, we believe that the parties should be aiming for a gold standard when it comes to issues of sexual harassment. How can voters have confidence in their public policies on violence against women if their internal policies are not up to scratch?

“Women’s representation in British politics is still woefully inadequate and the political parties need to seriously think about whether they are welcoming places where women will be treated equally to their male colleagues.

“We are calling on all political parties to work with expert discrimination lawyers to ensure that their policies on sexual harassment set a high standard for others to follow, and that they are implemented properly.  We are also calling on the parties to work with women’s groups to make concrete manifesto commitments on violence against women and girls and other equality issues. In the wake of recent scandals about sexual harassment and sleaze at Westminster and in other parts of public life, this is the very least that voters deserve.”

The EVAW Coalition’s request to party leaders for disclosure of their policies is here, and Karon Monaghan QC’s legal analysis here, and the political parties’ responses:

____________________________________________________________
Notes

  1. The full legal analysis and the political parties’ letters to EVAW and policies are available to download at www.evaw.org.uk/news
  2. In January the Liberal Democrats’ internal party inquiry into Lord Rennard’s sexual harassment of women party activists failed to produce decisive results despite finding the allegations credible; the women involved in the case were disappointed. EVAW’s response is here.
  3. The policies requested and disclosed do not refer to MPs’ staff. These workers are employed directly by MPs in a manner similar to a small, private employer. Employment and equality law still apply absolutely to the terms and conditions of these people’s employment.

Press Release at http://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/news/150/evaw-reveals-main-political-parties-sexual-harassment-policies-hopelessly-inadequate

May 21, 2014