NEWS
The Destitute Domestic Violence concession
The Government will now partially honour its pledge to support all women facing
domestic violence. Until now, non-British women escaping violence had no right to
access refuges or benefits if they were on spousal visas – and so were faced with
destitution if they chose to leave their husbands, or were thrown out by them. But the
destitute domestic violence (DDV) concession now allows women to apply for three
months' leave, giving them access to benefits while they apply for indefinite leave to
remain (ILR). It has taken 20 years of hard campaigning and dogged pursuit by
Southall Black Sisters (SBS), and since 2007 a coalition of 27 women and human
rights groups including Amnesty International, Women's Aid, Eaves Housing and
Women's Resource Centre, to bring about a significant change to a small area of
immigration law. Read more
However, the Destitute Domestic Violence concession is only a partial victory,
applying to DV survivors, women spouses who are within the two year probationary
period of the spouse visa, excluding those who have been made to overstay,
asylum seekers, domestic workers, trafficked women, women on other visas etc. Of
34 women with No Recourse to Public Funds that one organisation in the NE is
supporting, only 5 will benefit through this concession.....the struggle continues! EVENTS
Tyneside Women's Health - 'Stand up for Women’s Mental Health'
Monday 16th April 2012
Comedy Night at the STAND, High Bridge, Newcastle - Compere Katie Mulgrew
John Scott
Kiri Pritchard McClean
Chereisha Merryweather
Tickets £7.00 or £7.50 at the door
Book tickets at enquiries@tynesidewomenshealth.org.uk or 0191 477 7898
Proceeds to Tyneside Women’s Health http://www.tynesidewomenshealth.org.uk
Feminists of the North East
This is a call to those interested in hearing more about a 'North East Feminist
Gathering' being imagined/ organised for the Autumn - a weekend event of
workshops, talks, sessions and fun held in Newcastle, that brings together feminists
from the North East and elsewhere. The first meeting took place on Thursday 12th
April at Bar Loco, 6pm to discuss the possibilities, resources and talents within our
reach that could be drawn on to put such an event together. If you are at all
interested in hearing any thing more about this project, please contact Rhiannon
Finn and Rhiannon Redpath rhiannon.s.finn@gmail.com and
rhiannon.redpath@gmail.com
For more portals of connection, there is Facebook group
Police & Crime Commissioners and the Voluntary and Community Sector
9th May 2012 - At Police HQ, Ladgate Lane, Middlesbrough (10am – mid
afternoon)
On the 15th November 2012 there will be elections for a Police & Crime
Commissioner (PCC) for the Cleveland Police area. This will coincide with the
abolition of Police Authorities. The PCC will be responsible, on behalf of the public
for policing and community safety priorities. This is an important opportunity for
voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) with an interest in community safety
to gain information and explore the implications of these changes. Cleveland Police
Authority is hosting this (free) seminar event in conjunction with MVDA, which will be
co-ordinating a network of Cleveland VCOs on behalf of the Safer Future
Communities Project.
The Safer Future Communities Project is a national partnership, commissioned by
the Home Office to support the engagement of frontline VCOs and to ensure that
the breadth of community safety issues are properly represented in the new
commissioning landscape. To book your place please call Jenny Yates on 01642
301632 or email
jennifer.yates@cleveland.pnn.police.uk no later than Monday 23rd April 2012. Lunch
will be provided.
LEARNING AND TRAINING
Start Your Own Business (20 April 2012 to 22 April 2012) At Hillcroft College
for Women Only
CARLY WARD founder of the Young Entrepreneur Society and Winner of
Inspirational Women in Business Award 2011 presents the 12 STEPS TO
SUCCESS.Meet Carly on this 12 step journey and she will show you what
entrepreneurship is all about, how some of the most successful people in the UK
have made it, their stories and advice, plus lots of personal development skills as
well. The qualification is a Level 2 Laser Learning Award in Understanding and
Exploring Entrepreneurship and will allow you to progress onto an ILM (Institute of
Leadership and Management) qualification. For more information or to book a place
on this course please call admissions on 020 8399 2688 or email
enquiry@hillcroft.ac.uk Hillcroft College, South Bank, Surbiton KT6 6D
www.hillcroft.ac.uk
Centre for Children, Young People and Families with Northern Rock
Foundation Present a Seminar Series: Tackling Interpersonal Violence:
Finding Out What Works
In response to the success of our last joint venture focusing on domestic violence,
Northern Rock Foundation and Sunderland University bring you a series of 8, free
day-seminars starting on April 27th 2012 bringing together researchers, practitioners,
senior managers, policy makers and funders to hear about and discuss best practice
in how to prevent, address and respond to interpersonal violence.This seminar
series uses the Violence Against Women and Girls Action Plan (2011) as the context
for the topics covered. The opening seminar is on Friday April 27th at the University
of Sunderland on St Peters Campus and focuses on the Action Plan with speakers
from:
• The Home Office
• Respect Men’s Advice Line
• The regional LGBT Domestic Abuse Development Worker
Attendance at seminars is free but registration is necessary in order to organise
catering.
Registering for any seminar can be done by emailing Alison Perrett on
Alison.perrett@sunderland.ac.uk Any other enquiries about the seminar series
should be directed to Angela Wilcock on angela.wilcock@sunderland.ac.uk
A Song to Sing - A drama and theatre project for Black, Asian and/ or minority
ethnic women including women from Gypsy/ Traveller Communities
Open Clasp is a women's theatre company and we specialise in creating high quality
theatre from a female gaze for mixed audiences. Open Clasp’s work is created in
collaboration with women from the North East. A Song to Sing is the company’s new
project beginning in April 2012. We aim to collaborate with Black, Asian and/or
minority ethnic women including women from Gypsy/ traveller communities to create
a piece of theatre that will encourage social debate with regards to the issues and
stories highlighted. This piece of theatre will tour during February and March 2013
throughout the North East region. For information please contact Roma on 0191
2724063 or roma@openclasp.plus.com
“Never do something ‘for’ young women without them”
An interview with feminist activist Perla Vasquez
Perla Vasquez became involved with activism when she was still in her teens. Perla
is currently an advisor to Mama Cash and several other funds and organisations, in
particular supporting the creation of new spaces for young feminist advocacy. We
asked Perla to share some lessons she has learned about supporting girls.
RESEARCH
Research about feminism in the North East
Would you help with research about feminism? Ruth Lewis is looking for women
willing to be interviewed about their views and experiences of feminism. The
interview will take about an hour and a half and will cover your views about feminism
and your experiences of the networks/groups and campaigns/activities you’ve been
involved in.Ruth is interested in all kinds of experiences of feminism, eg providing
services, reading or contributing to discussion groups (on-line or other), being
involved in campaigns, friendship groups, more public activities – the full range. The
information gathered from interviews will be used for academic research and
publications. All information will be kept confidential and reported anonymously so
that no one can be identified from the research. The aim is that it will contribute to
our understanding of feminism, how and why people get involved in feminist activity,
and what the burning issues are for those involved. Ruth is keen for this research to
reflect the full range of experiences and views of feminist women so whatever your
politics, views, background, inclinations, experiences etc, I do hope you’ll consider
my request to take part. I’ve found, over many years as a researcher and
occasionally being interviewed, that most people enjoy being interviewed – it can
give one of those rare opportunities to pause and reflect which most of us don’t have
time for, in lives that are too busy. If you’d like to have a chat about it before you
decide, or if you’ve already decided, please get in touch: Dr Ruth Lewis, Senior
Lecturer (Sociology), University of Northumbria ruth.lewis@northumbria.ac.uk
mobile: 07 900 800 668
Measuring the impact of cuts in public expenditure on the provision of
services to prevent violence against women and girls
This report takes an early look at the impact of public sector cuts on the VAWG
sector - Click here to download from Northern Rock Foundation's website
JOBS IN THE NETWORK
Capacity Building Co-ordinator (temporary position)
A combination of the localism agenda, cuts in public spending and inconsistent or
poor commissioning practices are having a significant impact on the existence and/or
delivery of good quality, specialist local domestic and sexual violence services. In
response to this, Women’s Aid is undertaking capacity building work, in partnership
with Imkaan, with the aims of supporting local services to maintain the independence
that has enabled them to develop survivor led, safe and empowering services.
Women’s Aid is therefore, seeking an experienced professional to deliver key
aspects of this work over the coming months. This post is initially for 6 months at 21
hours per week. Hours and timescales can be negotiated however, as long as the
need to positively and quickly drive the project forward is met. Secondment
opportunities may be considered. Women’s Aid’s National Office is in Bristol,
although consideration will be given to some work being delivered from alternative
locations. Salary: £32,800 (relates to NJC Local Authority pay scale point 39) pro
rata + benefits.
Closing date for applications: Midnight, 24th April 2012.
For further information and an application pack, please email
recruitment@womensaid.org.uk.
For an informal discussion about this post, please contact Nicki Norman on 0117 983
7135 or email n.norman@womensaid.org.uk.
Interviews will be held on 30th April 2012.
Women only need apply under Schedule 9 (Part 1) of the Equality Act 2010.
Women’s Aid is committed to quality, equality and valuing diversity. Applications
are particularly welcome from black and minority ethnic women.
CAMPAIGNS
Teenage Rape Prevention campaign
The aim of the campaign is to prevent teenagers from becoming victims and
perpetrators of sexual violence and abuse. It will encourage teenagers to re-think
their views of rape, sexual assault, violence and abuse and direct them to places for
help and advice. This campaign builds on the Governments Teenage Relationship
Abuse (TRA) campaign to specifically focus on the rape and sexual violence that
young people experience. Further information on the TRA
OTHER NEWS
Threat to Women’s Library
On Wednesday 14 March, London Metropolitan University’s Board of Governors
announced that they will be seeking a new home, custodian or sponsor of The
Women’s Library’s collections. If a new home is not found by the end of December
2012, the Library will move to opening hours of one day per week for a period of
three years, with a further review at the end of that period. If you have any
suggestions of potential custodians, or any queries, please email info@thewomenslibrary.ac.uk
Corston Independant Funders’ Coalition (CIFC)
On Tuesday 24th January Rosa joined Baroness Corston, fellow funders from The
Corston Independent Funders’ Coalition, grantees from The Women’s Diversionary
Fund, politicians and other interested parties for the launch of the CIFC evaluation.
The Corston Report shows that its unique approach to funding advocacy has
ensured the crucial issue of women in prison remains a priority for the government
and UK public. The evaluation, demonstrates the impact the CIFC has had, finding
that through funder advocacy and collaboration the CIFC achieved outcomes that
individual trusts and foundations could not have achieved alone. At the launch, in
the House of Lords, the CIFC announced that they are to continue their work as
more needs to be done to establish a just and proportionate response to women
caught up in the criminal justice system and for their children who were inadvertently
punished as aresult.Send your information in word format only to
info@newwomens.net
http://www.newwomens.net/
07813 109 215 (please note that Sue is currently working in a voluntary capacity for
NEWomen's network until further funding is secured)
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