Are women capable of going on combat missions?

Should women be allowed to fight on the frontline? Is it time for complete equality in the armed forces? Is society ready for the idea of female soldiers routinely fighting and dying in combat?

More than the society being ready for it, the question arises why are women prevented from going into combat duty? Is it because they might be captured by the enemy and raped? Or worse, kept as pleasure objects for the enemy soldiers?

The death of Sergeant Sarah Bryant, the first female British soldier to be killed in Afghanistan, has reignited the long-running debate over women’s role in modern warfare.

The existing rules that exclude women from situations where the primary duty is “to close with and kill the enemy” are irrelevant in Afghanistan and Iraq where there is no single front line, according to some commentators.

Instead, British forces are engaged in a “360-degree war” where all soldiers, male or female, could be in the line of fire at any time, Catherine Philp wrote in the Times.

“In times gone by, rules like these kept women far behind the men,” she writes. “In the heat of the Iraq insurgency, however, all that began to change. In reality, the rules are already stretched to breaking point.”

The old arguments that women are not physically capable to fight or might disrupt “unit cohesiveness” no longer hold water, she added.

Necessity will bring about change.

The Ministry of Defence says there are now about 18,000 women in the armed forces, just under 10 percent of the total. The Sex Discrimination Act (1975) allows the armed forces to exclude women from some posts.

That’s the right approach, according to one contributor to an online military forum.
“I’ve yet to see a woman who could withstand the mental and physical pressure of infantry work,” he wrote.

That seems like an unfair generalization.

Not so, said Jo Salter, the RAF’s first female fighter pilot. She said society’s attitudes have changed over the years and the sex of a soldier is no longer the issue it once was.

“It’s always so sad when there’s any death at all. Gender isn’t the issue,” she told the Daily Telegraph.

That view was echoed by the parents of Flight Lieutenant Sarah-Jayne Mulvihill, who died in Iraq in 2006.

“Sarah did not distinguish between herself and the boys she served with,” her father Terry told the Daily Mirror. His wife Sue added: “There were four others with her and their families’ grief is equal.”

A quick look at the front pages after Bryant’s death suggests newspaper editors may not see it that way.

Pictures of Sgt Bryant in her wedding dress were splashed across several front pages under headlines such as “Our Afghan Heroine”. Most ran long stories on inside pages about her life and career in the army. The deaths of male soldiers typically receive far less coverage. There were few details of the three male colleagues killed with her.

Whether the media coverage of Bryant’s death reflects the wider views of society is hard to tell.

The last word goes to an unnamed military source who told the Herald newspaper: “Every man - and woman - is born equal under the 7.62mm gun law”.

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AUSTRALIA: Call for paid maternity leave

SEX Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick and union and business leaders have joined forces to call for a national, taxpayer-funded, paid maternity leave scheme.

Ms Broderick, ACTU president Sharan Burrow and Australian Industry Group chief executive Heather Ridout said the move was needed to bolster the Australian workforce.

"In an extremely tight labour market Australia's continuing economic prosperity depends on encouraging more women back into the paid workforce after they've had children," Ms Burrow said.

"At the moment, Australia has one of the lowest workforce participation rates in the OECD for women aged 25 to 44.

"Part of the problem is a lack of paid maternity leave and other measures to support primary carers."

Employers offering paid maternity leave estimated up to 90 per cent of female employees returned to their job, avoiding the cost of replacing lost staff.

Ms Broderick said the coming together of the three influential organisations was a watershed moment in the long campaign to have Australia catch up with the rest of the world on paid maternity leave.

"Two-thirds of Australian women have no access to paid maternity leave," she said.

"(Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission) HREOC has long recommended a national government-funded 14 week paid maternity leave scheme as a basic minimum standard for Australian women.

"It is important that small and medium-sized business not be adversely impacted by the cost or administrative burden of any scheme and proposals must not act as a disincentive to the employment of women."

Ms Ridout said the Ai Group - which represents 10,000 employers in manufacturing, construction, automotive, telecommunications, IT & call centres, transport, labour hire and other industries - supports an appropriate period of publicly-funded paid maternity leave consistent with community and international standards and at the level of the federal minimum wage.

"There is no doubt that a national maternity leave scheme would deliver tangible benefits to business, employees and to the broader economy and society and, of course, for the children themselves," she said.

"In addition, such a scheme would help keep women linked to the workforce and demonstrate formal recognition of the opportunity costs facing women in terms of lost income and interrupted careers when they choose to have children."

Women better professionals, firms woo fair sex

With increasing number of women climbing the competitive corporate ladder, companies seem to be leaving no stone unturned to lure them and are even offering existing employees an additional bonus as much as 25 per cent for referring a female employee.

The latest trend for India Inc is that it seems to be taking in larger women workforce as they bring their own perspective for things and have emerged as better professionals in any situations, experts say.

"Women bring in their own perspectives and also a diverse set of views to flow onto the table. We are giving a lot of preference to women and give them equal opportunities in all programmes," Oil exploration and production firm Cairn India director (HR and administration) P Senthil Kumar told PTI.

Companies have also introduced certain women-centric incentives in order to attract more females to join the companies and also as a part of their retential policies.

There is a lot of importance for cultural values in our country and that is one of the main reasons, we are providing more flexibility for women at work.

Due to our initiatives, the population of female employees in the company has gone up to about 21 per cent last year as compared to just 13 per cent in 2004, information technology provider CSCs Associate Director (Human Resources) Anuj Kumar said.

Apart from flexible working hours, CSC has also an exclusive website for its women employees called Planet W. The site acts as a discussion forum to exchange ideas and get useful tips on diverse issues.

According to Kumar, the CSC's website was launched somewhere in August 2006 and has gone down well with the firms employees. Moreover, different courses on dieting and personal grooming are also offered for the fairer sex, he added.

Further, the company also provides regular health check-ups including those for screening breast cancer.

Majority of the firms in the country empathise with female employees and are also given different kinds of incentives. In many cases, female employees are considered to be better professionals, said Anand Varadarajan, a partner at Mumbai-based management consultancy firm ESP Consultant India Pvt Ltd.

Further, women are also recruited for operations side than just technical work, Senthil Kumar added.

Recently, Internet major Yahoo! had launched an exclusive website for women. The site offers nine categories ranging from food, parenting to fashion and beauty. IT also provides a blog platform for the users to share their thoughts.

You can count on us to bring attitude and personality and find humour in almost every topic we cover, Yahoo! Editor-in-Chief Shine Brandon Holley had said.
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AFRICA, SUDAN, DARFUR: Darfur women still face rape risk

Women and girls in Darfur are still subjected to widespread rape and sexual assault five years after the start of the conflict, Human Rights Watch says.

The New York-based group said neither the Sudanese security forces nor international peacekeepers were doing enough to protect women from attack.

Pro-government militias have been accused of using attacks on women to terrorise the civilian population.

Sudan's army has criticised a UN report accusing soldiers of raping women.

The report, released last month, said witnesses saw soldiers joining in attacks by the Janjaweed, raping girls and taking part in the looting of towns in West Darfur.

More than 200,000 people have died in Darfur since rebels took up arms in 2003, according to the UN. Two million have fled their homes.

Changing pattern

Rape and sexual assault have been a constant feature of the humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur.

According to Human Rights Watch, as the conflict has become more complex, the pattern of sexual violence has changed.


The Janjaweed are accused of planning to terrorise civilians

Women and girls are now as likely to be assaulted in periods of calm as during attacks on their villages and towns.

Government soldiers, militiamen, and rebel fighters all also targeting women on the fringes of camps for displaced people spread around the region.

The Sudanese government has said it is committed to stopping the sexual violence, but in practice, little or nothing is being done.

Most victims are too afraid to report attacks. When they do, Sudanese police are usually unwilling or unable to act and soldiers are still effectively immune from civil prosecution.

The presence of UN and African Union peacekeepers has helped deter attacks in some areas.

But Human Rights Watch says they must extend their operations, providing patrols to protect women who venture outside the camps to gather firewood.

More women police officers and more sensitive procedures to help victims are also required, it says.
bbc

PHILIPPINES: 65 young women rescued from bars

EXPLOITATION


MANILA, Philippines – Police rescued 65 young women, aged 18-27, during raids in the past three days in five Quezon City establishments.

Seven male dancers were arrested at the Makisig gay bar on Timog Avenue, Barangay Sacred Heart.

Some of the women were allegedly forced by their manager to engage in prostitution.

At around 2:30 a.m. yesterday, QCPD Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) operatives rescued 13 dancers from the Encounter KTV Bar on Quezon Avenue after receiving information that they were allegedly forced to perform lewd acts.

Policemen arrested the bar’s floor manager, four cashiers and checkers, and 20 male customers.

The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) had arrested or invited for questioning at least 120 persons since it started last week its crackdown on suspected prostitution dens in the city.

Chief Inspector Cherry Lou Donato, chief of QCPD-CIDU’s Women and Children’s Desk, said one of the women was caught dancing in the nude.

Donato said the 19-year-old girl told them she and most of the women in the bar were forced by the club owner to do lewd acts on stage.

“But even if the women consented to what their manager said, it was still a violation of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act,” Donato told the Inquirer.

About 11 p.m. Saturday, QCPD-CIDU agents, led by Inspector Roberto Razon, apprehended 22 guest relations officers (GROs) from the Flirt Disco Bar in Cubao. Arrested were floor manager Normita Aguilar, five waiters and two cashiers. The GROs were later released after presenting work permits from the city government.

Another group of policemen swooped down on Bartolina II KTV Bar, also in Cubao, and rescued 17 GROs and dancers.

Meanwhile, QCPD Station 10 members raided the Executive Spa on Quezon Avenue, Barangay Roxas, after an anonymous informant reported that massage attendants offered sex to clients for P1,500. Thirteen massage attendants were brought to the Kamuning police station but were later freed.
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WORLD: Islam and women

Judged by much of the media coverage, the status of Muslim women seems to come down to a matter of clothing: what they are required to wear in countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia or what they were once discouraged from wearing in Turkey. But to veil or not to veil is hardly the question. The fate of women's rights throughout the Islamic world today hinges on matters of far greater substance, from reforms of family and penal codes to new understandings of Islamic law and teaching. In these best and worst of times for Muslim women, it is perhaps not surprising that every promising bit of news seems to come with a disturbing counterpoint.

Take Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian lawyer and former judge who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her unceasing efforts to promote democracy and women's rights. In response to the jubilant reaction of Iranians throughout the Islamic republic, President Mohammad Khatami—a reformist, no less—dismissed the honor as "not worth all that fuss!"

Not long after that, Morocco's King Mohammed VI proposed a number of significant reforms in family law that stand to improve the lot of women throughout the North African kingdom. But even before he presented the reforms, Islamists took to the streets to denounce them, dwarfing a pro-reform demonstration by roughly 3 to 1. Around the same time, in a Nigerian state that has adopted Islamic law, a religious appeals court overturned the death sentence of a Muslim woman accused of adultery. But other women in Nigeria continue to face adultery charges that, if upheld, will result in death by stoning.

Women's rights face an uncertain future throughout much of the Islamic world—though nowhere more pointedly than in the constitution-making efforts now underway in both Afghanistan and Iraq. In two nations widely viewed as test cases of the compatibility of Islamic and universal values, it remains to be seen whether and how the principles of sharia (Islamic law) will inform their future laws.

Behind those uncertainties loom even broader questions facing Muslim women everywhere. In particular, rights activists wonder, are the foundations of Islamic law and theology compatible with international standards of human rights in general and women's rights in particular? And if so, what must be done to surmount the practical hurdles—including the crucial matter of who interprets the law—that stand in the way of reconciling Islam with universal principles of women's rights?

Muslim women themselves are already actively engaged with these issues. "When I talk with educated women from Morocco to Pakistan," says Ann Mayer, a professor of legal studies at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, "I find that they are much more inclined to evaluate their condition in relation to international standards of human rights. And they say that international standards only reinforce Islamic standards."

That underscores one notable development of the past decade: a new confidence among Muslim feminists that Islamic teachings can support their efforts. This represents a sea change, says Amina Wadud, professor of Islamic studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. As late as 1995, many feminists from Islamic countries insisted women's equality could be attained only by jettisoning religion, including the outward trappings of the faith, such as the veil.

Since then, though, an expanding reform movement within Islam has led more Muslims to explore the sacred writings on their own. This has often reinforced the patriarchal viewpoint of militant Islamists, but it has also supported progressive and feminist interpretations. Wadud insists that it is unnecessary to argue only on the basis of historical precedent, but she finds more in the sacred texts and traditions to support gender equality than to deny it. She notes, for example, that in the period after Muhammad's death, women, including the Prophet's favorite wife, Aisha, played "key roles in preserving traditions, disseminating knowledge, and challenging authority when it went against their understanding of the Koran or the prophetic legacy."

Referring to the decision of Iran's mullahs to remove Nobel winner Ebadi from her judgeship on religious grounds, Wadud notes, "Nowhere is it said that women cannot interpret the law." Ebadi herself, in an interview with Iranian émigré author Amir Taheri, makes the same point in her advice to Muslim women: "Don't believe that you are decreed to have an inferior position. Study the Koran carefully, so that the oppressors cannot impress you with citations and interpretations. Don't let individuals masquerading as theologians claim they have a monopoly on understanding Islam."

Fine words, but have they yet had any practical consequences? The answer, many activists say, is a qualified yes. In that widely followed adultery case in Nigeria, for example, Amina Lawal was exonerated but on several technicalities that may not work for other women. The real problem, says Mayer, is that Nigeria's interpretation of sharia involves a "folkloric version" of Islamic adultery law. First of all, the rules of evidence spelled out in the Koran require either a freely gained confession from the accused or four eyewitnesses to the act of sexual penetration, neither of which was obtained in Lawal's case. Just as important, the maximum punishment for the crime is supposed to be 100 lashes, not stoning.

Of course, even if the Lawal case and others did not involve a corrupted use of sharia, the punishments that Lawal faced would be in violation of both the spirit and letter of the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which Nigeria has signed and ratified.

But appeals to international agreements have only limited effectiveness in advancing women's rights in the Islamic world. Saudi Arabia signed and ratified CEDAW, but it explicitly stipulates that it will not observe any terms that contradict "norms of Islamic law."

In a more general way, says New York University law Prof. Noah Feldman, a former U.S. adviser to the Iraqi Governing Council, the United States faces a similar challenge in its efforts to guide Afghanistan and Iraq toward becoming democratic and rights-respecting regimes. Feldman points out that as long as America is an occupying power, it can accomplish much "just by suggesting." But, he cautions, "at a certain point you cross the line to coercing people on how to run their lives."

In Iraq, there are good reasons for thinking that Islam and women's rights can coexist. Before the U.S. invasion, says Khaled Abou El Fadl, a professor of law at the University of California-Los Angeles, Iraq was one of the most progressive of Muslim nations in relation to women. Not only were there female jurists and lawyers, but there was also a civil code that blended the best of French and Islamic laws. Among the latter, he points out, was a law allowing a woman the right to divorce her husband and sue for alimony and child support if he decided to take another wife. (A similar expansion of women's prerogatives is one of the reforms that Morocco's king proposed.) Like Feldman, Abou El Fadl worries that attempts to expunge Islam from Iraq's laws will only trigger a stronger urge on the part of many Iraqis to put more of Islam in—and that might mean the most sexist and patriarchal versions of Islam.

Which raises the most important issue: How can Muslim feminists and rights activists win the interpretive struggle against those mullahs and muftis who confuse patriarchal codes and customs with the core principles of the faith? That is a major concern for Irshad Manji, a Canadian author and journalist. Like many other Muslim feminists, she sees the real problem of interpretation as one of overturning Arab traditions of honor that accompanied the spread of Islam and are now being recirculated throughout the world via the Saudi-funded Wahhabi religious establishment.

As Manji explains, within the Arab honor code, individual rights are secondary to one's status within the family or tribe. Women are reduced to "communal or tribal property." In Pakistan or Nigeria, she says, a man from one tribe or family may rape a woman from another as an act of communal retribution.

For Manji, one of the best solutions lies in women's growing participation in trade, commerce, and capitalism, all of which have been valued since Islam's founding. (Muhammad's first wife, Khadija, was an astute businesswoman.) And the economic empowerment of women in the Islamic world is not merely theoretical. It is already underway even in the most Arab of states, Saudi Arabia. In Jidda and Riyadh, respectively, women own a quarter and a third of all businesses. And it is no secret among foreigners working in Saudi Arabia that women are the most educated, able, and productive employees in the kingdom.

By consolidating and advancing their economic position, Manji says, and by becoming tax-paying citizens, women can assert their standing as individuals. This emerging reality is hard to ignore, whether in Saudi Arabia or Iran—though it was a significant blow to Saudi women that they were not allowed to participate in the recent municipal elections. Already in Malaysia, Amina Wadud notes, women have helped reform domestic violence law by promoting what she calls a "nice blend of sharia and civil law."

Still, it is one of the sad ironies of Islam, Manji says, that a religion originally intended to transcend tribalism has, at least in many parts of the world, allowed the tribalist codes to reassert themselves. But Manji refuses to accept that irony as the last word on women's fate within Islam. And she is far from alone.
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JAPAN: New Japanese plan to promote women

AWAKENING

The Japanese government has announced plans to get more women into jobs.

The new plan, prepared by the Cabinet Office, outlines a series of measures intended for implementation by 2010.

It follows a decision by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda last month to find new ways of promoting gender equality.

As well as working towards women filling more jobs in the sciences, public and medical services, the new plan will also urge business leaders to give more managerial jobs to women.

Gender equality and social affairs minister Yoko Kamikawa will visit business group leaders to push the new message from Tokyo.

It is hoped that under the program, the percentage of female government employees at the section chief equivalent or above will rise above 5 percent by the end of the 2010 fiscal year.

A plan endorsed by the government three years ago to promote women's social participation aimed to raise the percentage of women in key social positions to 30 percent by 2020.
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NEW ZEALAND: Top judge asks why so few women make top cops

DISCRIMINATION

Questions need to be answered over why women are not advancing to senior police positions, the head of the Independent Police Conduct Authority, Justice Lowell Goddard, says.

She raised the questions in a speech at the University of Auckland.

"Given the contribution that women can make and the balance and the appearance of normality at their presence beings to the law: Why are the women not coming through in greater numbers to senior positions? What is happening to them? Why is the organisation not conducive to retaining their services and why is there such a rate of attrition?"

She said it was vitally important the "proper advancement in promotion of women in the legal profession and in policing be ensured on an equal basis.'' Women had the expectation they would be treated equally and on merit and that gender was not an issue.

"The role of women in the legal profession, or in other areas of legal endeavour is directly reflective of the role of women in society: to provide balance through the female perspective."

She said the issue of women in the police was similar to that of women in the legal profession, although there were differences.

"I think that the role of women in law enforcement is probably a much harder row to hoe than the role of women in legal practice, simply because of the exceptionally difficult and dangerous nature of some of the work, coupled with old-fashioned perceptions of the need to protect women from such matters and also the misconception that equal physical strength with the male counterpart is necessary," Justice Goddard said.
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INDIA: Man drives wife to suicide over 'dark' skin, sentenced to two years in prison

AWAKENING

NEW DELHI: For a society often seen to reflect a deeply ingrained bias for "fair skin", a Supreme Court ruling sentencing a man to two years in jail for driving his wife to suicide following taunts over her "dark" complexion will serve as both a warning and a mirror to its uglier traits.

The apex court was firm that ridiculing a wife by calling her "black" amounted to severe mental torture.

It rejected the husband's plea that mere remarks about his spouse's complexion could not be taken into consideration as they did not amount to mental torture and that therefore, the conclusion that this drove her to commit suicide was erroneous.

The court said derogatory and contemptuous remarks about a woman's dark complexion, which could be worse than physical torture for a sensitive person, caused enough mental trauma to drive the accused's wife to take the extreme step.

The order from a Bench comprising Justices Altamas Kabir and J M Panchal for the first time marks a new sensitivity towards a form of discrimination that has been so common that it is not even considered as out of the ordinary.

While the court and legislature have acted against caste-based and, lately against gender-based prejudices, the colour handicap had not engaged its attention so far.

In the facts of the case, Syed Fathima, within two months of her marriage to Farook Batcha in August 1999, got so distressed with the constant quarrels in her matrimonial home because of her dark complexion that she finally decided to end her life by pouring kerosene and setting herself on fire.

In her dying declaration, she said that since her complexion was dark, her husband did not like her and there were frequent quarrels. A day after giving the statement, she died in hospital.

A Madurai sessions court as well as Madras High Court found the husband guilty under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (cruelty to women in matrimonial home) and sentenced him to two years imprisonment.
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Women bear brunt of housework after marriage, says study

DISCRIMINATION

A 40-year study into housework patterns before and after marriage by an American university has shown women still do the majority of the cleaning up.

Research from the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research (ISR) showed that marriage meant that the average American woman spent seven extra hours a week cleaning up the house, while tying the knot meant an hour less of housework for a man in the US.

ISR economist Frank Stafford said: "It's a well-known pattern. There's still a significant reallocation of labour that occurs at marriage - men tend to work more outside the home, while women take on more of the household labour.

"Certainly there are all kinds of individual differences here, but in general, this is what happens after marriage. And the situation gets worse for women when they have children," he added.

But, the panel found that in the last ten years both genders did more around the house after exchanging vows. The study also found that women were doing significantly less housework than in the past while men were beginning to make more of an effort.

In 1976, women did an average of 26 hours of housework a week, compared with about 17 hours in 2005 whereas men did about six hours of housework a week in 1976, compared with about 13 hours in 2005, according to the study's findings.

The study showed contrasting findings for men and women who are single though. While single men did more housework than married men, unmarried women did less housework than all other age groups for women. It also found that married women with three children did as much as 28 hours of housework a week while women in their 60s and 70s spent up to 21 hours tidying up the house.

For the study, researchers analysed data from time diaries and questionnaires asking both sexes to report how much time they had spent on basic housework such as cooking, cleaning and other basic work around the house.
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INDIA: Women at sea And Loving it- women marine engineers

INSPIRATION


They talk about engine 'decarbs' (overhauls) as comfortably as the latest Bollywood flick. They are equally at ease in both the air-conditioned comfort of their lounges and the furnace-like heat of the engine room. They don't mind the grime and dust or the long, gruelling work hours. They are the women marine engineers who literally rub shoulders with their male colleagues on merchant ships.

Close to a decade after the first Indian woman marine engineer graduated from Marine Engineering and Research Institute (MERI), Kolkata, more than 50 such women are today sailing on the high seas. Braving all odds, these daughters of Sindbad have made the sea their home and the ship their workplace. A sense of adventure and challenge drives them to continue — a fact that Jharkhand girl Jyoti Kumari accepts about her job. "Every day is a challenge," she says. "There is no scope for monotony. Everyday, we go to work thinking, 'what problems are we going to face today?' and how are we going to solve them," says the spunky young girl who has worked on oil tankers only in her four-year-old career.

The feeling is common across the board. Yet, it's rather interesting that none of them had any clue about the challenges and adventure they would face when they opted for marine engineering as a career. Most of the women came to know about the course only when they came across advertisements in newspapers. Says Archana Saxena, one of the first women cadets from Tolani Maritime Institute, Pune, "I hadn't heard about marine engineering till I saw the ad for admission. After reading it, I found out details about a marine engineer's job and ended up liking the profile. I always wanted to do something different from others."

A little research, words of assurance from friends, family and the institute help in getting the women on board. Jaipur girl Ruchi Tripathi, who graduated from MERI, Kolkata, faced some opposition from home when she filled up the form along with the IIT application. "They were apprehensive initially. But when they learnt about the course, the prospects and saw the college, they were reassured," says Tripathi. She is presently on vacation at home after completing a six-month contract period with a foreign shipping company.

Most women, who have graduated from either MERI, Tolani or TS Chanakya (this trains students to become navigation officers), are still onboard ships. Says S K Sarkar, director, MERI, Kolkata, "Ever since we opened admissions to women for the first time in '95, eight have taken the course here. Some years, there haven't been any women but that's an exception. I don't think women will stop joining the course."

The real test begins once the four-year long rigorous training is over and the cadet joins a ship. The initial weeks are spent fighting seasickness and adjusting to the working hours. But most importantly, it's getting a foothold in a male-dominated workplace that takes precedence. Most often, there is only one woman on a ship. "The moment you join, all eyes are on you. The big question is: ‘Can she perform?' It becomes imperative then for the woman to prove herself," says Saxena. And in order to establish herself, she ends up putting in extra effort and time. Sharvani Mishra, the other first woman cadet from Tolani, feels that this is true of any other male-dominated profession. "Attitude problems are always there," she says. "But as long as you are professional, hard-working and good at work, everybody respects you."

What about problems like sexual harassment and discrimination at the workplace? "We are more safe on the ship than on land" is a common refrain among women shippies. Moreover, women are treated as equals and expected to perform the same tasks as men do. "If there is a breakdown in the middle of the night, then you are expected to come to work, even if you have gone to sleep just two hours back after completing your shift," says Kumari. After all, shipping is a business and the owner is paying huge money for the ship to be in good shape. "So whether it's a man or woman, the job has to be done," reasons Brijendar K Saxena, director, Tolani Maritime Institute.

Most ships these days are new and fully automated. As a result, breakdowns and engine-room emergencies are not too common. But working on an old ship can be full of challenges. Recalls Mishra, "On one of my earlier trips, I was on a 15 to 20 year-old ship. It was quite a terrible time. I had to be up most nights to ensure that the ship was in running shape."

In fact, life on an oil tanker can be more hectic than on a bulk carrier (ships that carry dry cargo like iron ore and grains in bulk). But these women don't seem to mind it. "In the end, it's just a matter of 4-5 months. Most companies now offer shorter contracts unlike in the past when one was at sea for nine months at a stretch," says Ankita Srivastava, an employee of a foreign shipping company.

Yet, being the only woman on ship can get difficult at times. "I miss girl talk and the fact that there is nobody to share my emotions and innermost thoughts," says Kumari. Moreover, being away from family, especially children, for months at a stretch can be emotionally stressful. But most women shippies are quite pragmatic about it. "These days most people work long hours, thus staying away from home for a longer period. And by the end of the day, one is too tired to even have a decent conversation with the family. At least, when we are on the ship, our focus is work and when we are home for few months, we are able to spend all our time with the family," argues Saxena. This mother of a one-year-old will be joining work this month after a break of two years.

All the toil, sweat and bouts of loneliness are compensated by visits to exotic places and six-figure salaries. "Our travel is completely free and we end up saving all our salary. What more can we ask?" queries Tripathi.

Travelling to the pyramids, getting a peek of the Great Barrier Reef or watching dolphins swim along with the ship are some unusual perks of a job. And at the end of the day, as the world sleeps, the uppermost thought on a woman marine engineer's mind is the smooth running of the ship.
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USA: This T-Shirt Is About Rape

In 2004, Jennifer Baumgardner distributed T-shirts with a bold message across their fronts in blocky blue text: “I Had an Abortion.” More recently, the Williamsburg-based writer and activist decided to apply her T-shirt approach to consciousness-raising to the subject of rape.
But the straightforward approach of her first rape T-shirt didn’t seem quite right for shirts she hoped to distribute on campuses through a sex-education Web site, as reported in today’s Big City column.

She and a graphic designer friend tried to counter the passivity of the sentence construction “I was raped,” by placing the sentence in a cartoon dialogue bubble, in bright pink.

Too ebullient,” said Ms. Baumgardner.
A third approach went in the opposite direction: a white T-shirt with one word — “Raped” — pseudo spray-painted on in black.
“Too shocking,” she decided.
Finally, she approached her friend, Vinnie Angel, a graphic artist perhaps best known for designing Vinnie’s Tampon Case. His concept: a safe with its door wide open, revealing inside a small note card that reads, in handwriting, “I was raped.”
“What the safe design loses is shock value,” said Ms. Baumgardner, but that’s not what she was going for in the first place.
What was she going for? A shirt that would let rape victims “own the experience,” she says, and would help chip away the cone of silence that surrounds a crime with humiliation at its core.
A shirt that would start conversations.
NYTIMES/BLOG

Women face bias worldwide - UN

DICRIMINATION

Women are discriminated against in almost every country around the world, a UN-commissioned report says.

It says that this is despite the fact that 185 UN member states pledged to outlaw laws favouring men by 2005.

It adds that 70% of the world's poor are women and they own just 1% of the world's titled land.

The report, which was prepared for UN Human Right Commissioner Louise Arbour, says rape within marriage has still not been made a crime in 53 nations.

'Life-long violation'

The report was compiled by Fareda Banda, a law professor at London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

At a news conference in Geneva, Prof Banda said that other laws discriminating women included statutes on divorce, maternity benefits and pensions.

"Many states still have different ages of marriage for young women then they have for young men, and the age for girls is always lower then the age for boys.

"This leads to violations, for example of a girls' right education, if she has to leave school at 14 to get married, and this impacts upon her life chances.

"It ends up being a life-long violation of her rights in terms of forfeiting education, having children too early, possibly being damaged herself."

The report recommends the introduction of a new, separate mechanism to fight discrimination because existing UN and international human rights laws are not being upheld.

It also calls for a new UN expert to focus specifically on laws which damage women's chances in life.

BBC

CHILE: Women judged more harshly, says Chile's leader

As a woman and a single parent, Michelle Bachelet revolutionised Latin America's socially most conservative country when she was elected President of Chile two years ago. Today she will be one of only three female heads of state to join Gordon Brown and a host of other centre-left leaders for a summit on "progressive governance". But she has strong views on the less than progressive double standards that are still applied to women leaders.


"In my whole political life I have never seen a male candidate whose clothes and hair are discussed" President Bachelet said yesterday in London. "There is a machismo, and a sexism, and it is not just in Latin America ... If a woman talks hard then she is [described as] authoritarian, or else she's soft. It's so polarised. Women combining a political career with running a family are often asked how they manage the children," she complained, adding: "They would never ask that of a man".

As an example of the kind of thinking that irks her, the 56-year-old paediatrician recalled an incident in which her predecessor President Ricardo Lagos became tearful during a speech. "The media said 'It's his sensitive side coming out', but when I did it, they said: 'She's hysterical'. I'm not whining about it, but come on."

President Bachelet also revealed that when tensions between the neighbouring (male) presidents of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela threatened to explode into war recently, it was two women, Ms Bachelet and Cristina Fernández, the Argentinian leader, who intervened to "cool things down". "We spoke to them and Cristina said: 'Usually you think women are hysterical but come on guys, look at me and Michelle'."

She admits that her own "pretty rational" approach to governing a country, which involves setting up consultative commissions and seeking the broadest possible consensus, has been criticised in Chile. "When I started doing this kind of thing, people said: 'We want decisions not commissions' and 'This woman doesn't make decisions'. But it is a different leadership style and every time I think it's necessary, I do it this way."

She has introduced new rules for political parties to encourage more women to move into the corridors of power in a nation still shaking off its dictatorial past. Her first act as President was to swear in a cabinet of 10 men and 10 women.

For working women she has rolled out free nurseries. "If we are talking about inclusive democracy it has to be about giving women opportunities," she said. But the Chilean President admits it is a struggle to convince women to seek office. "Women have to decide if they want public or private life. And because they also have to be in charge of families it is very difficult; they live with guilt, they are abandoning traditional roles."

Her CV reads like a film script. As a young medical student in the 1970s she was arrested and tortured by the Pinochet regime. She fled to Australia, later moving to Berlin where she learnt German and qualified as a doctor. Returning to Chile in 1979 she worked as a paediatrician. She was appointed minister for health in 2000 and became Latin America's first defence minister two years later, before her presidential victory in March 2006.

INDEPENDENT

USA: Citigroup pays out $33m over sex discrimination

Citigroup has agreed to pay out $33m (£16.5m) to settle sex discrimination claims against its Smith Barney brokerage unit.

The lawsuit was originally filed by three female brokers in its Santa Rosa office in California.

Protesters outside the Citi building in 1999. Around 2,500 women will now be eligible to share in the compensation fund

But after the suit was granted class action status, around 2,500 women will now be eligible to share in the compensation fund.

Under the settlement, Citi also agreed to change policies for distributing accounts, bonuses, partnerships, leads and other types of compensation.

"Citigroup's slogan is 'Let's get it done'. My attitude is it's about time that they get it done," said Renee Fassbender-Amochaev, one of the three lead plaintiffs.

"I feel we have levelled the playing field for the women who remain at Smith Barney and who may come into this industry in the future."

The settlement, which must still be cleared with a San Francisco district judge, is the largest since Morgan Stanley paid out $54m in 2004 to settle similar sex discrimination claims.

The three women, Deborah Orlando, Kathryn Varner and Ms Fassbender-Amochaev, worked as financial consultants at Smith Barney but have since left to work for Wachovia Securities.

They alleged Smith Barney branch managers steered clients to male brokers, reducing the potential earnings of female employees.

They also claimed Smith Barney did not provide enough opportunities to become partners.

The women contended they received less sales support than male colleagues, less desirable offices and less training.

"We made a complaint and they didn't want to listen," Ms Orlando said. "We are very, very happy with the outcome and feel the evidence showed what was going on."

Citigroup said it was pleased to put the matter behind it

"Significant initiatives in the past several years have helped establish Smith Barney as one of the most progressive employers in the securities industry and we are committed to continuing to provide a professional and respectful work environment to all of our employees," said a spokesman.

The average payout - to be shared out next year - would be $13,200 if shared equally, but many of those involved will receive much more based on seniority and some may opt out or not seek payment, said Kelly Dermody, lead attorney for the women.

The lawyers will receive $6.5m of the $33m, she said.

Telegraph

Study: Angry Women Viewed As Incompetent

DISCRIMINATION


Whether you're working in a restaurant or running a company, you cannot afford to lose your cool if you are a woman, according to a Yale University study by psychologist Victoria Brescoll. She and Eric Uhlmann at Northwestern University completed three studies to explore peoples' reactions to anger. They found that angry men are accepted and rewarded, while women who get angry are viewed as less competent.

In light of Hillary Clinton's run for the presidency, it was determined that anger can hurt her campaign, unless the anger pertains to treatment of a family member.

"An angry woman loses status, no matter what her position," said Brescoll.

In the studies, subjects responded that angry men deserve increased status, a better salary and were expected to be better at a job than an angry woman.

Interestingly, when men explained why they were angry, the views that others had of them were damaged, while women were allowed to explain their anger.

Brescoll suggests that it helps for women to stay emotionally neutral. If that isn't possible, women are urged to explain what angered them in the first place.
NBC5I

It seems very unfair. This is one of the inequalities of the many that have to be highlighted. Awareness has to come first.

BRAZIL: Women say “no” to Monsanto in Brazil

On March 7 — the day before International Women’s Day — dozens of Brazilian women occupied a research site of the US-based agricultural biotechnology giant Monsanto in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, destroying a greenhouse and experimental plots of genetically-modified corn.

Participants, members of the international farmers’ organization International Peasant Movement, stated in a note that the act was to protest the Brazilian government’s decision in February to legalize Monsanto’s genetically-modified Guardian corn, which came just weeks after the French government prohibited the corn due to environment and human health risks.
LATINAMERICAPRESS

BRITAIN: Women police take up arms- women ARVs

INSPIRATION


The Met has embarked on a campaign to encourage more female officers to train in the use of guns.

Do you remember your first week at work? Clare Thomas will never forget hers. “During one of my earliest shifts, someone reported seeing a young man pass a silver-coloured handgun into a car,” she says. “We had to come up with a plan to confirm that it was a weapon, find the vehicle, intercept it and retrieve the handgun. All without anybody being hurt.”

How Thomas and her colleagues achieved this seemingly impossible task can't be revealed in precise detail - she's a member of a police armed response vehicle (ARV) team and their tactics are secret. However, imagine a thousand pairs of eyes working together to find the car, armed and unarmed teams gliding in and moving away from it as the operation progresses and then, for the five occupants, a loud and swift conclusion - a jarring halt, guns front and rear trained on them. The danger contained before you could say “Uzi”.

“I had been very nervous when we got the call - it was my first live incident - but we train over and over again for such scenarios,” says Thomas, a ponytailed 25-year-old in black fatigues and a bullet-proof vest. We meet at the Metropolitan Police's firearms training centre on the outskirts of Gravesend in Kent where, less than a year ago, she qualified as an AFO - an authorised firearms officer. In a holster at her side is a Glock 17 handgun; resting along the length of her forearm is a Heckler & Koch MP5 carbine.

“I was covering one of the passengers with my weapon while the car was searched,” continues Thomas. “It turned out there was a handgun in there and we were able to take it off the streets. Nobody got hurt and nobody was going to get hurt with that weapon. I felt such an adrenalin rush, such a sense of achievement. It was a good day's work.” Police Constable Clare Thomas (not her real name, for security reasons) is one of only a few female AFOs in the UK. Within CO19, Scotland Yard's specialist firearms command, to which Thomas is attached, there are 529 male AFOs and only 17 women. The handling of guns within police forces up and down the country has traditionally been the preserve of men.

Nobody knows why for sure (there has been no research). But policewomen have consistently been reluctant to become shooters; nor, though, have they been encouraged. Figures released to The Times show that, between 2002 and 2005, 1,083 male officers applied for firearms training within the Metropolitan Police Service compared with only 50 women. During that time, 81 men became qualified AFOs; only one woman passed. Across England and Wales, where there are 6,728 firearms officers, the Home Office does not record the male/female split, but the Met's experience is thought to be typical.

That, however, is about to change. Senior Met officers have embarked on a four-month campaign to encourage more female police officers to train for service alongside their armed male colleagues. It is too soon to tell what the outcome of all this will be, though the signs are promising; of 46 women who applied last year, four have so far been successful in this year's courses and hopes are high that this will encourage more to come forward.

But there are some inevitable questions: Why do we need more women gun cops? What makes a woman want to carry a gun? And, perhaps most important of all, are women as good as men in violent and dangerous situations?

It was not until 1966 that the Met formed a dedicated firearms department, the seed of today's CO19, after the murders of three unarmed officers who were trying to tackle a gang of armed robbers. At first the department was responsible for training officers. Today its functions allow the vast majority - about 90 per cent of the Met's 31,000 officers - to remain unarmed. The department comprises the armed response vehicle teams (precise numbers are kept under wraps), which deal with spontaneous incidents; two tactical support teams (TSTs), which provide support for planned missions and surveillance operations; and teams of specialist firearms officers (SFOs), elite weapons experts trained in everything from siege intervention and hostage rescue to boarding boats suspected of criminal involvement.

Within the Met, there are four other departments in which officers are routinely armed: CO18, which patrols Heathrow and London City airports (303 armed officers; 18 women); CO6, the Diplomatic Protection Group (750 armed officers; 20 women); and SO14 and SO1, protection for royalty and ministerial close protection (numbers secret).

Training to become an AFO is rigorous and only a few applicants are successful. First, an officer must have at least three years' service. He or she must complete an application designed to weed out candidates who are clearly unsuitable; but, contrary to popular belief, there is no hardcore psychological testing or psychometric culling. Highly qualified and experienced CO19 officers are involved in selection throughout the process and it is their on-the-job savvy that will determine who will be considered safe to work alongside them. Macho or gung ho tendencies are seriously frowned upon.

There are fitness tests, eyesight and hearing tests and 25 days of residential training courses at the centre in Gravesend. There are role-playing exercises to assess basic competence at policing situations, followed by training and testing in weapons handling, tactics and law. Finally, there are marksmanship tests on firing ranges, with pass rates of 80 per cent.

“Last year, Met armed response vehicles were called out to more than 12,000 incidents and they took some sort of action in more than 2,000 of them without shooting anybody,” says Kath White. As the inspector in charge of one of the Met's two tactical support teams, White is probably the most senior female firearms officer in the country. She is a fit and forthright 47-year-old who makes no secret of her love of working at the sharp end.

“The vast majority of incidents are resolved by good policing and negotiation,” she says. “Last year, the total number of times a firearm was discharged by all the AFOs in the service was just two. That demonstrates a great degree of skill and restraint and the importance of negotiation.” So will women be better at this than men? No, says White, the idea is not to introduce a gentle touch, as some commentators have suggested, simply a different one.

“I honestly don't think there is any specific quality that women can bring to firearms deployment. But what they can bring as individuals are their own personality and qualities. Traditionally, CO19 has been made up of white males. I think to be more effective we must try to replicate the society that we serve.”

White is regarded by her colleagues as proving that women can make it to the top in an otherwise male-dominated speciality. Passing continuing fitness tests has proved difficult for some women - and the force has no intention of lowering its standards - but in other areas White feels there is no reason why more women should not be taking up weapons.

“Emotionally, some officers have difficulty getting their head around the fact that, if you find yourself in a dangerous situation where your life or somebody else's is in danger, you will have to take action that may result in someone's death - but that consideration is the same for men and women,” she says.

“The training is designed not to find out who is the best woman or man for the job, but who is the best person, the best able to deal with situations in a safe and efficient way. When you're out there in a difficult situation and there is a suspect with a gun, you don't want someone on your team who is too ready to pull the trigger; but if you have someone who isn't prepared to pull it at the right time, then that person is a potential liability. Their sex has nothing to do with it.”

Melissa Hines, a psychology professor at Cambridge University who studies the behavioural differences between men and women, agrees with White. She says that average disparities between the sexes do exist - for example, men are generally more aggressive than women, which is why most violent criminals are male. But this is skewed when selection and training become involved. “Once you have a self-selecting sub-set, ie, women who join the police in the first place, then a specialist sub-set, those who choose to apply for firearms duties, the average differences don't apply,” says Hines. “Add to that the training that they undergo, and the sex of an individual becomes irrelevant.”

But what will make more women want to pick up a gun? For Clare Thomas and Kath White, it was a desire to progress and a love of working in a team. Both had difficulty, though, in explaining their decision to family and friends.

“I had been in confrontational situations and had found that I reacted calmly and efficiently,” says Thomas. “I thought that would be a useful skill to transfer into firearms. Plenty of my female friends thought it was a cool and exciting thing to do, but others - including some policewomen - just couldn't understand why I would want to carry a firearm. It was the same with guys. It is simply up to the individual, regardless of their sex.

“My family was particularly concerned, assuming that coming into contact with firearms would make me more vulnerable. You do have to sit down and explain the realities of the job, how thorough the training is and how great is the emphasis on safety. Since I did that, they have been hugely supportive. I was going out with a Marine at the time and he was dead against it. That made me more determined than ever. He isn't my boyfriend any more.

“I think the male partners of some women put pressure on them not to become an AFO, but on my training there was an officer whose kids had reached middle-school age and her husband said he was fine with her doing what she wanted. Until then, I had wondered if I would be an AFO after having children. Now I definitely would.”

White says AFOs are incredibly supportive of one another in the rare instances of suspects being shot. In 30 fatal shootings by police officers nationally over the past 15 years, no AFO has been convicted; some say that demonstrates court bias, others that it vindicates the actions of trained officers. Nevertheless, the threat of legal action and the prospect of post-shooting psychological trauma are everyday realities.

“In this job you have to realise that, in a worst-case scenario, you might make an honest mistake and be charged with murder,” says White. “After a shooting, the mood is closely knit and we all come together to support the officer. I have never shot anybody, but I am told that a justification kicks in, the memory of exactly why you believed it was precisely the right thing to do at the time. That sustains you.”

Chief Superintendent Bill Tillbrook, the head of CO19, says the women in his department have traditionally done a good job but more need to be encouraged to join. “It is also important, though, that people realise that, while we are actively encouraging women, we will not be lowering our standards simply to admit more,” he says. “I don't think female officers would want that.

“When you are carrying out positive action or focusing on one group like this, it is important that other officers - perhaps, say, those that may have failed once or twice - don't think anyone is getting special treatment. The women will be reaching the same standards as men.”

Thomas wouldn't have it any other way. “Since I became part of an ARV last August, we have recovered lots of firearms from houses, cars and people on the streets,” she says. “And I feel that makes a real difference.”

TIMESONLINE

AUSTRALIA: Sexual consent law proposal in South Australia

South Australian Independent MP Ann Bressington says comments she made about men needing signed consent from women to protect themselves from false rape allegations were tongue in cheek.

Ms Bressington made the comments in the South Australian Parliament yesterday and supported them on ABC radio again today in her rejection of proposed changes to SA rape laws.

It could become an offence to continue a sex act with someone after consent if they later changed their mind.

She says the law would make men who are accused of rape guilty until proved innocent.

Ms Bressington has now said she was not serious in her Parliamentary comment about introducing formal contracts, but she said men may not have an alternative defence.

"Having to have a consensual sex contract is ridiculous but having these laws that don't protect men's rights are also ridiculous," she said.

"I think we need to be more mindful when we're putting through legislation that every stakeholder in the community is protected."

Planned changes defended

Vanessa Swan, from sexual assault service Yarrow Place, has defended the proposed rape law changes.

"What we now have is that if someone were to scream and fight and say 'Don't do this' and the other person continued, now that's illegal," she said.

"Now wouldn't we want that to be illegal? Is that radical?

"As we shift our laws to be in line with what's fair and reasonable in the community, there are people that scream and say, 'This is radical' or 'This is out there', when in fact most of the rest of us think that's silly."

Independent South Australian MP Kris Hanna says he is concerned the legislative changes may not be passed.

"I've been pushing for this rape law reform for five years and it's been through a couple of committees and reviews and we finally got there," he said.

"I hope it's not going to be derailed in the Upper House because of these concerns, which I think will not end up being real concerns when it comes to putting things in court.

"What we really wanted to overcome was men being able to get off by saying, 'I believed that she consented' when in fact it was preposterous to believe that in the circumstances, like the woman was asleep or unconscious through drinking or whatever."

ABC

The suggested law is not a bad idea. It will benefit both men and women. Men will be safer from being accused of rape. Men will have to get in wrtiting from a woman, a "yes", before intercourse. remember the jodie Foster starred film, The Accused? She kept saying "no", but the rape continued.

AFGHANISTAN: Afghan Women Protest Anti-Islam Film

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — About 70 Afghan women burned the Dutch and Danish flags during a demonstration Wednesday in the capital against an anti-Islam film and the reprinting of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.

The women chanted slogans against the two countries during the protest outside the Ministry of Information and Culture in Kabul. Most wore the all-covering blue burqa.

The women called on Danish and Dutch troops to leave Afghanistan and urged the Afghan government to shut down their embassies and cut diplomatic relations with the two countries.

The protesters were angered by the release last week of a 15-minute film by a Dutch lawmaker, Geert Wilders, and the recent reprinting in Denmark of a cartoon showing the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban.

The film "Fitna" — Arabic for ordeal — portrays Islam as targeting Western democracy with violence and has prompted denunciations in Muslim capitals and street protests in the Islamic world.

The film urges Muslims "to tear out the hateful verses from the Quran," the Islamic holy book.

Meanwhile, the Dutch Defense Ministry said there was no indication that a roadside bomb that wounded three Dutch soldiers in Afghanistan on Sunday was planted in retaliation for Wilders' movie.

The attack, which cost one soldier both legs, was "unfortunately not unusual" in nature, ministry spokesman Detlev Simons said.

The Site Intelligence Group said a statement posted on Web sites used by militants claimed the attack was in retribution for Wilders' film.
AP

I have nothing to say about the Dutch film which is angering Muslims the world over. I only want say one thing. Shouldn't the Afghan ladies be protesting against the poor condition and status of women in Afghanistan before they protest about the Dutch film?