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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

TRA arrested outside Department for Health

92 replies

TimbuktuTimbuktu · 08/03/2018 12:13

"A protester who was taking part in an Women’s Strike UK action at the Department of Health and Social Care has been arrested, the group says.

According to the group:

Trans women and their allies were peacefully protesting the Department of Health this morning to call urgent attention to the failings in the provision of healthcare for trans people."

www.theguardian.com/world/live/2018/mar/08/international-womens-day-2018-live-protests-press-for-progress-live

I bet you a tenner it's one of our Action for Trans Health Pals.

OP posts:
ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 08/03/2018 12:16

Presumably they were doing something wrong if they were arrested...

terfing · 08/03/2018 12:19

Interesting... they must have done something pretty bad!

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 08/03/2018 12:20

Press release here:

^womenstrike.org.uk/2018/03/08/international-womens-day-peaceful-protester-arrested/^

“Almost every trans person I know is severely mentally ill. It is no coincidence. It is because of the violence we face everyday, and the government is barely willing to help.”

I think they may be getting cause and effect confused...

OvaHere · 08/03/2018 12:30

“Almost every trans person I know is severely mentally ill. It is no coincidence. It is because of the violence we face everyday, and the government is barely willing to help.”

Really? It seems at the moment every political party is bending backwards to prioritise trans people. Also if they are all so mentally ill maybe it isn't a good idea that they are put under the spotlight, given positions of responsibility and encouraged to speak on behalf of women. Hmm

Melamin · 08/03/2018 12:30

womenstrike.org.uk/about/

Yes they are, and sisters uncut.

MeltingSnowAfterHeavyFall · 08/03/2018 12:53

No surprise.

RedToothBrush · 08/03/2018 12:59

They can join the queue.

Perinatal mental health problems are very common, affecting up to 20% of women at some point during the perinatal period.

Perinatal mental health problems don't just affect mothers, they affect their children too.

Taken together, perinatal depression, anxiety and psychosis carry a total long-term cost to society of about £8.1 billion for each one-year cohort of births in the UK. This is equivalent to a cost of just under £10,000 for every single birth in the country.

Nearly three-quarters (72%) of this cost relates to adverse impacts on the child rather than the mother.

Worst still:

A broad set of illustrative estimates suggests that additional NHS expenditure of around £280 million a year would be needed in England to bring perinatal mental health care up to the level and standard recommended in national guidance. This is equivalent to extra spending of around £1.3 million a year in an average CCG. In comparison, aggregate spending on the NHS in England is around £105 billion a year, or around £500 million a year in a typical CCG.

Put another way, the estimated cost of extra provision is equivalent to about £400 per average birth. Our estimates suggest that, in comparison, perinatal mental health problems impose costs of around £10,000 per birth for society as a whole, with costs of around £2,100 per birth falling on the public sector.

This is a map of specialist maternity mental health services in the UK. The red areas are areas where there is no specialist provision. Only the dark green areas represent areas which met the MINIMUM level recommended. 80% of women in NI, 70% of women in NI and 40% of women in England and Scotland have NO specialist maternity mental health services in their area.

*source: everyonesbusiness.org.uk/?page_id=349

The number of births in the UK last year was 777,167 (about 11,000 of those are multiple births - mainly twins) So lets call that roughly 750,000 women who give birth. You work out what the demand and need for these services is...

And given its cost effect to provide the minimum standard of care, and its not being provided, then there is more than argument for it.

Oh and just throwing this out there because its relevant and I'm sick to death of suicide bingo.

Suicide is a leading cause of death during pregnancy and one year after birth

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/new-mum-suicide_uk_58481bdee4b07fd553cef3d3
Suicide Is The Leading Direct Cause Of Death Among New Mums, Report Shows

Want to know how many this is?

The report focussed particularly on maternal mental health, and includes lessons learned from reviews of the care of more than 100 women who died by suicide during pregnancy or in the year after giving birth between 2009 and 2013.

This also doesn't necessarily cover all suicides. Only ones classed as directly related to birth.

This report states that:
A quarter of all maternal deaths between 6 weeks and a year were mental health related with 1 in 7 being classed as suicide.

As I say, join the queue.

Biological women can more than make the case for how they are being failed. No one talks about it though.

We should all go at get arrested outside the DoH obviously.

TRA arrested outside Department for Health
Ereshkigal · 08/03/2018 13:01

Thank you for that post Red, some useful statistics there.

RedToothBrush · 08/03/2018 13:02

Incidentally, why aren't Labour going NUTS at the Maternal Suicide Rate?

RedToothBrush · 08/03/2018 13:10

Oh and why aren't Labour going NUTS at Oxford University Trust who have banned maternal request C-sections outright against NICE guidance. Birthrights.org.uk say this decision is appalling. The fallacy is that this is women who are just 'too posh to push', the reality is much different. Maternal request C-sections are mostly related to mental health reasons. (Noting the lack of specialist maternal mental health support here too).

Why on earth could it be that Labour and these women's activists show no interest in these biologically related issues?

Efferlunt · 08/03/2018 13:10

Thank you Red. This is exactly why we need feminism to talk about issues around things like birth and post partum healthcare without falling over ourselves to apologise for it.

swivelchair · 08/03/2018 13:17

Bloody hell Red - I have never heard anyone talk about that. How have I not heard any of this - I have two kids, I read a lot, I follow the news, I'm here on the feminism section all the time.

There is an article on Maternal Mental Health on the BBC website, but it's short, it doesn't cover these figures - we all need to know this.

RedToothBrush · 08/03/2018 13:17

This can't even be blamed on austerity, when its cost effective to the tax payer to actually pull its finger out.

The issue is that women's biological health is so far down the political agenda that no one gives a shit. Women's health isn't regarded as political currency that will win votes nor is it valued as important in its own right.

But trans rights and health care? Way up there for Labour.

That tells you everything you need to know.

DancingLedge · 08/03/2018 13:21

Red you are awesome.

What are we going to do?

DancingLedge · 08/03/2018 13:23

Not intended as " Red, tell us what to do"

That was a collective, what are we as women going to do about this?

RedToothBrush · 08/03/2018 13:24

How have I not heard any of this - I have two kids, I read a lot, I follow the news, I'm here on the feminism section all the time.

I've posted on MN about it in the past in the childbirth section and when MN has had maternity related campaigns.

But I've never posted it in feminism before.

I obviously should have. Its (one of) my pet MN subjects.

Springtrolls · 08/03/2018 13:27

Are we supposed to feel sorry for the transwoman who have to wait to access various services?
All I can say is welcome to womanhood. You wanted to be like us. This is the reality for us. It's more than pretty dresses and wearing pink.

Today I have finally hit my peak

BumpInTheOven · 08/03/2018 13:30

There'll be something else that comes along... I've had multiple peaks... Wink

Worrying stats tho Confused

RedToothBrush · 08/03/2018 13:30

What are we going to do about this?

Keep talking. Keep telling people, until someone listens.

I am thinking though, that maybe this could get some publicity pigging backing off the trans 'welllllll keeeeeelllllll ourselves' team and put some perspective on things.

No one can point to any numbers relating to trans suicide, but here we are with some for maternity and the lack of mental health provision.

Rufustherenegadereindeer1 · 08/03/2018 13:35

A friend of mine died

The coroner said they felt it was down to post natal depression that hadnt been treated

Her children were between 9 and 6

Beerincomechampagnetastes · 08/03/2018 13:38

Thank you for those links and the info red excellent information that I can now use professionally Star

RedToothBrush · 08/03/2018 13:47

I should correct - 80% of women in NI, 70% of women in Wales have no specialist maternal mental health provision.

IAmMatty · 08/03/2018 13:51

If trans people are mentally ill because they routinely face violence, why aren't ALL women continually mentally ill?

That's fucking effect and cause, not cause and effect.

Also, you're bound to feel like you're constantly under siege if you decide that people saying the wrong words in your presence is, you know, actual violence. Hmm

I'm so sick of this mentality.

RedToothBrush · 08/03/2018 14:16

Here's another idea to reflect on and ponder:
www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2017-10-16/a-system-at-breaking-point
Revealed: Thousands of vulnerable women turned away as refuge funding is cut
Survivors and support workers tell the Bureau of a refuge system at breaking point

Local authorities across England have cut their spending on domestic violence refuges by nearly a quarter (24%) since 2010, according to our new research.

and

The Bureau’s survey of 40 refuge managers across England revealed that 95% of refuges surveyed have turned women away in the last six months, either because they have physical impairments, complex mental health needs, they had too many children with them or simply because there were no beds available.

and

On average two women are killed by their partner or ex-partner every week in England and Wales.

and

Last year Theresa May and the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) announced a £20m pot to fund domestic violence projects. The 76 successful projects were revealed in a high profile announcement in February which the Prime Minister said had the potential “to completely transform the way we think about and tackle domestic violence and abuse”.

However the Bureau’s analysis shows that 50 local authorities received nothing, an equivalent of 15% of the adult female population.

Shropshire, for example, did not receive any of the DCLG funding. The county council has cut its funding to refuges by 48% since 2010.

Even in areas that were funded, the amount per head of population varies wildly, from the equivalent of £3.52 per adult woman in Cumbria, to just 11p in Kent.

and this one especially

Vital support services like child support workers, specialist provision for women from minority ethnic backgrounds and substance abuse workers have been reduced.

Those who are most vulnerable can be most affected by cuts, as service provision to those groups is more complex.

Marai Larasi of Imkaan, explained the importance of services tailored to black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) women. “Part of it is understanding different cultural nuances, issues around language but also autonomy. It really helps if you are being supported by people that understand the range of issues you are dealing with”, she said.

In East London, the Ashiana network runs three refuges with provision for BAME women, especially those fleeing forced marriage or “honour-based” violence. Housing services manager Pam Saleem told the Bureau: “Last year we lost funding for one of our refuges, the council decided they wanted to fund generic provision”, rather than specialist refuges.

All these people screaming that transwomen should have access to women's shelters, fail to acknowledge that disabled women, women with mental health needs, women with too many children, women with particular cultural issues and language difficulties are being turned away. The shelters can not provide the specialist services they need. Women and kids are being sent 600miles to get a place.

What happens if the single sex exemptions for shelter turns away someone trans, because they can't accommodate them and they prioritise a woman with kids? Are the activists going to jump up and down shouting transphobia then, and go legal on the shelters? Thus meaning that transwomen have to be given priority because they have mouthy friends who will endanger the very existence of the shelter otherwise?

Seriously? Trans people obviously need specialist services. If women and kids are having to go 600miles to get a space, then why isn't the money that will appear for a legal case simply being spent on a specialist shelter for transwomen?

I can almost guarantee we will get this 'queue jumping' privileged bollocks going on. Which hardly smacks of being the most oppressed in society.

If women and kids with particular special needs can't get in a DV shelter, then why should transwomen get priority over them?

Piggie back their shit. Get out women's message in doing so.

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