A green goal and removal of a stole -- it's all about the game of footie

Well, it's happened. Even the iconic FIFA organization is now marked by environmental social strife. Not that the world's pre-eminant soccer organization is upset with changes (in fact, it's not even responsible for the changes). Yet, the recent grumblings of Iranian women and the recent pledges by the South African government is cause for pause in the mighty footie realm.

So, what do I mean?

A recent petition demands that FIFA president, Mr Joseph S. Blatter, put pressure on the Iranian government to allow women into the stadium to watch the world's most international sport. The petition states that women are currently banned from participating (as observors) in Iran's participation in FIFA games -- and this exclusion prevents them from enjoying the inclusion of a culturally relevant past-time.

At present (and as any good theoretically a-political organization would do) FIFA is not weighing in on the debate. Rather, it is stepping back and taking the "we don't influence" politics approach -- an approach that simply does not exist in today's climate.

And speaking of climate -- while FIFA may be reluctant to engage in politics with the Iranian government it cannot avoid this aspect of international sports when dealing with the South African government.

In 2010 South Africa will host the FIFA Soccer World Cup -- an event that draws the attention of billions from all over the world. As a result the South African government has pledged to raise awareness (and standards) on water and energy conservation -- in an effort to green the game.

"We are committed to ensuring that South Africa learns from the Green Goal experience which vastly reduced the environmental impact of the 2006 World Cup in Germany," said Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk.

Hmmm, footie really is political -- whether the FIFA realize this or not.

For more information on the Iranian petition go to:
http://www.petitiononline.com/FIFAban/petition.html

For more information on FIFA go to:
http://access.fifa.com/en/article/0,0000,110908,00.html

For more information on South Africa's pledge for a green World Cup go to:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200612140740.html

Canada misses top ten in Gender Equality

Is it a surprise? Nordic Europe is the guiding light in gender equality. This is a region of the world that places quality of life and standard of life far above economic interests -- or perhaps they appreciate the fact that economic interest is always taken care of when we take care of our own.

Rather than focus on lowering taxes (the financial base with which to offer national programs and establish equalization plans) these countries focus on developing and nurturing all segments of their population. The result? Well, the obvious result, right now, is their high ranking in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report. The longer-term, less-obvious results deal with a higher standard of living than North America, a stronger social network than most Western democracies and an economic system that is based on educating it's population not lowering taxes for businesses.

To put it bluntly: Nordic Europe tops the list for gender equality out of 115 countries in the world. That's no small feat. The countries boast the
world's best maternity leave, the best political participation rates and an education system in which women now outnumber men.

The World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2006 named Sweden as the world's most progressive country when it comes to quality of the sexes, followed by Norway, Finland and Iceland.

Ranking the countries according to economic participation and opportunity, education, political empowerment and health and survival, Canada came in 13th and the United States ranked 29th. The small Middle East nation of Yemen came last in the global list.

All people need to become feminists

In recent weeks the media focused on the violent acts of a few individuals -- all of them young men. Though these violent acts appeared random and arbitrary, a common theme existed: they were all angry, young men who chose to exert their dissatisfaction with (insert reason here) by enacting violence an another. And these are the very same men that injure and kill women through domestic and other forms of violence.

So why care? There are shelters, police programs and non-governmental programs -- I ask again: why care?

Because 51% of women have experienced at least one incident of sexual or physical violence. The scary fact is that these statistics, taken from StatCan, are over a decade old. The scary fact is the trend persists. In fact, close to 60% of these women have experienced more than one violent incident.

More statistics include:
*62% of the victims who reported being sexually assaulted were under age 18 (taken from a 1998 survey)
*In 2000, women made up the vast majority of victims of sexual assault -- 86%, and other types of sexual offences (78%).
*80% of sexual assaults occur at home
*49% occur in broad daylight
*In 80% of cases reported to police, the victims knew the abuser -- about 10% were assaulted by a friend, 41% were assaulted by an acquaintance, 28% were assaulted by a family member, the remaining 20% were assaulted by a stranger.
*82% of women seeking accommodation at a shelter were escaping abuse
*about 1 in 10 women seeking accommodation in a shelter are repeat visitors with over five stints per year in shelters
*the largest portion of women staying in shelters (just over one-third) are between 25 and 34 years old.

Violence against women persists and will continue to do so until violent men (and I pick my words carefully) are dealt with -- openly, publically and rationally. The punitive system we currently have does nothing to help rehabilitate a violent offender -- particulary one that receives a rather light sentence for assaulting a partner or spouse. The criminal system does not deem this offence to be serious enough to warrant tougher sentences or alternative treatment. Rather, the criminal system is reactive rather than proactive. It waits until the damage is done (death, dismemberment, etc) before treating the abuser. There is another option. We could become proactive in dealing with these issues. Since violence often escalates, we could provide rehabilitative services to offenders as opposed to light-weight punitive sentences.

As women, we can also become educated in the problem. One way to do this is to read. Another way is to engage. This is the impetus behind this week's Week Without Violence - held by YMCA's across the continent. The week-long awareness campaign is aimed at women, for women, in an effort to talk about, deal with and attempt to solve the persistent violence against women that continues to exist within our society.

One event worth noting is this Saturday's The Power of Being a Girl Conference!. This is a free event, running from 10am to 4pm at the YWCA Girls Centre and is intended to help educate and empower girls between the ages of 14 and 17. Workshops include: D.I.Y Spa, Law and Order, Fact/Fiction, Yo Gal Relax & Yoga, So You think You Can Dance?, Sex in the City, The "F" Word, Project Personality, CSI:Net. Lunch, snacks and funk goody bags included!

To register go to: abc@ywcatoronto.

*For an excellent article on the importance of feminism and the necessity with dealing with male violence go to:
http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2006-09-21/news_story3.php

*For more information on sexual assault statistics go to:
http://www.metrac.org/

*For more information on shelter statistics go to:
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ncfv-cnivf/familyviolence/
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