{"id":1317,"date":"2017-03-08T18:30:53","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T18:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amazonnewsmedia.com\/articles\/?p=1317"},"modified":"2017-03-08T21:20:28","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T21:20:28","slug":"international-womens-day-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/amazonnewsmedia.com\/articles\/2017\/03\/08\/international-womens-day-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"International Women’s Day 2017 – Justice & Equality vs Bullying – Time to Step Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

International Women’s Day 2017 – #beboldforchange<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Arkansas<\/a>This has been a hell of a year for women. We can now be legally beaten in Russia<\/a>, sued by rapists in Arkansas.<\/a> In Ohio, meanwhile, a woman will have to get permission<\/a> of a man to abort a foetus.<\/p>\n

Abortion uncertainty is increasing in the UK as well, as Brexit looms. There are currently around 9 Irish women a day travelling to the UK for abortions<\/a>. What will happen to them?<\/p>\n

On International Women’s Day 2017 women all over the world are fleeing from violence. Women are trying to keep their families together while being bombed from the air, picked off on the ground, abandoned to traffickers. Just like in 2016.<\/p>\n

So where is the justice, fairness and equality that feminism promises?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is Justice?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Brave<\/a>If justice is to mean anything at all on International Women’s Day 2017, it must embody fairness and equality. I\u2019ve had to seek justice and so I’ve been introduced to the Civil Procedure Rules in the UK. That’s how I know that justice supposedly requires that \u201cparties shall be on equal footing\u201d. It stands to reason, doesn\u2019t it, that unless this is true, it won\u2019t be fair, and without fairness justice cannot exist.<\/p>\n

Problems facing women today throw focus onto the fact that global equality for women hardly exists at all, except perhaps as a neat catch-phrase for those with time for neat catch-phrases.<\/p>\n

Of course there have been some gains: in the Gambia for example, female genital mutilation (FGM) has been legally shown the door<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Women in Kobane have just celebrated the two year anniversary of their victory over Deaesh<\/a>. That’s a truly remarkable feat.<\/p>\n

As with American judges countering Trump’s travel ban<\/a>, fighting for ourselves and each other highlights the extent of the problem.<\/p>\n

It’s hard to fill the world up with justice, fairness and equality when it’s already so full of the opposite.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

More bad news<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Huge numbers of women are still suffering FGM worldwide, including girls in the UK where the Government won\u2019t even make it mandatory to teach about it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Millions of women worldwide also still suffer from fistula<\/a>, an avoidable condition which causes ostracisation misery and more rampant victim blaming.<\/p>\n

In India the lack of basic hygiene<\/a> causes fear, assault and death for girls and women, forced out into the night to relieve themselves.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Gains that have been made regarding rights for trans people are being rolled back<\/a>, and hatred for trans-women, mainly women of colour<\/a> continues to spew forth.<\/p>\n

In the UK punitive disability bullying to receive Personal Independence Payment (PIP) continues to push people to suicide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In fact, female suicide in the UK at its highest level since 2011<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Be bold for Change<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Bullying<\/a>But in spite of all that <\/em>(a tiny snapshot), it can still sometimes seem, especially in the media, as if the real problem is that there aren\u2019t enough white middle-class feminists.<\/p>\n

It’s crucially important that those with the resources to be visible “feminists” don’t add to that bullying. It’s crucial that we don’t contribute to a net lack of space for justice, fairness and equality.<\/p>\n

But aren’t I a white middle-class feminist? Yes I am, and one who has undeniably put my money where my mouth is<\/a> so I know what I’m talking about.<\/p>\n

My family recently lost our home because another white middle-class woman wanted to destroy our helpful agency for bullying<\/a>. This person also calls herself a feminist. My family did that hard job for the benefit of all, and certainly not to cause the envious attacks we’ve been subject to.<\/p>\n

So should I now qualify the International Womens\u2019 Day theme to say be bold for change, yes, but not too bold because some white middle-class feminists may not like it?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Beating Bullying<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"After<\/a>Like hell I should, because children and young people continue to take their lives as a result of bullying. The recent suicide of Nyah James<\/a> from Bishop Gore School follows the suicide of James Lock<\/a> from Olchfa Comprehensive School two years ago, both local to me.<\/p>\n

In both cases there was the same defensive statement of positivity from the school, while rumours run rife in the community. In the most recent case this included rumours of the school threatening people for mentioning bullying. Oh, and there’s usually a whip round for a bench with a plaque.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile the parents, who will undoubtedly feel responsible for the rest of their lives, often seem painfully disempowered to act. These tragic events prove beyond doubt the worth of the landmark Titirangi Settlement we achieved. It’s a good thing to use Human Rights process to empower families to stand up to bullying. Being treated unjustly for doing it can’t change that.<\/p>\n

Stopping bullying simply matters way more than someone callously appropriating the term “feminist” to cause harm. Stopping bullying matters most.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Absence of Fairness is the Presence of Bullying.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"ANM<\/a>However different others’ lives might seem from yours, nobody likes being forced or coerced from above by the more powerful. We all know what that feels like to some extent. So being bold for change on International Women’s Day 2017 means standing up, not for charity, and not for white middle-class feminism.<\/p>\n

Being bold for change means insisting on a world without bullying, creating space for justice.<\/p>\n

On International Women’s Day 2017 we need to access a simple mind shift. The absence of fairness and justice needs be seen as what it is, the presence of bullying.<\/p>\n

That means that we need to be sure we will stand against bullying, even before mouthing slogans about rights. That’s not going to get any easier in the coming weeks, months and years. As the bullying increases, we will ALL need the kind of strength, commitment and unity shown by all those fighting for “rights” some of us have learned to take for granted. We need to start practising now.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s why I\u2019m being bold for change and carrying on. Because I know through personal experience that if we want the bullying to stop, we’ve got to stop it ourselves.<\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

What are your thoughts on the importance of standing up to bullying to create a world where justice can exist? Please let us know in the comments, or contact us<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

International Women’s Day 2017 – #beboldforchange This has been a hell of a year for women. We can now be legally beaten in Russia, sued by rapists in Arkansas. In Ohio, meanwhile, a woman will have to get permission of a man to abort a foetus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[209,4],"tags":[224,122,211,239,79,115,221,185,233,231,227,197,2,235,234,236,237,218,210,238,232,222,216,214,213,220,219,223,225,226,217,212,49,230,229,182,215,228],"class_list":["post-1317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feminism","category-politics","tag-stop-defamation","tag-amazonnewsmedia","tag-iwd2017","tag-advocate-com","tag-amazon-news-media","tag-anm","tag-bishop-gore","tag-brexit","tag-civil-procedure-rules","tag-deaths","tag-disability-news-service","tag-donald-trump","tag-featured","tag-female-genital-mutilation","tag-feminism","tag-fgm","tag-fistula","tag-india","tag-international-womens-day-2017","tag-intrahealth-org","tag-isis","tag-james-lock","tag-kobane","tag-legitimate-rape","tag-missouri-abortion-bill","tag-nyah-james","tag-oireachtas-retort","tag-olchfa","tag-personal-independence-payment","tag-pip","tag-pris-the-world","tag-russia","tag-the-guardian","tag-the-huffington-post","tag-the-independent","tag-titirangi-settlement","tag-trans-rights","tag-wales-online"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/amazonnewsmedia.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/amazonnewsmedia.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/amazonnewsmedia.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/amazonnewsmedia.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/amazonnewsmedia.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1317"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/amazonnewsmedia.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1369,"href":"http:\/\/amazonnewsmedia.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317\/revisions\/1369"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/amazonnewsmedia.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/amazonnewsmedia.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/amazonnewsmedia.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/amazonnewsmedia.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}