Who to vote for as a feminist

[WorkingBling]

I am really struggling ahead of the elections. I have decided that commitment to feminist principals needs to be a strong part of my voting decision making process. But I honestly am not sure this helps.

Lib dems have terrible track record and while I like nick's wife, I can't vote for a party where there's only one woman I am impressed by.

Instinctively i am more of a labour supporter but with the exception of Harriet H I honestly feel underwhelmed by their female representation and view on women.

This leaves the conservatives. There are a number of woman in the party who impress me. But Dave doesn't strike me as a man who really believes in feminist principals.

Help please. All you lovely informed women must have some thoughts.

The Lib Dems face a wipe out so I doubt a coalition with The Greens would have any effect on who is running the country.

The party I see promoting equality and did a lot for equality when they were in is the Labour party.

How feasible would a Lab/Green coalition be?

Green Party "Plan"

Not sure if it quotes their actual manifesto. Apart from the obviously misogynist bits, it does make a lot of sense. However, those bits seem central for them.

Well, that's the Torygraph's take on their plan. Bit different. Honestly, look at the link I posted.

Or you could read the manifesto itself... www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/resources/Manifesto_web_file.pdf

I imagine The Telegraph has put the worst possible spin on it but even allowing for that we will have to agree to disagree on it making a lot of sense.

Will do, thanks Lion

Oh, it's from the last election. I'll wait til they release their new one then. Thanks though

The only paragraph you need to read to see their spin on it is The Eton Mess one. That and the tax on 'presents' will be why the elite don't want it. The whole idea is to share the wealth more by taxing the super rich far more than they currently are.
The idea they will be able to put all of these changes in place immediately even if they did win is a little odd. I don't think the present coalition have done too much of what they said in their manifestos, so I doubt it would be as dramatic as that journo implies.

I have no problem with taxing the super rich more. Sharing the wealth is a good thing. I get that it's pie in the sky stuff, but also aspirational. Akin to a "If I ruled the world" type debate.

Sorry, here's the latest one! greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/European%20Manifesto%202014.pdf

Argh sorry, not helping much here, that was for the Euro elections.

Lab/Green would look good. They both certainly have good equality policies, but would the vote 'against' the current government be split?

lol, no worries Lion, thanks for looking for me.

A lot of their policies really chime with me. I am a bit of a closet tree hugger, bit of a leftie, but what informs my life and my thinking most is feminism and sisterhood iyswim?

My personal experience with the nz model has been women with less education and earned potential have unhappily been drawn into prostitution as it has become a legitimate occupational choice.

It's always been to their overall detriment and hardship. I believe this route to be essentially anti feminist.

I can't see anything at all in the first manifesto Lion linked to about legalising prostitution.

Is it a very new policy?

Yes BeCool, because it is anti-feminist and anti-woman.

This link has clear and in depth policies policy.greenparty.org.uk/culture,-media-and-sports.html

I particularly like this one so far; CMS681 Advertising to Children. Unsustainable economic growth is highly influenced by a culture of consumption. This culture is currently engendered in children and young people by advertising, particularly on television. Children must be protected from unscrupulous marketing and aggressive advertising. A Green government would strengthen regulation of advertising in media that may be viewed by children, and of products intended for consumption by children, to ensure that they are factual and informative and not manipulative.

Huge amounts here about maternity - again not something I've come across in any other party's policies;

Maternity Services
HE303 All women should be entitled to the highest standards of care during pregnancy and birth, and post-natally. These standards will be maintained for all regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, level of income, black and ethnic minority background, age or disability. We will ensure that women are given the information they need to make appropriate choices about how they wish to give birth, and that a full range of options, including home birth and a range of styles of hospital delivery, is made available to all women.

HE304 The incidence of medical intervention in childbirth has escalated in recent years, particularly the rate of caesarean sections, which are expensive and, when not medically required, risky. We will work to reduce the number of interventions in childbirth, and change the culture of the NHS so that birth is treated as a normal and non-medical event, in which mothers are empowered and able to be in control.

HE305 All women will be entitled to the care of a single midwife through prenatal care, birth and the first month of post-natal care, in line with the model of care currently provided by independent midwives. This will be made possible by initiatives to improve the recruitment and retention of midwives.

HE306 We will ensure that the NHS embraces the current quality and style of care as offered by Independent Midwives so that they are able to work within the NHS system and offer this type of care to all women in a single tier system. We shall ensure that midwifery training places are increased to meet medium and long term needs. This will be achieved by: ensuring that terms and conditions for midwives are improved, increasing investment in midwifery services to ensure that these policies are delivered, specific funding for midwife training along with targeted recruitment drives, and ensuring that the culture of midwifery services is supportive for both mothers and midwives.

HE307 All women and their partners will be offered a full range of psychological support after birth to help deal with trauma and post-natal depression. The Green Party will ensure that baby clinics are open for adequate hours, so that women can get access to health visitors and take their babies for regular check-ups at a location and time that is convenient for them.

HE308 Maternity units should be sufficient in number and located so that all women are within reasonable reach of one. Special Care Baby units will be expanded in line with the increasing number of babies that need intensive care, but special attention will also be given to preventative efforts to reduce the number of low birthweight and other problems that contribute to this need. Funds allocated for maternity services should be ringfenced to ensure that they are used for the intended purpose.

HE309 Throughout maternity services the focus will be on compassion and on providing a safe, supportive environment. Complaints will be treated with sympathy, and systems arranged to ensure that complaints can be registered easily and are investigated properly, challenging the 'conspiracy of silence' that discourages women from speaking about their traumatic experiences for fear of frightening other women.

HE310 The Green Party recognises that breastfeeding has multiple short and long term health benefits for babies. Mothers who have breastfed also have lower risks of diabetes and some cancers. However, in the UK women who want to breastfeed often feel unsupported and most stop before they wanted to. Around a quarter of women feel unable to breastfeed for various reasons. For some people, there is still a stigma attached to breastfeeding in public. The law does not currently effectively stop attempts to discourage breastfeeding. Furthermore, artificial feeding products ('formula') are heavily promoted. These, along with the equipment they require, may interfere with the initiation or continuation of breastfeeding.

HE311 The Green Party will work to ensure that:

Pregnant women are given the facts about how to breastfeed, and also the benefits and challenges of breastfeeding so that they can make an informed choice about how to feed their babies.
Hospitals provide the counselling and advice by trained NHS staff to enable breastfeeding to be established straight after birth, should the mother wish to breastfeed. Special help will be given to women immediately after birth if they are in pain, ill, or exhausted by a difficult labour. Disabled women and those with babies with special needs will be given specialist help to establish breastfeeding.
It becomes an offence to stop nursing mothers from breastfeeding their children in public places (including the breastfeeding of toddlers in premises where children are already allowed). Businesses that break the law, or whose employees break the law, will face significant fines.
Public buildings and shops are encouraged to provide breastfeeding facilities for women who wish to breastfeed in a private, comfortable, quiet place. Councils are required to provide breastfeeding facilities in all their significant buildings open to the public, such as town halls and libraries.
breastfeeding mothers who return to work are made aware of, and encouraged to take advantage of, their legal right to take breastfeeding breaks.
Steps be taken in order to normalise breastfeeding, including improving education in schools, public awareness campaigns, and reassurances given by breastfeeding counsellors regarding the legitimacy of public breastfeeding.
The provision of enough around the clock breastfeeding counselling services to support women who have problems with breastfeeding, and expand the networks of breastfeeding mothers set up locally for women to be able to give each other help.

HE312 The Green Party will institute a complete review of the regulations regarding the promotion of artificial feeding products and the accompanying equipment to make it possible for families to make decisions about infant feeding without commercial pressure. We will support in full the implementation of the WHO International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and the subsequent WHA resolutions. Powers would be allocated to the appropriate bodies to enforce the regulations, with education as needed for Food Standards Agency and Local Authority staff.

HE313 The Green Party will regulate to ensure that all health care settings (hospital and community) achieve Baby Friendly status, as established by UNICEF

I also like this;
Health in Schools
HE321 The Green Party believes much more can be done in schools to prevent illness by caring for children and educating children about health. We lament the disappearance of the School Nurse and would therefore bring back a dedicated NHS School Nurse in every school, both at primary and secondary level. Qualified nurses would be specially trained to give lessons in health awareness, including diet, as well as providing an on-site primary healthcare service to all pupils and students.

HE322 The Green Party believes a good diet is so important in the promotion of good health that all schools will be obliged to have their own kitchen so as to be able to provide for each child a freshly prepared lunch each day, using fresh, organic and local produce wherever possible. Food provided by schools must include both vegetarian and vegan options. We would continue the school Fruit and Vegetable Scheme, with a strong preference for organic and local produce. Such meals will be free to all children and will be paid for out of increased taxation: we believe that the consequent improvement in health will dramatically reduce the costs of illness and social care to the NHS and other public services. Junk foods and vending machines will become unavailable in state schools."

HE323 We believe physical exercise is beneficial to the promotion of good health development, and so more time and resources will be made available to allow children to participate in sports and games at school, ideally on a daily basis.

Thanks Lion. Some good ideas there though not sure about single midwives or "all schools will be obliged to have their own kitchen "!

Gosh, I hope no one minds that I am sifting through policies for the Green Party and posting any I think apply? I know family isn't strictly a feminist issue but seeing as we are on a parenting website, it seemed to make sense!
This is definitely a women's issue though (again tackled full on with no shying away, IMO);

Abortion
HE337 The fact that the number of abortions carried out in England and Wales continues to rise should be of concern to all. Given the health risks associated with any medical and surgical procedure and many people's moral discomfort with induced terminations, it is entirely understandable that many wish to see this number significantly reduced.

HE338 The Green Party recognises the problems caused by unwanted pregnancies and supports a multi-policy strategy to reduce them, including:

ensuring adequate sex education in all schools (see ED042). This should be done at a sufficiently early age that children should be fully aware of the potential consequences of sexual activity before they are likely to become sexually active. Schools should also teach life skills, including those relating to caring for and raising children, so that young people feel better prepared to become parents when the time is right for them.
ensuring adequate financial and social support for parents, particularly lone parents and those with disabled children, so that women do not feel pressure to terminate a pregnancy purely because they would be unable to make financial ends meet (see EC730-733 and 'Social Welfare').
ensuring adequate provision of free family planning advice by properly trained health workers and counsellors (see HE301) and the provision of free contraceptives. To ensure proper protection of their rights and wellbeing, children under the age of consent should feel fully able to seek such support and facilities without their parents necessarily having to be informed.
HE339 The Green Party will support a change in the law to remove the requirement for two doctors to approve a woman's decision to have an abortion, and will support a change in the law to allow the procedure to be carried out by appropriately trained nurses and midwives up to three months of pregnancy. It will support NHS provision of such nurses and midwives and will support a widening of the number of locations at which an abortion can be carried out. This should reduce delays in service provision and prevent access being obstructed by doctors with personal anti-abortion views.

The Green Party will not support any change to the current laws on abortions which would aim to make it more difficult for women to obtain them. Such a change in the law would do nothing to address the underlying factors which lead to women seeking abortions. Instead, it is likely to drive them into going elsewhere for the operations - either overseas or to illegal practitioners in this country - which will increase both the distress and the health risks for those involved.

HE340 The Green Party recognises that the decision whether or not to continue with a pregnancy is never undertaken lightly. The Green Party believes that counselling should be offered to every woman considering an abortion. However, the ultimate decision about whether or not to terminate a pregnancy should always lie with the pregnant woman who has to deal with the consequences of that decision.

The point about all these issues which even mention women is that they'll be on the table for discussion. I think there must be a very interesting story behind how the prostitution one got in, though, especially if, as a pp suggests upthread, Caroline Lucas doesn't agree with it. Can't see why or how on earth that happened.

taken from the Mental Heath section;

Early Years Intervention has a vital role in securing good mental wellbeing throughout life. Parent and infant psychological services, along with peer support networks, should be available throughout the country to aid better and more enjoyable parenting. Schools should provide a supportive environment where mental health issues are discussed, stigma and discrimination is challenged and emotional and social education is central. We would stress the importance of a curriculum that includes ways of preventing emotional distress, such as teaching about healthy relationships.

[See also ED042].

Schools would also be encouraged to employ suitably trained counsellors, to whom children could talk in confidence. Overall, the Green Party aim will be for health and educational services to be more integrated both at a local and national government level.

LGBTIQ people are more likely to have contact with the mental health system and are at much higher risk of mental health issues, self-harm and suicidal ideation than heterosexual people. They are also more likely to come up against negative reactions from mental health staff. The Green Party would therefore ensure that guidance for good practice is included in staff training. We would also ensure that LGBTIQ community specific health programs are funded and able to identify and support at risk individuals.

BME individuals are another identified group that is also more likely to have contact with mental health services. Certain communities are more at risk of developing certain mental health conditions, like psychosis. The Green Party would fund initiatives to reduce barriers into receiving care, by instituting community specific outreach programs, focused upon raising awareness and reducing stigma of mental health problems. Equally we would more clearly make the link that deprivation and exclusion of certain communities is linked to prevalence of mental health problems, and addressing those issues is key to addressing mental health issues.

The Green Party recognises also that refugees, asylum seekers, and vulnerable migrants can be just as marginalised within mental health services as within other services in the UK. These groups are under-represented in terms of receiving mental health support, whilst at the same time Black males are over-represented in the UK's inpatient wards. The Green Party recognises the rights of all people using mental health services for whom English is not the first language to interpreters where needed, preferably carefully chosen (to be sure there is no tribal/cultural clashing) and face-to-face rather than by telephone.