Special Feature: Women and the Arab Spring

to follow

Women/Health: childbirth, contraceptives, anti-depressants, breast cancer

Maternal mortality

Maternal mortality and neonatal mortality rates in China drop by almost two-thirds after the government gives incentives for hospital births: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/16/china-cuts-childbirth-mortality-rate . On the other hand, in South Africa, the maternal mortality rate has increased fourfold over a decade, from 150 deaths per 100,000 in 1998 to 625 in 2007 according to this Human Rights Watch report: http://www.hrw.org/node/100757 . Commentary here from the Guardian (UK): http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2011/aug/12/south-africa-maternal-mortality-health .

Injectable contraceptives double HIV risk
The World Health Organisation is calling a meeting to consider whether to advise women against using injectable contraceptives after a study conducted in seven African countries found that they doubled a woman's chances of contracting HIV/AIDS. Women using such methods also had increased risk of transferring the virus to their partners. The results of the study are particularly significant for women in African countries where the use of injectable contraception is popular because it can be kept secret from husbands and partners. http://allafrica.com/stories/201110051206.html .

Breast cancer rise
Asian women in the UK, who have historically had lower breast cancer rates than other UK women, have seen a surge in cases in the last year according to a Manchester hospital. http://menmedia.co.uk/asiannews/news/health/s/1460769_surge-in-breast-cancer-cases-in-asian-women-say-manchester-experts?rss=yes. The BBC suggests it is a failure on the part of the women themselves to spot signs and attend clinics that is causing the rise: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11598498, while other sources point to cultural reasons, including misunderstandings about screening procedures and lack of information for Asian women that leads to later treatment. A new help group is being set up: http://www.garstangcourier.co.uk/news/regional/breast_cancer_help_for_asian_women_1_3846392.

Refugee doctor
Dr Cynthia Maung, "Burma's most famous doctor" is in exile in Thailand where despite threats and attacks by the Burmese government she treats Burmese refugees from camps across the border and helps send teams of medics into Burma to treat those in isolated and inaccessible areas. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/16/doctor-cynthia-burma-political-refugee?INTCMP=SRCH .

Anti-depressants: Petition
A third of UK women have taken anti-depressants with 24% of those on them for more than 10 years, and half being offered no alternative treatments. This petition calls for a review of the use and prescription of anti-depressants, especially among women, and for a better approach to mental health issues: http://campaign.publicaffairsbriefing.co.uk/petition.aspx?cid=d82d6619-bcb3-4f23-a35c-791be1f87f11. Briefing paper on the issues here: http://www.platform51.org/downloads/resources/briefings/antidepressants.pdf

Women/Law, crime and justice: shackled childbirth, Sri Lankan jails

Shackled childbirth

Rebecca Brodie, a Massachussetts lawyer, plans to have her third child in shackles as a protest against women's treatment during childbirth in USA prisons: http://www.colorlines.com/archives/2011/10/shackling_women_in_prison_during_childbirth.html

Sri Lankan jails "hell"

"About 150 of us sleep in a cell designed for 75 people. An open drain infested with rats runs the perimeter of the room. Recently, one of the inmates was bitten and had to be rushed to the hospital for an anti-rabies shot."  Conditions in Sri Lankan women's prisons are said to be like 'hell':  http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/07/2011725142452794174.html 

Petition
Can we remind you all of the petition also listed in the sidebar, to the UK government, to improve treatment for women in prison and on remand in the UK. The demands includes better mental health support, safe bail accommodation and an end to disproportionately punitive sentencing for women: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/women-in-the-criminal-justice-system.html . Please sign up! Thank you.

Reviews

Against Her Will: Open Society Foundation

Factsheet on forced and coerced sterilisation published: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/health/focus/law/articles_publications/publications/against-her-will-20111004?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed

The New Maids: Transnational women and the care economy, by Helma Lutz     http://www.zedbooks.co.uk/book/paperback/2011/new-maids , examines the relationship between globalisation, transnational working, gender and the care economy. The book looks at immigrant domestic workers from au pairs to cleaners, making the household a 'global market' for care work.

Women, Violence and Tradition: Taking FGM and other practices to a secular state, edited by Tamsin Bradley.
Is the practice of female genital mutilation on the rise in the USA, UK and other western nations? http://www.zedbooks.co.uk/paperback/women-violence-and-tradition.

And another thing....

Men in pin-up poses

http://www.petapixel.com/2011/10/04/men-photographed-in-stereotypically-female-poses/ just what it says, and hilarious!

Death of a daredevil

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/us/11skelton.html Betty Skelton, aerobatic aviator, racecar test driver, boat jumper, land and air speed record holder, trainee astronaut and all-round daredevil, dies age 85.  She used to fly barefoot.

A dubious record

Australia claims the world record for longest bikini parade - but frankly, 350 seems pretty tame to us: http://www.ekantipur.com/2011/10/03/video/australia-bikini-parade-breaks-record/341765/

Football crazy
Turkish FA bans men spectators at a football match for misbehaviour, leaving only women and children to watch: http://www.thefword.org.uk/blog/2011/09/41000_women_and

September editorial

Hello and welcome to the first issue of WHTW?. You could call this an experimental issue, firstly to see whether it is something you'll find useful and readable, second in terms of layout, posting schedules and so on, third in terms of its scope and ambition. We hope it will grow. We hope you will get involved. We hope it will become not just a forum and archive for international news and debate on women's issues but a way of seeing how developments - or losses - in one part of the world link to shifts and changes in another. We hope having information on what women are achieving, or having to face, in another part of the world will inspire you to act in your own locality.

You'll notice this looks like serious stuff. On the whole, it is. While we love shoes as much as the next woman, in our view there is a time and a place. So you won't find much about the latest trends in these pages. The same goes for lipstick and wrinkle-fillers, dating advice and baking recipes. It's not that we aren't interested, it's that we think there are better places to read about them and suspect that a focus on these issues in the mainstream media is what leads to a trivialisation of women's concerns. So less of the mascara, more of the predations of the cosmetics industry. Less of the apple pie, more of the economics and politics of motherhood. Think of us as the firm support undergarments of the women's magazine/feminist blog world rather than the lacy fripperies. There. You're warming to us already...

Navigation

A word on navigation. There's a lot here, and a lot to post each month. To help you, the archive is at the top right of the page, just under this editorial. You'll see posts listed by month and topic. If you want to skip straight to Sport, or Arts, you can do so using these links. Otherwise you'll have to scroll down through more than one page to read everything each month.

This month's issue

Each month there'll be one - or possibly more - original articles, rather than just a round-up and summary of links collected from other publications. This month, the main article is on abortion, because abortion has been in the news: in the UK, in the USA, in Poland and elsewhere. Please note that any queries about content or other matters should be directed to the original publications of linked articles as WHTW? can't be responsible for fact-checking and vetting sources of all of them.

We think you'll also be interested in theEgyptian women's charter post-revolution (in Politics), the Rajasthan witch-huntinglink and the moral policing of women's relationships in Kerala in Family and Society, the annual £10,000 pay deficit of UK women managers in Work, the discussion of women in comics in Arts and the list of potential diseases attributable to silicone breast implants in Health, to name just a few.

Finally, you will find a link to a petition for better treatment of women in the criminal justice system in the sidebar. Please consider signing.

We hope you will find this blog a useful resource and a provocative and productive place for debate. We look forward to your comments and feedback.

Anna Purna

Women/Economy and finance

Women's unemployment
Women are faring badly in economic stakes at present, not just in the UK but in many parts of the world.     The current recession has seen unemployment figures for women in the UK reach their highest for 23 years at 1.05 million: http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=1241 , while in early September, UK labour market statistics showed that the number of UK women made redundant in the latest quarter of 2011 increased by 72.3% over the previous quarter: http://networkedblogs.com/n58GH .

But the shift away from women in recession isn't only confined to Britain or the West. The recession is having the same effect in Nepal: http://www.ekantipur.com/2011/09/03/business/industries-closure-hits-women-the-most/340176/ . 

UK government's plan for women
The UK Conservative-led government clearly has a 'blind spot' when it comes to women. UK single mothers are the hardest hit by cuts, job losses and welfare changes: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/30/coalition-cuts-mothers-childcare-maternity-leave?CMP=twt_gu. A feeble memo has recently been leaked from the UK government to show that the Conservatives are aware of their failings and listing a series of measures – mere spin and tinkering at the edges – to win back women's support: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/interactive/2011/sep/13/leaked-memo-women-coalition-government. Ascerbic comment from columnist Suzanne Moore here:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/16/coalition-smacked-down-women-message and from The F Word here: http://www.thefword.org.uk/blog/2011/09/how_could_the_g.

Christine Lagarde

Christine Lagarde has now taken over as the head of the IMF http://www.forbes.com/sites/mahaatal/2011/08/24/it-takes-courage-christine-lagarde/. Forbes ranks her at number 9 on its annual list of the world’s most powerful women: http://www.forbes.com/wealth/power-women.  But the Daily Mail (UK) concentrates on her femininity for all the wrong reasons: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2009973/Christine-Lagarde-Secret-life-new-IMF-boss.html, though we do learn she was once a synchronised swimmer, is vegetarian (!) and thinks women bring a “more inclusive” approach to power. 

Women/Arts and culture

Women in film and TV
.Women are only 25% of creatives and 41% of characters on screen in US television and film according to Professor Martha M Lauzen, Executive Director, Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, San Diego State University. The figures show a decline in the representation of women except for a few categories, and a marked drop in some, including writers, down from 29% to 15%, and directors, down from 16% to 11%  (contains a link to full report): http://www.wif.org/news/industry-articles-and-stats/732-boxed-in-employment-of-behind-the-scenes-women-in-the-2010-11-prime-time-television-season. 


Sexist comics

Women in comics – why so few, why so sexist? This link takes you to a report that discusses why there aren't more women in comics, particularly superhero comics, and looks at the industry's embedded sexist bias apparent in hiring creatives, focusing on a single genre, killing off women (and ethnic minority) heroes and alienating its female readers: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/08/29/superhero-comics-women-sexism/


Where are women artists?

Only 8% of exhibits in MOMA in New York are by women, and approximately 23 percent of solo gallery shows at top New York sites feature pieces by female artists. This article discusses why women are still so under-represented in the art world and among top-selling artists: http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=an_ego_of_ones_own .  Some further links to feminist art projects in the US here: http://feministing.com/2011/08/31/the-wednesday-weigh-in-feminist-art-edition/ .

Dancing girls

Traditional dancing girls in Swat valley in Pakistan, near the Afghan border, have been systematically attacked and killed by Taliban as an example to others, and forced to give up their profession. The report contains lengthy history of the region and its conflicts but several first person accounts from former dancers of their experiences:  http://www.worldpolicy.org/journal/fall2011/swat-valley . 

Women/Sport

Soccer star
Do you know who is the world's best women's soccer/football player? Neither did we. The five times winner of the FIFA woman player of the year award is - unsurprisingly - Brazilian, plays for a US team and her name is Marta Vieira da Silva. She is also  a UNDP goodwill ambassador, and here travels to Sierra Leone to promote women's empowerment: http://www.beta.undp.org/undp/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2011/08/31/football-superstar-marta-visits-sierra-leone-to-promote-women-s-empowerment.html ,

Reviews

Greenham Non-Violent Women v The Crown Prerogative, by Sarah Hipperson. http://www.newint.org/columns/media/books/2005/11/01/greenham/ : a new book on the Greenham women by a former activist who tells the story of resistance against the British legal system and the divisions between different groups of protesters.

The Women, Gender and Development Reader, ed. N. Visvanathan, L Duggan, N Wiegersma and L Nisonoff.  http://www.zedbooks.co.uk/book/paperback/2011/women-gender-and-development-reader : The "definitive" text for women in the development process, in five parts, covering migration, structural discrimination and environment issues as well as the impacts of social, economic and political change.

Forced Marriage, ed Aisha K Gill and Sundari Anitha. http://www.zedbooks.co.uk/book/paperback/2011/forced-marriage : Forced marriage discussed and conceptualised from a human rights and social justice perspective, challenging cultural essentialism.

Policing Sexuality by Julian C H Lee. http://www.zedbooks.co.uk/book/paperback/2011/policing-sexuality : examines how and why states seek to control the sexuality of their citizens.