The US carried out 46 executions in 2010, the report says
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The use of the death penalty globally is continuing to fall, an annual report by Amnesty International has said.
Although 23 countries carried out executions in 2010, four more than in 2009, the number of people executed dropped from at least 714 to at least 527, the rights group said.
But that figure does not include China, whose executions are thought to be more than all other countries put together.
Gabon last year became the 139th country to cease the practice.
Mongolia declared a moratorium on the death penalty.
But following an execution-free year in Europe in 2009, the death penalty returned to the continent with two executions in Belarus.
The report expresses alarm that a significant number of executions or death sentences handed down in 2010 were for drug offences – including more than half of the death sentences in Malaysia.
Methods of execution employed worldwide were beheading, electrocution, hanging, lethal injection and various kinds of shooting.
No stonings were recorded in 2010, but stoning sentences were recorded in Nigeria, Pakistan and Iran.
Amnesty secretary general Salil Shetty said: “In spite of some setbacks, developments in 2010 brought us closer to global abolition.”
But he added: “The minority of states that continue to systematically use the death penalty were responsible for thousands of executions in 2010, defying the global anti-death penalty trend.”
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750,000 people in the UK have dementia, the Alzheimer’s Society says
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The NHS should offer checks for dementia when people reach 75, a leading health charity says.
The Alzheimer’s Society says fewer than half of those with the condition get a diagnosis, so many miss out on the care and support they need.
The UK National Screening Committee, which advises the NHS, has said tests and treatments need to improve first.
And the British Medical Association says carrying out the checks would mean there is less time for other services.
About 750,000 people in the UK have dementia – and with the numbers projected to rise to more than a million by 2021 the Alzheimer’s Society says it is essential to identify those who need help.
‘The only way’
“Really the only way we’re going to improve identification is through effective screening, and probably the right time to do that screening is over the age of 75 once dementia starts to become more common”
Professor Clive Ballard Alzheimer’s Society
Professor Clive Ballard, the charity’s director of research, says getting a diagnosis is fundamental to ensuring the right treatment, support and care.
“Really the only way we’re going to improve identification is through effective screening, and probably the right time to do that screening is over the age of 75 once dementia starts to become more common.”
He is proposing that people be offered a cognitive test at the GP surgery, with questions on time, date, place, memory and understanding. This would be backed up by an interview with a relative or carer.
Where dementia is suspected patients would be referred to a specialist for a full clinical assessment. If they were then diagnosed with dementia, there may be drug treatment and changes in lifestyle that could help delay deterioration, and would allow an opportunity to plan ahead, he argues.
Prefer not to know
Dr Shabana Chaudhari, a GP in south London, says she already carries out a cognitive test if she has concerns. However she says screening for dementia presents particular problems.
“You would have to explain why you were doing the test. But what you would also have to do is ask, if there was any impairment, do they want to know, because some people don’t want to know. And if there is anything, do they want their family and friends to know about it as well.”
Dr Laurence Buckman, from the British Medical Association, says there is value in the idea of screening for dementia, and that many GPs would be happy to carry it out. But he says many would struggle to find the time.
“It takes an hour to do an assessment, during which time five other patients could have been seen. In the current economic climate, when the NHS is being asked to make huge efficiency savings and there are many equally valid competing demands, patients and the public need to have a debate over which services should be prioritised.”
The idea of screening for dementia was examined in 2009 by the UK National Screening Committee, which advises ministers and the NHS.
The committee’s programme director, Dr Anne Mackie, says the initial checks are not yet sufficiently reliable. She is worried that while dementia may be missed in some patients, others may be told incorrectly that they are at higher risk, causing needless distress.
She suggests that for the time being the money for screening “would be bettter spent on research, finding better treatments, or providing support for carers”.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The attack on the AMIA Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires in 1994 killed 89 people
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Israel has demanded an explanation from Argentina over reports it proposed to Iran it would stop investigating two bombings if trade ties improved.
Argentina, Israel and the US have blamed Iran for the bombings of the Israeli embassy and a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires in the 1990s.
Iran has denied involvement in the bombings, which killed 114 people.
An Israeli spokesman said if true, “it would be a display of infinite cynicism and a dishonour to the dead”.
A car bomb exploded outside a Jewish community centre known as the AMIA on 18 July 1994, killing 85 people.
Twenty-nine people were killed two years earlier when a bomb destroyed the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires.
The report about a putative deal appeared on Saturday in Argentine media. The newspaper Perfil quoted a leaked Iranian diplomatic cable that detailed the offer.
The cable reportedly said: “Argentina is no longer interested in solving those two attacks, but in exchange prefers improving its economic relations with Iran”.
According to Perfil, Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman made the offer through Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a meeting in Syria in January.
Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Israel wanted “official clarifications by the Argentinian Foreign Ministry concerning the article”.
Israeli media reported on Sunday that the foreign ministry was considering cancelling a planned visit next week by Mr Timerman if the reports proved to be reliable.
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Breast density could be a risk factor of breast cancer
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Women at high risk of developing breast cancer should be given preventative drugs, according to an international panel of cancer experts.
Writing in the Lancet Oncology, they said drugs such as tamoxifen could reduce the chances of developing breast cancer.
Such a policy would be similar to prescribing statins to patients at risk of heart disease, they suggest.
However, tamoxifen has been linked with womb cancer, blood clots and stroke.
In the UK, 46,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.
Two drugs, tamoxifen and raloxifene, have been approved in the US for the prevention of breast cancer.
Professor Jack Cuzick, who chaired the panel and is an epidemiologist at Queen Mary, University of London, told the BBC: “The two drugs should be approved in the UK. The evidence for them is overwhelming.”
The panel agreed that women who had a greater than 4% chance of developing breast cancer in the next 10 years should be offered preventative therapy.
In heart disease, there are well-known risk factors such as blood pressure and cholesterol, which can inform treatment.
The challenge for any preventative breast cancer treatment would be identifying similar “markers” of risk.
The panel suggests breast density. They say patients with more than 75% “dense breast tissue” had at least four times the risk of developing breast cancer than patients with mainly non-dense tissue.
Professor Cuzick said: “Increased breast density is one of the leading risk factors for breast cancer and early trial results suggest that where tamoxifen is shown to decrease density, the risk of cancer decreases.
“If this is confirmed in long-term studies, breast density could become a powerful way to identify high-risk women who could benefit from preventive treatments.”
He suggests the risk of getting breast cancer should be determined during cancer screening.
Dr Lesley Walker, from Cancer Research UK, said: “Our scientists were behind some of the first trials showing the long term benefits of tamoxifen for preventing breast cancer in women with a greater than average risk of the disease.
“Being able to accurately predict breast cancer risk and who will respond to preventative drugs like these is a crucial step in ensuring women get the most suitable treatment.”
Meg McArthur, senior policy officer at Breakthrough Breast Cancer said: “It is vital that we find effective ways to prevent breast cancer, especially in women with a high risk. However, as preventative therapy may have negative side effects it would not be appropriate for everyone.
“We welcome studies investigating the best treatments to be used for breast cancer prevention. It’s also crucial to identify those at high-risk who would benefit the most from this form of therapy.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Gary Oldman and Colin Firth will appear in a movie version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Actor Gary Oldman has been named a film icon at the Empire movie awards.
The star of Dracula and JFK picked up his award from Colin Firth, who won in the best actor category for his Oscar-winning role in The King’s Speech.
“Icon is a lovely word, but Sir is a better word!” Oldman joked backstage at the London ceremony.
Inception won best film prize, Kick-Ass was named best British film and the best actress was The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo star Noomi Rapace.
“Sirius Black, Sid Vicious, Lee Harvey Oswald, George Smiley – I’ve had a real share”
Gary Oldman on his iconic roles
The Empire awards, hosted by comic Dara O Briain at the Grosvenor House Hotel, took place exactly a month after the Oscars. They are last major ceremony of the film awards season.
‘Iconic roles’
Teenage star Chloe Moretz, who starred in Kick-Ass and vampire film Let Me In, won the best newcomer award.
The Empire hero award was presented to Keira Knightley by her Atonement co-star James McAvoy.
Oldman, who recently finished filming Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – alongside Colin Firth – told the BBC that he had been lucky to have so many iconic roles, most recently his recurring role in the Harry Potter series of films.
“Sirius Black, Sid Vicious, Lee Harvey Oswald, George Smiley – I’ve had a real share,” he said.
The Empire Hero award was presented to Keira Knightley
“I have had 10 years of pedigree fantasy with Potter and the Dark Knight, but it’s nice to come back to something like Tinker, Tailor.”
Among the attendees on the red carpet were Noel Clarke, Sarah Harding, Jonathan Ross, Lily Cole and the stars from The Inbetweeners, who have just finished making a movie version of the TV hit comedy.
The best comedy award went to Chris Morris’s satirical suicide bomber film Four Lions.
The Last Exorcism won best horror, with Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part One winning best sci-fi/fantasy.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo picked up its second award of the night for best thriller.
An inspiration award went to Edgar Wright, who also picked up best director for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.
“I’m only 36, so it’s a big responsibility,” he said of his inspiration award.
“I started out as an amateur filmmaker, and over the last year teenagers and people in their early 20s have sent me films that are remakes or mash-ups of my films. I’m always extremely flattered if someone says I’m an inspiration.”
Kick-Ass writer Jane Goldman attended the awards with husband Jonathan Ross
Comic book comedy Kick-Ass was named best british film and its writer Jane Goldman told the BBC the award meant a lot.
“We’re terribly grateful for it because the Empire awards are voted for by the movie-going public.”
She said she had had no complaints about the film’s violent scenes, many involving a child (Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl).
“There never really was a genuine controversy. It had an appropriate rating for its content and I never heard any actual people complain about it.”
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The body starts producing immature white blood cells in acute myeloid leukaemia
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Three groups of mutations which cause acute myeloid leukaemia, a cancer of the white blood cells, have been identified by scientists.
The researchers suggest their work on mice, published in Nature Genetics, could lead to new treatments.
Two thousand people in the UK are diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia each year.
The charity Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research said the study offered invaluable insight.
During the illness, the bone marrow, which produces blood cells, starts to churn out immature white blood cells.
This changes the balance of the blood.
The white blood cells are not properly developed so they cannot fight infection and there are too few red blood cells to carry oxygen around the body.
The disease can be fatal within weeks if left untreated.
The research group at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute investigated how this form of leukaemia arises because they say there had been little progress in developing new drugs.
The most common mutation implicated in the cancer is to the Npm1 gene.
By switching this gene on in blood cells in mice, the researchers were able to show that it boosted the ability of cells to renew themselves, which is a sign of cancer. Yet only a third of mice went on to develop leukaemia.
The researchers concluded other mutations must also play a part.
They randomly mutated genes in mice, with a technique known as insertional mutagenesis. By looking at mice which developed cancer, they could then trace which mutations were involved.
They found two additional types of mutation. One affects cell division and growth, while the other modifies the cell’s environment.
Dr George Vassiliou, consultant haematologist from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said they had “found critical steps that take place when the cancer develops. Identifying the biological steps in turn means we can look for new drugs to reverse the process.”
He told the BBC: “Getting new drugs to patients could take decades, but what can happen sooner is using drugs which are already on the shelf, but in a more targeted way.”
Dr David Grant, scientific director at Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, said: “New designer drugs which target specific genetic mutations are proving increasingly effective in the treatment of blood cancers.
“This is a very important study as it offers an invaluable insight into the role of the most common form of mutation found in acute myeloid leukaemia. It explains how it develops and the other genetic factors that drive the leukaemia’s growth.
“It offers a potential model for the development of new drugs for this terrible disease in the future.”
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Big brands reach the smallest villages
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Schools have developed different policies on pupils using mobile phones
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Plans to allow teachers in England to search pupils for mobile phones and examine the phones’ content have been called “reckless” by a teaching union.
The measures in the new Education Bill are designed to combat cyber-bullying.
But the NASUWT says it will create conflict between teachers and pupils and their parents.
The government insists the measures help assert the authority of teachers and will allow them to deal with problems in schools more effectively.
Schools have developed different policies on pupils using mobile phones.
Many teachers have found themselves challenged by students and parents when they try to confiscate them.
The Education Bill for England will give the teachers a legal right to search pupils and take their phones – and also look at and delete any messages and pictures they deem necessary.
NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates says the powers are disproportionate and reckless, and will put teachers into more conflict with parents and pupils.
He said: “The extra powers in the bill to search and confiscate and dispose of electronic equipment and data are disproportionate powers that teachers don’t really want, and actually could cause more conflict and more problems for schools rather than actually tackling discipline.
“In many respects they are reckless and they are putting teachers into confrontation with parents and with children and young people.”
The proposed powers have so far received cross-party support and are due to be introduced by the autumn.
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By Brigitt Hauck
With the big day nearing for Prince William and Kate Middleton, the internet is abuzz with royal wedding stories. As a confessed wedding obsessive, I’ll be keeping up with what’s being talked about. This week’s round-up includes squashing bad manners, royal wedding crashers and a flood of smartphone apps.
Will the nearly 2,000 people in attendance at Westminster Abbey when Prince William and Kate Middleton tie the knot behave themselves?
Etiquette experts are offering attendees advice on everything from how to approach a member of the royal family to tweeting in the church, says CTV.
“St. James’s Palace says the guest list is an eclectic mix of European royalty, military personnel, charity workers, diplomats and friends of Prince William and fiancee Kate Middleton. Some invitees will have been born into families that teach children to curtsey as soon as they can walk, but others may need a bit of help navigating the etiquette and protocol that such an important day demands. Etiquette rules are designed to make social occasions flow more smoothly and to put everyone at ease.”
But for those guests who just don’t know how to act properly, behaviour expert William Hanson tells CTV:
“Remember that the royal family are masters of co-ordinating this kind of event. They know how to deal with people from all sorts of backgrounds, from all around the world, and they know how to help people do the right thing.”
While invited guests are studying their manners guides, some of the uninvited are plotting ways to get around security and in the door on the royal couple’s wedding day.
Even pop star Katy Perry has made plans to crash the nuptials of the future king and queen, says the Daily Mirror.
“Wills and Kate might want to beef up security on their big day – because Katy Perry wants to crash the royal wedding. Katy tells Capital FM’s Rich: ‘I’m not invited but am I going to be there? Yes. I’m definitely crashing that wedding.'”
Since the security is sure to be rather tight, E! News Online suggests the singer instead buy an audio version of the wedding that will be available shortly after the service.
“The entire royal ceremony, including the vows, blessings and all musical accompaniment, will be available on iTunes and other digital-download sites just hours after the 29 April service, after which it will be available on CD, cassette and – gasp! – vinyl on 5 May.”
And for the wedding obsessive who just can’t get enough royal news in the run up to the big day, the Daily Caller says developers have created countless royal wedding-related smartphone applications.
“More than a dozen smartphone apps are offering to bring fans everything royal wedding-related wherever they are – so they can check the days and minutes until Prince William and Kate Middleton’s 29 April wedding, hoard news and pictures about them and instantly share their favourite royal wedding tidbits on social media networks. One iPhone app – ‘Alarm Royale’ – even lets people set their phone alarm clock to a wedding march or royal-themed music like ‘God Save the Queen’ and ‘Rule Britannia’. Once a person wakes up, the app also shows them a new fact about the royal couple every day.”
And just who is using these royal applications?
“While the US and Britain are the largest markets, people are downloading the apps from as far away as the Philippines and Saudi Arabia.”
Looks as though people all over the world simply can’t help but keep track of how many minutes there are until Kate and William say “I do”.
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The growing demand for animal parts from South-East Asia is has triggered an increase in poaching
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Rhino populations in Africa are facing the “worst poaching crisis for decades,” say conservationists.
Over the past three years, gangs are said to have killed more than 800 rhinos for their horns, which can fetch £22,000 per kilo on the black market.
Experts fear the rise in poaching could undermine recent efforts to stabilise black and white rhino populations.
They called for greater co-operation between conservationists and law enforcement agencies.
“Although good biological management and anti-poaching efforts have led to modest population gains for both species of African rhino, we are still very concerned,” said Richard Emslie, a scientific officer for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Dr Emslie, a member of the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission’s (SSC) African Rhino Specialist Group (AfRSG), said the main threat was from the “increasing involvement of organised criminal poaching networks”.
“Unless the rapid escalation in poaching in recent years can be halted, continental rhino numbers could once again start to decline,” he warned.
Growing demand
The Critically Endangered black rhino (Diceros bicornis), which is made up of four sub-species, currently has a population of 4,840 (up from 4,240 in 2007) spread across southern African nations.
The two sub-species of white rhino (Ceratotherium simum), which has a similar distribution as the black rhino, has a population in the region of 20,000 (up from 17,500 in 2007).
Despite the high numbers, the white rhino is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN. This is a direct result of the high level of poaching, especially in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya.
It is estimated that 333 rhinos were killed in South Africa alone last year, with a further 70 being shot dead so far this year.
Conservationists suspect that most of the illegally harvested rhino horn are destined for the traditional medicine markets of South-East Asia, and the growing demand and high prices are fuelling the sharp rise in poaching.
They called for greater co-operation between the various parties involved in projecting the large mammals, including wildlife investigators and law enforcement agencies.
Some initiatives, such as the establishment of a National Wildlife Crime Reduction Unit in South Africa, are bearing fruit in the shape of more arrests. But IUCN SSC chairman Simon Stuart said it was important for wildlife agencies to work closely with private and community [land owners].
“In South Africa, a large number of rhinos live on private land,” Dr Stuart observed.
“Rhino management, including control of rhino horn stockpiles and security, needs to be improved and co-ordinated among rhino holders.
“This is essential if we are going to face the poaching crisis [head-on].”
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A family holiday can be evoked by a rose
With spring arriving, gardening shows are well and good, but amateur horticulturalists are pursuing a lofty ideal, creating a green space that stimulates emotions, writes botanist Phil Gates.
I’ve been gardening the same patch of ground, 60 paces long and 10 wide, for a quarter of a century.
Over more than half of my adult life, I’ve developed a sense of personal attachment to the garden that I could never have anticipated.
Ground that was rough grass and bare soil when we arrived now evokes the same emotions as a family photo album. The weeping pear, that was small enough to fit in a car boot when I brought it home, dominates the garden and is a reminder of the passing of time and of the sorely-missed friend who gave it to us.
I bought the lilac to celebrate the birth of our third child, the burnet rose with unusual magenta-flecked petals was a cutting taken on a memorable family holiday on the Northumberland coast, the sweet peas are seeds from the fragrant strain my grandmother nurtured on her allotment and the double-flowered daylilies came from the garden I grew up in.
But the emotional side of gardening is more than a wander down the horticultural equivalent of memory lane. There’s the excitement and anticipation that comes from watching buds form and open in spring.
Right now I’m waiting for a bird of paradise (Strelitzia) flower bud to open. Thirty years ago, before we had a garden, I grew one from seed to the point of flowering on the window ledge of our flat, then our heating system failed while we were away and it had turned to mush when we returned.
Any day now I’ll finally be able to watch one of these charismatic flower buds open.
As a garden matures, so does the sense of responsibility and accompanying anxiety for the wildlife that moves in.
The garden pond (dig one and amphibians will come) seethes with frogs in spring but two years ago a heron arrived and we watched the massacre in horror. Netting the pond is now an annual spring ritual.
Exasperation and disappointment are emotions that all gardeners have to cope with.
Impatient for early crops, I planted out our runner beans too soon last year and watched them collapse as the morning sun melted frost on their leaves.
Spring is a time of excitement for gardeners
I’ve watched rows of seedlings disappear overnight, with silvery slime trails at dawn revealing the culprit. I’ve cursed my clumsiness when I’ve snapped off an orchid flower spike at the point of flowering and watched over-watered cacti rot.
But for all the failures, there are more than enough moments of elation to compensate – like fingers stained from picking raspberries and blackcurrants, or harvesting the first aromatic sun-warmed strawberry, a far cry from the supermarket chiller-cabinet equivalents.
There’s also the satisfaction – and, I guess, some slight redemption from the sense of guilt for being a polluting consumer – when wildlife moves in and shares the garden.
It was a thrill to discover that orange tip butterflies have a small breeding colony in our suburban garden.
Emotional plants
Herbs have lots of emotions associated with them.
Lavender induces sleep, beech promotes tolerance, clematis wistfulness, willow weeping, and vines assurance.
Violas are meant to have a flirty scent because their smell comes and goes.
Mown grass, chopped leaves and the sawdust of different woods have smells that can bring back memories of contentedness.
Cut grass reminds me of playing cricket.
There’s joy to be had in the sense of trust when a robin takes mealworms from between your fingers and a real sense of privilege when something exotic – like the flock of waxwings that plundered the rotting crab apples in our garden this winter – pays you a visit.
Perhaps the best emotion, though, is to be had during an early summer evening at dusk when the gardening tools have been put away, the garden fills with scent of honeysuckle and the songs of blackbirds echo off the surrounding houses.
It’s a simple feeling to have done something creative and worthwhile through hard physical work.
Today most of us could feed ourselves and satisfy our need for floral beauty with a Friday night trolley-dash around the supermarket shelves and a weekend trip to a florist or park, so why do so many of us toil over gardens?
Growing flowers is more enriching than popping to the garage
It would be foolish to claim that most of us can ever be self-sufficient in growing our own food, or that it’s financially rewarding, but planting a few potatoes and raising some leeks and beans maintains an unbroken thread of experience that links us to the first hunter-gathers who settled to become farmers 10 millennia ago.
This spring, when I dig and plant, and watch the seedlings germinate and flourish, I’ll share the smell of freshly-dug earth and the emotions that they felt ten millennia ago.
Later, when the leaves on the silver birch that I planted in garden hedge turn yellow and fall, as another gardening season ends, it will be time to reflect on the end of a cycle that most of us, if we’re lucky, get to enjoy only around 70 times in a lifetime.
Every annual cycle is different – and more precious than the last. Television gardening programmes have done a great job at demonstrating how trips to the garden centre can turn a small suburban plot into a haven of beauty.
What they don’t tell you is that once the gardening bug has bitten you may find yourself committed to an annual roller-coaster ride of emotions that can transport you from the heights of elation to the outer limits of exasperation and – along the way – deliver a reminder of what it is to be human.
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GWTW
A lovely piece by Phil Gates that truly captures the joys of gardening and the experiences of an amateur gardener.. There was a sense of de ja vu in reading about how a flower, a plant or its fragrance can evoke memories of a moment, a time or a place. The most joyous fact about gardening is the sense of being close to nature and the process of creation. Thank you for this lovely piece.
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From whistling to catcalling, and even groping, street harassment is an everyday reality for many women around the world. But now a new wave of feminist groups are organising to stop it.
One dark evening in south London, a group of men slow their car behind a young woman walking alone.
They call out to her, propositioning her to get into their vehicle.
She keeps walking, heart rate quickening, ignoring their lewd comments. The men continue to follow her and their words get more aggressive.
Just before she reaches the nearest underground station, she’s had enough. She strikes the men’s car and flees down the station steps.
In a rage, the men leap out of their car, chase her, grab her by the neck and pin her to the wall.
This was an experience that drove Vicky Simister to take action and found Anti-Street Harassment UK.
Most women have experienced leering or suggestive remarks
It’s one of a new wave of groups tackling an age-old problem. At the forefront of the movement is the international Hollaback! campaign group. Having started in the US, it will open another dozen chapters next week, everywhere from India to Croatia.
Hollaback! and Anti-Street Harassment UK offer forums in which women can share their experiences, share photos of their harassers and view maps of where previous incidents have occurred.
Most people would recognise that what happened to Simister was totally unacceptable. But what if the incident had not escalated into violence? What if Simister had not been followed? What if it was just suggestive remarks shouted across a street?
Day in and day out millions of women are whistled at or shouted at on public streets. It’s unpleasant, and for Hollaback! activists it’s all part of the nasty business of street harassment.
They’re in a long tradition – going back to the 1970s Reclaim the Night movement – of trying to make the streets safer and more pleasant for women. Much has been done, in the West at least, to deal with harassment in the workplace, but the streets remain a different proposition.
A study by stopstreetharassment.com suggests that 95% of women say they have been the victims of leering, honking or whistling and a large proportion have been groped or grabbed in public.
Around the worldPublic sexual harassment known as “eve teasing” in IndiaIn the US, Reclaim the Night campaign started in the 1970s with marches against sexual violence and pornographyIn Japan, groping on the subway has been a problem for many yearsMass sexual assault on reporter Lara Logan and other incidents highlighted issue in Egypt
Emily May, the founder of Hollaback!, is on a mission to stop the harassment.
“It stems from a broader culture of gender based violence,” says May. “To shift that culture it takes people standing up and saying street harassment is not okay because most people in our society don’t want it to exist.”
When a man shouts “hi gorgeous” or “come over here love”, the recipient of the comments might be annoyed, but the remarks are often disregarded by bystanders, so the problem goes largely unaddressed.
“Women are advised to ignore it, and we don’t speak up about it. Therefore, these men keep on doing it and push boundaries further and further,” says Simister.
And it’s dangerous because it’s difficult to distinguish which men simply shout and which ones may use catcalls as a gateway to violence or sexual aggression.
“Men have been indoctrinated into it, and it’s been a privilege for them to walk down the street fantasising about women”
Maggie Hadleigh-West Activist and film-maker
“If a guy is checking out a woman it’s annoying, but that’s how sexual predators who are honing their craft test how far they can go,” says activist and filmmaker Maggie Hadleigh-West.
And street harassment varies from country to country. In the UK and US, most women will experience only shouting, but in many parts of the world street harassment can escalate to groping and more frequent public sexual assaults.
In India it is euphemistically referred to as “eve teasing”, in Japan groping on the subway has long been a problem, and the attack on Lara Logan in Egypt gained international attention.
But why do some men harass women in public?
Street harassment occurs because our society has always allowed it and dismissed the behaviour as “men being men”, says Hadleigh-West.
“Culturally, men have been indoctrinated into it, and it’s been a privilege for them to walk down the street fantasising about women. The culture hasn’t checked the behaviour.”
Some cities have implemented women-only subway cars to stop harassment
Because society has perpetuated this as a cultural norm, men tend to engage in street harassment as a way to prove their masculinity, says Northeastern University associate professor of sociology Kathrin Zippel.
“Often times it’s not really about the women, it’s just about the men performing masculine acts for each other and establishing a pecking order amongst themselves. What is really going on is the dynamic among men.”
So can the leering, the catcalls and the grabs ever really be stopped?
“Some activists have targeted city planners and the public transport officers to make the case that women should not face harassment in the streets,” says Zippel.
In response some countries such as India and Japan have created women-only subway cars.
But critics say this sort of measure is only a temporary fix.
“I find recreating segregation in public to be highly problematic. In the short term it might be a good solution, but they also notice that if women step onto mixed cars there are less women on them and the ones who are experience more harassment,” explains Zippel.
To take the burden off women, the founder of antistreetharassment.com Holly Kearl suggests that councils gather survey data on assaults and sexual harassment and then work out what kind of responses work.
On college campuses in the US officials addressed safety concerns by adding more lighting, installing safety phones and redesigning bus stops
Not all men impose unwanted attention upon women, and Kearl agrees that it’s important for these men to join in the movement to stop street harassment.
The attack on Lara Logan focused attention on Egypt
“We have to engage men. In our society it is easy to sexually objectify women, so it is important to make men realise that every woman you harass is someone’s mother, sister or daughter, and she is a person who deserves respect.”
When men take accountability for the actions of themselves and their peers, it helps to create a cultural shift in attitude. If a man feels that catcalling won’t be accepted by his peers, he is less likely to engage in the behaviour.
“When men are made aware of it, hopefully by women they love, they can listen, hear and see what is going on. It becomes an individual responsibility and men really do care when they get it,” says Hadleigh-West. “I have seen enormous change happen in the consciousness of men.”
Comments
Editors’ Picks All Comments (289)
185.
adeyb
I remember my Dad saying to me ‘Keep your hands in your pockets and your comments to yourself’ and I think a lot of men forget this. Nothing wrong with looking at an attractive person, but to intrude on them by yelling idiotic comments or to be physically abusive? No. That said, after reading about how our football/film/music ‘heroes’ act, I do seriously wonder about the future…
183. PaBaracus
Of course it’s not right to cat call and intimidate women, but women are deluding themselves if they think that a man doesn’t look at them and sexually objectify them within the first 2 seconds of meeting/seeing them. Not out of misogyny, but because we can’t help it.
182. TallBlondJohn
Ok the article has its flaws but its interesting how many men are taking outrage at generalisations and then moving the debate onto ground of their choosing.A bit like the way men get to take ownership of a woman’s value by their reaction to her atttractiveness perhaps? I think “Hi gorgeous” is harassment – and I’m a bloke. What’s worng with ‘Good morning?’
179. hej516
Some of the comments by men on this article prove the women who were interviewed absolutely right. Men are brought up in our culture to believe they have the right to watch, judge, and loudly comment upon the body of any woman who trespasses into public space. Unfortunately, their response to an article like this is to go on the defensive rather than to look at their own behaviour critically.
178. Jo
James, you say you “tooted your horn in appreciation” – how do you think that made her feel? Flattered? Try upset and embarrassed. She probably left the house feeling good – you’ll have crushed that.Horn hooting is frightening. It’s loud, and makes you jump. It happened to me a lot when I was a kid – only 14-16. Less when I was older. I think it’s a power thing, and it’s nasty.
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