UK Feminista launched a campaign to end cosmetic surgery advertising yesterday (15/03/12) with this open letter published in the Guardian, supported by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), the Medical Women’s Federation and prominent feminists including Natasha Walter.

Our petition is live here, and we published a report, Cut It Out – End Cosmetic Surgery Advertising, that brings together evidence making the case for Government action to stop cosmetic surgery advertising in the UK.

Thank you to everyone who has signed the petition so far, please keep sharing it.

The campaign was covered by the Independent, Channel 4 News online, the Guardian, the Scotsman, and the Huffington Post.

We surveyed four of the most read women’s monthly magazines – Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Elle and Vogue – to track the amount of cosmetic surgery advertising during 2011 and today Marie Claire responded by asking their readers what they think of the campaign.

Add your voice by signing the petition to stamp out cosmetic surgery advertising.

UK Feminista has launched a campaign today calling on the Government to outlaw the advertising of cosmetic surgery. A new report, Cut it Out – End Cosmetic Surgery Advertising, reveals how advertising recklessly trivialises invasive surgery and preys on women’s body insecurities. It also surveys the extent of cosmetic surgery advertising in four leading women’s magazines. Leading plastic surgeons and feminist campaigners have added their support, signing a public letter in the Guardian that urges the government to legally prohibit cosmetic surgery advertising.

100,000 cosmetic surgery procedures are carried out each year in the UK, and half of young women now say they would consider having it done. Key to the industry’s expansion over the past decade has been advertising campaigns by cosmetic surgery providers – in magazines, in public spaces, on TV and online. Unlike prescription medicines, there are few restrictions on how and where clinics can advertise medically unnecessary invasive procedures. Only voluntary codes govern the content of ads.

A prohibition on cosmetic surgery advertising would follow a precedent set by France, which banned cosmetic surgery advertising in 2005, and would see rules for cosmetic surgery brought in line with those governing prescription medicines, which cannot be advertised.

Kat Banyard, Director of UK Feminista, said:
“Cosmetic surgery adverts are a public health hazard. Their sole purpose is to persuade people to undergo medically unnecessary invasive surgery in order to boost profits. By frequently portraying surgery as quick and easy, they recklessly trivialise risks that include post operative infection, blood clots and, in rare cases, death.

“Cosmetic surgery adverts also ruthlessly prey on women’s widespread unhappiness with their bodies, making false promises of confidence and self esteem. The reality is that people who’ve undergone cosmetic surgery are more likely to have low self esteem than those who haven’t, and women who’ve undergone breast implants are three times more likely to commit suicide than the general population.

“The aggressive marketing tactics of some clinics have got so bad that many in the cosmetic surgery industry are now calling for change. In the interests of public health it’s crucial the Government listens and outlaws these dangerous ads.”

For further information and to request interviews contact Elli Moody: elli@ukfeminista.org.uk

By Amy Bell, UK Feminista Regional Organiser for the Midlands

It’s not quite winter, not quite spring – March would be a bit dull, if it wasn’t for International Women’s Day! In the Midlands this month, there are lots of events organised by brilliant women and men off their own backs to celebrate this most special of times, and I’ll give you the lowdown on some of the exciting goings-on across the region within the next week or two.

Firstly, International Women’s Week at the University of Warwick (yep, they’re making a whole week of it, hurrah!) will take place from Monday March 5 to Friday March 9 – there’s too many fab things going on to list them all without me getting RSI in my typing fingers, but there’ll be a comedy workshop, a self-defence class, talks on sexism, men and feminism and domestic violence, as well as a screening of the powerful, thought-provoking film The Greatest Silence and a one-off performance of Women On Top Theatre’s WOT Monologues (more details about the latter here). There’s also another chance to see Warwick Anti-Sexism Society’s production of The Vagina Monologues, which premiered last week to muchos joy and acclaim, at Bath Place Community Centre in Leamington Spa on March 9. Go here to buy tickets, and for more details on all the week’s events, click right here.

The University of Nottingham Women’s Network will also be holding a workshop on the tensions in feminism on March 7, and will have a great big celebration in the Atrium on International Women’s Day itself, with displays on local and international women, live music, spoken word and poetry.

In Derby, Vox Feminarum are putting on a plethora of events, including a talk by Kristin Aune, co-author of the highly recommended Reclaiming The F Word: The New Feminist Movement and a discussion about feminism today. There’ll also be a screening of the film ‘Sylvia Pankhurst: Everything Is Possible’ about the legendary suffragette, on March 16, and oh so much more – all details of what’s taking place can be found here: http://voxfeminarum.btck.co.uk/

Birmingham Women’s Festival are also joining in the fun, with Women Making It, a celebration of women’s achievements and skills in arts and crafts, and an evening of women’s poetry led by Birmingham Poet Laureate Jan Watts among some of the delights in store – a full list of events is here.

And last, but finally not least, UK Feminista Midlands will be hosting a screening of the amazing documentary Pray The Devil Back To Hell on March 8 at Coventry Cathedral Visitors’ Centre. The film starts at 7.30pm, and there will also be refreshments and a post-screening discussion. Entry is a suggested donation of £3, all of which will go towards helping Women For Women International rebuild the lives of women in war-torn countries. Please come if you can!

Looking to the future, though, I still need volunteers to help me put on a fabulous feminist event in the Midlands later in the year – please email me at midlands.feminista@gmail.com if you are interested. Also, don’t forget to join the UK Feminista Midlands Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/306201256066862/ and to follow me on Twitter @MidsFeminista if you want to publicise events, find fellow feminists or simply keep up to date with what’s going on in the region. Happy feministing!

The Wales Regional Organisers for UK Feminista have been found in the form of myself, Emily, and my soon to be best friend, Caitlin!

We have been very busy already setting up our email (wales.feminista@gmail.com ) as well as facebook and twitter accounts! Please follow our sites and get in touch.

We want to hear from feminists, pro-feminists, and the ‘I am not sure if I am a feminist or not’, to find out how we can support you in starting feminist groups, leading campaigns and generally getting the feminist movement moving in Wales!

We also want to hear about YOU and what you are doing to support the feminist movement and help raise awareness for your causes. We want to know how it feels to be a feminist in Wales and what issues are important to the Welsh feminist!

We know there has already been some FANTASTIC work by feminist groups and we would love to come to your events and meetings and find out about your events and other successes. We look forward to hearing from you all!

Yn Dod Atoch o Gymru!

Mae UK Feminista wedi darganfod ddwy trefnwyr newydd rhanbarthol yng Nhymru. Emily yw fy enw i a Caitlin fydd fy ffrind gorau cyn bo hir!

Yr ydym wedi bod yn brysur iawn yn barod, yn gosod lan ein ebost (cymru.feminista@gmail.com), safleon ffeisbwc a twitter. Dilynwch ein safleon os gwelwch yn dda a cliciwch ‘hoffi’!

Hoffwn ni clywed o ffeminyddion a phobol sydd â diddordeb yn y mudiad yng Nhymru. Rydym ni eisau clywed amdannoch chi a beth rydych chi’n gwneud i gefnogi y mudiad ffeminydd. Sut mae’n teimlo i fod yn ffeminydd yng Nhymru tybed?

Rydym yn ymwybodol bod llawer o gwaith bendigedig yn mynd ymlaen yng Nghymru yn barod, a fyddwn yn hoffi dod i cyfarfodau ac digwyddiadau chi ac rhannu unrhyw llwyddiannau penodol!

Edrych ymlaen i glywed ohonoch chi! Hwyl am y dro.

In response to the growing demand and need for feminist organising in the country, UK Feminista has set up regional groups across the UK to help support feminist activists and feminist activism.

Introductions

We are your regional organisers for the South East…

Name Laura Ouseley                                                     Name Louise MacBean

Likes The aha! moment when someone                Likes Using the Bechdel Test

realises they are a feminist                                         Dislikes Lad culture

Dislikes Men-only comedy show panels                     

What can we do?

Together we will help coordinate feminist activists and activism in the South East of England. That means being a point of contact for anyone who wants to know more about what groups there are in the South East, and how they can get involved, or even set up their own feminist group!

Feminist organising in the South East is already amazingly strong, but we believe it has the potential to be even bigger and even bolder. Over the next year we will encourage and support feminists to work together more, share feminist activities and events going on in the region, and discuss issues relevant to feminists living and working in the South East.

What can you do?

There are lots of ways that you can get involved. To get started and to stay in touch about what is happening in the region you can…

• Send us an email: southeast.feminista@gmail.com. Please introduce yourself and let us know what you think we should be talking about in 2012.
• Follow us on Twitter: @SEastFeminista.
• Follow us on Facebook: South East Feminista.
• Keep an eye out for our emails and announcements about feminist campaigns, actions and events over the next year.

Whether you are a feminist group working in the region – or an individual who would like to get involved with a group in your area – we want to hear from you.

There are so many attacks on women’s rights at the moment, 2012 must be the year when feminist groups unite and say enough is enough. With public sector cuts hitting women the hardest, the increasing and casual use of lap-dancing clubs by corporates, and the foreseen rise in sexual exploitation during the 2012 Olympics, there has never been a more important time to get involved in feminist activism.

If every feminist in the South East took one action for gender equality in 2012 then think of the wave it would create!

We look forward to organising with you in 2012.

Women, men and children came out in force to celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day on 8 March 2011 with Women for Women International’s Join me on the Bridge campaign. There were 55 events across the UK, and 464 in 70 countries on 6 continents worldwide.

Watch the highlights from 2011 in this short clip.

2012 promises to be even bigger!  We will be leading the charge in making sure that the 21st century is the woman’s century, and we’ll be doing this by growing a bigger and better global movement that joins together in calling for PEACE and women’s EQUALITY.

The idea for this bridge campaign first came about in 2010 when the Women for Women Country Directors for the Congo and Rwanda called for all women, whether they were Hutu, Tutsi, Rwandan or Congolese, to join them on the bridge that connects their two countries, which was the scene of the mass exodus when people were fleeing the genocide that tore Rwanda apart in 1994. Many more people wanted to join them in taking this stand for peace and hope in 2010, not only in other war-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia and Sudan, but also from Australia to Hawaii, where women stood in solidarity with their sisters.

Your involvement really strengthens and inspires women in war-torn countries. As Faiza, a woman who stood on a bridge in Iraq last year said: “Today I felt there is a change for women. Women expressed their feelings and the importance of their role in the community.”

To join us is very easy. Simply select a bridge, get together with a group of friends, and promote your event to your wider networks.  Last year, 75,000 people joined forces with other groups in their area, and this made a great impact in building wider support and solidarity locally as well as globally.  Women for Women can give you full support in organising your events, providing you with a campaign toolkit, publicity, and ongoing advice in organising your event.

• Join the global movement and leave your message of peace
• Find a bridge event near you
• Or organise your own bridge event
• Be part of the London march across Millennium Bridge, and launch of the Southbank Centre’s Women of the World festival!

Women for Women is honoured to be in partnership with UK Feminista members for the Join me on the Bridge event, and on behalf of all the women who will be standing on bridges in war-torn countries we say thank you and ‘We Stand Together’.

Thank you for joining us on the bridge!

Visit     www.joinmeonthebridge.org

Email   mybridge@womenforwomen.org

Call      0207 922 7945

#bridge12

By Michael Moore, Regional Organiser for Northern Ireland

I spotted UK Feminista’s call for Regional Organisers around eighteen months after coming to feminist activism, as many do, with more questions than answers.

Having spent the preceding few years in student activism with human rights and development organisations, I had plenty to say on international issues like trafficking, honour killings, maternal mortality and Female Genital Mutilation. Each of these major problems inflict untold human suffering every day, and so must remain priority targets for a global feminist agenda. Increasingly, though, I found my attention turning to the inequalities and injustices which quietly pervade the place where I live, Northern Ireland.

Why the continued illegality of abortion, at odds with the law in Great Britain? Why the dire shortage of female elected representatives? Why the culture of sexism wherein almost half of students in a 2008 survey believed rape to be caused by women flirting and drinking? Why do so many people confronted with the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s late-2011 announcement of ten weekly reports of rape continue the fierce assertion of blame on victims? Why does Belfast so resemble a city in which heterosexuality is compulsory? In other areas we remain stuck asking how to measure extent: contrary to the public nature some gender-based abuses – stonings in Afghanistan come to mind – the difficulty of tackling domestic violence in Northern Ireland is compounded by our powerlessness, in most cases, to observe and report.

Such are the questions that attracted me to feminism, spurred on by my immersion as a literature and philosophy student in groundbreaking writing, and involvement in campaigns to Stop Violence Against Women and grant victims of domestic violence recourse to public funds. Since then I’ve met dozens of wonderful, inspiring people with their own stories of feminist awakening and ideas for a transformation of society. I have been a participant in marches and demonstrations, a petitioner against inequality, an organiser of rousing debates between Members of the Legislative Assembly and the women and men who elected them, and I’ve been known to rant against sexist nonsense. The experiences have been challenging and brilliant.

I’ve given an outline here of some of my own priorities, but as a man I can’t claim the experience of patriarchy that any woman can. As a Regional Organiser my intentions are to ask questions, listen intently, catalyse new feminist awakenings and bring people together to articulate and act on their own visions of a feminist future.

If you want to contact us or get involved, email nifeminista@gmail.com, tweet @nifeminista or join our NI Feminista Facebook group.

By Hazel Robertson, Regional Organiser for Scotland

Being a feminist activist in Scotland, a country which now has twice the number of panda bears than Conservative MPs, is often quite different to our colleagues in the rest of the UK. I have recently been recruited by UK Feminista as one of the Regional Organiser for the whole of Scotland. One of the reasons these volunteers positions have been created is to account for and react to regional differences whilst still working towards the central feminist goals that UK Feminista embodies.

Being an activist in a devolved area can be quite an isolating experience. We must respond to a different layer of Government, in a unique legal system which affects the issues we can campaign on. We work in a distinctive political setting and with activist groups and UK media that can be unwittingly Anglocentric: Scotland’s top news story will be a footnote in the middle pages of the UK broadsheets and even UK feminist groups can miss out Scotland. I’ll be spending the next year working towards developing and promoting feminist activism in Scotland; responding to the distinct political and culture setting but also making sure that we are very much included in UK wide feminist conversations. This article is the beginners guide to being a Scottish feminist: what arena we work in and what we can achieve.

Politics

Scotland operates in a very different political landscape than the rest of the UK: In Holyrood we currently have a majority SNP government following their landslide 2011 election. Scotland also has an almost negligible level of Conservatives: with 1 MP and 15 MSPs. Infact, the Scottish Conservatives have such a meagre role that there was a suggestion this year that the party be completely reformed under a different guise.

There’s a lot of theories as to why Scots tend not to vote Conservative: the belief that Scots are inherently more egalitarian than their English counterparts; that Scots doggedly hold on to the image of Thatcher as the milk-stealing, shipyard-closing, poll-taxing bogey-women; that more of Scotland’s population is of a low socio-economic status and therefore vote for parties on the left. Whatever the reason, Scotland’s current political landscape is dominated by Labour and the SNP: Labour has it heartlands of steadfast support in the central belt of Scotland. I’m from the sort of Labour safe seat where any animal, vegetable or mineral could run under the Labour banner and still win (I’m still waiting on Scottish Labour to try this theory out). Whereas the SNP are more popular in the North and do better in Scottish elections than UK elections with only 6 MPs but 68 MSPs.

A lot of the time the political landscape of Scotland can feel out of synch with the rest of the UK. On election night in 2010 flicking between the Scottish coverage and the UK coverage felt like watching election results in different worlds. While the UK Conservatives came to an uneasy victory, Scotland was only notable in that absolutely nothing happened. People with a pro-independence bent highlight the ‘democratic deficit’ of having a UK government made, and heavily controlled, by a party that Scottish voters practically swerve to avoid.

Devolution

Being a devolved country means there is another layer of government to attend to. Legislative powers are divided between the reserved powers at Westminster (including foreign affairs, defence, financial and economic matters, national security, immigration and nationality, trade and industry, social security, employment, and importantly for feminist activists: abortion, genetics, surrogacy, medicines and equal opportunities) and the devolved powers at Holyrood- which includes things like housing, transport, health, education, policing and justice. Although the UK Government maintains control over more legislative areas the Scottish Parliament have complete control over the domains that affect the everyday lives of Scots, such as the education, health and transport. Importantly for feminists, the Scottish government has control over justice policy and the police.

The Law

Scotland has its own unique legal system and jurisdiction over legal issues. The important differences for feminists to be concerned about are corroboration of evidence and the ability of a jury to return a ‘not proven’ verdict. Both of these idiosyncrasies have implications for domestic violence and rape cases in which there may be a lack of suitable evidence aside from the victim’s testimony. This is borne out by Scotland’s rape conviction rate stubbornly sitting at slightly less than 3%; about half of the UK average. The recent published ‘Carloway Review’ recommends a change in the law that would mean rape cases were excused from corroboration of evidence. As a result, it is projected that the rape conviction rate will ‘soar’ to the UK average. This is a certainly a welcome change but hardly worth celebrating that the best we can hope for is to catch up with the UK’s dire statistics.[1]

Independence

There is a real prospect of Scotland becoming an independent country. The SNP plans a referendum on Scottish Independence in Autumn 2014. It is unclear if at this point if there may be a third, ‘devolution max’ option, which would mean more legislative powers for Scotland especially in regards to fiscal powers. In all likelihood there will be an independence referendum and the very real possibility of a Scottish divorce from the rest of the UK. The implications for Scottish feminists is that we will be even more removed from the UK feminist dialogue and will continue to tailor our campaigning and our activism to respond to specifically Scottish issues.

So, what of the current SNP Scottish Government and their feminist credentials?

Without having equality in their remit, the SNPs Government has claimed to do a lot for women in Scotland. For instance:

• Increasing the number of female police officers on the beat

• Helping the female entrepreneurs with the Small Business Bonus

• Introduced a new crime of ‘threatening behaviour’ to a partner or child with a 5 year jail term.

• Provided £2 million to provide more childcare support and 100,000 new nursery places.

• Started a scheme of HPV vaccines for young women.

• Protecting central government support for organisations such as Women’s Aid [2]

What should we be doing?

Welcome as some of the SNP’s initiatives are, there is doubtlessly a lot more the SNP Government could be doing for women in Scotland. There are also Scotland specific issues that we, as feminists, should demand are addressed. Scottish Feminista has put together a wish list of initiatives and policies:

• Safety: last year a deplorable number of sexual assaults took place in Scotland. Glasgow has been particularly dangerous with 900 sex-related incidents in the period 2010-2011 in Glasgow city centre. Action is needed to make all city centres safer for everyone. More police, better transport links and lighting could also contribute to this.

• Rape conviction rate: is still lingering around the 3% mark. A lack of reporting, difficulty in prosecution, persistent rape myths affecting perceptions on what rape actually is all contribute to this. Scotland’s record on rape conviction is worse than the UK’s and any other crime which had this low a conviction rape would be a public outrage. As mentioned, a proposed change to the law would remove the need for complete corroboration of evidence but information campaigns on what rape is and how to report it could encourage more women to come forward.

• Domestic Abuse: one in five women in Scotland will experience domestic abuse. During old firm matches the number of domestic violence incidences can go up by as much as 138%. The Scottish Government should fund women’s refuges and promote the message that domestic abuse is always inexcusable.

• Resist cuts to services, especially for vulnerable groups: Women’s Aid reported in April that 60% of refuges and 72% of out-reach services had no agreed funding. The Women’s Support Project in Glasgow will receive no funding from Glasgow City Council from March 2012. More women work in the increasingly underfunded public sector. Funding cuts are having a disproportionate effect on women and the Scottish Government should ensure that any cuts to funding do not have a discriminating effect on women.

• No recourse to public funds: Women coming to Scotland as asylum seekers, refugees or on student and spousal visas often fall prey to this rule which would deny them support and the ability to escape an abusive relationship. This rule should be overturned or there at least should be a fund of money available to help women in these circumstances.

• Limit lap dancing clubs: Lap dancing clubs contribute to the commercialisation of sex, the perception of women as sexual objects, creates ‘no go’ areas for women in city centres and financially exploit women who work in these clubs. Local councils should be given more powers to reject applications from lap dancing clubs.

Over the next 10 months, Scottish Feminista will be promoting feminist activism with these key ideas in mind. We’ll be developing strong grassroots support from male and female feminists throughout the whole of Scotland who think that more needs to be done to improve the lives of women in Scotland.

[1] http://www.rapecrisisscotland.org.uk/news/carloway-review-rape-crisis-scotland-statement/

[2] http://www.snp.org/media-centre/news/2011/mar/success-scotlands-women-womens-day

Amy Bell, Regional Organiser for the Midlands

Hello, fabulous feminists and pro-feminists! My name’s Amy, and I’m UK Feminista’s Regional Organiser for the Midlands. That covers both the East and West Midlands, so if you live right in the middle of England, then I’m your UK Feminista representative.
In the very near future, I’ll be blogging about all the fantastic feminist activism and events that are going on in the region, as well as providing details of women’s organisations across the area that deserve attention and support.

For the meantime, however, I’d like to point your attention to the Women’s Networking Hub charity dinner on Friday 27th January at the Bay Leaf restaurant in Birmingham – for just £20, you can enjoy a lovely three-course meal, meet likeminded women and listen to fab music, doing all this in the knowledge that you’ll be helping pay for transport and other costs for the Brum contingent to this years’ Million Women Rise march in London! More details are available on the Facebook event, or you can contact Shahida Choudhry on 07583 870568 for further details and tickets.

I’ll also be organising a feminist event in conjunction with UK Feminista later in the year, and would appreciate input into what the event will be, so if you’d like to give your ideas and opinions and/or would like to help organise the event, please email me at midlands.feminista@gmail.com. Finally, please also join the UK Feminista Midlands Facebook group and follow me on Twitter @MidsFeminista for more news, updates, information about feminist events and women’s organisations in the region and the opportunity to meet other feminists!
Here’s hoping that 2012 is the year the Midlands does lots more feministing…