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All Issues | 2015 Issues

WOMEN FEMMES NB

IN THIS ISSUE:

Featured Article:
Booklet on Family Law for Immigrants Officially Launched in Five Languages
 

Notices

Did You Know?

In the News:
    - Let's Get Real About Supporting Women in Tech
    - ‘Myths of Rape Should Be Dispelled,’ Says Judge in Mandi Gray Case
    - Lives Saved In Viet Nam By Involving Women In Disaster Planning   

Parting Thoughts

Booklet on Family Law for Immigrants Officially Launched in Five Languages

Multicultural agencies and families now have access to new tools on the subject of family law, thanks to the Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick (PLEIS-NB). A new booklet entitled Family Law Matters for Immigrants was officially launched today.

“For various reasons, newcomers to Canada may not completely understand their rights when it comes to separation and divorce,” said Justice and Public Safety Minister Denis Landry. “Those rights are very similar to those of Canadian-born residents. This publication will assist greatly in helping immigrants navigate New Brunswick’s family justice system when needed. I am particularly proud that this information is available in five languages, reflecting the cultural diversity of our province.”

The brochure is available in both official languages as well as Arabic, Korean and Mandarin. It covers a variety of topics on family law as they relate to new Canadians, including custody, access, support and marital property issues. It also includes a section on family violence and provides referrals to support services and other resources.

“We are pleased to say that the booklet goes a long way in addressing some common misconceptions about the legal system,” said Deborah Doherty, executive director of PLEIS-NB. “For example, we learned that many immigrants were not aware of the rights of common-law partners. Some even thought that living together without being married was illegal.”

The Multicultural Association of Fredericton also partnered in the development of the publication by arranging consultations for PLEIS-NB staff with immigrants and immigrant serving agencies. The input from these consultations, along with the advice of legal reviewers, ensured the accuracy and tone of the new resource. The publication was made possible with funding from Justice Canada’s Supporting Families Fund, as well as support from the New Brunswick’s Department of Justice and Public Safety.

Family Law Matters for Immigrants is now available at New Brunswick libraries, multicultural associations, immigrant serving agencies and others who support newcomers. It is also available on Family Law NB website.

http://bit.ly/2apcXlG

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NOTICES

Fergusson Foundation 2016 Grants Program: The Fergusson Foundation is accepting proposals for funding from registered charities, for projects dealing with the problem of family violence. The organizations selected will be awarded a grant, to a maximum of $3,000 to undertake projects in areas including counseling, training, public education and educational research. To be considered for funding, the proposal project must fall into one of the following categories: the operation of emergency  shelters and the provision of counseling and other services to victims of family violence; the development of counseling and training programs for the education of counselors working with victims of family violence; the development of public education programs about family violence; the support of educational  research into the causes of family violence, and to assist with the education and training of victims of family violence. The deadline for receiving applications is Monday, August 8th, 2016. [email protected]

The Conference for Integrative and Energy Therapies - 18^th Annual Canadian Energy Psychology Conference-2016. The Body’s Energy Systems: Doorways for Psychological Change.  Delta Halifax, 1990 Barrington St, Halifax NS, Tel: 1-800-268-1133. Main Conference: September 16-18, Pre and Post conference workshops: September 15 and September 19. Satisfy your professional Continuing Education requirements in an atmosphere of collegiality, collaboration, compassion and fun.  Special track for mental health professionals new to Energy Psychology will be taught by Dr. David Feinstein. Reduced conference fees for members of CAIET, the only Canadian organization for Energy Therapies. Join now at www.caiet.org .  For information & to register: www.epccanada.ca 416-221-5639.

Cancer Prevention and Screening: Cancer screening aims to detect cancer early by testing people who do not show any signs or symptoms of the disease. In New Brunswick, there are three organized cancer screening programs in place focused on improving prevention, early detection and screening of Breast, Cervical and Colon cancers. http://bit.do/ceifj

Consulting with Canadians on Accessibility Legislation: Between July 2016 and February 2017, the Federal Government will be consulting with Canadians on accessibility legislation. http://bit.do/ceifE  

Current Opportunities to Serve on New Brunswick Agencies, Boards and Commissions (ABCs):   Qualified women and men having the highest personal and professional integrity are invited to serve on New Brunswick agencies, boards and commissions (ABCs).  For more information, check out the following link:    ABC current opportunities

Voices of New Brunswick Women Consensus-Building Forum: Contact Us: Sartain MacDonald Building, 551 King Street, Suite 103, Fredericton NB E3B 1E7, T. 506.462.5179, 1-844-462-5179, F. 506.462.5069, E. [email protected], www.voixfemmesnb-voiceswomennb.ca

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In the News:

Let's Get Real About Supporting Women in Tech

The numbers aren't improving. Could it be because men just do a better job? Not according to the research.

Despite the well-documented (really obvious) gender gap in the tech sector, we’re not seeing a lot of improvement, and it’s time to take some serious action.

Right now, women (who represent 57 percent of the U.S. labor force) fill just a quarter (26.5 percent) of tech jobs at the top U.S. tech firms, and earn, on average, just 85 percent of what their male counterparts do. The thing is, only 18 percent of women hold leadership positions in these companies. At the top 100 VC firms, a mere 7 percent of managing partners are women.

Could it be because men just do a better job? Well, no. Not according to the research.

The Kauffman Foundation, for example, released a study demonstrating that tech companies led by women are more capital-efficient and achieve, on average, a 35 percent higher return on investment (ROI) than firms led by men. Forbes found that women tech entrepreneurs (working from the disadvantage of having received 50 percent less VC funding), are still able to generate 20 percent greater revenue than their male counterparts.

Another study by First Round Capital documented how tech companies with a woman founder performed 63 percent better than those companies with all-male founding teams. Yet only about 7 percent of VC money goes to women-led startups, a number that hasn’t really budged in years.

So, why aren’t women first in line to be funded, given their performance — and especially when you consider that, according to McKinsey, advancing women’s equality could add $12 trillion to the global GDP by 2025?

Continued: http://bit.do/ceifK

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‘Myths of Rape Should Be Dispelled,’ Says Judge in Mandi Gray Case

Ontario Court Justice Marvin Zuker changed the landscape of sexual assault and the criminal justice system on Thursday.

He found York University student Mustafa Ururyar guilty of sexually assaulting fellow PhD student Mandi Gray.

“Of this there is no doubt,” he said. “Ms Gray was raped by the accused.”

But it was his verdict, 179 pages delivered in a deliberately patient cadence over more than two hours, that was revolutionary.

“The myths of rape should be dispelled once and for all,” he announced near the long-awaited end of his verdict. “It doesn’t matter if the victim was drinking, out at night alone, sexually exploited, on a date with the perpetrator, or how the victim was dressed. No one asks to be raped.”

He underlined that last line, literally.

Does the woman rush to the police right away or wait days, weeks, months? It doesn’t matter, Zuker said. There are plenty of reasons why victims wait or don’t report at all. Does she remember every gruesome detail in “a piecemeal fashion, rather than in a neat chronology?” It is understandable, people only remember the gist of what happens and trauma causes memory fragments, he said. Does she lie stiff with fear, and not claw at her attacker or scramble desperately for the door during her rape? And if she doesn’t, should she be disbelieved later?

“This is ludicrous and contrary to the way in which victims behave when attacked,” he said.

“For much of our history the ‘good’ rape victim, the ‘credible’ rape victim has been a dead one.”

At about the 80-minute mark, when it finally became clear which way things were going, many of Gray’s supporters in the gallery gasped, grabbed one another’s hands and cried. They had expected the opposite because that’s the way it usually goes, particularly in typical sex assault cases like Ururyar’s that pivot entirely on consent.

Ururyar acknowledged he and Gray had sex. The two had been hooking up for two weeks, since they’d met at a union meeting at York, where he was studying political science and she sociology. The night of the assault, she’d texted him from a bar to “come drink and then we can have hot sex.” He came, they shut the place down and then walked back to his place.

Continued: http://bit.do/ceif2

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Lives Saved In Viet Nam By Involving Women In Disaster Planning

Through the training of women in disaster management, as well as national lobbying, the contribution of women has been recognized and a government decree now gives the Women’s Union an official space in decision-making bodies.

For millions of people in rural Viet Nam, the impacts of climate change are mounting and sometimes deadly. As weather patterns change, many of Viet Nam’s women in particular are paying a high price.

“The weather becomes more extreme and erratic. Storms, heavy rains and floods destroy fields and houses, kill animals and people every year,” said Ranh Nguyen, 35, a farmer and the head of the Women's Union group in An Dung commune, in Binh Dinh province, central Viet Nam.

There, Ranh and her neighbours have joined the Viet Nam Women’s Union and are working with UN Women to strengthen the role of women in disaster risk-reduction and disaster-reduction management. (…)

“Thanks to good preparation and detailed mapping that we developed in the meetings before each storm, nobody in the village was killed or injured severely in the last year storm season. Crops, fowl and cattle were saved,” explains Ranh, now an official member of the Committee for Flood and Storm Control in her commune.

Prior to the project, there were few women on the Committees for Flood and Storm Control (CFSC) in the village. Through the training of women in disaster management, as well as national lobbying – supported by UN Women, UNDP and other stakeholders – the contribution of women has been recognized.  A government decree issued in September 2013 now provides an official space for the Women’s Union in decision-making boards of the CFSC at all levels. (…)

Continued: http://bit.do/ceiga

Parting Thoughts

“Women are still in emotional bondage as long as we need to worry that we might have to make a choice between being heard and being loved.”

-Marianne Williamson
A Woman's Worth
 

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