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How are women with mental health issues faring behind bars in Canada?

Very poorly, says the International Human Rights Program’s new report Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading? Canada’s treatment of federally-sentenced women with mental health issues.

According to their press release, the report “concludes that the (Canadian) Correctional Service’s treatment of female prisoners with serious mental health issues is discriminatory, violates the rights to liberty and security of person, access to justice, and health, and in some circumstances constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.”

Read the report summary and download the report here.

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The attacks continue on women’s rights in the U.S., through massive cuts and restrictions in health programs.

Texas has been forging ahead on this front, but many other states are also seeking ways to restrict women’s access to health care. Meanwhile, a pro-choice Federal Republican Representative is trying to reverse some of that damage with a new proposed bill in Congress.

Read more:

In Planned Parenthood vs. Texas, Judicial Whiplash Ensues

Proposal to Help Women’s Health

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The Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) is best known as one of the organizations which pushed for the explicit inclusion of gender equality in the Charter.

WHAT: Each year, LEAF hosts a Youth Gathering at the University Women's Club in Westgate for High School students. This year, they will be looking at harassment in the workplace. 

WHO: They need enthusiastic feminist women to facilitate small group discussions. It is an all women event, however, trans-identified people are welcome to facilitate. 

HOW: No experience necessary. All facilitators will be briefed in all the material and likely partnered up with another facilitator who has worked at past LEAF Youth Gatherings.

If interested, CONTACT Accalia Robertson at accalia5@hotmail.com 

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Retreat Date: June 20 – 22, 2012

Application Deadline: May 16, 2012

The Ontario Women’s Health Network (OWHN) is currently accepting applications for the upcoming Level 1: Women’s Health Leadership 101 training retreat scheduled for June 20-22, at the Nottawasaga Inn in Alliston, Ontario.

Women’s Health Leadership 101 is designed to build a greater understanding of the ways sex and gender affect health and health care and to offer women the leadership tools to work towards improving the quality of women's health and health care in their communities. Participants learn how to apply the leadership skills and sex and gender based analysis tools to address the women’s health issues that are important to them. This program is designed for women in Ontario who are motivated and interested in women’s health issues and who are already actively engaged in their communities or organizations.

These retreats are part of the Women’s Health Leadership Program which is funded by Echo: Improving Women's Health in Ontario, an agency of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care

The application form and information about the program are available on OWHN's website at: www.owhn.on.ca

OWHN: 416-408-4840  or toll-free 1-877-860-4545 email: owhn@owhn.on.ca

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May 15 ~ 530pm ~ WHC – 2nd Floor, Room B

Women’s Health Clinic is hosting a second meeting to bring interested women from diverse organizations, families, committees, issues, ages, orientations, abilities, and communities together.

Manitoba women are organizing and determining a way to respond to and influence realities that affect our collective health and wellbeing. Manitoba women are known for being leaders in social action and change, and we are reenergizing and reinvigorating and revolutionizing our community!

Child-minding will be available for up to 8 children – please read more about it, and register with Jann via email or telephone if you will need child-minding support (more details in attachment below).

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Some food for thought from Our Bodies, Our Blog, on what mothers really want for Mother's Day...

"My favorite Mother’s day gifts from my sons were their original stories, songs and poems. But what I needed when they were infants and toddlers was something children can’t deliver: affordable time off when they were born and when they were sick...."

Read What Mothers Really Want: Right to Care for Family Members and Selves

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Canada’s first strategy to improve the mental health of all Canadians was publicly released by the Mental Health Commission of Canada (Commission) this week, which is Mental Health Week.

Visit the Commission’s website for more information about the strategy and to download Changing Directions, Changing Lives.

The strategy includes some discussion about disparities and social determinants and has a short section on gender and sexual orientation and pieces on patient's rights.

Stay tuned for responses to this strategy over the coming days and weeks, on how the strategy has responded to appeals for a stronger gender analysis in mental health that the CWHN and the centres of excellence in women’s health have been asking for, for many years.

To learn more about current research into gender and mental health in Canada, visit The Centre for the Study of Gender, Social Inequities and Mental Health at Simon Fraser University.

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From Health Canada:

More and more, generic drugs are being used to fill prescriptions. Canadians want to be sure that generic drugs are as safe and effective as brand name drugs.  

The It's Your Health article on The Safety and Effectiveness of Generic Drugs has been updated with new information and is now available from Health Canada.

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Women's Health in Women's Hands CHC is undertaking a brief survey to identify research needs/gaps, priorities and to identify new areas and groups to partner with both community based and academic institutions, service providers and decision makers interested in research in communities of colour particularly women.

The survey takes less than 10 minutes. To access the survey follow this link.  

Thank you for filling the survey. WHIWH appreciates your support.

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The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Institute of Cancer Research, Institute of Genetics and the Institute of Neuroscience, Mental Health and Addiction) will present this journalist workshop:

Where: The Sutton Place Hotel, 955 Bay Street, Toronto
Who: For health and science reporters
When: Friday June 1^st, 2012:

This journalist workshop is focused on the latest developments in epigenetics - from early-life experiences to late-life events and what impacts they have on your health.

Topics to be covered include:

Placing Canada in an International Context: Paul Lasko, PhD., Scientific Director of the Institute of Genetics, CIHR

Environment and Genes: How is the Paradigm Shifting?: Marla B. Sokolowski, PhD, FRSC, Canada Research Chair in Genetics and Behavioural Neurology

Genetic Imprinting, Nutrition & Early Life: Rosanna Weksberg, MD, PhD, FRCPC, Clinical and Metabolic Genetics, The Hospital for Sick Children

Epigenetic Sequencing Technologies and their Relevance to Cancer Research: Martin Hirst, PhD, Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer Agency

Twins Studies and the Basis of Heredity – Implications for Mental Health: Art Petronis, MD, PhD.,The Krembil Family Epigenetics Laboratory, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Early Trauma/Abuse and its Health Effects Later in Life: Gustavo Turecki, MD, PhD, Research and Academic Affairs, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University

Watch this CIHR Journalist Workshops Video for a snapshot into past workshops.

Register soon as space is limited.
This workshop is free, but participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation costs.

Workshop sessions will be held in English only.

To register or to obtain more information, please contact:

David Coulombe
CIHR Media Relations
Tel: 613- 941-4563      
Cell: 613-808-7526

mediarelations@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

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In the Bioethics Forum May 1^st, Canadian bioethicist Françoise Baylis writes:

“Despite the clear legal prohibitions and the serious legal penalties, the business of buying and selling reproductive tissues and services in Canada is robust, with thousands of dollars changing hands per transaction and no arrests being made. For example, it is reported that the price for eggs ranges from 3,000 to 7,000 Canadian dollars, while the total bill for contract pregnancy can be as much as 100,000 Canadian dollars.”

Read her whole piece in Bioethics Forum.

Read more commentary by Baylis about the demise of Assisted Human Reproduction Canada in A mixed-bag budget.

And there is more on this issue in the Winnipeg Free Press, Fertile ground for controversy: Agency closure highlights murky world of assisted human reproduction in Canada.

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The Healthy Aboriginal Network (HAN) has launched a new maternal child health comic book.

It Takes a Village is about Lara, a young mom-to-be that is visited by Danis, also a young mom. Danis teaches Lara (visually) the importance of eating healthy foods, avoiding alcohol, breastfeeding, keeping dad involved and bonding with her baby. The story was focus group tested online with health professionals and in-person with young, Aboriginal moms.

HAN gratefully acknowledges the support of Health Canada on this project.

You can find a preview of the book, as well as pricing, on their website. Please send an email to sean@thehealthyaboriginal.net if you'd like to order this, or any other of their health and social comic books. Custom rear resource covers are available for high volume, provincial and national distribution.

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SEX IN 3D: Dialogue, Diversity and Determinants of Sexual Health

34th Annual Guelph Sexuality Conference 2012

Thursday, May 31 & Friday, June 1, 2012
University of Guelph

The Guelph Sexuality Conference is recognized as Canada's leading, annual, training and education forum for sexual health professionals. Delegates are from public health, community health, education, social services, and counselling, as well as, medical doctors and nurses, clergy and researchers. The program is dedicated to understanding the complexities of human nature and celebrating sexuality with dignity and respect. The conference provides an opportunity for researchers, therapists, administrators and service providers to showcase their success stories. 

For more information, please visit their website.

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World Health Organization Job Opportunity
Vacancy Notice No: HQ/12/HQ/FT144
Title: Team Leader
Grade: P-6
Contract type: Fixed-Term Appointment
Duration of contract:  Two years 
Application Deadline: 7 June 2012
Duty Station:Geneva,Switzerland

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME:

The mainstreaming of Gender, Equity and Human Rights in the work of WHO would offer WHO Programmes at all levels of the Organization:

- a coherent and powerful assembly of these core values of the Organization, and alignment of WHO's work on these values with other UN Organizations (in particular UN Women and the HR Council), Funds and Programmes, building on their experience;

- the incorporation of core components of Gender, Equity and Human Rights in WHO's work in all policies, programmes, measurement of impact and research;

- the creation and enhancement of a corporate attitude, behaviour and practice that is unifying, across fields of expertise and organizational levels, and speaking with one voice to the outside world;

- an engagement in a collective effort geared to generate greater impact of individual programmes;

- a comprehensive and combined set of principles, standards, methods and tools conducive to increased literacy of WHO staff on these values, and skills to incorporate them in strategic planning.

For the full job description, visit their website.

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A piece in this week’s Maclean’s magazine by Anne Kingston talks about how women have been largely excluded from medical research, and why women should be “outraged” about this.

CWHN has been working to close this “gender gap” for almost two decades.

The article quotes Abby Lippman, the former longtime chair of CWHN’s board, as well as Barbara Mintzes, a researcher who was integral to the work of Women and Health Protection whose work we have often promoted.

Read Medicine’s Deadly Gender Gap.

This week CWHN’s Executive Director Anne Rochon Ford sent a submission to Health Canada about the inclusion of women in clinical trials. This submission is a response to Health Canada’s Draft Guidance Document on the Inclusion of Women in Clinical Trials that was discussed in the Maclean’s article.

Read her submission below.

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Much overage is being given recently to Motion 312, which is being introduced by Federal Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth. Motion-312 asks Parliament to examine the current definition of “human being” in the Criminal Code to decide whether it should include fetuses. The goal of the motion is to give legal protection to fetuses.

Read about this motion, and the coverage being given to it in the past few weeks. The motion is mobilizing pro-choice supporters across the country.

And here’s a more recent story in the Winnipeg Free Press.

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June 7- 9, 2012
Baltimore, MD, USA

Online Registration: Deadline: June 1, 2012
Late-Breaking Abstract: Deadline: May 7, 2012

For more information, see their website.

To submit an abstract, visit this page. 

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Call for contributors

Canadian Abortion Experience: Voices on Choice(s) is an edited collection that explores the abortion-related experiences of Canadian women (and men), activists, practitioners, and academics. At a time when women’s access to safe and legal abortion is facing renewed scrutiny under a majority Conservative government, this timely collection explores the issue from a variety of perspectives.

Divided into two parts, *Canadian Abortion Experience* will include narratives relaying the abortion experiences of patients, practitioners, activists, and others whose lives have been touched by abortion as well as think pieces and dialogues on a variety of issues pertaining to the pro-choice movement in Canada. 

Narratives should share remembrances, thoughts, feelings, motivations, and experiences as they pertain to abortion either on a personal or professional level. 

Topics for think pieces may include (but are not limited to): 

-What does (or doesn’t) “choice” mean to you?

-Linguistic strategies (e.g. the use of “abortion rights” vs. “reproductive rights”; the use of “anti-choice” vs. “anti-abortion”; the use of “choice”)

-Mobilizing the pro-choice majority (abortion and the “everywoman”)

-Refocusing the abortion debate on the pregnant woman instead of the fetus

-Reflections on the place/role of Morgentaler in pro-choice history/narrative

-Future strategies for pro-choice activism

-Continuities, changes, and challenges between the second and third waves of pro-choice feminist activism in Canada

-Inclusions and exclusions in the pro-choice movement (e.g. class, race, ethnicity, regionalism)

-The relationship between academic and frontline activism

-Abortion and religion

-Abortion and sexuality

-Abortion and technology

-Unequal access to abortion services

-Reproductive justice

-The medicalization of abortion

Think pieces should be short essays between 500 and 2500 words. Narratives can be of variable length up to approximately 2,000 words. All material should be original, unpublished elsewhere.

Submissions are due June 30, 2012.

For further information or to submit a piece, please contact Shannon Stettner via cdnabex@gmail.com or at shannon.stettner@gmail.com.

Visit the website Canadian Abortion Experience.

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The recent Health Canada cuts to funding for women’s health in our country have received attention not only throughout Canada but also south of the border.

Today’s Our Bodies, Our Blog gives a good overview of the funding cuts to CWHN, le Réseau québécois d’action pour la santé des femmes, and four centres of excellence in women’s health across Canada that were announced in April.

Read Canadian Funding of Women’s Health Research Cut.

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Women’s Healthy Environments Network (WHEN) invites you to:

Come watch the beautiful film based on the book by Sandra Steingraber, Living Downstream: A Scientist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment.  There will be questions and answers afterwards with director Chanda Chevannes.

Date: Wednesday May 2, 2012
Time: 6:00pm
Place: CSI, 215 Spadina Ave., Suite 120
Admission: Pay What You Can

Living Downstream is a cinematic feature-length documentary based on the acclaimed book by ecologist and cancer survivor Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D.

This poetic film follows Sandra during one pivotal year as she travels across North America, working to break the silence about cancer and its environmental links. After a routine cancer screening, Sandra receives some worrying results and is thrust into a period of medical uncertainty. Thus, we begin two journeys with Sandra: her private struggles with cancer and her public quest to bring attention to the urgent human rights issue of cancer prevention.

At once Sandra’s personal journey and her scientific exploration, Living Downstream is a powerful reminder of the intimate connection between the health of our bodies and the health of our air, land, and water.

The filmmaker, Chanda Chevannes, will be available for questions and answers after the film screening.

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Breast Cancer Action Montréal's executive director, Rosanne Cohen and Patricia Kearns will be reporting back after attending a workshop given by the National Network on Environments and Women's Health (NNEWH) in partnership with the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) called Are Women Automotive Plastic Workers at Risk?: Starting the conversation. 

When: Thursday, May 3
What time: 7 p.m. 
Where: 2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy 
1500 de Maisonneuve West, Suite 404, Montreal
For more info call BCAM: 514-483-1846 

www.bcam.qc.ca

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A free webinar by Breast Cancer Action (San Francisco) is being offered on both May 15 and 16:

Why are white women more likely to develop breast cancer, yet African American, Latina and Samoan women are more likely to die from the disease? Why do women of color tend to develop more aggressive breast cancers at earlier ages than white women? Why are we seeing the sharpest rise in breast cancer rates in Japanese women in Los Angeles? 

Race and ethnicity play a huge role in the answers to these questions because so often where we live, work and play is tightly bound to our racial make-up.

Join them for this free one-hour webinar to learn about what you can do to help achieve health equity - the highest level of health - for everyone.

Register for Tuesday, May 15th at 2pm PST/5pm EST 

Register for Wednesday, May 16th at 11am PST/2pm EST  

Click on the links above to register for the time and day that works for you.

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The Women’s Healthy Environments Network (WHEN) website has a whole new look and feel.

Their volunteer team has been working hard to revamp the WHEN logo and website. You’ll see a variety of new features, responding to the advice they’ve received from some of you and their desire to meet the needs of their ever growing followers. 

Visit their website today!

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The Atlantic Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health and the Prairie Women’s Health Centre of Excellence have produced a new report:

Overweight and Obesity in Pregnancy: A Review of Evidence by J. R. Bernier, Y. Hanson

This literature review focuses on the implications of maternal overweight and obesity, the experiences of pregnant women who are overweight or obese, and the provision of maternity care for overweight or obese women. Given the rise in rates of overweight and obesity in Canada and in many countries around the world in recent years, researchers, health care providers and policy makers have begun to focus more attention on the relationship between overweight and obesity and health. Of particular interest has been the impact of overweight and obesity on maternal and newborn health.

To read and to download a PDF of the review, please visit PWHCE's website.

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The Spring edition of The Net, a newsletter produced by The International Network of Women Against Tobacco (INWAT), and sponsored by the BC Centre of Excellence for Women's Health, came out in time for the 15th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Singapor.

To download your copy, please click here.