Category Archives: action

ACTION: 15-year-old rape survivor has been sentenced to be whipped 100 times in public

Another petition, another horrific case.

It’s hard to believe, but a 15-year-old rape survivor has been sentenced to be whipped 100 times in public! Let’s put an end to this lunacy by hitting the Maldives government where it hurts: the tourism industry.

The girl’s stepfather is accused of raping her for years and murdering the baby she bore. Now the court says she must be flogged for “sex outside marriage” with a man who has not even been named! President Waheed of the Maldives is already feeling global pressure on this, and we can force him to save this girl and change the law to spare other victims this cruel fate. This is how we can end the War on Women – by standing up every time an outrage like this happens.

Tourism is the big earner for the Maldives elite, including government ministers. Let’s build a million-strong petition to President Waheed this week, then threaten the islands’ reputation through hard-hitting ads in travel magazines and online until he steps in to save her and abolish this outrageous law. Sign now and share this with everyone!

Petition here: Avaaz.

Related:

ACTION: Save Fozia and Nawaz from ‘honour’ crime

Please take action.

Fozia and Nawaz are a married couple in grave danger of so-called ‘honour killing’ if returned to Pakistan. They face extreme violence from Fozia’s faimly and community persecution because they have crossed the faith divide. yet UKBA is intent on deporting them.

Love across the faith divide

Fozia is a Syed Shia , Nawaz a Sunni. Well-established and successful in business, the professions, and politics across Pakistan, Syed are regarded as an elite caste. Syed girls are not allowed to marry outside the kinship group, and certainly not to a Sunni.

In 2005 Fozia’s home town of Muzaffarabad was struck by an earthquake, in which 150,000 people, including 28 members of her extended family, were killed. Fozia was dug out of the debris. Nawaz was in one of the volunteer team rescue teams, working alongside the Red Cross and UNICEF. They fell in love across the religious divide. Their love match was furiously opposed by Fozia’s family, one of the most powerful Syed families in Muzaffarabad. If a suitable match of her own age cannot be arranged, a Syed girl is expected to remain unmarried or marry an already married or widowed man. For Fozia’s family , family honour counts for more than anything in the world. In 1992 her cousin, Rehana, was killed by her family, as was the outsider boy she eloped with, with the police watching.

Rest the rest here on ipetitions and please take action.

ACTION: “Call to arms”: Women take on BBC over failure to get female experts on air (thewomensroom.org.uk)

This is important and I urge to you sign up.

A new website dedicated to media-friendly female experts has been launched in the wake of an embarrassing failure by the BBC to find a woman analyst to debate breast cancer treatment on Radio 4.

John Humphrys, presenter of the Today programme, was reduced during an on-air discussion last week to asking a male contributor to imagine that he was a woman because no female experts had been available. Caroline Criado-Perez, a freelance journalist and blogger, immediately took to Twitter and found several female experts within minutes. “Again and again, the BBC doesn’t try hard enough,” she said. “Seemingly, it doesn’t think fair representation is particularly important.” This weekend Criado-Perez, 28, is overseeing the official launch of thewomensroom.org.uk. She and her co-founder, Catherine Smith, hope the website will become a constantly expanding register of women who have personal experiences to relate and relevant expertise. A trial run last week, as Women Unite, was an immediate success as more than 40 women signed up in 48 hours, with expertise in standup comedy, entrepreneurship, new media, personal finance, domestic violence, trade unions and feminism. Criado-Perez and Smith hope that female virtuosos of engineering, motor racing, science, maths, medicine and bridge building will eventually come forward or be nominated.

[Read more: guardian and find the link to sign up here.]

ACTION: Abortion Rights: Campaign Update: October 2012

From email:

It’s time limit time again

Every couple of years, regular as clockwork, politicians start calling for the abortion time limit to be reduced. As we haven’t had a vote on the issue since MPs comprehensively rejected attempts to restrict access in 2008 (four whole years ago!) it was no surprise that the time limit reared its head again, just before the start of the Conservative Party conference. What is particularly concerning though is that it is the newly appointed Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and the Minister for Women and Equalities Maria Miller who have led the charge, reaffirming their support for a 12 and 20 week time limit respectively. Other senior figures have been quick to jump on the bandwagon – Theresa May opting for 20 weeks and David Cameron voicing his support for a ‘modest decrease’ in the time limit. SNP Health Secretary Alex Neil echoed their views, and cheerfully added that he was ‘relaxed’ at the possibility of women being forced to cross the border to access abortion if the time limit in an independent Scotland was lower than in England.

Ministers have been quick to point out that they are expressing their personal views, and to stress that there are no government plans for legislation on the time limit. But Jeremy Hunt is ultimately responsible for all the UK’s abortion services and Miller is supposed to be the voice of women in government. Their views carry weight and when they fail to support access to a key women’s health service it is cause for real concern. Most of our readers will already know that the new medical evidence cited by ministers to support their desired time limit reduction does not exist. The current arrangements are supported by the UK’s major medical bodies and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has issued a statement emphasising the importance of retaining the 24 week limit. What this episode tells us though, is that restricting abortion via a cut in the time limit is back on the table in a major way. There may be no immediate plans to change the law, but it is highly likely that there will be an attempt to cut the limit before the next general election in 2015. It also tells us that if ministers think that there is any sort of consensus on the need to reduce the time limit or that they can do without much fuss, then they are seriously underestimating the extent of pro-choice feeling in this country. Their comments have caused lasting outrage. Abortion Rights saw a huge jump in twitter followers and an influx of new members following Hunt’s comments. We’ll need their support – and yours – to help us win the coming fight. So if you’re not already a member, please make sure you join or donate to Abortion Rights today.

More after the jump.

Continue Reading…

EVENT: March for Choice in Ireland, Saturday 29th Sept. Dublin

March for the International Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion! Gather at the Spire and march to Merrion Square.

This is a celebration of being pro-choice! A day of being pro-choice and proud, speaking up and speaking out, making our voices heard. Come and celebrate with us!

Confirmed speakers thus far:

Ivana Bacik
Colette Browne
Clare Daly
Mara Clarke (Director of the Abortion Support Network)

Use the wall at www.facebook.com/notalwaysabetteroption to talk about the march and plans!

[Read more: March for Choice in Ireland]

EVENT: Reclaim the Night 2012, 24th November, London

Women’s march against rape and all forms of violence against women. Take back the capital and put your feet on the streets for women on Reclaim the Night 2012. Join with thousands of women to shout a loud NO to rape and male violence against women and demand justice for survivors. Be there – for your friends, your sisters, your daughters, your colleagues, yourself; be there for all the women that can’t. See you at RTN 12. www.reclaimthenight.org

[Read more: Reclaim the Night 2012]

ACTION: News and Events from Abortion Rights

On email:

Abortion Rights NewsWelcome to our Autumn Update: as ever there’s a lot to catch up on – reshuffles, debates, demos and trials – and lots for us to do. We’re particularly excited about our upcoming protest, but before we start a quick reminder: it only takes a minute to join or donate to Abortion Rights. Your support will really make a difference to our campaign.

It’s time for Action on Abortion!

On Saturday 29th September UK pro-choicers will be out in force to call for Action on Abortion.

Alongside women in Belfast, Dublin and around the world, we’ll be marking the International Day for the Decriminalisation of Abortion by calling for rights for women in Northern Ireland and global legalisation of abortion.

And as we head towards another anti-choice 40 Days for Life campaign, we’ll be demanding an end to the harassment of women outside abortion clinics.

After a week in which we have seen the appalling Abort67 given the green light to continue with their aggressive campaign in Brighton (see below), now is the time to make some noise on this crucial issue.

So grab your banners and get yourself down to Old Palace Yard, opposite the Visitors Entrance to Parliament at 2pm on Saturday 29th September. We’d love to see you.

Find out more and download a flyer for the event.

Get involved! We want to make the 29th a national day of action too. So why not set up your own action in your home town? Earlier this year enterprising pro-choicers around the country told one of our least favourite anti-choice groups to SPUC Off! – and it was a huge success. All you need is a few mates, a few placards and a facebook event page.

We’ll help you publicise your event on twitter (we’re using the hashtag #ActionOnAbortion) and on our website. Just email or tweet us your plans and we’ll help to spread the word. There are plans afoot for events in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee but we need more! Be part of a global campaign for Action on Abortion!

More after the jump.

Continue Reading…

EVENT: Human trafficking road show in Leeds (Saturday 14th January 2012, 2-5pm)

leeds anti-traffickingPlease see the poster advertising a road show in Leeds (January 2012) which my friend and I are helping out with. It seeks to raise awareness around the issues of human trafficking, and is being led by Stop The Traffik. (http://www.stopthetraffik.org/language.aspx)

Trafficking is a massive issue and this workshop seeks to get the issues ‘on the table’ so we can enter into useful dialogue about it.

I really hope you can make it, or spread the word. Alternatively, there is scope to put on your own road shows!

Thanks lots,

Fran McFarlane

ACTION: UK abortion rights – latest news

Below is a campaign update from Abortion Rights – to recieve updates, visit www.abortionrights.org.uk and sign up for emails.

Welcome to our latest round-up of campaign news and pro-choice issues on our radar – abortion counselling, public health reform, anti-choice protests, global news and a look at what Abortion Rights has been up to recently. Where next on counselling?

On the abortion counselling front, there has been little movement from the Department of Health since the Parliamentary debate. As many of you will know, amendments to the Health and Social Care bill tabled by Nadine Dorries, which sought to strip abortion providers of their role in counselling women about their pregnancy choices, were comprehensively defeated in Parliament in September. At that time the Department of Health committed to holding a consultation on abortion counselling to further examine whether any change was needed. Since then, there has been little in the way of public pronouncements on the issue from the DH. When Diane Abbott sought clarification from Public Health Minister Anne Milton, she was told they were still ‘developing proposals’.
However, it now seems that the Department of Health aims to complete their planning for the consultation but the end of 2011, suggesting a launch in the New Year. We have also learned that that Departmental officials are conducting site visits to inspect current counselling systems. As we would expect, abortion providers BPAS and Marie Stopes have received visits, but alarmingly, the officials are also visiting the pregnancy counselling services offered by anti-choice groups LIFE and Care Confidential.

It would seem that ministers are seriously considering allowing these organisations, which are ideologically opposed to abortion and which have a track record of providing misleading and judgemental advice to clients, to be formally involved in NHS abortion and pregnancy decision-making care. Although it now seems that future changes to counselling regulations will not strip abortion providers of their right to advise patients on their choices, which is a victory in itself, allowing anti-choice groups to join them in offering this service would be an extremely negative step, undermining the right to accurate, unbiased information, as well as creating many practical problems and in all likelihood, serious delays. Abortion Rights will keep you updated as we hear more about the consultation – this is an issue that hasn’t gone away and we need a robust response from pro-choice supporters and groups.

Why pro-choice supporters should care about Public Health reform

Another key campaign issue which pro-choice advocates will need to focus on in the coming months is the government’s planned reform of the public health system, which will potentially have far reaching consequences for the delivery of abortion services. The plans, laid out in the government’s Public Health White Paper, mean that responsibility for abortion and most sexual health services will be transferred from Primary Care Trusts to Local Authorities. Abortion Rights, alongside healthcare professionals and sexual health groups, is concerned that this move threatens to turn the commissioning of abortion and sexual health services into political issues at local level, potentially resulting in some areas of the country voting to severely limit abortion service provision on financial or ideological grounds. Allowing elected local counsellors or even representatives of anti-choice or religious groups to serve on planned ‘Health and Wellbeing Boards’ opens up clinical commissioning decisions to political and ideological influence. Have a look at our briefing on the issue to find out more.

The issue is starting to attract the attention of MPs and anti-choice advocates. Following Parliamentary Questions on the issue, anti-choice group SPUC have started a campaign to ensure that Local Authorities are not required by the Department of Health to commission abortion services at all. Abortion Rights is raising these concerns with colleagues in health, equalities and trade unions groups and is urging them to include the issue in their campaigning work on NHS reform. We will also be discussing the issue at a Parliamentary Group meeting this month and will update supporters on what we find out.

Continue Reading…

ACTION: Stand up for abortion rights!

my choiceWe mentioned this a while ago, but it bears repeating – if you haven’t contacted your MP yet, please do so using the link below. We CAN make a difference – please don’t let the government slip this one through without raising your voice.

The following is re-blogged from The F Word

Abortion Rights Action Alert

by Laura Woodhouse // 14 August 2011, 11:08

Abortion Rights have issued the following Action Alert encouraging us to contact our MPs to ensure women are not forced to seek counselling from anti-choice organisations prior to obtaining an abortion:

As many of you will know, plans are afoot to introduce new pre-abortion counselling requirements – opening the door for anti-choice organisations to receive public funds to advise women facing unplanned pregnancy. We need as many supporters as possible to contact their MP to urge them to vote against these proposals if they are debated in Parliament on 6th September.

We’ve set up an easy-to-use lobbying facility on our website. It only takes a minute to do – all you need is your postcode! It’s so important that we stop these anti-choice plans in their tracks. Just last week we saw further evidence of the appalling misinformation and bad practice used by some faith-based pregnancy counselling groups in their quest to deter women from having abortions.

What’s more, Nadine Dorries is already indicating that she wants to reopen the debate about the abortion time limit.We have to send a clear signal to politicians of all parties that our rights are not up for negotiation and we must make sure anti-choice MPs are not emboldened to continue chipping away at abortion access.

Please contact your MP via the AR website, or write a personal letter/email if you have the time/ability, as these are much more effective than templates.