Calls for Submissions and Participation

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.

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

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.

UBC seeks quantitative researcher for study on sex, gender, and equity in pharmaceutical policy:

Research Position 
Bright, conscientious, and personable Project Manager sought to join an interdisciplinary research team at the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Health Services and Policy Research. The Project Manager will play an integral role in a program of quantitative research on how biological and social dimensions of sex and gender influence equity in prescription drug access, appropriateness, and affordability. She/he will contribute to research design, analyses, and publication of findings in articles for scholarly and lay audiences. Periodic travel – within Canada and internationally – will be required to attend meetings and conferences associated with the program of research.

This position is an ideal opportunity for an energetic researcher seeking to conduct and publish policy-relevant research, possibly as a bridge to doctoral studies related to equity and health/pharmaceutical policy.

Education Requirement 
Master’s degree or Doctorate in a discipline related to quantitative analysis of equity issues related to sex, gender, and health.

Experience Requirements
Four years of experience conducting scholarly research using advanced quantitative methods including statistical software. Must have proven ability to author or co-author research publications on health and/or pharmaceutical policy. An ideal candidate will have experience working with linked healthcare databases.

Salary
$60,000 to $80,000 per annum dependent on experience and qualifications.

Applications
Job applications must be submitted through the UBC HR portal. The full job description can be found under Job ID: 12678.

The Canadian Journal of Women and the Law (CJWL/RFD) has issued a call for papers on the topic of "Feminist Approaches to Assisted Human Reproduction in Canada after the Supreme Court of Canada Reference". 

Note that papers are due by September 1, 2012.

Proposed themes for the issue include the following:

1. Prohibition or Regulation? What are the justifications for retaining criminal prohibitions against payments for surrogacy, egg and sperm donations and embryo transfers? What are the regulatory alternatives and under what circumstances, if any, are these models acceptable?

2.  AHR Governance.  What is and what should the AHR Board and the Agency be doing? What resources is it consuming? What is its mandate after the AHRA Reference?

3. International Implications. What do we know about "reproductive tourism"? What are the possible types of regulation for international surrogacy arrangements and other AHRTs?

4. Who is a parent? What are the family law implications of AHR? Do the kin relationships arising from AR compel us to rethink the construal of kin in contemporary family law, or can these new families be accommodated within the current framework or as exceptions to it?

Guest editors for this special issue are Karen Busby and Susan Drummond-please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.  Please pass this note onto anyone who might be interested in contributing. For more information about the journal's submission policy, please check out their website.

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

It is time for Manitoba women to organize and determine appropriate actions to advance our position around issues related to our health and wellbeing. Manitoba women are known for being leaders in social action and change, and it is time to reenergize and reinvigorate and revolutionize our movement!

Child-minding will be available for up to 8 children – please register with Jann via email or telephone if you will need child-minding support (contact details below).

WHO: Women who are concerned, invested in, and motivated to respond to issues related to women’s collective wellbeing.

WHAT: Agenda

Introduction Joan Dawkins, Executive Director, WHC

Brainstorm Large group discussion/brainstorm of issues

Dialogue Small group dialogues about specifics of larger issues

Regroup Presentation of small group ideas to large group

Next steps Determine who can host/lead next meeting and when

WHEN: Monday April 23 @ 530-7pm

WHERE: Main Floor – Women’s Health Clinic, 419 Graham Ave, Winnipeg

WHY: Because you have your own concerns; because there will be light refreshments; because other awesome women will be there; because you want to connect with community; because there is child-care; because you want to lead; because you want to follow; because you want to learn; just because.

CONTACT: Jann Ticknor – jticknor@womenshealthclinic.org –             204.947.2422       X122

April 25, 2012 -- 12:00 Noon Eastern

Please take time to review the new instructions in advance

EMForum.org will host a one hour presentation and interactive discussion Wednesday, April 25, 2012, beginning at 12:00 Noon Eastern time (please convert to your local time).

The topic will be highlights of the new book, Women Confronting Natural Disaster: From Vulnerability to Resilience, together with some practical implications and ideas for extending the analysis to men/gender. Additional resources, including The Women of Katrina: How Gender, Race, and Class Matter in an American Disaster and other policy and practice guides will also be presented.

Their guest will be researcher and author Elaine Enarson*, Ph.D. Dr. Enarson describes herself as "an accidental disaster sociologist" whose personal experience in Hurricane Andrew sparked extensive work on gender, vulnerability and community resilience. In addition to her work on these two new books, she previously co-edited The Gendered Terrain of Disaster: Through Women's Eyes (1998), as well as Women, Gender and Disaster: Global Issues and Initiatives (2009). Dr. Enarson is a founding member of the global Gender and Disaster Network and initiator of the US-based Gender and Disaster Resilience Alliance.

Kathy Fitzpatrick and Christine Knott, scholarship laureates of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) Gender Team will present their study results during the next Web conference “Through a Gender Lens: Occupational Health and Safety Of Canadian Home Care Workers and British Columbian Fishery Workers”:

Monday April 30^th - from 1:15 to 3:00 pm (Montreal time)

Please confirm your attendance (at Cinbiose or online) by e-mail at: rioux-pelletier.marie_eve@uqam.ca

In Sickness and In Health: A Critical Literature Review of Canadian Home Care Workers’ Health Issues
By Kathy Fitzpatrick, PhD Candidate, Sociology Department, Memorial University
Home care work is one of the fastest growing occupations in our healthcare system and enables individuals to reside within their homes instead of residing within hospitals or long-term care facilities.  Home care workers are predominantly women, and like many female-dominated occupations there is limited research on the occupational health and safety (OHS) of home care workers. This critical literature review of Canadian home care workers’ occupational health and safety research during the period 1996 to 2009 uses a gender lens to identify major themes, critically analyze and identify gaps in the research, and suggest future research topics. 

In partnership with Shelter Net BC and BC Society of Transition Houses, the Woman Abuse Response Program at BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre will be delivering free training on Improving Women's Safety in Co-Ed Shelters in 7 communities around the province.  This training will enable front line shelter staff to learn more about how to keep women safe in a co-ed shelter environment. The training is open to all service providers who work with vulnerable populations, though priority will go to co-ed shelter staff. 

ONE DAY FREE TRAINING for front line workers to learn more about how to keep women safe in co-ed shelter environments. Training will provide information on women's experiences of violence and how it is connected to homelessness; impacts of violence, including mental health and addictions; barriers women face accessing services and trying to achieving safety; and examining policy and practices in shelters that impact women safety.  This training is funded by ShelterNet BC, and jointly developed by BC Society of Transition Houses and BC Women’s Hospital’s Women Abuse Response Program.

TRAINING DATES

REGISTRATION

DES Action USA has created a DES Health History Survey. They have put it online so that DES-exposed individuals around the world can participate. The more surveys turned in, the better the possibility they have of identifying health trends. 

To get to the survey go to: desaction.org/

There is no membership requirement for any organization.They are looking for participation from individuals who believe they were exposed to DES. No actual proof is required because that is something most people cannot get. They are hoping to hear from DES Mothers, DES Daughters, DES Sons and DES Grandchildren.

Please share this survey with individuals within your DES communities via newsletters, email alerts, Facebook posts, and any way you deem best.

If language is a problem perhaps you could help by using a translation service like Babblefish or Google Translate.

On the website there is also a link to get a hard copy version of the questionnaire that can be printed. You can make copies and have them mailed in to the address at the bottom of the print version of the survey. If mailed, the survey must go to the researcher and not the DES Action office.

June 15th is the deadline for all surveys to be completed and returned.

Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions.