India and Pakistan’s appalling record of sexual violence against women continues to be dragged further down as reports surface of yet another gang rape case.  The world was shocked and outraged when a 22 year old woman was gang raped in New Delhi, so violently that she died in 2012, but in some ways this latest story is even more shocking.

The “punishment” of being gang raped was ordered by a village elder after the 20 year old victim was accused of an illicit affair with a man from another village. 12 men were arrested for the horrific assault after the woman’s family were unable to pay the 25,000 rupees fine imposed by the kangaroo court.  

The woman was allegedly assaulted in public view by several men of varying ages as other dwellers stood by and did nothing to help her.

Despite laws being tightened after the fatal gang raping in New Delhi, and the subsequent death penalty imposed on the attackers, the alarming regularity of gang rape seems to be on the increase.

 

Amazingly, a female politician in India recently sparked fury when she implied that gang rape victims invited the attacks by their clothes and behaviour. Asha Mirje, who is a member of the state women’s commission said this week, “rapes take place because of a woman’s clothes, her behaviour and her presence at inappropriate places”. She went on to question whether the student killed in the New Delhi case needed to go to a movie at 11pm.

Tribal courts in Pakistan and India are metering out gang rape punishments for a variety of crimes, some of which aren’t even committed by the woman attacked.

A 45 year old widow was allegedly gang raped by 6 men on the orders of a tribal council after her brother was accused of an affair with a woman in the village.

In a lawless part of Pakistan in separate incident, 4 women were shot dead by relatives, in what were described as honour killings after one of the women left her husband. Again, sadly this is not an isolated incident. The human rights commission of Pakistan says 943 women were killed in 2011 after “dishonouring” their families.

Another report claims that six men has been charged with murdering three men in honour killings after footage emerged of three men dancing with women at a wedding. The men in the video could not be located so instead their three brothers were killed. The report went on to say that the women are also believed to be dead, although their bodies have not been found.

Anyone who is foolish enough to believe that these are unusual and rare occurrences is sadly mistaken. With the ever growing multi- cultural society in this country, it is terrifying that this behaviour is acceptable in some cultures. If this despicable treatment of women and girls is allowed to continue in India and Pakistan unchallenged, it is inevitable that it will be replicated on the streets of Britain. I said before, following the New Delhi case that action needed to be taken and I am even more convinced following these recent events.

It’s not however a hopeless case where we can’t change this trend. The growing outrage of the watching world must swell until the authorities in these countries are forced to take action.  Tribal elders who give the orders for these vile crimes must be as severely punished as the actual rapists and a message has to be sent that the world will simply not tolerate the rape and murder of women.

Pakistani woman Mukhtaran Mai gained international recognition 15 year ago after she challenged taboos to fight back against her own gang rape. Following the successful conviction of her attackers she now runs rehabilitation for rape victims. Asian and Pakistani women should follow her example and help mould their own children’s future by teaching them that female lives have the same value as male lives. The attitude of men in these cultures has to change if the behaviour is to be dragged kicking and screaming out of the dark ages.

   All animals are equal but some still want to be more equal than others.

 

As someone who is often guilty of self-destruction and self-doubt, and occasionally self-loathing, my strongest passion is for equality. Thus, I find it extraordinary when I see almost any form of ism: racism, sexism, ageism, and homophobic behaviour are simply incomprehensible to me.

There has been much ado in the press this week, following the coming out of an ex footballer. While I don’t question the bravery of him for doing so, I wonder why it is such a big deal. In 2014 does it really matter to people what a man or woman does in his spare time? It isn’t illegal after all. A couple of weeks ago, olypic diver Tom Daley announced he was in a relationship with a man. Again, I have no doubt that it took a lot of courage for him to make the decision to discuss his sexuality but should any rational adult have a different opinion of the man, now we know he likes fellow human beings?

As a slave to twitter I see many comments from people who are very angry that men seem to value them less than they do their own gender, but the comments indicate that actually, it is not equality that is being sought, and they dislike men simply for being men. I wonder if this is less of a bad thing than the original insult.

I see people who talk constantly and exclusively about the colour of their skin. They seldom talk about their qualities or their beliefs except that people who happen to have paler or darker skin are somehow less worthy or have less right to wear certain clothing. I am in no way suggesting this more equal than others attitude is one sided. There are still people who believe that the colour of ones skin dictates whether one is good, bad or indifferent.

 It is a terrible cliché,but there is a song that goes “when the last thing we look for is the colour of skin and the first thing we look far is the beauty within. We shall be free”.  but what a novel idea..

There have been numerous reports of people abusing women on social network sites for suggesting that women should be featured on our currency. Why the hell should they not be featured and why the hell would any-one take exception to anyone suggesting such a thing? Can people really be so ignorant or stupid that they believe ones worth should be based on genitalia?

I myself have been critical of the rich and powerful on many occasions, as anyone who knows me will testify, yet I have no desire to see them have less rights than me, nor have I the desire to have more rights than they. Simply that we have equal right to opinion, education and other liberties.

I want to see more working class MP’s and more working class law professionals, but that does not mean I think that middle class and wealthy people should be excluded.

I wonder if by campaigning for more working class influence I am being driven by what I am and am I anti anything other than me? I hope the answer is no.

Will we ever see the day when we are all treated equally regardless of colour, religion, age, size, sexual orientation or disability or do the people who belong to those groups widen the gulf by the very act of trying to close it? The answer is no, the people who genuinely want to close the gap have a perfectly legitimate right to do so. it those who hide their own prejudice behind the safety of action groups who are the issue. Campaigning to curb immigration is another example. for years, no one dared discuss the issue for fear of being accused of racism. Now thanks to the emergence of Parties like UKIP, the argument is rightly out there and gives bigoted racist thugs a presentable façade to hide behind.  We will never have a truly equal, multi cultural, free of prejudice society while ever so many people have their own agenda of hatred but do not have the guts to admit it.










 

         
                                            

Get real, this is not reality!

What a bunch of winging, miserable whiners we are in this country. The current series of Celebrity Big Brother has so far attracted over 340 complaints. You might be forgiven for thinking that the complaints were about the absence of any actual celebrities, although former heavy weight boxing champ Evander Holyfield was in there at the beginning. Among the other celebs are a reality TV star, an 80 year old ,man who was once a regular on charades show Give us a clue, a once funny comedian, recently cleared of sex offences, an ex pop star, an ex sex addict, another former reality show runner up, another pop star who is openly skint and a journalist. The line-up though is not the reason for the complaints, it is the task the contestants were given. On Monday nights channel 5 show the house mates were told to produce a certificate 18 show to win prizes. The show consisted of dressing up and simulating sex, and writhing around a pole. TV watchdog Ofcom are said to be considering whether to take action or not.  Surely it would have been easier for the 340 complainants to take action. Is it not eternally easier to reach 6 inches for the remote control and turn the garbage off? By the time they had got their smart phones out and googled the complaints number they could have switched the drivel off and         watched something else.

 

The show has been pulling regular viewing audiences of over 2million. Obviously, these antics are designed to attract the voyeurs to tune in and the old adage that any publicity is good publicity will have the show’s producers rubbing their hands with glee.

Holyfield, who once had his ear bit off by former convict Mike Tyson, caused a flurry of complaints by making homophobic comments.

It is what it is; escapist TV, not designed to be intellectual, thoughtful, thought invoking or politically correct, it is designed to be controversial and outrageous and the people who are foolish enough to tune in should expect such. If people really don’t want to see this kind of behaviour on our screens, the answer is to not watch it. If it got no viewers they wouldn’t make another series. Sadly, people do want to see household names from four decades ago and no-marks enjoying their 15 minutes of fame, swearing, smoking, drinking and making a fool of themselves. For me, putting Tyson in the house with Holyfield or someone smacking Lee Ryan in the goolies with an elephant or something bigger might make it worth watching.

While viewers hurriedly dial the Ofcom number to complain that some unknown people on a TV show, aired after the watershed on the least watched channel on terrestrial TV other household names are appearing in court facing a procession of sex charges.

 Rolf Harris, Freddy Starr, Dave Lee Travis and of course, Coronation Street favourite Bill Roach, are all facing juries. With so many of famous people in the news accused of such terrible behaviour, why on earth are we surprised when some are locked up 24 hours a day and plied with alcohol, that they also misbehave?

Last year’s show received over 900 complaints. The second most complained about show on TV was ITV’s flagship X factor with most of the complaints coming after a raunchy performance by Lady Gaga, where she danced provocatively in an outfit made of sea shells. Considerably dwarfed by these figures was third place in 2013, with ITV’s News at ten coverage of drummer Lee Rigby’s horrific murder scene receiving just short of 300 complaints. Even daytime TV regular Holly Willoughby sparked 139 complaints for wearing a dress that showed too much cleavage.

The problem is of course, that once someone becomes vaguely famous we forget that they are real people. The media; TV and the press build up their reputations and have us believe that they are special, gifted phenomenon’s, only to set them up for an almighty fall. That’s the game. We are such a nation of do-gooding whingers that we fall for it every time.  They are not special, some of them may have special talents, some of them may be extremely fortunate but all of them are normal people (to begin with at least) hiding behind a huge mask of celebrity. We the viewing public are lured in and completely forget reality and buy into the absolute nonsense that we see on TV and in glossy magazines. We buy in so much that we believe that we can have that chiselled jawline or that beautiful wrinkle free forehead and even less wrinkled torso. We try to emulate the look of these people copying their dress wear and sadly, too often their ludicrous behaviour.

                                                      

                                                Inequality is rife, already.

So silly season is over and as the trimmings and lights come down, many people come crashing down with them. The weather is gloomy, miserable and along with the freezing cold, for many reality bites in January.  

Some will have over spent, trying to give some happiness to their families and loved ones, after what has been another difficult year. Some will be paying for it until next Christmas.

For other less fortunate soles, Christmas is a sad and lonely time; a time for memories of missed ones, deceased parents or ex partners and absent children. There are many different reasons for many different people to feel desperately helpless and lost as the New Year begins. For others, the new-year signifies new beginnings, a fresh start, and new hope. Some will have made New Year’s resolutions to get fit, others to get a better job, some simply to find happiness.

Wednesday the 8^th of January this year was dubbed fat cat Wednesday. This was not a reference to the thousands joining gyms to shed the excess pounds they have gained over the festive period; this is a reference to the Chief executives of the FTSE 100 companies.

The High pay centre released a report that suggested the remuneration of many of those executives, after just two days back in the office was equal to that of the average worker. It found that in 2012, the average pay for a Chief Executive of a FTSE 100 company was almost £4.3 million (the equivalent of over £1000 per hour). The study went on to say that over the past decade, executive pay has increased by 74% while workers take home an average of £26,000 per year.

Francis O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said that fat cat bosses taking home more in a few days than most workers earn in a year is damaging the economy. She added “workers need better pay rises so that the recovery is built on growing incomes, rather than falling savings and mounting household debts; but Britain’s fat cat bosses are hoarding earnings owed to staff or shareholders and themselves.”

The trade unions and Labour have for some time, been calling for a living wage rather than a minimum wage.

In October last year, minimum wage increased by just 1.9% to £6.31 an hour for workers over 21. For 18 year olds, who are often expected to the same role and shifts as their older counter parts is a measly £5.03 per hour.

Were it not for the higher rates of pay in the south, predominantly London wages, the average of £26000 would be much less. A person working in a call centre in Yorkshire will earn on average £18,579 while in London they could expect to earn £25,000, in Manchester £20,536.

The appalling inequality in our country doesn’t end there. Women are still paid considerably less than men. The Fawcett society recently reported that women earn on average 14.9% less than men, which they say, equates to a whopping £423,000 throughout a career. They warned that the gap is in danger of widening as government policy drives workers from the public sector into private sector jobs, where the gap is already wider.

Despite the massive inequalities that exist in our society, Tory PM David Cameron and his Eton colleague, Osborne are resisting the calls for a living wage. They are still keen to punish the poor (who are less likely to vote) further while ring fencing the benefits paid to OAP’s, who coincidentally are more likely to vote, and even more likely to vote Conservative.

Not only are they determined to look after their core voters and the very richest they are still hell bent on destroying trade unions and weakening the support they can offer to low paid workers. They have failed to close the loop holes that allow big business to simply not bother paying taxes, while driving the ill, weak and vulnerable into jobs and imposing crippling bedroom tax and council tax bills on them.

I was fortunate recently to have the opportunity to attend a directors meeting of a leading financial services provider. I suggested that closing the gap between those at the top of the company and those at the bottom would be a good way of raising morale in the workplace and reduce natural attrition of staff, as well as improving the public perception of the finance industry. The silence in the room when I made the suggestion was deafening.