feminist news round-up 17.03.13
Pregnant asylum seekers moved from Manus Island
Six pregnant asylum seekers held in detention on Manus Island have been relocated to the mainland this week. The women’s partners and dependents reportedly accompanied them to Australia for medical care. The move has provided the standard shock and outrage that comes with Australian coverage of asylum seeker issues – but it also coincides with other nations questioning their responsibilities to women’s health for asylum seekers. Last month a UK report compiled by the Refugee Council and group Maternity Action found that pregnant asylum seekers were not receiving adequate and stable health care.
Major UN Deal for women’s rights
The UN’s Commission for the Status of Women conference has ended with a major breakthrough, as the Commission agreed to adopt an outcome document that sees member states prioritising key women’s rights. The document cites promoting women’s equality, access to health care and reproductive rights as major concerns of each state. The adoption of the paper sees more conservative member states sign off on women’s rights as a matter of priority.
Page 3 girls to get the boot, says everyone
Lego has ceased advertising in The Sun newspaper in a bid to end the use of “Page 3 Girls” in British tabloids. The ads were pulled after pressure from group No More Page 3, which has mounted a concerted campaign to get rid of the old school tradition of featuring semi-naked women on page 3 of your paper.
Veronica Mars smashes Kickstarter
In a coup for TV nerds and fan girls everywhere, a crowdfunding project for a Veronica Mars feature film raised a record $2 million in 10 hours on Kickstarter this week. Whispers of a film have been flying since the show’s cancellation in 2007, but the Kickstarter project is the most promising progress to date. Who knows what this means for the future of crowd funding, but commentators are attributing the project’s success to fans’ love of strong female characters–this lip reporter couldn’t agree more.
