Mums and Midwives Reclaim Birth
Geraldine Harmsworth Park to Downing St. Sun 7 March 2010
Of course there were Dads as well on the march
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More than a thousand people, many with pushchairs and young children, marched
over Westminster Bridge in London on Sunday afternoon to a rally at Downing
Street. The 'Reclaiming Birth Rally' supported the Albany Midwifery Practice
and called for the nation-wide adoption of similar case loaded midwifery services
which would look after women from conception past birth and give real choice
to all mothers rather than a lucky or privileged few. London 07/03/2010
The Albany Midwifery Practice based in Peckham, one of the most highly deprived
areas of England was widely regarded as a model of best practice and a centre
of excellence in NHS midwifery, for the support that it gave to women throughout
pregnancy, birth and the post-natal period, encouraging women to make informed
choices about how and where they give birth.
Recently King's College Hospital terminated their contract following a critical
report from the Centre for Maternal and Child Enquiries (CMACE) which King's
claim showed "serious shortcomings" over one aspect of their work,
forcing the centre to close down. Others see the decision as an attack on
alternative ways of maternity care that provide better overall outcomes and
better meet the needs of women.
Overall the Albany achieved perinatal mortality rates of 4.9/1000 considerably
below the national average and much lower than the 11.4/1000 for Southwark
Borough where it is located. Only around 1 in 7 of women in their care gave
birth by Caesarean section, compared to 1 in 4 for King's College Hospital,
and almost half (46.7%) chose to give birth at home, compared to one mother
in sixteen (6.2%) in the borough as a whole. And while nationally roughly
one mother in three continues to breastfeed their babies, the figure at Albany
was more than three quarters. The NCT, IM UK and others have expressed concern
over King's action and the rally called for an independent review of the critical
report and an inquiry into the decision to terminate the Albany contract,
with the findings to be made public.
The rally was supported by AIMS (Association For Improvements In The Maternity
Services), NCT (National Childbirth Trust), ARM (Association of Radical Midwives),
IM UK (Independent Midwives UK) and Albany Mums. It also called for a real
change in maternity care across the country, with the replacement of the current
doctor led hospital services which are so often unsupportive and even traumatic
for mothers by case loaded midwifery services following the example given
by Albany and other similar practices. These provide a much more comprehensive
service with better information and fuller support for women, including more
midwives, at no greater cost than the current system.
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Support the Iranian Women's Struggle
Iranian Embassy to Trafalgar Square, London. Sun 7 March, 2010
The march from the Iranian Embassy arrives in Trafalgar
Square, watched by two policemen
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More than 50 men and women, mainly Iranians, took part in a protest organised
by the 8 March Women's Organsiation (Iran-Afghanistan) to mark International
Women's Day. They protested at the Iranian Embassy against the 31 years of anti-women
Islamic laws and repression and calling for an end to the Islamic regime in
Iran before marching to Trafalgar Square for a rally. The protesters stood opposite
the Iranian Embassy in Kensington with placards calling for an end to violence
against women and stating that the forced wearing of the veil is the symbol
of Women's subjugation.
They demanded an end to the Islamic regime and equal rights for women, who
at the moment cannot travel freely and do not have custody of their children,
as well as the right to abortion, currently illegal in Iran. They also called
for an end to the stoning of women for adultery, officially this was ended
in 2002 but there have been a number of well-documented cases of this barbaric
punishment since then.
Police had coned off one lane of the road and erected pens to facilitate
the demonstration and briefly checked with the protesters what they intended
to do.
From Kensington the protesters, accompanied by a samba band, marched to Traalgar
Square, where a rally was held on the North Terrace. There were speeches and
messages from the 8 March Women's Organisation, the European Democratic Women
Movement (Turkey), Hands off People of Iran, the Organisation of Women's Freedom
in Iraq and the Million Women Rise movement.
There were then appearances by a number or artists and I stayed to listen
to the powerful singing of Gisoo Shakeri and to hear poet Ziba Karbasi reading
several of her poems. Although both performed in a language I cannot understand,
there work was still moving. Unfortunately I had to leave before the other
performances on the programme.
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Million Women Rise
Marble Arch to Trafalgar Square, London. Sat 6 March, 2010
The march turns in to Oxford St
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Several thousand women marched through London on Saturday 6 March, taking
over the street as they passed as an all-women area and calling for an end
to male violence against women. The march started along London's major shopping
street, Oxford Street, before going through Piccadilly Circus and on to a
rally in Trafalgar Square.
First celebrated in 1909 by the Socialist Party of America, International
Women's Day was established in 1910 by the Second International following
a proposal by Clara Zetkin, although the date only became 8 March in 1913
when peace rallies were held on that day shortly before the First World War.
IWD rallies led to the start of the Russian Revolution in 1917 and Lenin made
the day an official "holiday", although it remained a working day
there until 1965. The UN adopted it in 1975 and in 2005 the TUC called for
it to be made a UK public holiday.
The Million Women Rise march, on the Saturday nearest to International
Women's Day - March 8th - is organised by a coalition of individual women
and representatives from the Women’s Voluntary and Community Sector,
and it aims to "celebrate and honour women’s activism, courage
and achievements and continued struggle against global male violence in all
its forms."
Million Women Rise is a part of a wider international movement to end violence
against women, and the flyer handed out on the march presented the reality
of violence for women in the UK and internationally. In this country almost
1 in 4 women are said to have experienced some form of sexual assault and
on average two women are murdered each week by a partner or former partner.
A third of all teenage girls who are in relationships suffer unwanted sexual
acts and one in four are the subject of actual physical violence.
Trafficking is a large-scale global industry, with two million girls between
the ages of 5 and fifteen being sold into sex slavery each year. Lack of health
provision is also a major problem; one woman dies in pregnancy for every minute
of the year, and most of these deaths are preventable.
There were a very wide range of groups represented in the march from WI groups
to radical feminists and including a some left-wing organisations.
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Tibet Freedom March
Chinese Embassy to Westminster, London. Sat 6 March, 2010
China Stole My Land, My Voice, My Freedom - the march
at Piccadilly Circus
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Around 500 people, including many Tibetans, marched through London commemorating
the 51st anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising and calling for freedom
from Chinese rule. The protest started opposite the Chinese Embassy, where
a letter was delivered and continued through the busy shopping streets of
the West End to deliver a second letter to Downing St before ending with a
rally outside the Foreign Office.
The event was organised by a coalition of Tibetan groups in the UK and comes
two years after protests in Tibet led to the death of over 200 young Tibetans,
with many more being imprisoned. Over 1000 are still unaccounted for and two,
Lobsang Gyaltsen and Mr Loyak, were executed in October 2009. Similar events
were taking place in countries around the world.
At the start of the march there was a brief address and the Tibetan National
Anthem was sung, followed by a minutes silence in memory of the dead and prayers.
A small delegation then went across the road to the Chinese Embassy to deliver
a letter to the new Chinese Ambassador.
As in previous years, there was no one at the Chinese Embassy to take the
message, which was handed to the police officer at the main door to pass on.
The march attracted considerable attention on Regent St and particularly at
Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus, with shoppers stopping to watch and many
waving in support, with drivers of cars and lorries sounding their horns.
Near the front of the march was a large banner with the Tibetan's message
"China stole my land, my voice, my freedom." Among the
slogans chanted by marchers were "Tibetans have no voice in Tibet",
"China: stop silencing Tibetans"; "Britain: stand
up for Tibetans in Tibet" and "Stop the torture in Tibet".
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UAF Oppose EDL Westminster March
Westminster, London. Friday 5 March, 2010
Ban the Burkha but not the Balaclava? Is that man scratching his head?
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Between five hundred and athousand EDL supporters marched to the Houses of
Parliament this afternoon in support of Geert Wilders of the Dutch Freedom
Party surrounded by police and accompanied by police horses. They were met
by around the same number of UAF counter-demonstrators, who had earlier blocked
the road but were removed by police who made several arrests and kept the
two sides well apart.
The UAF (Unite Against Fascism) demonstrators gathered in Old Palace Yard
opposite the Houses of Parliament a couple of hours before the EDL (English
Defence League) were due to arrive. While I was there they chanted slogans
against the EDL and there was a short address by MP Jeremy Corbyn. The UAF
accuses the EDL of being a fascist, racist and homophobic group of football
hooligans, and is also opposed to the showing of Geert Wilders's film ‘Fitna’,
which it says is racist and incites violence against Muslims.
In 'Fitna', Wilder use of verses from the Koran, combining them with images
of violence, and compares Islam to Nazism. Muslims regard his use of the Koran
as blasphemous abuse and he has received death threats, but he defends his
actions as an example of freedom of speech. While we may deplore his film,
the deathnthreats are unacceptable in civilised societies. But it does seems
inconsistent that Wilders is calling for a ban on the Koran in the Netherlands,
claiming that like Hitler's Mein Kampf which is already banned there, it is
a work of totalitarian ideology that incites violence.
The EDL were supposed to be gathering outside Tate Britain, but when I arrived
there was nobody there. Walking down the road a couple of hundred yards there
were a hundred or so of them on the pavement outside the Morpeth Arms and
more packed inside. I talked to a number of them and most were happy to be
photographed, many posing for the camera.
All I talked to were eager to stress that they were not racist, and were
not anti-Muslim, but only against Muslim extremists. They said they were opposed
to the increasing Islamic nature of English cities and in particular to the
suggestions that Sharia law should play any part in British justice. They
also made clear their strong feeling that they did not get fair treatment
in the press.
As at previous EDL/March for England events I've photographed, there were
a handful of black members present and around the same number of women. It
was a stark contrast to the UAF supporters, many of whom were women and represented
the diversity of backgrounds we are now used to in London, although most were
young, including many students.
Later during the actual march I did get sworn at, threatened and given the
finger, but only by a small minority of marchers, and a young female Asian
journalist seemed to attract considerably more aggravation than me. There
was also a considerable amount of clearly anti-Muslim shouting and singing,
and the placards and slogans that attack the building of mosques seem to threaten
all Muslims rather than just the extremists. The atmosphere was unpleasant,
and really gave the lie to the earlier denials of racism.
However I did not hear the songs about 'Allah' that gave offence at some
earlier events. The EDL had asked marchers not to sing these and had carefully
organised stewards, with team leaders, first aiders and others in colour coded
vests, although it was unfortunate during the short rally before the march
that one steward in particular attempted to stop photographers taking pictures.
As a police officer pointed out politely to him, it just meant we took more
pictures, particularly of him. But I did see stewards keeping some of the
more disorderly supporters in line rather firmly at times, preventing them
from attacking the press and other onlookers.
The main speaker outside Tate Britain was a Sikh, Amit Singh, who appeared
at least at some points in his address to be attacking Muslims rather than
extremist views. A police officer had a serious word with him after his speech
although this may have been connected with his use of offensive language rather
than the rest of what he said.
After the rally, the march moved off towards the Houses of Parliament where
the marchers were met by loud shouting from the UAF. There were a few minor
incidents as the march passed the crowd, but these were quickly dealt with
by police, who filtered the EDL into a pen on the north side of the road,
with the UAF being kept behind the permanent barriers in front of Parliament
on the opposite side of the road. The first thing that many of the EDL did
on arriving in the pen was to urinate against the wall of Westminster Abbey.
The two groups continued to shout at each other for at least an hour - after
which I left. There was again some racist abuse from the EDL, but they also
made a point of denying they were racist and showing off their few Black and
Asian EDL members to the press. But it stood out very clearly that the EDL
were almost entirely white and male, while the opposing UAF was very multiracial
with women probably in the majority.
Police let a few of the EDL leave (and escorted some to Westminster tube)
but most were held inside the pen. But although the UAF were kept behind barriers,
at this point they were not penned, and some soon began to drift away, and
I too decided it was time to leave. Half an hour later I could still see the
police helicopter hovering over Westminster.
Many young working class people in England do feel strongly that they have
been marginalized and neglected, particularly those who have not achieved
highly in the education system, many of whom are unemployed or in tedious
and often badly paid jobs. It isn't surprising that they are fertile ground
for the kind of racist stereotypes and myths peddled by right wing groups
such as the BNP, even if some present them in a less overt form.
Although it important that these views are challenged and that people demonstrate
their opposition to groups like the EDL, rather than simply dismissing them
as racists, attention need to be paid to the underlying causes. Which means
confronting issues of class which it has been fashionable to dismiss over
the past decades, and encouraging a pride in our heritage and in an inclusive
Britain which is a home for all our people wherever their origins.
I didn't at all enjoy being in the company of the EDL, hearing their racism
and right wing simplicities. It was an unpleasant way to spend an afternoon,
but I think its important to show these events and these people honestly.
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Holloway Protest for Yarl's Wood Women
HM Prison Holloway, London. Wednesday 3 March, 2010
On
the main road outside Hollowar Prison wher several of the Yarls's Wood women
on huger strike were held
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More than 50 people protested at Holloway Prison on Wednesday evening against
the holding of five women from Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre without
trial or charge and to support the women at Yarl's Wood in the fourth week
of their hunger strike against the degrading conditions and inhumane treatment
there. Three of the women are in Holloway, one in solitary confinement, and
two are at Bronzefield Prison in Ashford, Middlesex.
On Tuesday this week, the 19 women at Yarl's Wood confirmed that they were
still continuing their hunger strike. They have reacted angrily to statements
by Home Office Minister Meg Hillier that the women refusing food were buying
food from the shop in the centre and getting it from visitors. As well as
denying the claims they have also pointed out that visitors are not permitted
to bring food into the centre.
The protesters also called for an end to the use of detention and in particular
for the detention of women with children which amounts to child abuse. They
also want SERCO guards at the centre to be prosecuted for their racist and
sexual abuse.
The loud chanting and samba band will have made the protest and its message
of support heard to the women held inside the jail, and certainly a little
jumping up and down with the music helped make those taking part outside a
little less frozen in the chill wind.
The protesters blocked the vehicle entrance to the prison, and one SERCO
prison van that arrived during the demonstration quickly backed out of the
driveway and went away. A van full of police also arrived and came and asked
a few of the demonstrators what was going on, and then stayed to watch but
made no attempt to move the demonstrators while I was there, though after
half an hour or so an officer did remove a 'incident tape' that had been stretched
across the prison entrance.
The Home Office and SERCO have also issued denials of the allegations of
violent attacks, beatings, victimisation and abuse at the centre, but as well
as the many consistent allegations made by over 50 women in the centre, there
are also mobile phone images of some of the injuries, and women who have been
released since the main incident have given interviews.
Journalists and MPs have been asking questions about the mistreatment of
detainees at the centre, and lawyers have attempted to challenge the treatment
of detainees as a breach of their human rights under European Convention articles
3,5 and 8. Certainly many of those who have seen the system, either as detainees
or visitors - even on carefully conducted tours - have been scandalized by
what they have seen. We should be treating these people, many of whom have
fled from traumatic situations in their own countries in a far more humane
fashion.
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