Information / news from  'Guests' of
Ongoing	Discrimination Against Pregnant Women EOC campaign in response to the issue about which they are most frequently approached - employer discrimination against pregnant women.  See:  http://www.eoc.org.uk/cseng/policyandcampaigns/unproductive_summary.asp There is an online form that the EOC are asking women to fill in about their experiences of pregnancy and work.  See:  http://www.eoc.org.uk/cseng/help/pregnancyeval.asp
26th September 2003	Bits and Bytes After a bit of a break over the summer months Microsyster has now up dated its section of snippets of information about women and ict, the voluntary sector and ... http://www.microsyster.org.uk/bitsbytes.htm
25th September 2003	Amina Lawal - Successful Appeal Amina Lawal Freed - Victory Welcomed, but Others Threatened - See:  http://www.amnesty.org.uk/action/aminalawal/release.shtml
18th September 2003	Section 28 Repealed Under s.122 of the Local Government Act 2003, which received royal assent today s.28 of the Local Government Act 1988 is repealed.  This prohibited local authorities from "intentionally promoting homsexuality" or promoting the "acceptability of homsexuality as a 'pretend family relationship'."
Ongoing - published July 2003	Killing You is a Very Easy Thing For Us.  Human Rights Abuses in Southeast Afghanistan This report warns that efforts to adopt a new constitution and conduct national elections in mid-2004 are threatened by the spread of 'violence, political intimidation, and attacks on women and girls' by Afghan warlords and political strongmen supported by the United States and other nations.  According to HRW, this climate of fear is 'discouraging political participation and endangering gains made on women's rights in Afghanistan over the last year'.  The report is available online at:  http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/afghanistan0703/afghanistan0703.pdf
Ongoing	Diversity, equality and charity New guidance on The Promotion of Equality and Diversity explains the basis on which the Charity Commissioners have concluded that the promotion of equality and diversity is a charitable purpose. http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/rorpubs.asp
Ongoing	Female Genital Mutilation also known as Female Circumcision, Information for Health Professionals Is a leaflet written by Comfort Momoh, FGM Specialist Midwife, 2nd Edition, 2003 and published by the African Well Women's Clinic The African Well Woman Clinic at Guy's and St Thomas Hospital Trust was set up in 1997 in response to the increasing number of circumcised women attending its delivery and family planning services.  The clinic, run by a full-time specialist midwife and supported by a female consultant (specialist obstetrics & gynaecology), offers counselling, advice, information and support to women who suffered female genital mutilation, and where appropriate, reconstruction surgery.  The Clinic, which takes referrals from all health care professionals, can make flexible arrangements to suit the needs of each woman. It also provides educational support to staff and outreach work for communities practising FGM.  The African Well Woman Clinic, Comfort Momoh, Office 3, 6th Floor, Norht Wing, St Thomas Hospital, London SE1 7EH, contact tel: 020 7960 5595.
Ongoing	Free information to single parents living in London. Single parents in London can now call SPAN (Single Parents Action Network) about anything that affects them - from benefits to concerns about their children.  Figures from the Mayor's Office show that 150,000 single parent families are living in poverty and that 65% of the capital's 230,000 single parent families rely on Income Support.  "The average cost of a day nursery place in London is nearly a quarter higher than in the country as a whole.  Finding affordable childcare can be a real block to single parents getting back to work or studying.  Despite all these barriers many single parents in London are working hard to improve things for their families but may feel they are struggling alone.  We would urge them to call us about anything that troubles them as we can offer information about going back to work, childcare, benefits, housing, legal issues, training, concerns about their children, meeting other single parents, someone to talk to and all the other issues experienced by single parents" Phone: 0845 4500399 for sign posting and information. Email:  info@spanuk.org.uk   :   Web:  http://www.spanuk.org.uk
Ongoing	Counselling Website for Abused Women in the Arab World A Jordanian non-governmental organisation through an on-line counselling service is offering all forms of guidance.  The AmanJordan website is run by the Sisterhood Is Global Institute (SIGI) and its Amman Resource Centre on Violence Against Women.  Sixteen Arab legal, social, religious and psychological experts have expressed readiness to offer electronic counselling services to needy women in the Arab world.  To access this help, log onto the website - http://www.amanjordan.org - where you will find a form you can complete to outline your problem and then get an expert's answer.
Ongoing	Moving Here - Stories of Migration Link to Moving Here Website Database of digitised photographs, maps, objects, documents and audio items recording experiences of migration to England of the past 200 years.  Resources on Caribbean, Irish, Jewish and South Asian migration and how to trace your roots.  Add your story to the site along with chosen images and records or read other contributions.   Links to some of the images on the website Women's Rights:   A speaker addresses a crowd at a 1909 demonstration by Irish Suffragettes in Hyde Park, London in 1909. The Women's Social and Political Union, later known as the 'Suffragettes', was set up by Emmeline Pankhurst in 1903 to get women the right to vote. The Dublin Women's Suffrage Association had been founded some 30 years earlier in 1876. Votes for Women:   A leaflet urging Irish women to take part in a 'Monster Demonstration' taking place in central London on 23 July 1912 in support of a change in the law to give women the right to vote in political elections. Despite pressure from activists in the Women's Movement it was only in 1928 that all women over the age of 21 were given the vote. Women were discriminated against in many areas including employment, education and family life and it was not until well after the Second World War that such discrimination became illegal. Women, Immigration and Nationality:   A 1982 poster advertising a one-day conference on 'Women, Immigration and Nationality'. The conference was organised by two groups within the Greater London Council (the GLC) and provided creche or nursery care for the children of women wanting to attend.
19th September 2003	Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize - call for nominations. The Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize is awarded each year to commemorate the life and work of Emma Humphreys, who tragically died, aged 30 in 1998.  Emma was a writer, campaigner and survivor of male violence who fought an historic struggle to overturn a murder conviction in 1995, supported by Justice for Women and other feminist campaigners.  A commemorative prize of £1,000 is awarded annually to a woman or group, who through their writing or campaigning, have raised awareness of violence against women and children.  The aim of the prize is to provide recognition for that initiative against violence and to bring it to the attention of a wider public through media coverage.  Nominations are invited for the 2003 prize: the closing date is 19 September 2003. Please contact EHMP (nominations), c/o Justice for Women, 55 Rathcoole Gardens, London N8 9NE.   Tel: 020 8374 2948 or Email:  justiceforwomen@easynet.co.uk
Ongoing	Pay and Productivity The gender pay gap currently stands at 19%, which means that women who work full time are paid on average just 81% of men's hourly earnings. This 'pay gap' isn't just bad news for women.  It means that women's abilities and skills are not being fully utilised in businesses and in the economy.  The Government is committed to reducing the gap between men's and women's earnings, and making sure that women's talents are properly used and rewarded.  This means that women working full time are currently paid, on average, 81% of men's hourly pay.  Since 1975, when the Equal Pay Act came into effect, the full-time pay gap has closed considerably, from 30% to 19% in 2002.  The part-time pay gap is much larger, about 59% of men's hourly full-time earnings. http://www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/pay/pay_facts.htm
30th July 2003	Children Before Money As British Airways has discovered, working mothers will not give up their childcare arrangements without a fight.  The Government should take note too.  Angela Phillips, CAVA's ESRC Media Fellow, reports on Simon Duncan's Mothers, Care and Employment study (Strand 3a) in today's Guardian. For copies of Duncan's paper - Mothers, Care and Employment: Values and Theories - email k.a.groves@leeds.ac.uk or telephone 0113 343 4605
21st July 2003	Gender Research Forum The first Newsletter of the Gender Research Forum is now out. The Forum was set up in 2001 by the Women and Equality Unit (WEU)working with the the Office for National Statistics, the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Women's National Commission and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC): to link academics working on gender issues with researchers in trade unions and non-Government and other research organisations.  The Forum meets twice-yearly to discuss WEU-relevant research, bringing together academic and other researchers with Government social researchers and policy makers.  It has an extensive database of gender researchers, who are invited to discuss research relevant to WEU priority areas with policy makers.  Phone 01772 767575 or email genderresearch@glasgows.co.uk to join the GRF mailing list.  Invitations will go out in September to the next GRF conference, on 3 November 2003 at the DTI Conference Centre in London, which will focus on Diversity and Equality. http://www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/research/index.htm
19th July 2003	For Diversity - Against Discrimination Would you know your rights if you were discriminated against? According to a new Eurobarometer survey on attitudes towards discrimination, only 1 in 3 Europeans would.  Raising awareness of rights is one of the key aims of a new 5-year EU-wide campaign to combat discrimination on the grounds of racial and ethnic origin, religion and belief, age, disability and sexual orientation.  The campaign was launched in Brussels by Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner, Anna Diamantopoulou.  The launch comes on the eve of the entry into force of two new EU Directives on anti-discrimination. With the slogan "For Diversity. Against Discrimination", the focus in the first year of the 5-year campaign is on promoting diversity in the workplace, with trade unions and employers as a key target group.  The campaign will also focus on raising awareness of new EU rules on combating discrimination on the grounds of ethnic or racial origin, religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation.  These new rules must be integrated into national law in all EU Member States by the end of this year.  The new rules have to be incorporated into national law by the Member States. *  The deadline for incorporating the rules on racial equality is 19 July 2003. *  The deadline for the rules on sexual orientation, religion or belief, disability and age is 2 December 2003. The Member States may also request an additional period of up to three years to bring their legal systems into line with the provisions on disability and age. Link to the relevant part of 'Stop Discrimination' web site
16th July 2003	Iraq:  Insecurity Driving Women Indoors "Women and girls today in Baghdad are scared, and many are not going to schools or jobs or looking for work," said Hanny Megally, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. "If Iraqi women are to participate in postwar society, their physical security needs to be an urgent priority." http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/07/iraq071603.htm
9th July 2003	Not Seen and Not Heard:  The case of young women from Bangladeshi and Pakistani origins In 1998, the Policy Studies Institute (PSI) published the results of their comprehensive and groundbreaking research on ethnic minorities in Britain (Modood, T. et al 1998).  What shocked me most of all was the proportion of young women of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin who left school without qualifications: 52 per cent and 40 per cent respectively.  The figures were enormously high, when compared with that for young white women - 26 per cent.  Sadly, the figures have changed little since, leading to economic inactivity as high as 70 per cent for adult women of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin (Dench, S. et al 2002) - a cycle of poverty and deprivation which will continue to have a spiralling effect, unless sustainable solutions are found. Link to the full text of this article.
Ongoing	Refugee Women's Resource Project at Asylum Aid (RWRP) have produced several Domestic Violence Country Studies.  These can be downloaded from http://www.asylumaid.org.uk in the Publications section. *  RWRP also supports Southall Black Sister's campaign for a Domestic Violence Concession which protects victims of domestic violence who have no access to public funds to access effective protection in the UK. *  RWRP also lobbies for domestic violence campaigns and initiatives to be translated into different languages and for measures to be taken by each local authority domestic violence unit to try to reach asylum-seeking women.
1st July 2003	Europe is a long way from a sexism directive Last week's media reaction to a European Commission consultation paper on sex discrimination has been immediate, copious and - in some cases - highly emotional.  The suggestion that sexist advertising might become a thing of the past, or that gender might no longer be used in determining insurance premiums, has provoked outrage in some quarters. Link to a response to this by Anna Diamantopoulou Contact details for Anna Diamantopoulou European Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner
Ongoing	A Place to Stay:  Experiences of Asian Women and Children Affected by Domestic Violence and Insecure Immigration Status Imkaan have just released a new research report: 'A Place to Stay: Experiences of Asian Women and Children Affected by Domestic Violence and Insecure Immigration Status' for consultation.  The report includes sections on: *  the social and cultural context of domestic violence in South Asian communities *  the impact of immigration and asylum policy and legislation *  service responses *  conclusions and recommendations. Contact: Indira for a copy.
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