We need fewer barriers to abortion, not more

"In recent days, a number of private clinics in Quebec – including the legendary Morgentaler clinic – have said they will stop performing abortions.

That access to abortion should be threatened, after decades of battles in the courts, is a shocking development.

It is also a reminder that the battle for reproductive rights is never done because there are a cruelly endless number of ways to undermine access. Prince Edward Island still offers no abortion services at all. New Brunswick requires referrals from two doctors. Women in rural areas of the country often have to travel hundreds of kilometres for care. Some provinces cover only the cost of abortions performed in hospitals, creating a financial barrier."

As Atlantic Canadian feminists, the struggle for access to abortion is not a new story to us, but the recent developments in Quebec have been a slap in the face for many women's rights advocates who thought we had permanently gained some ground. I am hoping this dismay continues and draws some more attention to the appauling lack of access in our provinces.

Call for Solidarity from the Coalition for a Carleton Sexual Assault Support Centre

Please circulate this info to everyone who are interested in supporting women's rights at Carleton University. We need people to write emails, and especially to join our rally next Monday.

Carleton University is being sued by a female student who was brutally sexually assaulted, on campus, while completing her laboratory work, in 2007. In response, the university states that the victim's injuries were "caused or contributed to by the Plaintiff through her own negligence... she was not keeping a proper lookout for her own safety".

We urge all community members who believe in women's rights to email your thoughts to:

• President Roseann O'Reilly Runte: presidents_office@carleton.ca
• Vice President Duncan Watt: duncan_watt@carleton.ca
• Equity Services: equity@carleton.ca

The Coalition for a Carleton Sexual Assault Support Centre is launching a campaign in response:

"Accountability, safety, respect, dignity: We're Asking For It!"

We are organizing an emergency rally for next Monday, Aug. 17th:

A demonstration, organized by Carleton Students and members of the Ottawa community, is being held to bring attention to Carleton's stance on sexual assault. Student demonstrators will meet at at 2:30pm in the atrium of the University Centre and will head to the CU's administration offices at 3:00pm to present petitions and opposition letters. We will then march to the Bronson/Sunnyside entrance where we will be joined by members of the larger community for a rally from 4:30-6:00pm.

For more information:

• Check the blogspot and twitter page: http://asking4it.blogspot.com/
• Facebook group: Carleton University's Views on Sexual Assault Do Not Represent Me

To get involved, contact: coalitionforcarleton@gmail.com

Non-feminist ‘more hostile’ towards men than feminists, study finds

"...some researchers at the University of Houston decided to investigate whether it’s really true that feminists hate men. They interviewed just under 500 undergraduates, using something called the ‘Ambivalence Toward Men Inventory’.

What they found was that feminists reported less hostility towards men than non-feminists. In effect, not only does this suggest the stereotype is not true, it’s actually the reverse."

"Our work finds that, indeed, non-feminists believe in traditional gender roles such as men being breadwinners and women being caregivers. At the same time, these non-feminists actually appear to resent the confines of the traditional roles they advocate, which presents a paradox for women and men in traditional heterosexual relationships."

Read the entire entry here: the f word

To the Women of Pennsylvania

An open letter from the Collective of Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter

We want to send our condolences to the friends and family of the dead women in Pennsylvania. We send our best wishes to the wounded. Women live with so many normalized threats to our lives that we hardly notice how much we do to avoid sexist violence. What a brutal reawakening that there is no safe place for women.

The numbers of women killed by men continue to rise mostly one at a time but they are not isolated. This year is the 20th Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre and feminists said then as we repeat now "The Motive is Misogyny". This "lone gunman" shares a fear and hatred of women with the men who beat their wives, rape, harass and prostitute women and children. Although he
did not target women as feminists, as was the case with the Montreal Massacre, George Sodini was determined to send a message to all women. But we refuse to listen and we refuse to obey.

The day after the Montreal Massacre on behalf of the Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centers, the collective of Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter sent a message to the women in Montreal. It is a no coincidence that the same words apply in this Pennsylvania Femicide.

"We will not excuse his acts when we know of the sadness and failure of his life. We will not blame his mother or lover or the women who refused to be his lovers. We will not blame the women he names in his letter from the dead. We will not blame the feminists who fought for women's liberties.

We hold responsible the men who taught him to expect women to fill his every need. We hold responsible the men who failed to teach him to live with moments of disappointment and anger without reprisals."

From our rape crisis line and transition house for battered women and their children in Vancouver, Canada, we brave on. We find reassurance in the other feminists struggling for equality and freedom everywhere in the world. We have to continue to stand together and we must continue.

Tamar Eylon,
On behalf of the Collective of Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter
Member center of the Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centers

Family Planning - the debate continues...

Just a few family planning articles that caught my eye this morning:

In harder times, couples adopt stricter family planning

India pays couples to put off having children

Sometimes abortion is the better choice: Should the U.S. government really be in the business of encouraging women to have babies?