A "Bleak House" for Our Times

An investigation into Yarl's Wood Removal Centre
by Legal Action for Women

Thursday 15 December at 11am
At Trinity United Reformed Church, Buck Street, Camden Town, London NW1 - toilets nearby

Contact: 020 7482 2496, 07958 171 152

Launch of new research based on the experiences of over 130 women detained in Yarl's Wood Removal Centre.[1] The findings explode the myth that the asylum system is "fast but fair" and that most asylum seekers are "bogus". It demonstrates that most of those deemed "bogus" have never had a chance to present their case.

Speakers:
* Cristel Amiss, Black Women's Rape Action Project
* Dr Frank Arnold, Medical Justice Network
* Sarah Cutler, Bail for Immigration Detainees
* Sian Evans, Women Against Rape
* Anver Jeevanjee, ex-lay member of Immigration Appeals Tribunal (tbc)
* Ian Macdonald QC, author of the standard text on immigration law
* Paul Nettleship, Sutovic & Hartigan solicitors
* Salima Sekindi, released from Yarl's Wood in November
* David Reilly, Positive Action in Housing, Glasgow
* Dr Felicity de Zulueta MD, Psychiatrist, Maudsley Hospital

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
a. Over 70% have suffered rape or other sexual violence.
b. Over 20% reported other torture.
c. Four women reported that they were victims of trafficking.
d. Nearly half of those currently in Yarl's Wood have been detained for longer than three months.
e. 57% of women had no legal representation at the time they contacted us.
f. 20% had lawyers who demanded money before taking further action.
g. At least 12% were on the "fast-track" system.
h. Approximately 16% were deported.
i. Illegal deportations were attempted against two women.
j. Nine women suffered injuries during violent removal attempts.
k. One woman reported having been raped in prison after she was deported.
l. At least 44% are mothers, of whom over half had to leave children behind in order to escape.
m. At least five women were pregnant in detention.
n. Women report blatant racism from staff (including being called "black monkeys") and sexual intimidation from guards. One woman reported male staff walking into her room unannounced when she was naked.
o. At least five women have tried to commit suicide whilst detained.
p. Half of those currently detained have not received appropriate medical attention. The treatment one woman received after attempting suicide was plasters for her wrists.
q. One woman has died from tuberculosis since being released. Other women are exhibiting symptoms.
r. Three underage girls were being held because the Home Office disputes their age.
s. Five women are lesbian or bisexual, and are fleeing homophobia.
t. Over 10 women have physical disabilities as a result of the violence they fled.

The findings of our report are in stark contrast with the picture painted by the Home Office. Tony McNulty, Minister for Immigration, is often quoted as saying:

"People are removed only if all appeals have been heard and dismissed. . . There is free legal advice available to everybody that claims asylum at all points of the process."[2] He boasts in the press of comfortable rooms, people being "treated with humanity, dignity and respect . . . excellent medical facilities and detainees have access to 24-hour health care"[3].

By detaining traumatised women, the Home Office is ignoring its own and other official guidelines advising against the detention of "those suffering from serious medical conditions or the mentally ill; those where there is independent evidence that they have been tortured. . ." [4] Conditions inside detention compound the trauma from which victims of torture suffer.

These figures fuel demands for an urgent and complete overhaul of the asylum process to prioritise women and children's needs, and rights over illegal removals at any price.

3pm Thursday 15 Dec -- Protest outside Communications House Enforcement Unit, 210 Old Street, London EC1

12 noon Saturday 17 Dec -- Christmas carols & picket outside Yarl's Wood Removal Centre, Twinwoods Road, Clapham, Bedfordshire.

For more information contact: Legal Action for Women law@crossroadswomen.net

Crossroads Women's Centre, PO Box 287, London NW6 5QU

Tel: 020 7482 2496 minicom/voice Fax: 020 7209 4761; 07958 152171

[1] At the end of June we published For Asylum Seekers and their Supporters: A Self-Help Guide against detention & deportation. Since then over 130 women have contacted us from Yarl's Wood Removal Centre, and we have been assisted by Black Women's Rape Action Project (BWRAP) and Women Against Rape (WAR) in working with them.
[2] BBC Online 2 September 2005
[3] Independent on Sunday, October 30, 2005, Sunday
[4] "The following are normally considered unsuitable for detention . . . because their detention requires particular security, control and care: . . . the emotionally disturbed; those with suicidal tendencies." Immigration Service's Operation Enforcement Manual (3rd edn.) Chapter 38 point 8
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North East Woman Entrepreneur Of The Year 2005 Announced


"The Region's Women Entrepreneurs Walk the Red Carpet"

Hundreds of female entrepreneurs, their colleagues and business professionals from across the region gathered at the Hilton Hotel in Newcastle/Gateshead on Friday 18th November to see Anne Ganley of Sunderland builders' merchant, Thompson Building Centres win the Susan Dobson Award for Entrepreneurship and be named "North East Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2005".

The North East Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, developed and organised by Women Into the Network (WIN) of Durham Business School, sponsored by One NorthEast and compered by Julia Hankin of BBC Radio Newcastle, saw over 450 people walk up the red carpet to hear the results and help to celebrate the achievements of our women entrepreneurs.

The nine categories on offer were sponsored by a host of organisations across the region - NetPark, South Tyneside Council, A4e, The North Eastern and Cumbrian Coop, Arts Council England, The Journal, Northumberland County Council, the New Technology Institute and The Susan Dobson Memorial Fund

Other winners on the evening were:
* Most Innovative Idea - Tina Ffrench of C.S.I. Workshops
* Young Woman Entrepreneur - Daniele Bainbridge of 1st Fix Recruitment
* Supporter of Women's Business - Lynn Elves of Business Link Tyne & Wear
* Woman Social Entrepreneur - Sandra Kennedy of Coulkenny (TWMM) Ltd
* Best Cultural and Creative Business - Carol Metcalfe & Hilary Turner of Musa Fine Art Ltd
* Best Newcomer - Daniele Bainbridge of 1st Fix Recruitment
* Best Rural Woman Entrepreneur - Ann Darlington of Hall Hill Farm
* Woman in IT - Charlotte Gaisford, Crafty Computer Paper
* An award for Outstanding Achievement in Women's Enterprise was presented to Sadie Ayton, better known as Sadie The Bra Lady.

Lisa Vickers, WIN's Events and Communications Manager, said, "The Awards are growing year on year, showing a phenomenal amount of talent in the region. WIN, together with our sponsors, are pleased to be able to celebrate and recognise these women who are contributing to the economic growth of the region and acting as role models for our future entrepreneurs. The evening was a great success in all respects - tickets were a sell-out, we have already had offers of sponsorship for next year and provisional bookings of tickets!"

On winning the award, Anne said, "'It's a great honour to have been selected as the winner from a very strong field. These Awards are important because they reflect the increasingly prominent role of women in senior positions in business, as well as the self-starters who are going out there with an idea and setting up their own firm.
 
Thompson's has come a long way in the past two years and our success is down to a lot of hard work from the entire team. I'm particularly proud to be associated with Susan Dobson through this award, she's an inspiration to many women and I'll be doing my best over the coming year to live up to her reputation".

Attending the Awards was Martin Wyn Griffith, Chief Executive of the Small Business Service who said, ""I was delighted return to the North East to add my personal support, and that of the DTI's Small Business Service, at this year's Awards.

From a national policy perspective, the development of women's enterprise offers regional and national economies enormous untapped potential, and is a key area of focus for the DTI and the Small Business Service. I am looking forward to continuing our productive relationship with regional partners such as One NorthEast and Women Into the Network and offer my congratulations on such a truly motivating and inspirational event once again."


1. Women Into the Network (WIN) is a networking initiative based at Durham Business School set up four years ago to help facilitate the development of women's businesses throughout the region and help to break down the barriers which stand in their way, bridging the gap between the extensive provision of business and professional support available.

By bringing together women who want to start or expand businesses with like-minded women, role models, mentors, business support and funding organisations, WIN help them access valuable business networks, along with encouragement and support. By way of networking events, business and personal development workshops, award ceremonies, publications and a web-based directory, WIN help with inspiration, ideas, information, skills and give exposure to vital customers.

Women Into the Network (WIN) has recently been recognised as providing a "Flagship" level of support to women's enterprise development by PROWESS, the national women's enterprise support trade association. WIN were awarded The Flagship Award for Best Practice in Women's Enterprise Development at the Prowess Conference in November 2003.

In May 2003, Women Into the Network were also selected as the UK's best practice initiative for promoting female entrepreneurship by a European Union commissioned survey and represented the UK at the European Forum on Female Entrepreneurship in Brussels, which was attended by countries from across Europe.

Contact Lisa Vickers, Events and Communications Manager, Women Into the Network on 020 8 255 1660 / email l.d.Vickers@durham.ac.uk .

Full details on Women Into the Network, and a full list of winners and runners up is available at http://www.womenintothenetwork.co.uk
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The Maya Centre Lectures

The Maya Centre is a professionally-staffed, multi-ethnic, women's counselling centre. The core of the Centre's work is the provision of free, one-to-one psychodynamic counselling, offered once a week for a maximum period of one year and a range of group therapy. As a result of the very specific targeting of our services - to women on incomes below £8000 per annum and without degree level education or previous experience of counselling - we are reaching women who would not normally gain access to long-term therapeutic support.

http://www.mayacentre.org.uk/

Resilience: a Psychoanalytic Exploration
* a series of Saturday morning lectures from October 2005 - March 2006

In the current world situation we are more and more pushed to understand the nature of resilience.

What are the roots of resilience at different stages of life - infancy, childhood, parenting, death?

Why are some better able than others to respond with strength and resilience to situations of extreme stress - immigration, racism, political repression?

This series of lectures brings together a range of distinguished speakers to look with a psychoanalytic eye at the nature of resilience

10 December 2005 SOLD OUT
* MARGOT WADDELL The psychodynamics of bullying
Why does one child become a bully and and another a victim? What are the roots of bullying in the early infant/mother relationships that attack strength in childhood?

14 January 2006
* MIA BEAUMONT and AIDA ALAYARIAN
What does it mean to experience resilience or frailty as an asylum seeker, victim of torture or a refugee?

11 February 2006
* ELAINE ARNOLD and AILEEN ALLEYNE
Immigration and racism: what is the tangled interaction between external circumstances and the internal oppressor?

http://home.btconnect.com/The-Maya-Centre/news.html
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News From Women's Health Information And Support Centre

WHISC Promotes an Integrated Society Through Dance

Women's Health Information and Support Centre (WHISC) is holding "Integration@Society", a multi-cultural dance night, on Thursday 8th December 2005. The dance night is for women only and will be held at "Society", 64 Duke Street, Liverpool.

Integration@Society is being reserved for women only, to provide a safe and welcoming environment for women to relax and have a fun night out. Following a short performance, there will be instruction on the dance style and a chance to 'have a go'. Chinese, Salsa, Jive and Belly-dancing are the styles of dance.

WHISC is a charity providing health information, support and training for women. Ms Sue Parker, WHISC's Fundraiser, said "By providing a night where women from all cultures can get together and have fun, WHISC is helping to promote tolerance and integration."

For further information please contact
Sue Parker, Fundraiser
WHISC, 120 Bold Street, Liverpool L1 4JA
Tel: 0151 707 1826
Fax: 0151 709 2566
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Positively Women - living with HIV - changing lives

Positively Women is the only national charity working to improve the quality of life of women and families affected by HIV:

* Providing specialist support by women living with HIV
* Enabling women to make informed choices
* Challenging stigma and discrimination

Positively Women was established in 1987 by a group of HIV positive women who were determined to set up services specific to women's needs. They formed a support group which provided a safe space for women to talk openly about the challenges they faced. Today, the organisation remains strongly committed to the ethos of peer support and empowerment.

http://www.positivelywomen.org.uk/index.html

Groups and Workshops

All support groups are facilitated by HIV positive women.

Food, a crèche and a range of activities and workshops are available. Women newly diagnosed with HIV are particularly welcome.

If you have not accessed Positively Women's Services before, please call 020 7713 0222 to let us know that you are coming. To safeguard women's confidentiality we require proof of diagnosis from a doctor before you can access services - with your co-operation staff can get this information from your doctor or hospital.

For a list of PW's support groups in London please click here http://www.positivelywomen.org.uk/Support%20page%20new.html or call 020 7713 0222.

What's Happening around the UK?

Positively Women works with other organisations and individuals across the UK with the aim of building up support for women who live outside of London. For more information about services available around the UK click here or call 020 7713 0222 and ask for Silvia

One to One Support

If you have a particular concern or query, or would just like to talk to another HIV positive woman please call on 020 7713 0222, Monday to Friday, 10-4pm.

You can make an appointment to come and see one of our Case Workers. To view details please click here. In exceptional circumstances home visits can be arranged. Positively Women also offers one to one support in clinics and hospitals.

Prison Visits

The specialist Drugs and Prison Worker at Positively Women provides support
to women living with HIV in Holloway Prison, where feelings of isolation can be
particularly acute.

Helpline

Positively Women's confidential telephone Helpline is open to HIV positive women across the UK. Helpline staff provide support to women living with HIV and offer information and advice on issues concerning HIV positive women.
The Helpline is open from 10am until 4pm every weekday and can be reached on 020 7713 0222.

For further information on Positively Women's peer support services, please contact the Direct Services Team on 020 7713 0222.

Positively Women
347-349 City Road, London EC1V 1LR
Administration: 9:30am-5pm Monday to Friday 020 7713 0444
Helpline staffed by HIV positive women: 10am-4pm Monday to Friday 020 7713 0222 Fax: 020 7713 1020
Email: info@positivelywomen.org.uk

Women HIV and AIDS

In much of the world, HIV/AIDS has for a long time been seen as a problem that affects men, specifically gay men, and as a result of this preconception, the harm that it does to women around the world has been largely overlooked. Yet today nearly half of all adults living with HIV around the world are women.

Just under two-thirds of all people living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa, as are 77% of infected women. Among young people living with HIV in this region, around three in four are female.

Why are women at risk?

* Greater chances of infection

Most HIV+ women have been infected with HIV through heterosexual sex. Physically, women are more susceptible than men to HIV infection through heterosexual sex, and this fact alone means that special attention must be paid to protecting them if they are not to be disproportionately affected by the epidemic.

Information drawn from different studies shows that during heterosexual sex, women are about twice as likely to become infected with HIV from men as men are from women. This is a major reason why women have caught up so rapidly with men when it comes to figures for the numbers of HIV+ people.

It seems very possible that, unless something is done to prevent it happening, women will soon come to overtake men in these statistics.

This may already be happening - data from the CDC in America shows that among teens, girls accounted for more than half of new HIV infections reported in 2001. Globally, women make up 60% of the 15-24 year olds who are HIV+.

Many millions of children around the world have already been orphaned by AIDS, and become themselves easy prey to the virus.

Why is it difficult for women to protect themselves?

* Inequalities

Feminism may have been discussed in the West for several decades, but in many parts of the world it's impact has not been felt at all. There still exist major inequalities between women and men in all aspects of living - from employment opportunities, availability of education, and choices in relationships. Many countries still have patriarchal rules governing women's place in sexual relationships. In some societies, women are unable to choose their sexual partners or who they marry, these choices being made for them by men in their families. In situations where the man has all the power, a woman is unlikely to be able to insist on the use of condoms, or to take measures to protect herself from HIV.

In many countries, women still have very narrow career options available to them, and often these are limited to the prescribed roles of teachers, nurses or carers. These roles, however, are crucial ones in all societies. A country which loses a large number of nurses will have great difficulty in keeping it's medical services running. A country which loses many teachers will find it hard to educate the young. And both healthcare and education are absolutely vital anywhere where there is a severe AIDS epidemic.

Women are often required to work harder than men, even if they are infected with HIV. In many places girls may be taken out of school to care for family members who are infected, and a woman who is seen as the main carer for the family will also be expected to go out to work.

* Women in the family

Even marriage isn't a protection for a woman in many countries. Women's infidelity is not only frowned upon but actually criminalized in certain places, whilst men's extramarital sexual relationships and use of female sex workers are seen as being almost acceptable, or to be expected. Much of the HIV prevention work in developing countries now focuses on sexual abstinence until marriage, but remaining faithful to her husband won't help a woman to stay safe from HIV if he is the one who infects her. In fact, this is one of the most common ways in which women are infected in many places.

'When I got pregnant last year, I found out that I was HIV+. When I told him about it, he just knew I was messing around with someone else. I knew I was loyal to him' DQ, 33 years old

Additionally, the multiple roles women fill in society are very important ones. Women as bearers of and carers for children are crucial to social and family structure. In many countries women play a vital place in the workforce in addition to caring for their families. The loss of a mother can be devastating to a family, often depriving them of a key breadwinner and depriving children of a vital carer and teacher.

* Prostitution

Another way in which women's lack of economic power enables their sexual exploitation is via prostitution. Poverty is the most common cause of prostitution, but whatever it's cause, female sex workers are in a very high-risk group. Women who desperately need money to care for their children, many of them widowed by AIDS, are not in a position to insist that their customers wear condoms. This means that they are not only at risk of becoming infected with HIV, but that if they are already HIV+, they can pass the virus on to their customers. Often, these customers take AIDS home to their families.

Female sex workers are, in many countries, both frowned on socially and criminalised. It is very difficult for these women to access the healthcare services they need in order to stay healthy if they risk arrest or punishment when their profession is known. This stigmatization increases the vulnerability of a group that is already at considerable risk.

* Drugs

Drug use is a social problem afflicting women just as much as men. The typical junkie is imagined to be a man, but in fact many injecting drug users are women. Anyone who becomes addicted to injected drugs is liable to sexual exploitation and vulnerable to infection from injecting equipment. Many female partners of male needle users are also infected with HIV, transmitted to him by dirty needles.

* Violence against women

In many countries - especially less socially stable regions - there is a greater likelihood of women's first sex being forced or in some way coerced. Rape can be a devastating experience for any woman, and can also carry the risk of HIV infection. Sexual violence against women is more common in some parts of the world than in others. South Africa, for example, has one of the highest rates of sexual violence, coupled with a huge HIV prevalence. In some parts of Africa there is a belief that having sex with a virgin can 'cure' HIV infection - leading to the rape of young women and children by HIV+ men.

I'm a 31 year old heterosexual female that contracted AIDS as the result of rape. I repressed the events surrounding the attack until I had undergone hypnotherapy . . . It had been nearly two years since the rape and I had been HIV positive without knowing it. Enya

AIDS is also increasingly being used as a weapon in war and a tool of 'ethnic cleansing'. In parts of the world where there is a very poor security situation - Uganda, for example, and the Sudan, and Zimbabwe - there are growing numbers of reports of women being raped with the intention of deliberately infecting them with HIV. HIV infection is a weapon which can still have devastating effects long after a war is over.

* Women and children

A young HIV+ girl in Latin AmericaAnother way in which the HIV/AIDS epidemic spreads is through childbirth. UNAIDS/WHO say that at the end of 2005 there were an estimated 2.3 million children (under 15 years) living with HIV, most of whom were infected with HIV at birth. A large number of these children will not live to adulthood.

There are drugs which can reduce the chances of a child becoming infected with HIV at birth from about 40% to less than 2%, but in many parts of the world these drugs are unavailable. A mother who is HIV+ can pass on the infection to her child through her breast milk, but suitable substitutes for breast milk, and the education to understand their importance and how to use them, are not being supplied to women in many countries.

Increasingly, governments are beginning to make an effort to supply the drugs needed to prevent mother-to-child transmission, which is a positive step, but whilst it is very important that the child's life is saved, the mother must not be forgotten. UNAIDS/WHO estimate that there are 15 million AIDS orphans in the world, and a great deal of money, planning and energy is being put into finding the best ways to care for them. The best way to ensure the well being of children affected by HIV/AIDS is simply to ensure the well being of their families, something that unfortunately sometimes doesn't receive the prioritisation it deserves.

The focus on preventing HIV transmission to babies is an important and necessary one, but it can lead to a narrowed perspective. It's equally important to help women who don't have children as well as those who do. Often, especially in resource-poor countries, many women live in areas where there is little or no medical infrastructure, and where they come into contact with HIV testing and care services only through antenatal care. This is inadequate, as it excludes women who are not pregnant. There is a clear need for HIV testing to be more inclusive.

* HIV+ women

HIV+ women suffer from the same conditions associated with AIDS as men do, but they also experience separate conditions, such as severe pelvic inflammatory disease, which increases the risk of cervical cancer.

Women also react differently to antiretroviral therapy, and may sometimes need different treatment from men. There is no one treatment method that will perfectly suit the needs of both men and women.

What needs to change?

Gender roles around the world pin women into positions where they lack the power to protect themselves from HIV infection and where, if they are infected, they lack opportunities to receive treatment. Negative assumptions about women's roles and discrimination against them must be challenged and women must be empowered to help themselves and to protect themselves.

Women who have been raped need to have access to post-exposure prophylaxis - medical techniques which can reduce the chances of HIV infection if the victim of a rape is treated quickly. In many (mainly African) countries with high levels of sexual violence against women and high HIV prevalence, this treatment is not freely available to women.

Protecting women from HIV is not solely women's responsibility. Most HIV+ women were infected by unprotected sex with an infected man. Preventing infection is the responsibility of both partners, and men must play an equal role in this. If no HIV+ men had unprotected heterosexual sex, the number of women newly infected with HIV would plummet.

Even in the United States, there is still much more to be done to protect women. There has been criticism that sex education in schools in the USA is based on the idea that sexual fidelity until marriage is the best way to prevent STD infection. This won't protect a women if she is infected by the man she marries, and it leaves her vulnerable and ignorant if she changes her mind, and has sex before marriage. This is why women must be taught about reducing risk by using condoms, and condoms must be easily obtainable for women.

Violence against women, discrimination, gender-based inequalities, prostitution - these are all social issues which undeniably need to be changed, but which might take decades to alter. Women who have HIV need to access to treatment, and women who don't have the virus need to be able to protect themselves. If, in the short term, it is impossible to empower women to be able to insist on condom use, then efforts must be made to find an alternative solution.

There are plans underway to develop a microbicide - a gel or cream which can be applied vaginally, without a partner even knowing, and which would kill HIV, preventing infection. Tests have been being done for a number of years, but medical experts say that even if all goes well, such a gel is still at least 5 years away.

There are many issues surrounding the development of microbicides. Even if such a product can be shown to be both safe and functional, it will then have to be made palatable to consumers from different countries and cultures. One particular issue is pregnancy. Women in developing countries may want a microbicide that prevents HIV infection but which allows pregnancy to occur, whilst other women may want to be protected against both HIV infection and pregnancy. Given that a number of faith-based organisations espouse anti-contraception views, it seems likely that a microbicide which does not prevent pregnancy will be more easily accepted.

Many women may not think they are at risk for HIV infection. There is still, in some places, a myth that HIV infection is something that happens to other people - to men, to injecting drug users, to people from other ethnic groups. This falsehood needs to be cleared up, and countries around the world need to empower women to be able to protect themselves.

http://www.avert.org/women.htm

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Global Coalition on Women and AIDS
http://womenandaids.unaids.org

The Global Coalition on Women and AIDS is a new initiative, a movement of people, networks and organisations supported by activists, leaders, government representatives, community workers and celebrities, to raise the visibility of issues related to women, girls and AIDS and lead to concrete, measurable improvements in the lives of women and girls.

End Violence against Women: Fight AIDS

From 25 November to 10 December activists around the world will highlight the links between violence against women and AIDS, and the urgent need to address the connections between the two epidemics. Violence limits women's ability to protect against infection and can compromise access to a range of critical health information and services, including testing and treatment.

To read the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS new Issue Brief on violence against women, go to: http://womenandaids.unaids.org/themes/docs/UNAIDS VAW Brief.pdf

To find out more about the 16 days campaign, go to: http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/kit05/theme.html

To read more about GCWA partner UNIFEM's work on violence against women, go to: http://www.unifem.org/campaigns/november25/
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SOFIA launches in the House of Commons

Today, at 12 noon at the House of Commons, former Irish President Mary Robinson will help to officially launch SOFIA, a new UK-based women's forum set up to:
* Strive towards effective, long-lasting policy change, to provide prevention and better access to treatment for women living with HIV and AIDS
* Promote awareness amongst organisations, influential individuals and women so that they commit to fighting the HIV and AIDS pandemic
* Promote inclusion and access to their rights for women living with HIV and AIDS throughout the world

SOFIA was founded by Lesley Bulman-Lever, chief executive of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), and Dr Alice Welbourn, chair of the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW) with other influential women from different sectors who have come together to influence key opinion formers.

The Problem

Almost 20 million adults living with HIV worldwide are women. Since 2002, the number of women living with HIV has risen in each region.1 HIV infection rates among women globally continue to rise much faster than among men.

For most women HIV is not an avoidable disease. They have no choice with whom they have sex, nor can they demand safe sex.

When diagnosed as positive the stigma they face affects them and their families, in the home and at work.

There are still very few HIV-positive women in the UK who dare to speak openly about their status. This is a shocking reflection of the continued lack of public understanding of the human rights issues these women face. SOFIA aims to break this vicious cycle and give HIV positive women a voice.

Lesley Bulman-Lever, founder member of SOFIA and chief executive of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) said: "We want international and national policies changed that prevent women and girls enjoying their full human rights." She added: "Most girls and women do not access the services that are their right, because they don't have the power, or the self-confidence, to claim these rights. SOFIA wants leaders of all governments to commit to ensuring universal care and access to treatment for those living with HIV by 2010 and to seriously engage in global prevention programmes."

SOFIA is delighted to welcome former Irish President and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, to the launch as a key guest speaker.

Robinson, who is President of the Ethical Globalisation Initiative, said: "SOFIA is a dynamic network of highly influential women who have formed in response to the distinct lack of support for women living with HIV/AIDS. It gives me great pleasure to be involved with SOFIA from the outset, and I sincerely hope today will convince other highly influential individuals to support the forum and help to achieve global political commitment to this ever growing pandemic." Robinson will speak on the subject of "Empowering positive women through a human rights approach".

The SOFIA launch will also feature speeches from:
* Debbie Landey, deputy director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
* Kanjoo Mbaindjikua, an ICW member from Namibia
* David Proctor, European chief executive of Standard Chartered Bank, who will discuss the role of the private sector in helping women living with HIV and AIDS

The event will also celebrate the re-launch of ICW, the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS.

Dr Alice Welbourn, co-chair and founder member of SOFIA said: "Our vision for this forum is to change the way the world is addressing this global pandemic. We want as many people as possible to help us change policies and attitudes towards women with HIV."

The launch of SOFIA is being sponsored by some of the most well-respected and influential global organisations, such as the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), ICW, redheadPR, Virgin Unite, MTV, Christian Aid, Standard Chartered Bank, The Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, The All-Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS and The Institute for Women's Health.

To find out more about this groundbreaking network, to pledge your support and/or get involved in the work of SOFIA, visit the SOFIA web site at http://www.sofiaforum.org.

For more information, please contact Rachel Bull on 0870 240 5536 or email rachel@redheadpr.co.uk


Notes:
* Mary Robinson was President of Ireland from 1990-97. She then served as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from1997 to 2002. She is a Patron of the ICW and is the executive director of the Ethical Globalisation Initiative.
* WAGGGS is the world's largest organisation for girls and young women. Almost all of WAGGGS' 145 country members are leading advocacy campaigns and community programmes on HIV and AIDS
* ICW was created in 1992 by a group of 56 HIV-positive women from different countries around the world. It was founded because of the desperate lack of support, information and services available to women living with HIV, and the need for positive women to influence HIV/AIDS policy development
* redheadPR is a smart and passionate company of no-nonsense, entrepreneurial re-inventors who understand how to identify the right business development opportunities and deliver the best return on investment for ambitious brands, organisations and individuals through PR
* Virgin Unite is the independent charitable arm of the Virgin Group. Unite was created by Richard Branson and Virgin employees around the world to tackle tough social challenges
* MTV Launched in 1998, MTV's Staying Alive campaign seeks to help prevent HIV/AIDS by empowering youth to protect themselves, fight stigma and discrimination, and engage businesses, media and organisations to form their own response to HIV/AIDS.
* Christian Aid is a UK-based international development agency. We work wherever the need is greatest - irrespective of religion or race.
* Standard Chartered Bank employs 38,000 people in 950 locations in more than 50 countries in the Asia Pacific Region, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the United Kingdom and the Americas. Standard Chartered is one of the world's most international banks, with employees representing 80 nationalities.
* UNAIDS launched the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS in 2004 to raise the visibility of issues related to women, girls and AIDS.
* The All-Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS is a backbench cross-Party Group of MPs and Peers in the UK Parliament.
* Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Institute for Women's Health is an exciting new venture. It was established in 2004 with the objective of making a major contribution to the health of women in the UK and internationally.

Facts and figures from UNAIDS:
* Globally, HIV infection rates among women continue to rise disproportionately.

* In 2005, 17.5 million women are living with HIV - one million more than in 2003.
* Most HIV-positive women live in sub-Saharan Africa, but the epidemic is affecting growing numbers of women in South and Southeast Asia (where almost 2 million women now have HIV) and in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
* 13.5 million of all HIV-infected women live in sub-Saharan Africa.
* In Russia, 38% of all registered HIV cases are in women - a bigger share than ever before; in Ukraine, 42% people newly diagnosed with HIV were women.
* Research shows that sexual and other forms of abuse against women and girls increase their chances of becoming infected with HIV
* In many countries, marriage and women's own fidelity are not enough to protect them against HIV infection.
* HIV-positive women, if given proper care and support such as a Caesarian section, have a less than one per cent chance of passing on HIV to their children
http://womenandaids.unaids.org/SOFIA_Forum_pr.doc
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Violence tolerated while HIV is on the rise

The International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW) declares our full support for all survivors and victims of sexual, physical and psychological violence.

Press Statement from ICW on 25th November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence

ICW is deeply concerned not only about the rising levels of violence against women globally but that in the 21st century people still believe that women 'bring it on themselves'. For instance, a third of people in the UK believe a woman is partially or completely responsible for being raped if she has behaved flirtatiously, a recent Amnesty International poll of 1,000 people suggests. The poll also found over 25% of those interviewed believe she is at least partly to blame if she has worn revealing clothing or been drunk. Nearly 15% of respondents thought a woman would be partly responsible for being raped if she was known to have many sexual partners, and 8% totally responsible. Worryingly, this tolerance for sexual violence is reflected in the UK legal system - fewer than 6% of reported rapes result in a conviction, the lowest conviction rate ever recorded in the UK.

Rape is a crime. Wearing a short skirt, having many sexual partners, flirting and getting drunk are not.

In the same week as the release of this report from Amnesty, clearly showing that sexual violence against women is not taken seriously in the UK, we also hear from the UK Health Protection Agency that the number of people with HIV in the UK has risen by more than 5,000 in a year. Increases in other sexually transmitted infections, such as Chlamydia and syphilis, were also recorded.

Of course, violence against women, including sexual violence, and increasing levels of HIV are not just UK phenomena. The UNAIDS update released this week shows that HIV is still on the rise in almost all countries around the globe and a WHO study of domestic violence in 10 countries illustrates that it is widespread with far-reaching health consequences. (See http://womenandaids.unaids.org)

How are these bodies of evidence connected? Violence against women leads directly to increased levels of HIV and STIs. Violence and the fear of violence negates women’s ability to have any semblance of control over maintaining and protecting their health or the sexual health of those that have sex with them. Yet judgemental attitudes across society give a green light to violence against women and lead to perpetrators going unpunished.

Moreover, HIV positive women often experience much violence, as a result of our HIV diagnosis. We have also felt the tide of public opinion turn against us when our HIV status has become known. But being HIV positive is not a crime.

International and national laws enshrine the right of women, whether HIV positive or negative, to live free of violence, including sexual violence, and we urge governments to uphold these commitments. We also urge the media and the public to recognise their responsibility in condemning real crime - the crime of rape and violence against women - rather than people's lifestyles or HIV status.

If you want to read more about the links between gender violence and HIV, from HIV positive women's perspectives visit our publications webpage at http://www.icw.org/tiki-index.php?page=Publications

http://www.icw.org/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=187
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Women And Girls Bear Brunt Of AIDS Worldwide
* UNITED NATIONS Press Release - 30 November 2005

The following statement was issued by the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Miloon Kothari, and the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Paul Hunt, on the occasion of World AIDS Day, 1 December 2005.

It cannot be repeated enough that women and girls bear the brunt of the global AIDS epidemic worldwide. In our capacities as Special Rapporteur on adequate housing and member of the leadership council of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, and Special Rapporteur on the right to the highest attainable standard of health, we wish to draw attention to the often ignored linkages between AIDS and women's rights to adequate housing, land, property, inheritance, and the highest attainable standard of health.

Women's enjoyment of the human right to the highest standard of attainable health and the human right to adequate housing is a cornerstone of their personal security. In the context of the AIDS epidemic, women must be able to protect themselves from HIV infection, to maintain their health if living with HIV, and to deal with the consequences of HIV for themselves and their families. Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are fundamental elements in the reduction of their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and in the reversal of the pandemic.

Around the world, many women have limited access to knowledge and information on sexual and reproductive health, including sexually transmitted infections. The vulnerability of women and girls to HIV and AIDS is compounded by inadequate access to education and services necessary to ensure sexual and reproductive health; sexual violence; harmful traditional or customary practices - such as early and forced marriage; lack of access to legal resources and remedy; and inequality in areas such as marriage and land and property ownership and inheritance.

Thus, the factors that increase women's vulnerability to infection are numerous. Among these, the inability to secure adequate housing and living conditions need to be recognized as significant. Women's economic vulnerability often translates as dependence on men for survival, and many women are forced into situations that increase vulnerability to sexual violence, or to engage in unsafe sex in exchange for money, housing or food.

Alarming testimonies from women living with HIV illustrate the adverse impacts that discrimination and stigmatization have had on their enjoyment of the right to the highest attainable standard of health and an adequate standard of living, including adequate housing. Many report living with a constant fear of being forcibly evicted. Even where inheritance and property rights are in principle protected by legislation, widows are being evicted from their homes following their husbands' death from AIDS or an HIV-related illness. Reports and testimonies also reveal that customary traditions and practices linked to women's housing and property, and to their sexual and reproductive health, may contribute to the transmission of HIV. These include "wife inheritance" and "cleansing" practices in certain communities, where unprotected sex is seen to "cleanse" the wife of the dead husband's spirits, and is viewed as a prerequisite for a wife to keep her home or stay on her land.

World AIDS Day is a day of solidarity for people living with HIV and suffering from AIDS, and a day for reaffirming the pledges and resolutions that have been made in the global fight against the epidemic. We would like to use this occasion to urge States to take all necessary steps to ensure women?s human rights and to this end, review and remove discriminatory laws and practices that create obstacles to the realization of their rights. Addressing the underlying factors that increase vulnerability to infection requires attention to human rights. Protecting and promoting the human rights of all women, men and children - including the rights of people living with HIV to enjoy the highest attainable standard of health and to adequate housing ? demands vigilance each and every day of the year.

http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf...3357F7?opendocument
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Concerted Action Required To Address The Twin Epidemics Of Violence Against Women And Aids

GENEVA, 25 November 2005

Today, 25 November, is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It is also the first day of the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence, dedicated this year to the call: "For the Health of Women, For the Health of the World: No More Violence".

Violence against women is one of the most outrageous and pervasive human rights scandals of our times, and a global health crisis. Tragically, much of the violence directed towards women occurs in the home. Every day, in every country, women and girls are beaten and sexually assaulted by husbands, fathers, brothers, cousins - or by friends of the family. For women who experience violence, the consequences are numerous, and in some cases even fatal.

The majority remain silent about their experiences and do not seek help, fearing blame and further violence due to lack of protection and support. In many cases, even if women want to seek legal redress, they are unable to: 79 countries currently have no law against domestic violence, and many more lack adequate enforcement of the laws that do exist. Fewer still provide comprehensive psychosocial, medical, financial and legal support to survivors of violence.

Women are breaking the silence on domestic violence, however. As part of a multi-country study, World Health Organization researchers spoke to some 24,000 women about their own experiences with violence. The results of the study reveal the sheer magnitude of the problem: in most sites, between a quarter and half of women in relationships had suffered physical or sexual violence. In some settings, 46 per cent of women surveyed had been raped.

Violence is the one of the leading causes of death or injury to women. In a 1994 WHO study of causes and risk factors for disability and death among women aged 15 to 44, rape and domestic violence rated higher than cancer, motor vehicle accidents, war and malaria. Increasingly, research is illustrating how violence is associated with HIV transmission. Violence against women and the threat of such violence dramatically increase women's and girls' risk of contracting to HIV by making it difficult - sometimes impossible - for women to abstain from sex, or to use a condom, in particular when they know or suspect that their partner is not faithful. Violence against women is also a barrier for women in accessing essential HIV prevention, treatment, and care services.

The need for global action on domestic violence has never been clearer.

This is why the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS (a UNAIDS initiative) is urging international funding organizations to expand programmes that support governments and NGOs in their efforts to address the linkages between the twin epidemics of violence against women and AIDS. Measures to reduce violence against women need to become part of national AIDS plans, just as HIV prevention, treatment, and care services have to be made part of programmes addressing violence against women. We urge states to strengthen legal and policy environments so that laws prohibiting violence against women are enacted and enforced. We call on governments, together with civil society, to strengthen initiatives that empower women and adolescent girls to protect themselves from violence and the risk of HIV infection.

It is twelve years since UN Member States agreed on an international Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, and four since they put their names to the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS adopted at the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS. Promises have been made. They must be honoured.

* Peter Piot, Executive Director, UNAIDS
* Yakin Ertürk, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and member of the Leadership Council of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS
* Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International and member of the Leadership Council of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS
* Violeta Ross, member of the International Community of Women Living with HIV and AIDS and member of the Leadership Council of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS

For more information, please contact Sarah Russell, Advocacy Adviser at russells@unaids.org
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Nationwide Debate To Hear What Women Want From Government

On Wednesday 30th November 2005 Minister for Women Tessa Jowell launches a nationwide debate to get to the heart of the issues that matter most to women.

Over the next five months at a series of events called Today's Woman - Your Say in the Future women will reveal the views they hold about the big challenges facing the country and tell ministers what they want from government policy.

The first event will be held at the Hippodrome in Birmingham on Wednesday where more than 125 women will discuss their top topics face-to-face with the Minister for Women and her deputy Meg Munn.

Future debates are being held in Liverpool, Bristol, Sheffield and Newcastle with a final event in London in April at which ministers will feedback on the issues and ideas raised.

An innovative website https://secure.symphonyem.co.uk/todayswoman/survey/ will provide an open forum for women to feed in their views.

At each event the audience is being asked to select the subjects for discussion. West Midlands participants have asked to speak about work/life balance, equality at work, education and schools, health and wellbeing and financial security.

Tessa Jowell said; "The lives of women have changed immensely in the last decade and the pace of this change will get ever faster under the pressure of international economic competition.

"Research shows that government and public services need to meet the challenge of getting closer to and understanding women's needs.

"Today's Woman - Your Say in the Future is an opportunity for women to tell me how the government's policies have affected them and how we need to develop the next stage in policy to reflect what is happening in their lives.

"Consultation is the hallmark of democracy. We know that women's and men's views often differ and the impact of our policies on their lives differ too. It is particularly important that we listen to what women think and want."

Department of Trade and Industry
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http://www.dti.gov.uk
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Abuse of Widows

An area of VAW which is neglected by UN, international development and human rights agencies, is violence against widows.

Although this is particularly acute in Sub-saharan Africa and South Asia it is not confined to these regions.

The range of practices include degrading and physically harmful mourning rites, punishment for 'eating my son' where a widowed daughter-in-law is treated like a criminal, virtually starved, refused permission to attend any social gathering including the marriage of her own children, or a widow being taken to a faraway place and abandoned by her family.

Widows can be stripped of their means of livelihood - eg access to land to produce food - lose their children to their husband's kin, and in urban context have their entire marital possessions seized by the husband's brothers.

Widows can be sexually harassed, physically beaten for allowing their shadow to fall on another person, and in the worst of cases killed as witches - husband killers.

Despite years of calling upon the international community to recognise this appalling situation and widows' lack of human rights, nothing has apparently changed and even on the 25th November one does not hear anything about this abuse of women.

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Please Support Hillingdon Women's Centre

Hello,

This is our cry from the heart, from Hillingdon Women's Centre. We need your help and we need it now!

We have had a warning for the second year running from our accountants, our unrestricted funds are at an all time low due to increased running costs of the centre. Our expenditure was £5,000 more than our income in this last financial year.

All of our running costs, from the highest costs of accountancy fees to the lowest costs of a toilet roll are met in the main out of donations by women who access the women's centre.

What we are asking is that you write a letter addressed to the Chief Executive Dorian Leatham at London Borough of Hillingdon Civic Centre UB8 1BR. Please ask, how is it that the borough expects its "unique women only safe space" to provide everything that is expected of the women's centre according to Law, women's wants and needs and in line with equality and diversity? How can the borough apply its new strategies such as domestic violence and community safety (as also outlined in the Local Government Association handbook entitled "Implementing the new domestic violence Best Value Performance Indicator" Home Office, April 2005) without an adequately funded women's centre in the borough? For only £19,000 annually, which has been fixed without an inflation increase for the last ten years, the whole of the Hillingdon borough (which is the second largest in London) has received an amazing amount of help from Hillingdon women's centre.

Last year the women's centre answered enquiries from 4186 women and provided counselling, courses and support groups to many more. The centre can not develop any further and finds it problematic to maintain that which it tries to provide. This is not due to lack of commitment from volunteers. We have the human resources we need, but not the financial resources.

We continually apply for funding to trusts etc. but are unsuccessful, because our income being over £50,000 a year means we do not qualify for other smaller grants to develop resources for women at the centre. Income of over £50,000 a year may appear to be a large amount of money, however only £19,000 of this goes directly to centre running costs, and this is to pay a centre/counselling service co-ordinator for 25 hours a week.

Please can you write a letter of support, expressing your concern at the lack of support the women's centre receives from all potential funders? We know yourselves as individuals and your organisations value the work we do at the centre and signpost women to us for this reason. PLEASE HELP US!!!

Yours sincerely
Jill Lynch
On behalf of Hillingdon Women's Centre collective - 28th November 2005

Hillingdon Women's Centre, 333 Long Lane Hillingdon Middlesex UB10 9JU
T: 01895 259578
F: 01895 810994
E: hillingdonwomen@aol.com
W: www.hillingdonwomenscentre.org.uk

Hillingdon Women's Centre Registered Charity Number: 801433 Company No: 2009021
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