Posts Categorised ‘Happenings’
Jan
21
The award ‘Spellemannsprisen’ is presented to remarkable Norwegian musicians every year.
Rock- and folk singer Susanne Sundfør was this year nominated for 3 of the 21 categories; best lyricist, best popular composer and best female artist.
But being acknowledged as a ‘female artist’ wasn’t quite Susanne’s cup of tea.
She told the committee that she doesn’t agree with the division of male and female artists, and that her personal viewpoint is that any society should have a genderless perspective on art.
Susanne Sundfør was nominated for, and won, the category last year. She made it clear in her speech that she was first and foremost an artist, not a female artist.
I’m off to buy her record!
You ca read more (with the help of google translator) here.
Tagged: Music, Norway, Role Model
Dec
20
Campaigns by Rape Crisis Scotland have been featured on Feminist.ie several times, as they are brilliant in addressing the victim-blaming myth.
Last month, another new great campaign was released, directing the focus away from the victims and onto the perpetrators.
Sadly, festive seasons such as Christmas usually lead to a peak in the numbers of rape and sexual assault, so the campaign is well timed, and will hopefully reach out to a wide range of people.
Tagged: Rape, Rape Crisis Campaings, Sexualised violence, Violence against women
Dec
16
Finally, the much anticipated judgement from the so-called ‘Case of A, B and C’ in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is here.
The three women, referred to as ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’, brought their cases to be heard in the ECHR in December last year. They were supported by the Irish Family Planning Association.
All three women traveled to the UK to access abortion services.
They had different reasons for their choice to terminate their pregnancies:
‘A’ had children in state care, and was hoping to regain custody. She felt that another pregnancy would lower the prospects of reunification with her existing family.
‘B’ became pregnant unintentionally, despite having taken the morning-after pill. She had been told by two different doctors that there was a substantial risk of an ectopic pregnancy.
‘C’ was in remission from cancer. While pregnant, but unaware of this fact, she underwent several tests in relation to her illness. On finding out about her pregnancy, she could not find a doctor in Ireland who would advice her on the risks the pregnancy posed to her own life and health, nor about potential risks the tests she had undergone could have had on the fetus.
Unable to find a doctor who would determine the level of such risks, she did not fulfill the criteria for the exceptions to the abortion ban in Ireland, namely the ‘real and sustantial risk’ to her life. She felt she had no choice but to go abroad for an abortion.
‘C’ wanted a medical procedure (termination induced by drugs). However, because such procedures require follow-up appointments, and she was a non-resident, she could not find a clinic in the UK willing to perform this. She therefore had to wait until performing a surgical abortion was possible, and underwent this procedure in the UK.
Today, it was announced that the Strasbourg court ruled that one of the women’s rights had been violated.
The court held that in the cases of ‘A’ and ‘B’, no violation of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rightsand Fundamental Freedom had taken place.
However, it was found that ‘C”s right to a lawful abortion was breached, due to the lack of “effective or accessible procedure”.
Some argue that all three women suffered from ill-health, stigma and violation to their rights of privacy by having to travel abroad for the procedures. These are very important arguments which hopefully will lead to further debate on the issue.
On the positive side, the decision has raised awareness around Irish legislation on abortion, and particularly around the state’s unwillingness to implement legislation and procedures that take into consideration the (very limited) exceptions to the abortion ban.
Following the judgement in the X-case in 1992, abortions should be accessible in Ireland when a woman’s life is at risk. As illustrated by complainant ‘C’ in this case, the state has yet to follow up its’ legal obligations 18 years after this Supreme Court decision.
The ECHR has legally binding status in all the 47 states signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights; thus including Ireland. As a result of today’s ruling, the state is now obliged to provide a legal exception to the abortion ban.
The ECHR judgement has highlighted the state’s failure to implement this piece of legislation for the past 18 years, and hopefully this means that such legal exceptions to the abortion restriction will be implemented shortly.
Today’s landmark decision has been heavily discussed in the media, including in the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Choice Ireland, Catholics for Choice, the Anti-room (and not to forget their brilliant piece from yesterday), the Irish Family Planning Association, Journal.ie, the New York Times, the Guardian, and many, many more.
I have however received a tip via Twitter that the Pro-Life campaign has a ‘more informed and balanced’ take on the case than the mainstream media, and been referred to read up on it here and here.
Finally, I would like to thank these three fantastic women for their strength and bravery, and for their commitment to fight for the right to choice and the right to privacy to make personal decisions on private matters.
Tagged: Abortion, Choice, Health, Legislation, Women's Rights
Nov
02
This year I opted for a banana myself, but this great costume featured on genfem.com is definitely a runner-up for next year! Brilliant!
From www.genfem.com
Oct
07
…is now on YouTube for anyone who missed the viewing at the official launch last week (and for anyone who would like to see it again).
You can connect with the Irish Feminist Network on Facebook and on Twitter, and keep track of IFN events by subscribing to the IFN Newsletter or by checking the feminist.ie Events Calendar.
Oct
06
Image from sonashousing.ie
The Annual Report from Sonas Housing Association was launched yesterday, showing a significant increase in the demand for housing services for women and children homeless due to domestic violence.
According to the report, applications for safe accommodation increased by 37 per cent from 2008 to 2009. The number of applications have more than doubled since 2007.
The report also showed that women affected by domestic abuse often depend on support for a variety of needs in addition to safe housing, such as mental health needs and addiction needs. On Sonas’ weblog, Sharon Cosgrove, CEO, is quoted saying:
Living with systematic abuse by an intimate partner has many detrimental effects on a woman’s health – both mental and physical. A woman suffering domestic violence is in a very vulnerable position and can be prone to negative coping behaviours in other to endure her life and survive.
Sonas offers a holistic support service including help with legal issues, finance, advice on education and employment, addiction issues, building self-confidence, safety planning and mental and physical health.
The organisation uses a feminist approach to violence against women and recognises it as
gender based crime and the ultimate expression of the unequal position of women in society
Earlier this year, Safe Ireland identified two of the main reasons for the increase in demand for safe housing as the greater awareness of available services and the fallout of the recession.
Sep
08
The first Irish report to document life experiences of children growing up with lesbian parents was launched by Marriage Equality in Dublin yesterday. The report, entitled ‘Voices of Children’ is a result of a workshop attended by 11 participants between the ages of 18 and 24; all having grown up with LGBT parents.
Based on the findings, Marriage Equality called for the Irish Government to amend adoption and guardianship laws, and for the introduction of civil marriage. Grainne Healy, Chairwoman of Marriage Equality said:
Contrary to the advice of the Ombudsman for Children on both adoption and Civil Partnership, the Irish Government has created a legal vacuum for this group of children. This means that discrimination identified by the children in the report across the education and health system, and in society, will continue unchallenged.
You can sign up to support Marriage Equality’s work for civil marriage for gay and lesbian people here.
Sep
02
Feminist.ie has expanded! From now on feminist.ie will not only be the home of a feminist blog; it will also feature updated lists of feminist events and feminist vacancies from around the country.
So if you’re organising an event or looking for staff, or if you simply know of a great event or vacancy that deserves some attention, please do not hesitate to send all relevant information to info@feminist.ie and it will be published as soon as possible.
Hope you like the updates!
Jul
02
According to The Examiner, The UN General Assembly is due to meet this afternoon to agree on a resolution to merge four existing UN bodies into a single unit to promote equality for women. It is expected that the body, entitled ‘UN Women’ will be operational from January 1st 2011.
The UN official website always promote many great petitions related to gender equality. Today I found an online petition to stop the use of sexual violence in conflict, which you can sign here. The petition is part of the initiative UNiTE – To End Violence Against Women.
According to the UN, rape and domestic violence are a higher risk for women aged 15 to 44 than cancer, traffic accidents or malaria.
Jun
17
Launching their annual report and annual statistics yesterday, it was clear that the Ryan and the Murphy reports had a significant impact on the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre‘s work in 2009. Compared with numbers from 2008, the National Helpline saw an increase of 41.5 per cent for first time callers. There was also an increase of contact from people dealing with childhood sexual abuse. In earlier years, around 1/3 of the clients of the DRCC had experienced such abuse, while the remaining 2/3 contacted the centre for support for rape or sexual abuse experienced in their adult lives. These numbers have changed steadily over the last few years. In 2009, people who had suffered sexual abuse in their childhood made up about half of the DRCC client base, according to Head of Clinical Services Angela McCarthy.
Commenting on the DRCC’s work last year Ellen O’Malley-Dunlop, CEO, said that their ‘services have never been in such demand’. She emphasized the need to challenge attitudes early, and criticized the lack of response from the Department of Education in this regard. She stressed the importance of preventive work and added:
‘We can not have a situation in this country where we have another Ryan report in 30 years’
Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney, said she was completely behind an update on research on sexual violence in Ireland and expressed support for a second SAVI-report. She emphasized the importance of up-to-date statistics and said the HSE would ‘continue to enhance resources’. However, on questions regarding ‘ring-fenced’ funding to guarantee the maintained work of the Centre, The Minister said she would discuss the matter with HSE, but that it might have to come down to a choice between funding research and funding services.
According to the annual report, the National 24 Hour Helpline received 14.289 phone calls in 2009. The DRCC saw 579 clients for crisis counselling and psychotherapy, and accompanied 286 victims of rape and sexual assault to the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit at the Rotunda Hospital.
