The MOJ should not proceed with their plans to reduce access to justice by depriving citizens of legal aid or the right to representation by the Solicitor of their choice.

The proposals will affect us all, but this has particular relevance to the specialist BME VAWG sector.  Plans include the introduction of a residency test which will deny access to legal aid to those who have not been lawfully in the UK for 12 months.  This will affect victims of gender-based violence, torture victims and trafficked women and children.

We have 4 days to get 20,000 signatures to force a parliamentary debate. 

Please sign and share!

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/48628

LAWA’s new website, boasting increased information and improved accessibility, is now available in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

The new format is easier to access, has an improved layout and contains more information on LAWA’s history, activities, the Latin American community and domestic violence. It will also be regularly updated with information about any upcoming workshops and events. LAWA’s social media profiles on Facebook and Twitter are now directly accessible from their website through one simple click.

Visit LAWA at www.lawadv.org.uk

27 June 2013, London

Meeting the needs of women who are seeking to secure their position in the UK by making an application under the domestic violence rule is incredibly challenging; in addition to having to provide supporting evidence yourself you have to be up-to-date in one of the most frequently changing areas of law.

This expert led, one-day course delivered in partnership by Rights of Women and Imkaan, will give you the skills and knowledge you need to confidently support a woman who has experienced domestic violence and is seeking ILR under the domestic violence rule. This course has been updated to incorporate recent crucial changes to the Immigration Rules as well as changes to the way women can access financial support in the form of the Destitute Domestic Violence Concession.

Participants will:

• Understand the complex disadvantages and dilemmas that face a woman survivor of domestic violence with insecure immigration status
• Understand the domestic violence rule and application process
• Feel confident providing letters of support for their service users who are making domestic violence rule applications
• Be able to reflect on their own practice supporting women survivors with insecure immigration status

Download the booking form here.

For all enquiries and to return your booking form, contact the Training Officer at Rights of Women: training@row.org.uk or 020 7251 6575.

Latin American Women’s Aid empowers Latin American and other Spanish/Portuguese speaking women and children who are fleeing from domestic violence, through advice, advocacy services and refuge accommodation.

Latin American Women’s Aid is seeking a highly motivated and dynamic woman to deliver a London-wide Family Outreach Support Project, working closely with children and their mothers affected by domestic violence to prevent long term mental health impacts of the abuse they experienced.

Family Outreach Support Advisor

Salary: £28,771 pro rata (£23,017 actual salary) including inner London weighting

Hours: 28 hours per week

This post is open to women only and is exempt under the Sex Discrimination Act 7(2) (d) and (e) 1976. No agencies.

For an application pack, send an email to: recruitment@lawadv.org.uk.

Closing date: Wednesday 22nd May 2013, Interviews: Last week of May 2013

Are you an organisation providing services to women affected by violence?

Are you a women’s network, project or organisation?

Are you trying to improve your organisation’s financial situation?

Come and join us at this FREE event!

Date: Tuesday 14th May 2013

Time: 9:30am – 2:45pm

Venue: St Marks Community Centre, 218 Tollgate Road, Beckton, E6 5YA

This event will bring together local organisations working to support women, local commissioners and experts from the Women’s Resource Centre, Imkaan and Rights of Women. You will receive practical support and have the opportunity to network with organisations in Newham and surrounding boroughs.

Network for BME women and their organisations 

Imkaan will be hosting a BME Networking Session before the open session. The BME Networking Session is open to black women workers from both BME specialist organisations and other organisations who define as Black or Minority Ethnic (BME) and who face racism and discrimination in Britain.

Meet & speak to local commissioners

Presentations by experts on:

• How to influence locally & how to get your voice heard to hold public bodies to account.
• The Equality Act 2010
• Building partnerships
• Funding ideas that work for your organisation

 Networking with other organisations working in your area.

Spaces are limited. A light lunch will be offered.

To book a place at the borough surgery (and/or the BME network event) please complete the booking form and email to skye@wrc.org.uk. 

If you have any queries call 020 7324 3030.

ASCENT, funded by London Councils, part of the London VAWG Consortium.

Imkaan has been commissioned by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to collate the views of women and girls affected by gender-based violence via a series of focus groups and interviews to inform the development of the second London VAWG strategy.  This work provides the opportunity for women and girls to influence future planning in London. We would like to involve:

• Former-service users of voluntary sector specialist provision, statutory services and criminal justice agencies.  This will include women exiting prostitution.
• BME (Black, Minority and Ethnic) women and girls including those who have experienced forced marriage, female genital mutilation and “honour”-based violence.
• Young women under the age of 18 including those who have been/are associated to gangs.
• We will explore any barriers to accessing service provision e.g. disability, sexual identity, and age.

The objective of this piece is to obtain the perspectives of women and girls to strengthen our understanding of service gaps and needs, pathways through which women and girls in London access protection and support and identification of promising practice in prevention work.  We will also develop recommendations on effective service models, and a report will be produced in June 2013.

If you work in this area and would like to contribute to the project please contact ika@imkaan.org.uk or call 020 7250 3933. 

Read more

Imkaan has been commissioned by the Women’s Health and Equality Consortium to deliver a series of health and equality capacity training sessions:

Wednesday 5th June 2013 - MANCHESTER

Tuesday 11th June 2013 - LONDON 

Tuesday 18th June 2013 - BIRMINGHAM

Tuesday 25th June 2013 - SHEFFIELD

Wednesday 17 July 2013 - BRISTOL 

COURSE CONTENT:

• Strategies for engaging with Health & Wellbeing Boards and Clinical Commissioning Groups
• Linking your work to the local priorities on health and wellbeing 
• Demonstrating & evidencing your contribution to health outcomes
• Contributing to Joint Strategic Needs Assessments and Joint Health & Wellbeing Strategies
• Building local networks of women’s organisations 

To book contact:  janet@imkaan.org.uk  or ring 0782 7878 143

Advocacy & Resettlement Worker

2½ year fixed term part-time contract    

21 hours per week

Salary: £15,312 incl. ILW         

must be educated to “A” level or equivalent

The post holder will be responsible for providing resettlement support to women and children leaving the refuge, advice, assistance and counselling to BAMER women facing domestic violence and homelessness, advocate and raise public awareness of domestic violence and its impact on BAMER women and children

Applicants will need to have a current CRB

For all the above posts the ability to speak at least 1 Asian language is essential as is the understanding of domestic violence and its effects on BAMER women and children.

Due to the nature of the project the post is only open to women.

The post is funded by the National Lottery through the Big Lottery Fund.

NB These posts are advertised under section 5 2 (D) of the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Sex Discrimination Act under section 7 2 (E) 1975

Closing date for applications is 5.00pm Friday 17^th May 2013

For an application pack please email: Kiran.admin@kiranproject.org.uk or telephone: 020 85581986

Kiran Project is a registered charity 1114148 & Company Limited by Guarantee No 5727907

• Women’s Aid and Imkaan in partnership are developing a model outcomes framework for survivors of violence against women and girls (VAWG) and, based on this framework, are issuing new National Service Standards for VAWG Services.

• The outcomes framework will serve multiple purposes. At a local level, organisations will be able to continuously identify survivor needs and develop their services accordingly, ensuring improved responses to VAWG . The framework will also provide a set of survivor-identified outcomes to inform funders’ commissioning processes.

• At a national level, the outcomes framework will enable nationwide data collection to build a clear evidence base of the nature and extent of VAWG, to assess the effectiveness of the range of support and interventions available, and to provide an opportunity for benchmarking and best practice development.

• The service standards will serve as a set of guidelines for commissioners and funders looking to fund and/or evaluate services. They will further enable sector-wide improvement, service responsiveness and development.

• The outcomes framework and service standards will have an integrated human rights framework to ensure services and interventions are human rights focused and are in line with national and  international duties to protect survivors,  prevent VAWG, and to improve justice responses to survivors through partnership working.

• We are working with voluntary sector organisations with specialisms across the equalities strands to ensure outcomes of survivors with protected characteristics are encompassed in the framework.

• We are additionally sharing information and knowledge with Respect, a national membership organisation that provides helpline support to male victims of domestic abuse, with a view to enabling the development of a male survivors’ outcome framework. This is in response to emerging evidence of the different needs of male survivors and therefore the different service responses required.

• The outcomes framework and service standards are being developed in on-going consultation with support staff, management, and survivor representatives from Imkaan and Women’s Aid member organisations. The draft outcomes framework will be presented at Women’s Aid conference in July 2013.

• For more information contact the Capacity Building team:  Camille Kumar , Katy Taylor or Janet McDermott: info@ayaproject.org.uk

Accredited Training Programme

24-25 April Understanding the effects of DV on BME women
OCN Levels One and Two
London

15-16 May Understanding the effects of DV on BME women
OCN Levels One and Two
Sheffield

26-27 June Understanding forced marriage and ‘honour-based’ violence; Risk and Case Management
OCN Level Two
London

10-11 July Understanding forced marriage and ‘honour-based’ violence; Risk and Case Management
OCN Level Two
Sheffield

To book a place on any of these courses, or to request in-house training, please email bookings@imkaan.org.uk.

For more information about Imkaan’s training programme click here.

Over the past two weeks, Marai Larasi (Executive Director at Imkaan) has contributed to five sessions at the Commission on the Status of Women; for the UN, the Home Office, the Canadian Government, and two NGO forums.  Marai also lobbied on behalf of UK VAWG services at other sessions during this time.  

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the United Nation’s principal global policy-making body dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women.  Every year, representatives of Member States gather at United Nations Headquarters in New York to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment worldwide.  

You can view some of Marai’s contributions to this year’s CSW on our Resources page, under ‘External Contributions and Mentions’.

The CSW has now agreed conclusions on the elimination and prevention of all forms of VAWG.  Amongst the agreed conclusions, Imkaan particularly welcomes those that promote equal access to education, encourage appropriate responses to VAWG by statutory services, recognise the specific needs of women in conflict and post-conflict situations, migrants, and women with HIV, and the important role of the media and ICT in eliminating VAWG.

We have provided a small briefing on the agreed conclusions on our website here, and the full list of agreed conclusions should be available on the CSW website soon.

While there is much work to be done, the CSW conclusions present a critical opportunity for states to implement, strengthen and monitor the work to eliminate and prevent all forms of violence against women and girls.  We will continue to lobby UK government to encourage targeted efforts to ensure that the conclusions are adopted to strengthen existing work on VAWG in the UK.

The 57th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women has taken place in New York over the last two weeks.

Amongst the agreed conclusions, Imkaan particularly welcomes conclusions that promote equal access to education, encourage appropriate responses to VAWG by statutory services, recognise the specific needs of women in conflict and post-conflict situations, migrants, and women with HIV, and the important role of the media and ICT in eliminating VAWG:

• The acknowledgement of the important role of prevention and elimination of discrimination. 
• The right to education as a human right, and the elimination of illiteracy, ensuring equal access to education, in particular in remote and rural areas and closing the gender gap at all levels of education, empowers women and girls and thereby contributes to eliminating all forms of discrimination and VAWG.
• The commission urges states to strongly condemn all forms of VAWG and to refrain from invoking custom, tradition or religion to avoid their obligations as set out in the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence agains Women.
• Ensure women and girls access to justice and effective legal assistance and processes.
• Develop and implement multisectoral national policies, strategies and programmes with the effective participation of women and girls which include measures for prevention, protection, support services, data collection, research, monitoring and evaluation and national benchmarks for results to be achieved.
• Adopt and fund policy reforms and programmes, and support education to train and strengthen the capacity of the judiciary, police, military, those working in education, health, social welfare, justice, defence and immigration; hold public officials accountable for not complying with laws and regulations related to VAWG.
• Recognise the important role of the media in the elimination of gender stereotypes and in promoting non-discriminatory and gender-sensitive reporting, and in improving public awareness on VAWG, to train those who work in the media and to develop and strengthen self-regulatory mechanisms to promote balanced and non-stereotypical portrayals of women as creative human beings, key actors and contributors to and beneficiaries of the process of development.
• Support the development and use of ICT and social media as a resource for the empowerment of women and girls including access to information on prevention and responses to VAWG and mechanisms to combat the use of ICT and social media to perpetrate sexual harassment, exploitation, child pornography, trafficking, cyber stalking and bullying.
• Adopt and implement measures to ensure the social and legal inclusion and protection of women migrants, including women migrant workers.
• Eliminate discrimination and violence against women and girls living with HIV.
• Ensure that in armed conflict and post-conflict situations, sexual and gender based violence are prioritised and addressed through investigation, prosecution and punishment of perpetrators to end impunity and remove barriers to women’s access to justice. This includes establishing mechanisms of complaint and reporting, access to health care, including sexual and reproductive health services.

The CSW conclusions provide a critical opportunity for states to implement, strengthen and monitor the work to eliminate and prevent all forms of violence against women and girls. The UK Government has been participating in these disucssions and we hope to see targeted efforts from government to ensure that the conclusions are adopted to strengthen existing work on VAWG in the UK.

More than 10,000 women and children will take to the streets of central London tomorrow, Saturday 9 March, 2013. The march, organised by Million Women Rise (MWR), is holding up a mirror to the truth of male violence against women in all its forms, bringing women together to say enough is enough.

Women from across the UK will meet at 12 noon outside Selfridges on Oxford Street making their way to Trafalgar Square at 3pm for the rally.

Join us to call for a global end to violence against women and girls!

Imkaan warmly welcomes the government’s Action Plan to End Violence against Women and Girls. Violence against women and girls is a global issue and it is imperative to continue the work to tackle gender-based violence in all its forms, across the UK.  We welcome a commitment to address specific forms of violence including forced marriage and female genital mutilation, however it is crucial that our attitudes and responses to such forms of violence do not alienate the women and girls we are working with and the communities we say we are trying to support.  It is vital that we continue to work in solidarity with existing communities of resistance in the UK and around the world to end violence against women and girls.

More than 10,000 women and children will take to the streets of central London on Saturday, 9 March, 2013. The march, organised by Million Women Rise (MWR), is holding up a mirror to the truth of male violence against women in all its forms, bringing women together to say enough is enough.

Women from across the UK will meet at 12 noon outside Selfridges on Oxford Street making their way to Trafalgar Square at 3pm for the rally.

This year we have already seen the rape of millions of women throughout the world and we are only in March. We have heard the German authority’s apologies to a teenage girl for sending her to a brothel to get work. We saw the gang rape and murder of a 17 year old girl in South Africa and the protest from our sisters there. We have witnessed the Irish government commit murder of a woman who was denied her human right to an abortion. Indian women continue to expose the violence they experience after the gang rape of a young woman who is now dead. Women in Egypt have spoken out against state sponsored violence against women. UK Government statistics revealed less than one rape survivor in 30, who goes to the Police in the UK, will see her attacker brought to justice. We cannot forget women in DR Congo or the British Government support for Rwanda and Uganda, two Governments named by the UN as assisting, arming and directing militia’s in the east of DR Congo responsible for mass rape in this war for mineral wealth.

Bonnie Greer, renowned feminist playwright, novelist and critic has sent her support by saying;

 “I will be adding my voice to the thousands, who will march under the banner of Million Women Rise this Saturday to call for the end of the global violation of women and girls” 

Sabrina Qureshi, founder of Million Women Rise, was named one of the new pioneers of feminism by the Independent newspaper, said:

“Male violence against women and girls is systematic and organised and we are still facing a pandemic of male violence in the UK and across the globe. If gendered violence was a disease the government would be calling for a state of emergency!  The recent exposure of Savile revealed the extent of violence a single man can perpetrate, especially when backed up by institutions that colluded in the abuse but we know as women that violence against women is not isolated to one man; it could be any man. This culture of ‘that this is just the way it is” must end now!

“Every woman or child who dies or is injured as a consequence of male violence is a stark reminder of the reason why we march and why we cannot just sit back and do nothing. To do nothing is to accept this violation of our human rights and to say that those lives are valueless or less important than others.”

Rape Crisis (England & Wales) has added their voice to the campaign. Their Vice Chair, Jane Gregory said:

“Rape Crisis supports Million Women Rise 2013 because in order to end the epidemic of rape and sexual abuse we see in the UK and globally we need women to be able to come together, to work together, to show solidarity with all women here in London and across the world and say enough is enough, with our sisters we will change the world.”

The march and rally demands more than words, enquiries, policies and strategies from government. We demand the money and resources that match the seriousness and levels of violence we live with and to enable women to live free from the threat of male violence.

We call for International Women’s Day, March 8^th, to be declared a national holiday in celebration and recognition of women’s contribution to all areas of UK society.

The event will be the sixth annual Million Women Rise march. Last year’s demonstration was a resounding success, with an estimated 8,000 marchers participating and substantial press coverage on London Tonight, national and local radio networks.

Please check our website millionwomenrise.com

contact media for MWR:  07727419634

email: media@millionwomenrise.com

The Freedom Without Fear Platform, set up in solidarity with the anti-rape movement in India, condemns the Indian Government’s proposed new law on sexual violence as deeply cynical and anti-women. It urges the Indian government not to enact this law and instead to make the changes demanded by the movement against rape and sexual violence in India.

You can view the Freedom Without Fear Platform International Women’s Day Statement, in full, here.

Accredited Training Programme

24-25 April Understanding the effects of DV on BME women
OCN Levels One and Two
London

15-16 May Understanding the effects of DV on BME women
OCN Levels One and Two
Sheffield

26-27 June Understanding forced marriage and ‘honour-based’ violence; Risk and Case Management
OCN Level Two
London

10-11 July Understanding forced marriage and ‘honour-based’ violence; Risk and Case Management
OCN Level Two
Sheffield

Other available courses

• BME women and sexual violence
• Feminism for BME women
• Training for trainers

To book a place on any of these courses, or to request in-house training, please email bookings@imkaan.org.uk.

For more information about Imkaan’s training programme click here.

Imkaan, EVAW and Object are working together to enable young women to design and run a multimedia project where they can highlight and criticise racism and sexism in music videos. Black and minority ethnic young women have told us they want a space to talk about the racism and sexism they see.

Read an article by Imkaan’s Executive Director, Marai Larasi MBE, on why we are doing this work here.

Through online resources for UK schools and organisations, plus a national lobbying campaign, the project aims to educate and empower young women to speak out and change attitudes. A ‘music sexism and racism’ website will be built including a space for uploading and sharing videos which portray either positive or negative messages. The website will also include a space for a blog where young women can write about their experiences and debate relevant issues and share via Facebook and other social media.

The project will also encourage young women to lobby artists, regulators and music industry directly about videos or songs that they feel are negative, sexist and/or racist. Using apps and other tools affected women will be able to complain directly to regulators such as the ASA and Ofcom.

Minister for Women and Equalities, Jo Swinson, said:

“For too long women have been objectified and stereotyped in the media. Through the government’s Body Confidence Campaign, we have been working to reduce the pressures that popular culture can place on individuals’ self-image and self-esteem. The images on display in magazines and on television often objectify women. These images are very powerful and influential and young girls may interpret these as a way to be seen as attractive.

“That is why projects like this are important in encouraging public debate and challenging the industry – it is vital that young women feel able to speak out and talk about the issues that are affecting them. We need to encourage young girls to feel valued not because of what they look like, but for what they can contribute and achieve.”

Dorett Jones, Development and Training Manager at Imkaan said:

“Imkaan is excited to work on this project in collaboration with EVAW and Object. Our combined specialism and expertise ensures a dynamic process for the young women, as well as a unique environment for all involved to learn, organise and challenge. This opportunity comes at a very important time when we witness the continuous rise of racist and sexist attitudes towards women and girls on a global scale. This project will provide a much needed platform for young women across the UK to affect change in a meaningful and sustainable way.”

Holly Dustin, Director of EVAW said:

“This project will empower young women to speak out about sexism and racism in the music industry which we know provides the context in which violence against women and girls flourishes. We will ensure that young women’s voices are heard and that their actions lead to real change. We are very excited to be working with Object and Imkaan to create positive change in the music industry. This is part of our ongoing work to tackle the media’s portrayal of women and girls and links into our Everydaymediasexism project.”

Silvia Murray Wakefield from Object said:

“OBJECT is thrilled to have the opportunity to work in partnership with EVAW and Imkaan to shine a spotlight on the ways the objectification of women plays out in both sexist and racist forms in popular culture, and to give the young women who want to challenge these messages a voice and a platform to speak out, where they will be heard by those in power.”

Maggie Baxter, the Chair of Rosa, which is generously funding the project welcomed the project announcement:

“Rosa is very pleased to be able to support this important project taking on the shocking way young women and girls are objectified in music videos. This work will challenge negative stereotypes which can limit girls’ aspiration and will empower young women to speak up about the sexism they encounter on a daily basis. It will use social media and online campaigning tools, as well as more traditional methods, to campaign for changes in government policy and practices within the industry. Supporting the EVAW, Object and Imkaan initiative furthers Rosa’s objectives of funding innovative projects to bring about social change for women and girls.”

Watch this space for more details as the project takes off…

Article written by Imkaan’s Executive Director, Marai Larasi MBE, in today’s Huffington Post. 

On Thursday, celebrities will dance in Parliament Square to draw attention to the scale of violence against women and girls all over the world, while inside Parliament a cross-party group of women MPs will lead a debate on making sex and relationships education compulsory - as a key way to ensure that all young people in the UK learn about sexual consent and respectful relationships, gender stereotyping and sexualisation.

Over the last few years there has been increasing attention to what is now often referred to as ‘sexualisation’. This focus has resulted in new government policies which are designed to address the fact that young people might be less equipped than adults to interpret and critique the powerful, sexualised messages present in advertising, TV, film, music, and social media. Recommendations to Number 10 have included new age restrictions on music videos and video games, restrictions on billboard advertising, and a new website portal which makes complaining to media and advertising regulators easier.

The political debate around sexualisation has been largely framed however around parental concerns and obviously explicit content. Inevitably this has resulted in a focus on the need for greater restrictions and improved complaint mechanisms. It has not focused on children’s and women’s rights to be free from harm. Critically, it has so far failed to make the links between a wider context of sexualisation and women’s unequal status in all our societies. There has been no ‘connecting the dots’ in terms of policies on sexualisation and its harms, preventing violence against girls and media regulation reform (an argument we made at the Leveson Inquiry).

Has anyone asked girls and young women (and boys and young men) what they think about the sexualised world around them, and what, if anything, they think should be changed?

Women’s groups do innovative work in some UK schools to help deliver sex and relationships education. What those doing this work hear from young people, time and time again, is confusion about the gendered roles they feel that they are expected to fulfil. Many young people feel that they are given mixed messages about what sexual consent is, where the lines are, and when you can say ‘no’. Many young men hold worryingly common attitudes that say sexual pressure and even force, as well as physical violence, is acceptable. As a result the Home Office, recognising the high incidence of violence against girls, is today re-launching a campaign to challenge such views.

These attitudes exist in a context where violence against women and girls is facilitated and promoted through the media, for example in music videos which normalise sexual harassment and other forms of abuse. Artists like Katy Perry, Kanye West and Skepta have all released videos, often significantly aimed at a teen market, which ‘play’ with ideas and images about pimping, sexual violence, submission and domination, male sexual entitlement, pornography and more. Some newspapers routinely carry ‘up-skirt’ photographs which imply that the subject has not consented to the image being taken. Facebook has hosted pages which joke about and trivialise rape; and while social media has many benefits, it has also (especially on smartphones) enabled cases of sexual bullying as highlighted in this NSPCC report and which for example lead to the death of Chevonea Kendall-Bryan.

When Imkaan worked with young black and minority ethnic women, they consistently voiced their disillusionment and sense of helplessness about the way they are represented in music and other media. They said that they want opportunities to discuss this and have their concerns addressed. As those young women noted, there are powerful racist as well as sexist messages throughout media, with black and other minority women ‘exoticised’ in very specific ways (I won’t even link to the porn ads featuring a menu of different women listed by ‘racial’ origin, but it’s a couple of clicks away and young people are more than aware of the racist-sexist stereotypes being promoted, not to mention profited from). Boys and girls from all backgrounds and ethnicities receive and respond to these messages in different ways. Many of them want to talk about it and they want to change it. They are telling us that they are being misrepresented and that they want to tell their diverse stories using their own ‘voices’ and ‘images’. This is why Imkaan, the EVAW Coalition and Object are launching a new multimedia project funded by Rosa which young women will use to build a platform to highlight and critique sexist and racist music videos.

Young women should be at the heart of policy making to address sexualisation and sexual abuse. Our project will contribute to this, but schools and the government should get proactive on involving young women in challenging attitudes which condone and tolerate abuse. Only this will ensure we get a rights-based, rather than parents-focused, solution.

“A reclamation of what is often an exclusive domain of mainstream institutions; that which is personal to diverse LGBT people, which has positioned ourselves today; something remembered, told and preserved by ourselves in a way that does not seek to define ‘us’ in order to exclude or other or divide us.”

Definition of ‘heritage’ by Centred, from the London LGBT voluntary and community sector almanac 2nd Edition (2012), page 49.  

We love this!

Marai Larasi in response to a recent article on ’the barbie’, published 28 January 2013.

The way that female genital mutilation is often framed is within the idea of the ‘cultures’ of the ‘primitive other’ - this fixes whole groups of people in our consciousness and doesn’t allow an interrogation of how patriarchy operates in different situations (i.e. often on girls’ and women’s bodies). We reference ‘other’ peoples and places as ‘more patriarchal’ - we talk about what they do to ‘their girls’ and ‘their women’. This is a real issue in our activism - it continues to lead to fragmentation. We have to get better at making the links.

Yes there are real child protection concerns when we speak of female genital mutilation - but we must tackle the very heart of this. Girls and women are being mutilated in order to fulfill very specific ideas of beauty and ideal womanhood and this mutilation (whether in Harley St, New York or Kololi) has economic implications i.e. people make money out of this industry of cutting / stitching / reshaping / tightening girls and women’s vaginas, breasts, lips etc. and we end up debating the idea of ‘choice’ as if it’s that simple. What else is this, if not female genital mutilation?

SATURDAY 9TH MARCH 2013

Meet: 12.00pm Oxford Street

Set off: 1.00pm

Rally: 3.00pm Trafalgar Square

This year the whole of Oxford Street will be closed to traffic from 12pm, making way for Million Women Rise to reclaim Oxford Street.

Why women only?

The Million Women Rise march is open to all women and children.  Million Women Rise has planned for the march to be women-only for a number of reasons:

Women and children in the UK and elsewhere around the world continue to experience violence every minute of every hour of every day in our homes, on our streets, on our public transport, at our places of work and in countries where there is war.

The idea for the Million Women Rise event came from a group of women who dreamed of a strong visible presence of thousands of women marching together, in unity, to say ‘enough is enough’.

Women have been socially, culturally and economically conditioned to defer to men, to take our lead from men, to behave in ways approved of by men. On this particular day, Million Women Rise want women to come and feel the strength, the exhilaration and power of being with other women, to celebrate ourselves, to sing, shout and chant at the top of our voices, in all our diversity, to demonstrate however we want because we’re women in the company of other women.

Support Million Women Rise

Million Women Rise is a collective of women who work autonomously as volunteers, without any corporate sponsorship or formal funding. They promote real change that is based on truth, unity and solidarity, peace and love. Million Women Rise rely on the support of donations to keep their voice autonomous.

Raised funds will go towards costs including public liability insurance, stage hire, screen and audio equipment for Trafalgar Square, and other related activities including The Million Women Rise Project; Million Women Rise organise conscious raising events and activities throughout the year and are currently developing a space to provide support groups for women who are overcoming their experiences of male violence.

PROTEST OUTSIDE THE INDIAN HIGH COMMISSION

The Aldwych, London WC2B 4NA (nearest Tube Holborn)

Republic Day

Saturday, 26 January 2013

11.00am to 1.00pm

Please bring banners, placards, musical instruments, whistles etc!

An open meeting in solidarity with India’s anti-rape protests and to confront gender violence in Britain

Wednesday 23 January, 6pm

New Theatre, East Building, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE

The brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old woman student on a bus in Delhi on 16 December has led to protests on an unprecedented scale.

• What are the implications of the protest movement in India and how can we support it?
• What are the changes being demanded at a legal, political and social level?
• How do we resist the colonial and racist responses to these events in Britain?
• What do the Delhi protests mean for struggles against gender violence in Britain and globally?

The meeting will discuss these and other related issues, including solidarity actions on India’s Republic Day, 26^th January. Kavita Krishnan of the All-India Progressive Women’s Association, one of the activists centrally involved in the protests, will be speaking to the meeting from India. Kavita’s speech outside the Delhi Chief Ministers’ residence is available to view here. 

Everyone is welcome.

Organised by Imkaan and South Asia Solidarity Group, with:

End Violence Against Women (EVAW) National Coalition

Newham Asian Women’s Project, London

Ashiana Network, London

Amadudu, Liverpool

Apna Haq,  Rotherham

Asha Projects, London

Daughters of Eve, National

Saheli, Manchester

Pan African Development Education and Advocacy Programme, London

Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust, London

Tamil Community Centre, London

Shakti, Edinburgh

Humraaz, Blackburn

Asian Women’s Resource Centre, London

Black Association of Women Step Out, Wales

London Irish Women’s Network

Anah Project, Bradford

Imece, London

Kiran Project, London

Latin American Women’s Aid, London

Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre, Ipswich

Aanchal, London

Henna Foundation, Wales

Southall Black Sisters, London

nia, London

Rights of Women, London

and Supported by the LSE Gender Institute

Newham Asian Women’s Project (NAWP) is a leading women’s organisation in East London. Set up in 1986 to provide specialist support services to Asian women and their children experiencing domestic violence, the project has since developed a range of other services to support Asian women and girls. These services include four refuges, a resource centre, a counselling service, a youth project, a legal advice service, a training department and a mental health project called Zindaagi (meaning ‘Life’)

NAWP is seeking to recruit an experienced Family Support Worker to be based in NAWP’s refuges.  This is a 35 hour per week post and offers a salary at SO1 SCP29 £21,376. The post will be offered as a locum.

NAWP is seeking a highly motivated and dynamic woman who has the drive to take this project forward and who has the following skills:

• Experience of working in accommodation-based refuge services for women
• Experience working with children resident in refuges and an awareness and understanding of the issues impacting on them
• Knowledge and experience of working with children who are vulnerable to and/or experience domestic violence
• Experience of monitoring and evaluation including the knowledge of the use of Outcome Star
• The ability to actively involve mothers and their children in service development and delivery in a creative and empowering way
• The ability to speak fluently in one of the main South Asian languages

Closing date for applications: 5pm on Friday 11 January 2013

For an Application Pack: email info@nawp.org

This post is open to South Asian women only and is exempt under the Sex Discrimination Act 7(2)(d) and (e) and the Race Relations Act 5(2)(d) 1976

Charity Registration No: 1001834

Imkaan’s latest report, Vital Statistics 2,was launched in October 2012.  The report provides key findings from Imkaan’s Toolkit; a monitoring framework piloted with ten violence against women and girls (VAWG) organisations over a 3 month period.  

The monitoring tool captured data on Black, Minority Ethnic and Refugee (BMER) women’s and children’s access to specialist BMER services and other voluntary and statutory services.  The findings provide a picture of the role and impact of specialist BMER VAWG services, with the aim to contribute to more informed policy and practice on BMER women and girls in the context of VAWG.

Note: The findings from the first Toolkit pilot, Vital Statistics: The experiences of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee women and children facing violence and abuse, were published in 2010.  

Earlier this year, AVA and Women & Girls Network were funded by the Home Office to develop a five-day Open College Network accredited training course targeted at practitioners working with gang-affected young women experiencing sexual and domestic violence. They have now received further funding to deliver this training free to the 13 new Young People’s Advocates and other professionals in the 21 local areas they will be delivering services to.

The training course now needs to be piloted and they are seeking to run the pilot as a Train the Trainer course for up to 10 learners based in organisations that cover the 11 local areas who are part of the Ending Gang & Youth Violence Programme but do not have funding for a Young People’s Advocate. Following the pilot, all training materials will be made available to learners to deliver the course in their own local area.

Free places on this course are available to learners from organisations operating in the following local authority areas: Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, Birmingham, Derby, Nottingham, Knowsley, Liverpool, Oldham, Sheffield.

Course dates: 13^th, 14^th, 15^th, 21^st and 22^nd November 2012

Times: 10:00 – 16:30

Location: London, venue TBC

Places will be prioritised for learners who:

• Are currently employed by an Open College Network accredited organisation
• Have experience of delivering training to professionals in one of the areas named above and/or are employed by an organisation which does
• Have experience providing services to young people and/or survivors of violence against women and girls.

This course is OCN accredited and learners will be required to attend all five days and complete and pass a series of assessment tasks.

To apply to attend this course, please contact shannon.harvey@avaproject.org.uk.

Imkaan is pleased to launch our latest report, Vital Statistics 2.  The report provides key findings from Imkaan’s Toolkit; a monitoring framework piloted with ten violence against women and girls (VAWG) organisations over a 3 month period.  

The monitoring tool captured data on Black, Minority Ethnic and Refugee (BMER) women’s and children’s access to specialist BMER services and other voluntary and statutory services.  The findings provide a picture of the role and impact of specialist BMER VAWG services, with the aim to contribute to more informed policy and practice on BMER women and girls in the context of VAWG.

Note: The findings from the first Toolkit pilot, Vital Statistics: The experiences of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee women and children facing violence and abuse, were published in 2010.