News and Issues

The UNCSW is in session from February 27^thto March 9^th,, in New York City.

The session has gathered representatives from Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from around the world.  The priority theme under consideration for 2012 is: “The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges.”

More details on the 56th session can be found on their website.

February 6 was International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a UN-sponsored day dedicated to raising awareness of the thousands year-old practice whereby a girl or woman’s genitals are cut.

Read about how community organizing is working to end the practice in Senegal, and also how widespread media attention on the issue is helping those efforts around the world, in Reproductive Health Reality Check.

This has been a wild - and eye-opening - few days in the women's health movement in America, and for those of us watching from afar.

First, Susan G. Komen for the Cure (premier organizer in the US of pink ribbon campaigns for breast cancer) withdrew its funding for Planned Parenthood (which offers breast cancer services) without fully explaining why, although anti-abortion forces that support Komen are strongly suspected, as are other political motivations. A blog post on Our Bodies Ourselves yesterday (Feb. 2) saw the roots of Komen's decision in "pressure from anti-abortion activists who refuse to acknowledge Planned Parenthood’s delivery of vital health care services."

When news of Komen's decision got out, there was a massive outcry via social media.

Today, Komen reversed its decision, still not fully explaining why an organization supposedly devoted to women's health would defund another organization devoted to women's health.

One thing that's clear in this chain of events is the incredible power of social media in mobilizing for change, and how the women's movement should well be paying attention to and remembering how these days have just played out.

Read some of the commentary so far:

6 Things You Need To Know About the Komen Foundation/Planned Parenthood Controversy (Alternet) 

Last week a Boston court set a major precedent in the US, ruling in favour of of 53 women who said their breast cancers were caused by the anti-miscarriage drug diethylstilbestrol (DES).

Between 1940 and 1971 DES was prescribed to millions of women in Canada, France, The Netherlands, United States and Great Britain.  In Canada between 200,000 and 400,000 women were given DES.

Read about in this recent court decision in DES Action’s (US) press release below.

To learn about what is known to date of the medical problems for DES Daughters, see the article below from the US National Institutes of Health in October 2011.

Read about this case in the Boston Globe: Judge rules DES-breast cancer case can move forward

For more information about the effects of DES, see DES Action (US)

An editorial in this week’s Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) has opened the debate on selective abortion of female fetuses, and how much this is happening in Canada.

Rajendra Kale, interim editor of the CMAJ, called for a ban on disclosing the sex of a fetus until 30 weeks, a point at which abortions are difficult to obtain. His editorial cited research that suggests some Asian immigrants are aborting unwanted females.

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, on the other hand, has countered that “Dr. Kale’s proposal is inconsistent with the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada’s policy statement which states that “a patient’s request for disclosure should be respected, either directly or in a report to the referring health professional”.”

Read more about it here:

“It’s a girl!”— could be a death sentence (CMAJ)

Sex selection migrates to Canada (CMAJ)

Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (see 17 January Media update on their home page)

Bid to curb female feticide pushes hot buttons of abortion and culture (Globe and Mail)

Selective abortions prompt call for ultrasound rules (CBC)

“We used to march in the streets: now you’re supposed to run for a cure, or walk for a cure, or jump for a cure, or whatever it is . . . the effect of the whole pink ribbon culture was to drain and deflect the kind of militancy we had as women who were appalled to have a disease that is epidemic and yet that we don’t even know the cause of.” – Barbara Ehrenreich.

Pink Ribbons, Inc., a feature documentary directed by Léa Pool and produced and executive produced by Ravida Din, looks at how the breast cancer movement has moved from activism to consumerism and challenges viewers to rethink their assumptions about the meaning of breast cancer in our society.

The National Film Board of Canada with the cooperation of the Windsor International Film Festival will present Pink Ribbons Inc. at:

Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 7pm
Capitol Theatre, 121 University Ave, Windsor, ON
Film screening at 7pm - Discussion and reception to follow

Invited respondents:
Patricia Noonan - Lori Dupont Inquest Action Group
Natalie Gierman - Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Ontario Region
Patricia Kearns - Breast Cancer Action Montreal

Read more about the event here: Link between work and breast cancer focus of Windsor conference (Windsor Star).

For additional information on the event, please contact National Network on Environments and Women’s Health (NNEWH) at nnewh1@yorku.ca or Margaret Keith and Jim Brophy at 519-735-2944.

For more information on the film, visit Windsor Film Festival.

View the trailer at www.nfb.ca/pink

Two new reports on the future of Canada`s health care system lack a gender-analysis, which is concerning since these reports have the potential to have a powerful impact on policy-making. Both reports were released in time to coincide with the Council of the Federation, the meeting January 16-17 in British Columbia at which Canada’s premiers are discussing the future of health and health care in our country.

Last week the Health Action Lobby (HEAL) released Functional Federalism and the Future of Medicare in Canada - A Report to the Health Action Lobby (pdf). This report is a response to concerns about quality, access and the sustainability of Canada’s health and health care systems, an attempt to spark the public discussions needed as the 2003 First Ministers’ Accord on Health Care Renewal, and 2004 First Ministers’ 10-­year Plan to Strengthen Health Care come to an end in the Spring 2014. The HEAL report has scant sex- or gender analysis, looking only at the differences in body-weight index (BMI) and at couple of differences between Aboriginal women and men.

And while the new report by the Canadian Pediatrics Society, Are We Doing Enough? A status report on Canadian public policy and child and youth health (pdf) talks about action on child poverty as an important issue in child health, the lack of mention of women is odd, considering that the poverty of single parent households headed by women is a major reason for child poverty.

Barbara Clow and Linda Snyder, the Executive and Assistant Directors of the Atlantic Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health (ACEWH), were invited to present a pre-conference workshop at the SAHARA (Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research Alliance) Conference in Port Elizabeth, South Africa November 28 to December 1, 2011.

The event was organized by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). Together with CIDA-sponsored youth interns and South African colleagues, they led sessions on sex- and gender-based analysis and practice and HIV/AIDS research. While in South Africa, Dr. Clow also oversaw the final signing of the renewal of a Memorandum of Understanding with HSRC.

Read more about it.

A recent blog from the National Eating Disorders Information Centre (NEDIC) talks about how the new children’s book, Maggie Goes on a Diet has received lots of negative press for suggesting that dieting and weight-loss among children can lead to increased popularity and athleticism. The blog looks at how there may actually be a positive outcome from all the controversay surroundings this book’s publication: the critical focus on gender stereotyping in children's books.

Read Once upon a time...

A lawsuit involving 53 women in the US is being closely watched by DES (diethylstilbestrol) daughters throughout that country, and likely Canada and elsewhere.

Fifty-three women from around the US are suing the drug companies who made and promoted DES for millions of pregnant women from about 1938 to the early 1970s. In 1971 a study showed that taking DES during pregnancy appeared to increase the risk of developing a rare vaginal cancer years later for DES daughters in their teens and 20s.

This may be the first breast-cancer related lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies that made DES.

As a recent article notes, “Thousands of lawsuits have been filed since the 1970s alleging links between DES and cervical and vaginal cancer, as well as infertility problems. Many of those cases were settled before trial. The Boston case is believed to be the first major litigation alleging a link between DES and breast cancer in DES daughters over the age of 40.”

Read Boston lawsuit claims DES-breast cancer link.