Human Rights Watch in Ireland

Email message from Human Rights Watch:

Human Rights Watch are doing a country report on Ireland on the harm that the ban on abortion does to Irish women. I along with Marianne Mollmann will be in Ireland from August 25th-29th doing fieldwork.

I am also available in London to do phone interviews and background research from August 20th. I have already done fieldwork in the UK with abortion service providers on the experience of Irish women travelling to Britain to obtain an abortion.

If you might be in a position to help Human Rights Watch with this ground breaking report, you can contact me by phone at the number below from August 20th or email hrwireland@gmail.com

We are particularly interested in interviewing women who have had to travel to obtain an abortion. Confidentiality and anonymity are guaranteed to all women who may wish to be interviewed. During the week of 25 August, our priority will be to interview women about their experiences – and would ideally like to interview the following categories of women:

- Women with fetal abnormalities pregnancies

- Adolescents

-Rape survivors

- Immigrant women

- Traveller women

We are also interested in interviewing any woman who has had to travel for an abortion on their experiences.We would also like to be able to access any women who were not able to travel and who therefore continued with the pregnancies? I am not sure how easy it would be access this group and whether they would be willing to talk to us?

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Liesl Gerntholtz.

Director, Women's Rights Division

Human Rights Watch

2-12 Pentonville Road

London N1 9HP

United Kingdom

+44 (0)207 713 1995 (general)

+44 (0)207 713 2796 (direct line)

Updates from RAG

Just to let everyone know we've started to concentrate on getting The Rag no.3 together and will be working hard on it for the next few months. If anyone would like to submit images for the magazine or even ideas for the front cover please send them on to ragdubin at riseup.net

Also, check out the most recent editions for Women's News (a feminist magazine from Belfast) and the anarchist magazine Black Flag #227 for articles about RAG.

Choice Ireland demo again the WRC - Sat 26th July

Choice Ireland Calls on all Organisations to
Join their Big Demo Against the WRC

1pm Saturday, 26th July 2008, 50 Upper Dorset Street, Dublin 1.



Choice Ireland is finishing a month of action against the rogue pregnancy counselling agency the
WRC this Saturday July 26 2008. Choice Ireland has undertaken this month of action to raise local
awareness about the operation of the clinic in the area and to generate support for our upcoming
Oireachtas hearing where we will argue that legislation should be introduced to shut down rogue
agencies. Choice Ireland therefore asks all like minded organisations to come and show their support
for our campaign to shut down the WRC this Saturday July 26 2008 at 1pm at number 50 Upper
Dorset Street. Bring your banners and flags!

Some Background information: Choice Ireland is engaged in a campaign to shut down the WRC
because we believe that vulnerable women in crisis pregnancies deserve help and support in
coming to terms with the difficult choices they face in their situation – not the lies, bullying, and
manipulation of the WRC. For this reason we are campaigning to have this rogue agency shut
down and as part of this campaign we will be maintaining a presence outside it every Saturday
this month of July.

This protest raises awareness about the WRC's activities and prevents them from
traumatising more women for as long as we are there. Choice Ireland is preparing for an
Oireachtas committee meeting to have rogues agencies like this regulated and we will be
collecting signatures for a petition to support this. We hope that you can offer us your support and
help spread the word about what is going on. If you can't make it this Saturday then come along to
our big demo on Saturday the 26th of July.

A rogue agency is a fraudulent pregnancy counselling service set up with the sole aim of taking
advantage of the vulnerability of women experiencing a crisis pregnancy in order to bully them out
of considering the possibility of abortion.The WRC is located at number 50 on Upper Dorset Street.
The sign above the door reads “WRC” but this rogue agency has many aliases. It was known as
“Aadams” from 1995 until 1999 when that incarnation was shut down in the midst of an illegal
adoption scandal. It reopened as the “Women's Counselling Network” and was more recently calling
itself “Alpha” until a Newstalk exposé led it to change its name once more to the “WRC”.

This agency is also known to misleadingly advertise in the yellow pages as “British Alternative
Pregnancy Services” and “Choice for Women” in order to give the false impression that they will
discuss all the options available to women in crisis pregnancy when they have no intention of doing
so.The agency uses many names because it has a lot to hide. This agency specialises in
traumatising vulnerable women. They give medically incorrect information to women about abortion,
stating that abortion causes breast cancer, child abuse, depression, fridgitity, promiscuity and
infertility. They also have told women that have been raped that it is impossible to become pregnant
from rape. None of this is true and the only reason they tell women these lies is to try to impede their
abilitiy to make an informed decision.

They have also been known to breach the confidentiality of people seeking counselling – informing
family members without consent that a woman is pregnant and may be considering an abortion,
giving a woman's contact details to priests, and posing as a boyfriend to try and persuade a clinic
to cancel an appointment for abortion.The agency promises women that they will be given contact
details for abortion clinics in England as soon as they have had an unnecessary and expensive
ultrasound at a private clinic that may take several weeks to procure. When the woman returns with
her ultrasound scans the clinic then uses the images to try and talk her out of her decision once
more. The reason they engage in such a tactic is to try and cause a woman additional delay and
expense in the hope that this will prevent her from being able to procure an abortion.

http://choiceireland.blogspot.com/

RAG: Next open meeting - Men and Feminism

Men & Feminism:

What does it mean to be a man in a patriarchal society? How
can men participate and offer solidarity in the feminist struggle against
patriarchy?

RAG open discussion open to all genders.
Hosted by RAG & an embryonic pro-feminist men’s group…
We’re hoping this event will help kick-start a regular
discussion/action group for men to explore feminist & gender politics &
actions.
Come along & be a part of it…


Monday, July 7th

7.30pm

Eengo on Camden St.
(Beside the petshop (to the right), black door, bottom buzzer - press it and we shall buzz you in)

Email: ragdublin@riseup.net for more information.

Last Week's Gathering!

The first ever RAG feminist gathering took place last weekend and was a huge success. Around 120 people came along and participated in workshops and discussions in glorious sunshine. A proper report will follow here shortly - as you can imagine we are all still recouperating and catching up on all the other neglected areas of our lives! You can also send us any reports or photos to ragdublin@riseup.net. Thanks to everyone who came along and helped out. It was absolutely inspirational. xxx RAG

Feminist Gathering - this weekend!

The Feminist Gathering will be taking place this weekend May 2nd - 5th. An email will be sent out shortly to all those who have registered to attend the event, this will include more information, what to bring, what not to bring etc.

Below is the provisional workshop timetable - it shows the workshops and discussions for Saturday and Sunday.

If you have any questions please contact us on ragdublin at riseup dot net or contact 086 3097622.

Looking forward to meeting you all!

Provisional Timetable

With the exception of ‘female solidarity’ all the workshops are open to all genders.

FRIDAY

Time	Friday
9:00- 10:30am	Putting up marquee
10:30- 11:00am
11:00-12:00am
12:30-2:00pm
2:00- 3:30pm
3:30- 3:45pm
3:45- 5:15pm
5:30-7:00pm
7:00-8:30pm	Welcome Session
8:30pm-	Social

SATURDAY

Time	Saturday
9:00- 10:30am
10:30- 11:00am	Morning Circle
	Marquee
11:00-12:00am	Choice Ireland, Ideas	The Fire in our Bellies- Why Food Matters	Feminists as trans allies
	Big Shed	Marquee	Bender
12:30-2:00pm
2:00- 3:30pm	Capitalism & the exploitation of women	Personal Boundaries	Sustainable Living
	Big Shed	Marquee	Bender
3:30- 3:45pm
3:45- 5:15pm	Feminism in Muslim countries today	Parenting Discussion	Book binding
	Big Shed	Marquee	outside
5:30-7:00pm
7:00-8:30pm	What we’re at: contemporary feminist organising
	Marquee
8:30pm-	Barndance…yee haw!
	Barn

SUNDAY

Time	Sunday
9:00- 10:30am
10:30- 11:00am	Morning Circle
	Marquee
11:00-12:00am	Family Structures	Cross stitch and crochet		Choice Ireland, Action
	Big Shed	Marquee		Bender
12:30-2:00pm
2:00- 3:30pm	Queer Feminism	Feminism and Women in Prisons		DIY publications
	Big Shed	Marquee		Bender
3:30- 3:45pm
3:45- 5:15pm	Challenging our own privilege: why men should be pro feminist allies	Chakra Dancing*		Female Solidarity (women only workshop)
	Big Shed	Marquee		Bender
5:30-7:00pm
7:00-8:30pm	Free space…continue discussions, chill out, go for a walk, do the washing up
8:30pm-	Reggae and games night in Ballinmore		Cinema
	Moo’s bar Ballinmore		Big Shed

This weekend - April 25th-27th

Volunteers welcome again this weekend or next week to help with last minute work for the gathering in Leitrim. If you want to help or have any questions email: ragdublin at riseup dot net

Also, some of us will be attending this deadly event in Cork - Ladyfest:
http://www.ladyfestcork.org/

The timetable for the Feminist Gathering will be out soon so check back here soon. It was decided at the last meeting that for those attending the gathering there is a requested donation of €20. If you can afford more or less that is also no problem.


REMEMBER REGISTER NOW:
http://ragdublin.blogspot.com/2008/04/registration-for-gathering-and-things.html