scholarly journals (Re)imagining the ‘Backstreet’: Anti-abortion Campaigning against Decriminalisation in the UK

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pam Lowe

The risk of death or serious injury from ‘backstreet abortions’ was an important narrative in the 20th century campaign to liberalise abortion in the UK. Since then, clinical developments have reduced the overall health risks of abortion, and international health organisations have been set up to provide cross-border, medically safe abortions to places where it is unlawful, offering advice and, where possible, supplying abortion pills. These changes mean that pro-choice campaigns in Europe have often moved away from the risks of ‘backstreet abortions’ as a central narrative when campaigning for abortion liberalisation. In contrast, in the UK, anti-abortion activists are increasingly using ideas about ‘backstreet abortions’ to resist further liberalisation. These claims can be seen to fit within a broader shift from morals to risk within moral regulation campaigns and build on anti-abortion messages framed as being ‘pro-women’, with anti-abortion activists claiming to be the ‘savers’ of women. Using a parliamentary debate as a case study, this article will illustrate these trends and show how the ‘backstreet’ metaphor within anti-abortion campaigns builds on three interconnected themes of ‘abortion-as-harmful’, ‘abortion industry’, and ‘abortion culture’. This article will argue that the anti-abortion movement’s adoption of risk-based narratives contains unresolved contradictions due to the underlying moral basis of their position. These are exacerbated by the need, in this case, to defend legislation that they fundamentally disagree with. Moreover, their attempts to construct identifiable ‘harms’ and vulnerable ‘victims’, which are components of moral regulation campaigns, are unlikely to be convincing in the context of widespread public support for abortion.

Public Law ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 443-482
Author(s):  
Andrew Le Sueur ◽  
Maurice Sunkin ◽  
Jo Eric Khushal Murkens

This chapter looks at the circumstances surrounding two events. The first is the 2005 decision of the UK Parliament to set up a committee to examine whether the constitutional conventions governing the relationship between the House of Lords and the House of Commons should be codified. The second is the decision of the Commons (and the Labour government) to press ahead and present the Hunting Bill 2004 for royal assent despite the opposition of the Lords to the policy of a total ban on hunting wild animals with dogs; the Lords preferred a policy of licensed hunting.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 7180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise Baden ◽  
Ken Peattie ◽  
Adekunle Oke

Over the last decade there has been increasing interest in the concept of the sharing economy, which replaces the focus on individual ownership with a focus on access to goods and services through borrowing, hiring or sharing. This study investigates the efficacy of extending the library concept to include more items, such as those that are used infrequently. The aim is to explore how Libraries of Things (LoTs) operate and the potential to broaden their appeal, reach and sustainability. This study adopts a multiple case study method to provide a snapshot of six LoTs in the UK. Findings indicate that all LoTs shared common environmental and social values, with the most prevalent values being to use the library concept to reduce resource use and waste and to enable more equitable access to goods. All relied on volunteers and public support, in the form of free or discounted space and none were yet economically self-sufficient. This poses important questions about the future for LoTs and whether they could or even should, transition towards the mainstream to make a more substantive contribution to creating a more socially equitable and environmentally sustainable economy.


2011 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
RACHEL MAIRS

In recent years, a series of reports have appeared in the British press about the fate of Iraqi interpreters employed by the British forces in Basra. As well as the day-to-day risk of death or injury in the course of their work, interpreters have been vulnerable to reprisals from insurgents who view them as collaborators and traitors. There have been a large number of documented cases of Iraqi interpreters being murdered, often in an especially brutal manner. Many other cases have gone undocumented, in part because of the tendency for interpreters to work under pseudonyms and even wear masks to conceal their identity, making it difficult to identify a particular victim as an interpreter. The issue of protecting interpreters came to a head in 2007 with the handover of Basra to Iraqi administration and the subsequent withdrawal of British troops. A special protection scheme was set up, whereby those who had worked for the British forces for twelve months would be eligible for resettlement in the United Kingdom. The issue, however, has remained a contentious one: many interpreters were ineligible for resettlement or did not want to move to the UK, and many of those who did accept resettlement found themselves economically disadvantaged and socially marginalized. One group of Iraqi interpreters have taken legal action against the British government.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Underwood ◽  
Arne Dahlberg ◽  
Simon FitzPatrick ◽  
Malcolm Greenwood

The STILE Project (Students' and Teachers' Integrated Learning Environment) is one of 76 projects set up under the UK Government's Teaching and Learning Technology Programme (TLTP) initiative sponsored by the British Higher Education Funding Councils (HEFCs). The STILE Project uses hypermedia to provide greater opportunities for independent and flexible modes of learning both in a campus situation and for distance learning. The approach is resource-based. STILE provides a mechanism for both tutors and learners to discover and access relevant resources when they need them, together with facilities that enable users readily to use and re-use existing materials, to integrate them together, and to add further materials of their own in a way that seems natural to them (see Ruggles et al, 1995). The result is not a closed and finished product,but a set of tools and services and a continually developing resource base. The effect is to ease the load on academic staff in maintaining and supporting student access to resources, and to enrich the set of resources available to both staff and students.DOI:10.1080/0968776960040205


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-53
Author(s):  
Tatiana Shaban

Cross-border cooperation among the Eastern neighbours of the European Union can be understood as a new approach to public policy and border governance in the region. There was no border cooperation strategy between communist and European countries during Soviet times. The question of the management of the Eastern border of the EU, especially with Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova, came on the agenda in 1997, when accession to the union was finally opened to Eastern and Southern European candidates. With the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement that came into force in 1998, Ukraine signalled its foreign policy orientation as European, asserting that Western integration would help modernize its economy, increase living standards, and strengthen democracy and rule of law. The European Commission required “good neighbourly relations” as a further condition for accession and in conjunction, the concept of “Wider Europe” was proposed to set up border-transcending tasks. The Carpathian Euroregion was established to contribute to strengthening the friendship and prosperity of the countries of this region. However, the model was not fully understood and had only limited support of the national governments. This article uses the Carpathian Euroregion as a case study to show that overall Ukraine and the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood presents more opportunities for effective cooperation with the EU rather than barriers or risks.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (01) ◽  
pp. 10-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave Baillie ◽  
Mariam Aligawesa ◽  
Harriet Birabwa-Oketcho ◽  
Cerdic Hall ◽  
David Kyaligonza ◽  
...  

The International Health Partnership (‘the Link’) between the East London NHS Foundation Trust and Butabika Hospital in Uganda was set up in 2005. It has facilitated staff exchanges and set up many workstreams (e.g. in child and adolescent psychiatry, nursing and psychology) and projects (e.g. a peer support worker project and a violence reduction programme). The Link has been collaborative and mutually beneficial. The authors describe benefits and challenges at individual and organisational levels. Notably, the Link has achieved a commitment to service user involvement and an increasingly central involvement of the Ugandan diaspora working in mental health in the UK.


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Marson ◽  
Adam Wilson ◽  
Mark Van Hoorebeek

This paper proposes that the expansion and subsequent unbridling of the provision of a law clinic in the sector will provide the students with the skills necessary of graduates in the increasingly corporate, commercially motivated, UK university sector. Secondly, it provides a basis for the rationale of a movement in funding bands, a study which is being undertaken by the Higher Education Funding Council for England over the proceeding three years, in consequence to the increasing costs involved to the institutions. This increase in funding, coupled with a determination from the institution and case study evidence as presented in this paper, will hopefully propel clinical legal education to the forefront of undergraduate legal studies in the UK. Clinical legal education is a method of improving the student experience and offers various advantages if integrated fully into the university administrative set up. Such views have been given rigorous academic coverage, however this paper further analyses the academic benefits passed on to the student populace, in relation to the potential advantages to UK universities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aahmari A ◽  

I have published a case study about how British universities −who offer radiographic reporting programs for radiographers− put admission conditions and tuitions on radiographers in three categories which are; British citizens, European citizens, and internationals [1]. I compared the three categories by collecting the data from the universities’ websites directly. The case study has a simple methodology which is clearly explained in the paper [1]. The case study showed that there is no English language requirements for Europeans due to the Bologna Agreement in June 19, 1999 and the Copenhagen Declaration in November 2002. The English language is not the mother tongue of any European country besides the UK. The tuitions for international students are very high compared to the UK/European citizens where they (UK/European) have the same low tuition. In addition, the international students can’t join approved programs from the HCPC, while UK/European citizens can join HCPC approved programs. The interpretation modules are not allowed for international students and they are allowed for UK/ European students. Training, ability to have the HCPC registration, and the ability to work all are allowed for UK/European citizens, while international students are not allowed to do so. After I published this case study which shows the facts in solid data that there is segregation on all levels and discrimination against international Radiographers, the Society and College of Radiographers and the Head of Radiography Education sent two letters threatening the journals Editors and I [2,3]. They said they are so perfect and they do not have any discrimination whatsoever [2,3]. They demanded to remove the paper from the online source and publish an apology [2,3]. They threaten and bullied me and the journal editors that they will legally be suing us for defamation. Therefore, I publish this letter challenging them to sue me. What I have published is accurate 100% and I did not make the numbers from my head. I collected the data from the universities’ websites directly. All that they claimed in their letters are wrong and emotionally driven. They did not stop here, no they continued by sending their trolls to report my researchgate account to suspend my account for more than one month. Is well known that the HCPC and the British media when someone is not British get suspended or not allowed to do any medical practice in the UK for any issue, the British media and HCPC publish their names, age, gender, ethnicity, nationality, and what mistake they did, but when the person is a white British citizen, the HCPC and the media tend to hide their identity and usually they get suspended for a short period of time. The HCPC, Society of Radiographers, and Heads of Radiography Education are discriminating on all levels against us as international radiographers and this is supported by numbers and solid data. They claim that they are so perfect and do not have any issue. This level of denial indicates that there is a massive issue and this is only the tip of the iceberg. The Society of Radiographers did not help the UK or international Radiographers in any way, shape, or form. Instead of denying their discriminatory behaviors against us, they should help the international Radiographers to rebuild their health care sector which collapsed after the pandemic (i.e. SARS II CoV a.k.a Covid-19). They have already a large shortage of Radiographers in the UK and with these behaviors, they will never solve the problems which the British citizens face every day in UK hospitals. No one should forget the number of international health care workers who sacrificed their lives during the pandemic to help the patients in the UK.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 129-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doyle Gillian

In recognition of the importance of film in generating both economic and cultural value, the UK Labour government set up a new agency – the United Kingdom Film Council (UKFC) – in 2000 with a remit to build a sustainable film industry. But, reflecting a plethora of differing expectations in relation to the purposes behind public support for film, the UKFC's agenda shifted and broadened over the organisation's lifetime (2000–11). Apparently unconvinced by the UKFC's achievements, the Coalition government which came to power in May 2010 announced the Council's abolition and reassigned its responsibilities as part of a general cost-cutting strategy. Based on original empirical research, this article examines how the UKFC's sense of strategic direction was determined, how and why the balance of objectives it pursued changed over time and what these shifts tell us about the nature of film policy and the challenges facing bodies that are charged with enacting it in the twenty-first century.


Author(s):  
Paula Ray

Statistics indicate that Facebook has more women users than men. A Mashable report released in 2010 claims that women in the age-group of 18-34 check their Facebook first thing in the morning, even before going to the bathroom. This can be linked to the chatty nature of interaction within social networking sites (SNS). Gossip need not be flippant, but can gratify the actor, as evident from the women’s communities actively promoting causes online and garnering public support for social, economic and political issues. SNS is quickly becoming a means of facilitating gender-based activism. What makes it more interesting, these women do not have to shun their domestic duties to become an actor in these global networks; they can very well partake in it from the confines of their kitchen. It can be argued that SNS has overcome the limitation of the ‘gendered media’ and has provided activists with the vehicle to organize their cause and promote participation for cross-border movements – traditional means of activism were perhaps never as swift. But how do they draw on SNS, particularly Facebook, to further their causes and what is the nature of the issues they engage in? To explore these questions, I take up India as a case study. Initial research indicates that digital activists are raising concerns about the way this communication tool is being used and the kind of the issues being raised.


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