Protest at Irish embassy in India over abortion row

About a hundred protesters gathered today (Friday) outside of the Irish embassy over the death of Savita Halappanavar, a thirty one year old Indian dentist, who died after she was refused an abortion in an Irish hospital in the Catholic country. The crowd is accusing Irish authorities of committing "medical murder". When Halappanavar went to the hospital seeking treatment, she repeatedly asked staff at University Hospital in Galway, west Ireland, to terminate her pregnancy because she was miscarrying. Doctors refused her demand, telling her that "this is a Catholic country". Abortion is illegal in Roman Catholic-dominated Ireland except when it is necessary to save the life of the mother. After local politicians in India expressed their concern regarding her death on October 28^th, the government was urged to act. Smriti Irani, president of the women's wing of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, was among the protesters outside the embassy and she was allowed in as part of a four-person delegation to meet the ambassador. "The ambassador acknowledged that there is intense pressure (on Ireland) not only from the people of India but globally over Halappanavar's death," Irani told reporters. Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said that "It is extremely sad and unfortunate. Whatever the inquiry does, human loss cannot be compensated," andIndian Communist Party leader Brinda Karat said not treating Halappanavar's condition as a medical emergency was a "crime". Ireland's abortion laws have actually been the subject of debate for years.

The article said that under a 1992 Supreme Court ruling, women in Ireland are legally entitled to an abortion when it is necessary to save the life of the mother. Unfortunately, “legislation has never been passed to reflect this. “ I agree wholeheartedly with Brinda Karat’s calling the untreatment of Halappanavar a crime because the woman was clearly in dire need of the abortion to save her life, so how can a doctor possibly sit there and tell the woman he can’t perform the procedure, when he knows the mother’s life is at risk? Its infuriating! Women should have the right to an abortion regardless of whether their lives are at risk. There are already women dying every minute due to the lack of care after birth. Why add to the numbers?  In India alone, there is a maternal death every 10 minutes, according to the United Nations, with the country accounting for about 20 percent of deaths worldwide of women who die during or shortly after childbirth.

http://www.brecorder.com/world/south-asia/91002.html

blog 11: Chinese women's rights activist sent to labor camp again

Mao Hengfeng was taken by a team of security officials on September 20 in Beijing when she was petitioning the authorities for the abuses she suffered during her previous labor camp sentences. Her husband, Wu Hengfeng, said he received a letter from the authorities late on Monday informing him that Mao had been sentenced to a labor camp for "disturbing social order", which he said was unsupported. "She is not guilty and she didn't break any laws," Wu said. "They are fabricating offences, making up evidence to lock up people who did not commit crimes in prisons and labor camps." Unfortunately, Wu knows nothing about her whereabouts. Apparently, she was last held the Yangpu district police detention centre in Shanghai but calls to the centre were unanswered. As President Hu Jintao prepares to transfer power as party leader to anointed successor Vice President Xi Jinping, China’s “stability-obsessed” rulers are not taking any chances to ensure an image of “harmony”.  Mao, who has three daughters, has been petitioning the government since she was dismissed in 1988 from her job at a soap factory after becoming pregnant a second time, in breaking of the one-child policy. Mao had been arrested several times before though. She was sentenced in February 2011 to a labor camp for conducting "illegal activities". In 2010, she was sentenced to one and a half years of "re-education through labor" on charges of "disturbing the public order" for a protest at the trial of jailed 2010 Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo. Then, she was released six months early from a labor camp in Anhui because of poor health, her husband said, adding that he is worried about Mao because of her high blood pressure. Mao is just one of the rebels being rounded up by the country’s communist party.
I envy Mao Hengfeng for her courage in standing up to China’s government. She wasn’t afraid to be retained for standing up for what she believed in, and that takes audacity. I understand China’s being overpopulated, but I have never agreed with their one child rule. Family’s should be able to have as many children as they wish, and not be punished or fined for doing so. I thought of the documentary we watched in class last week, Robot Nation, and how Japan’s government is actually paying couples to have children while China is telling individuals to cut down on reproduction. I think there is irony in the situation. What is even more disturbing is how the government is said to be fabricating offences and making up evidence to lock up people who did not commit crimes in prisons and labor camps. It fills me with rage think that they are locking up and executing innocent individuals!




http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/06/us-china-labour-idUSBRE8A50DL20121106
 

Blog 10: Michelle Obama urges Africa to advance women's rights

Michele Obama is on her second trip abroad as first lady to help endorsee issues, such as education, health and wellness. The speech that she gave at the Regina Mundi Church touched on more “harder” topics of race, discrimination, democracy and development. Her speech actually played a role in South Africa's anti-apartheid movement, and Michele and her mother and two daughters “cited” the individuals in charge of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and the civil rights movement in the United States as examples for the younger generation to follow. "It is because of them that we are able to gather here today.It is because of them that I stand before you as First Lady of the United States of America," she said to applause. Obama also spoke passionately about women's rights, saying that the young leaders should make sure women were no longer "second class citizens" and that girls were educated in schools. "You can be the generation that stands up and says that violence against women in any form, in any place, including the home”, said Obama. Michele was actually introduced by Graca Machel, Nelson Mandela's wife. She and her family had a very fortunate opportunity to meet Mandela and his family at his home Tuesday. Mrs. Obama said she told Mandela that he had been an inspiration to her and her husband, the first black president of the United States. "You know what he said? 'OK, thanks,'" said a laughing Michelle. When Michelle was giving her speech, she used her husband's famous campaign slogan to urge the church audience to follow through on the issues she addressed. "If anyone ever tells you that you shouldn't or you can't, then I want you to say with one voice -- the voice of a generation -- you tell them: "Yes, we can."

Michele Obama is the type of individual that makes our nation proud to have her as our First Lady. Well, at least I am. She is such an inspiring role model to girls and women not just nation, but worldwide. Health advocate, education advocate, and women’s rights advocate. What I furthermore find to be impressive is Michelle’s continuously doing her routes and speeches despite the presidential elections. I don’t know too much about Ann Romney, but you don’t hear too much, or anything, about her volunteering or taking the time to travel other countries to advocate women’s rights. I like how she pinpointed racial issues, and urged the young leaders or the country to make sure girls were getting their education, and put into light the wrongness of any sort of violence geared towards women. 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/22/us-obama-africa-idUSTRE75J0HW20110622

blog 9: Home-based female workers await recognition of their rights

                    

Despite their extensive contributions to the economy, home based working women of Pakistan are still waiting to be recognized for their rights. According to various estimates, there are over 20 million women workers in Pakistan. They work in sectors of garment and bangle-making, shoe-stitching, embroidery, carpet weaving, dry fruit peeling, jewelry, leather products, stitching of mobile phone covers, prawn shelling etc. The working hours of these women range from 12 to 16 whereas their daily income in return of their hard work is around a mere Rs10 to R50. Research shows that the long working hours, poor working conditions, and family pressure that arise from the previous sectors badly affect their health. . Realizing the need to protect women workers in the informal sector, the government, along with the support from women’s organizations drafted the Home Based Women Workers Social Protection Bill in 2006. It which was later presented in the National Assembly in 2007. Unfortunately, despite it being revised several time, it was never presented in the Parliament again. The bill had entailed setting up a Social Protection Commission that would register home based women workers in groups of 5 through, or independently, of employers.  Through the commission, all registered Home Based Women Workers would be entitled to receive protection benefits such as sickness benefits, maternity benefits, death grants, medical care during sickness and maternity, injury benefits, disablement pension, survivor’s pension, family benefits and employment injury benefits. The benefits are much needed since their work is characterized by unregulated, low skilled, low paid and high hazardous conditions. The women really have nothing to fall back on in times of unemployment, sickness, accidents and child birth. “We demand that the home based worker’s issue should to be seen within a human rights and legislative framework,” said Aqsa, a member of one of the women’s organizations.

The home worker’s in Pakistan have no social and legal recognition for their work. They work double the hours American and European women work, yet barely have enough to meet basic survival needs. They are living in a vivacious cycle of debt and deprivation that could be triggered at any moment by the slightest circumstances, such as marriages, deaths, and of course, old age. It is a must that the National Assembly pass the Home Based Workers Social Protection Bill. The bill will not only benefit women in Pakistan, but oppressed individuals worldwide. Women already have the backbreaking profession of being the caregivers of the household, but working 15 hours shifts on top of that with no recognition for their labor is unacceptable.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-138452-Home-based-female-workers-await-recogni

Blog 8: Shot Pakistani schoolgirl can stand, communicate, hospital says

According to the director of the UK hospital where she is undergoing treatment, Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai stood up with the help of nurses today (Friday) for the first time since her shooting and is "communicating very freely." Malala was shot in the head after she defied the Taliban by insisting on the right of girls to go to school. Unfortunately, the young girl can't talk because she has a tracheotomy tube inserted to protect her airway, which was swollen after her gunshot injury, but she is writing coherent sentences. There "is certainly physical damage to the brain" from the bullet that entered Malala's head but she appears to be functioning well intellectually and with the help of nurses, has the motor control to stand nurses. Doctors say that it is too early to tell "whether there's any subtle intellectual or memory deficits down the line.”  Malala is keen that people share the details, and is well aware of the amount of interest this is generating around the world. The shooting, which happend in the northwestern district of Swat last week, generated a wave of shock and anger in Pakistan, but also globally.The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the horrid act, but they didn't seem to have anticipated the amount of “repulsion and condemnation” that it would provoke. Thousands of people joined in rallies across Pakistan in support of the wounded teen, and calls have grown for a strong response from the government. Authorities are currently investigating the attack and say they have made a number of arrests.

I don’t even know how to begin describing my feelings about this little girl. She was riding home on a bus carrying girls home from school in Pakistan on Tuesday, and a group of Taliban men approached her and shot her in the head. For what exactly? Advocating girls’ education rights! “The Taliban, whose religious, social and political views are founded on a brutally anti-woman ideology, cannot countenance even a young girl challenging their ideas on a blog.” Another article I had read called the Taliban cowards. I agree completely. You must be a coward to be scared of a young 14 year old girl for standing up for her and other girls’ rights, and what put the girl on their hit list was her not being scared of the group. The Afghani men are ordered to grow beards, and women are whipped in public as punishment for real, imagined or fabricated offenses. Malala has my utmost respect, and I hope that something will be done to alleviate the oppressed people of Afghanistan.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/19/world/europe/uk-pakistani-teen-activist/index.html