Women Walking on Water

Argus title : Women still held back by attitudes

Last Sunday at Brighton’s St Peter’s Church, Deacon Julie Newson told a gag during her sermon. It went like this.

A parish needed a vicar and voted, after due thought and prayer, to invite a woman to take the position. Most of the parish supported this, but there were some, including a male churchwarden, who did not. Almost all the objectors bent to the will of the majority, but one or two – led by the church warden – did all they could to make life difficult for the new vicar.

The parish had an active social life and one of its most popular events, especially with the male parishioners, was a fishing competition. The previous male vicar had been a keen angler and so there was a lot of pressure on the new incumbent to attend. The Churchwarden thought his chance had come to make a fool of the woman vicar, whom he assumed would chicken out of the event. He was wrong. On the day of the competition there she was by the lake, the only woman among several men.

The parishioners boated out to the middle of the lake only to find that they had left the fishing tackle on the bank. They turned to row back, but the Vicar stopped them “Don’t worry” she said “I’ll get it.” With that she stepped out of the boat, walked across the water and fetched the tackle from the bank.

As she strolled back across the lake to the astonished parishioners, the churchwarden was heard to sneer “Isn’t that typical…she can’t even swim.”

This is a good story at several levels – and very apposite considering the ongoing furore in the Anglican communion about the ordination of women bishops. It gently reminds the church that women are as capable as men of spiritual greatness. It also suggests that some church leaders, obsessed by tradition and authority, might ignore or condemn Christ’s miracles if confronted by them.

The story reminded us that women in work situations – particularly in traditionally male roles – often can’t win. Whether they aspire to be carpenters, city traders, plumbers or priests, they frequently need to be better than men to train at all, often have difficulty finding suitable employment and once in work may be passed over for promotion.

As we have seen of recent weeks, mothers have an even more difficult time of it. They are expected to be able to work effectively within the British culture of long hours and overtime and at the same time undertake the bulk of the housework and child care. Despite the continuing shockingly high incidence of domestic violence towards women and the fact that many men provide little domestic support in the home, it is still women who tend to be blamed for the breakdown of the family and subsequent social dislocation.

A recent report by academics at Cambridge University revealed that in the UK both women and men are becoming more likely to believe the family will suffer if a woman works full-time. The conclusion was based on analysis of social attitude surveys over the past 30 years. In 1994, 51% of women in Britain and 52% of men said they believed family life would not suffer if a woman worked, but by 2002 these percentages had fallen to 46% of women and 42% of men. There was also a decline in the number of people thinking the best way for a woman to be independent is to have a job.

Professor Jacqueline Scott who led the research said: “It is conceivable that opinions are shifting as the shine of the ’super-mum’ syndrome wears off, and the idea of women juggling high-powered careers while also baking cookies and reading bedtime stories is increasingly seen to be unrealisable by ordinary mortals.”

Recent media coverage of the report has tended to focus on the notion that support for gender equality is declining. However, other aspects of the research suggest a less bleak picture. For example, the research reveals that far fewer people now believe the proposition “it is the husband’s job to earn income and the wife’s to look after the children”. In 1987, 71.7% of British men and 63% of women agreed with this statement, but by 2002 the proportion had fallen to 41.1% of men and 31.1% of women.

Kat Banyard, campaigns officer for the Fawcett Society said: “Women still shoulder the bulk of caring and housework at home. The long working hours culture and lack of flexible working means women are presented with impossible choices – forced to choose between caring for a family at home or maximising their career opportunities…”

Mary MacLeod, chief executive of the Family and Parenting Institute, commented: “Many mothers tell us that in the first year of a baby’s life they want to stay at home, but often feel they have to return to work too early because of financial constraints. We need to do more to help mothers and fathers by increasing well-paid parental leave and changing how it can be shared between them.”

Scott said women should not conclude that “the game is up” on combining career and family life, stressing that there was not yet a level playing field for women and men. She said “We are still educating to confirm a gender role division that people thought was eradicated 25 years ago,” adding: ” We have had a string of economic measures to get women into the workforce without a social drive to address the problems that may result.”

Since Labour came to power in 1997 the government has taken effective steps to improve maternity and childcare provision and expand women’s capacity to work. However, despite pouring many millions of pounds into education, it has failed abysmally to challenge traditional attitudes about gender roles in the home or to provide effective training in schools on domestic skills and childcare.

In a similar fashion, the government has improved services to victims of domestic violence, but has done little to challenge the sexism and cultural assumptions which create and underpin abuse. All this may go some way to explain apparently contradictory attitudes.

Labour’s male leaders have been so fearful of tabloid accusations of “political correctness” – and of offending so called “white van man” – that they have created cultural confusion on a grand scale – something that Harriet Harman, Labour’s new deputy leader, is struggling to counter.

It is ironic that the only prominent male politicians who now seem confident to challenge male attitudes are conservatives, such as MP Michael Gove, who recently criticised attitudes to women expressed in “lads mags”.

Attitudinal shift is never easy, but there must be some hope when even the Church of England is making changes. There seems no doubt that there will eventually be women bishops in the church and it doesn’t end there. At the recent Lambeth Conference bishops and their wives (and husbands) spent a whole day discussing the issue of rape and domestic violence. According to a report in the Church Times, the events of the day left several men in tears.

Dr Maria Akrofi, wife of the Bishop of Accra, spoke of the need to address widespread rape and hidden domestic violence. She described the worst form of such violence as “spiritual” because she said “if it happens in the church, and your husband happens to be the pastor or the bishop, you don’t have anywhere else to go” adding “You sit there and hide your brokenness.”

Dr Akrofi spoke of the need for a change in attitudes towards children, saying “In Africa, the girls are kept under lock and key and the boys play football and fool around as they want to. Who’s taught these children to do that?” …“If you want to change the environment, it’s no good doing it when he’s become a bishop. Change it at the level of parenting.”

As the Labour government sinks beneath the waves – and it will take a miracle to save it – my spirits are lifted by Dr Akrofi. She seems to signal a stronger church, one prepared to confront the misogyny which for centuries has distorted and corrupted it.

Deacon Julie take note. The Anglican communion may not yet be ready to walk on water – but it seems at last that it is beginning to swim.

Cystitis can destroy lives

Argus title : Beware of this ‘minor’ illness

Just under a month ago, Olivia Crowther, 23, who studied English Literature at Sussex University and was planning a career in publishing, fell to her death from the Golden Gate Bridge.

Olivia left her London flat without telling her family and on Tuesday 24th June checked into a hotel in San Francisco. She was found by California Highway Patrol the next morning. It has emerged that prior to travel she had trawled suicide websites showing tall buildings and bridges.

Her parents are reported to be devastated. They said their daughter had no history of depression, describing her as “… a loving daughter who seemed to be making her way in the world.” They are struggling to understand what drove her to suicide.

Her uncle, Robert Leader, said the only unhappiness in her life was a nagging bladder problem – reported to be cystitis – which had afflicted her for a year and which doctors had failed to cure. There had been no indication it might drive her to kill herself. He said “It is a huge mystery and the only thing I can think of is that she had this health problem that became all-consuming for her and that was a constant nagging source of discomfort.”

Simon Davies studied with Olivia at Sussex University. He said: “.. she was a very clever girl and she never seemed unhappy. We often talked about the future and it seemed to me she’d go on to be successful.”

Her friend Zoey Monk worked with Olivia at SHE magazine. She said: “…. She was so well spoken and such a lovely girl. I would have never thought this would happen to her….”

Olivia was a beautiful young woman with everything to live for. Her family members are understandably angry that she was so readily able to access suicide websites which in effect showed her how to die. However, there is another source of concern here and that is the disease that caused her such torment.

Cystitis is a “minor” illness which is usually experienced by women and the elderly. As such it is often not taken seriously. Yet it can cause serious kidney infection, chronic pain, relationship breakdown and deep depression – and in the elderly, confusion akin to dementia.

Cystitis occurs when the normally sterile lower urinary tract is infected by bacteria and becomes irritated and inflamed. In 85% of cases bacterial infection is the cause – usually brought about by transfer of escherichia-coli (e-coli) from the bowel through the urethra into the bladder. It is very common in women because of the relatively short distance between the opening of the urethra and the anus and because the urethra is short and bacteria do not have to travel far to do damage.
Cystitis can easily be precipitated by sexual intercourse especially if there is bruising to the surrounding area (hence the term “honeymoon cystitis”). Once bacteria enter the bladder, they are normally removed through urination, however if bacteria multiply faster than they are removed infection results. This is why one of the simplest and most effective self-help techniques is to urinate immediately after intercourse.

The condition commonly affects sexually active adult women. In fact, almost all adult women will experience at least one attack. However, it may also occur in men, those who are not sexually active, catheter-users or children. Older adults are at particular risk.

The symptoms are a frequent need to urinate and a sharp, burning pain when doing so. Other possible symptoms include cloudy and sometimes bloody urine, backache, lower abdominal pain and fever. In elderly people, the most obvious symptom may be increased confusion.

It is true that many people who suffer from this complaint do not experience repeated or serious attacks. Nowadays proprietary brands of medicine, usually containing Potassium Citrate, are available over the counter. These can be used at the first sign of a symptom and often do the trick. However, for anyone who cannot afford the remedies, or who does not recognize the symptoms, it can be a very different story.

I vividly remember the excruciating pain I experienced the first time I had cystitis. After the lab results were returned the doctor commented with fascinated sympathy – and some macabre glee – that neither he nor the lab assistants had “ever seen such a virulent attack”. I paid dearly for it, because my kidneys were affected and after that I experienced repeated attacks. Each time I was given antibiotics, but was never taught the self help techniques which could have prevented the disease.

I recall one particularly unpleasant night attack. I had a high temperature and was bleeding and in great pain. In desperation I called an out of hours doctor to provide a prescription for antibiotics. The next day I reported this by telephone to the surgery only to have one of the receptionists comment in horror “You called out a doctor for cystitis!” I felt too ill and humiliated to object, but have thought about that ignorant and callous comment a great deal since poor Olivia died.

On one occasion, I was completely incapacitated after getting what my grandmother would have called a “chill on the kidneys” while boating on the Serpentine. My doctor poured considerable scorn on the idea that a “chill” could precipitate cystitis, saying that this was an old wives tale. Nonetheless, I discovered over time that a combination of dehydration and a chill across my back would almost always precipitate an attack. I learned that by drinking a great deal of water, keeping my lower back warm and taking a teaspoon of Potassium Citrate in water at the first sign of symptoms, I could completely avoid attacks.

Things changed for sufferers in the 1970s when Angela Kilmartin, herself a chronic cystitis sufferer, published her book “Understanding Cystitis”. It was part of a wave of publications about women’s health which sprang from the women’s movement of the time. These had in common deep scepticism about conventional medical practice and a commitment to prevention and self-help.

Kilmartin’s book became a bestseller. It emerged that thousands of women had suffered in silence from chronic cystitis and that there had been more than one cystitis-related suicide. At last, women began to realize that they were not just “making a fuss”, but were experiencing a significant and potentially serious health problem.

Self-help techniques began to be well publicised and circulated, first by women themselves and then by some doctors. Cystitis sufferers began to realize that repeated doses of antibiotics were causing chronic thrush which in its turn was causing re-infection. Women’s demand for better treatment eventually resulted in proprietary brands of medication for cystitis – and thrush – becoming available without prescription. However, it seems that in these so called post-feminist days, essential preventative techniques are being forgotten.

Women’s magazines, which in the 1970s and even the 1980s would have publicised such techniques, now seem more concerned with women’s sexual performance than with their health. Schools sex education programmes certainly don’t provide information. And yet, given the early sexual activity of so many young girls, infection is likely to be on the increase.

Cystitis is a sordid mean little disease. It doesn’t kill – at least not directly – but it can destroy lives. We will probably never know exactly what drove Olivia Crowther to her tragic death. All we can do is to try to understand her desperation and hope that as she jumped from that beautiful bridge, she felt an end to pain – and that for just one brief moment she thought she was flying.

Contact the Samaritans on 0845 7909090.

NOTE:

Effective preventative techniques are simple:
• drink 6-8 glasses of water a day and one glass of cranberry juice;
• urinate frequently (and immediately after sexual intercourse);
• keep scrupulously clean; and wipe from front to back after a bowel movement

If an attack occurs use proprietary treatments or get help from a doctor.

Fistula

argus title : fertility control essential for all women

This week Parliament rejected attempts to reduce the time within which a woman can legally obtain an abortion.

In the days before the vote, I was struck by the anti-abortion lobby’s energy and its continuing ability to set the terms of the agenda despite considerable public disagreement with their position.

I wondered, not for the first time, why anti-abortion campaigners, if they are indeed “pro-life”, don’t campaign for legislation to oblige the state to resuscitate late foetuses if there is potential for viability. This would not deny women the right to end late pregnancies, but would oblige them to accept that if a viable foetus left their body, it would be the sole responsibility of the state, with a duty to protect its interests as a separate human being.

I can only assume that anti-abortionists don’t campaign for this because the real issue is not the “life of the child”, but a desire to control women’s fertility. The leaders of the religious right, who set the agenda on this issue, have no place for women’s rights. They know that without control over their bodies, women have little real chance of equality.

It is true that in the USA and Europe women have gained some control over their fertility, although as we have seen it remains constantly under threat. However, in other respects, even in the West, women continue to have far less control over their bodies than men, with only limited ability to prevent domestic violence, sexual exploitation and rape.

In many developing countries the situation is far worse for there many women have no control at all. All too often young girls, weakened by malnutrition and exhausted by heavy work, walk for miles to collect water or fuel. Many are forced into early marriage, in some cases well before their bodies have fully developed. Thereafter they are at risk of domestic violence and rape. Without access to contraception or abortion, they give birth in agony and many lose their children. Those who attempt illegal abortion, often die.

As Kate Hawkins of Sussex University’s Institute of Development Studies said this week “Every 8 minutes a woman dies in the developing world due to unsafe abortion in countries where termination of pregnancy is illegal or safe services are unavailable.” She points out that throughout the world “at least 13% of maternal deaths are due to unsafe abortion.”

Regrettably, there is no very vocal lobby to end these maternal deaths or the deaths of, or injuries to, mothers and children resulting from childbirth in unsafe conditions. Many churches pray for an end to abortion, but few for an end to infant or maternal injury or death.
One of the common causes of child deaths and maternal injury is obstructed labour in conditions where caesarion sections are not available or unaffordable. Deaths and injuries often occur. Where mothers do not die, a result is often obstetric fistula – a dreadful complication which in the West was eradicated in the late 19th century, but in developing countries continues to blight the lives of millions of women. It is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
Fistulas develop over many days of obstructed labor, when the pressure of the baby’s head against the mother’s pelvis cuts off blood supply to surrounding tissues, which necrotize and rot away. The dead tissue falls away and the woman is left with a hole between her vagina and her bladder (called a vesicovaginal fistula) and sometimes between her vagina and rectum (rectovaginal fistula). This results in permanent incontinence of urine and, in 20% of cases, faeces as well.

A majority of women who develop fistulae deliver dead babies and are subsequently abandoned by their husbands and ostracized by their communities, both because of their inability to have children and their foul smell.
It is estimated that in Ethiopia there are some 100,000 women suffering with untreated fistulae. The World Health Organisation estimates that approximately 2 million women worldwide have untreated fistulae and that each year around 100,000 develop the condition.
Less than 6 in 10 women in developing countries give birth with any trained professional, such as a midwife or a doctor. In Ethiopia, it is 1 in 10. When complications arise, as they do in approximately 15% of all births – not least because of the incidence of female genital mutilation – there is no one available to help the woman.
The experience of Berhane, a fifteen year old Ethiopian girl, is typical. Berhane was pregnant with her first child. She squatted for days on the mud floor of her husband’s hut with no one to care for her, but her mother in law. In agonising pain she was unable to cry out for fear it would disturb his husband’s sleep. By the third day she was sure her baby was dead. It was not until the sixth day that she delivered her tiny dead baby.
She cried herself to sleep that night and awoke to find her bed soaked in foul-smelling urine. Despite her efforts to keep clean, her husband left her, her family disowned her and the villagers shunned her.
According to pioneering Australian obstetrician Dr Catherine Hamlin, the root causes of fistula are poverty and the low status of women and girls, which amongst other factors cause malnutrition, small stature and stunted growth. She said: “Poverty is the basic factor. The girl child is the last one to be fed in the family, she has to look after the old people first, the men, then her husband and or her brothers. Lastly she will get food because she is the last person to be of any importance in the family…the girl.”
But, fistula is both preventable and treatable. Dr Hamlin, who with her late husband Reginald co-founded the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia, has been has been successfully treating women and girls with fistulae without charge for almost 50 years. Berhane was one of them.
The Hamlins came to Ethiopia in 1959 and found a country with virtually no services for expectant mothers and none for treatment of obstetric fistulae. In fact, when they arrived they had never even seen one.
Reginald and Catherine quickly began to learn everything they could about obstetric fistula and perfected a surgical technique to mend the injuries. In 1974 they set up the Fistula Hospital, which over the years has treated over 30,000 women.
Many patients are very young, though others have suffered for decades. Many have walked for hundreds of miles to reach the hospital, enduring great hardship and humiliation as they travel. Though some are helped by their families, they are unable to use public transport because their smell is so offensive. Some have experienced years of social ostracism.
Currently, the hospital is able to successfully treat over 90% of the fistulae that present to the hospital. Of those who are successfully treated, many go back to their families. Some are able to give birth and are offered caesarian sections if they return to the hospital.
Some women choose never to return home, remaining at the hospital where they receive an education and in some cases are trained as nurses. One remarkable former sufferer is now able to skillfully perform the operation which saved her.
Sometimes the injuries from the obstructed labour are so extreme that the patient can never be completely cured. They may require ongoing medical care and can never return to their villages. They too are offered employment in the hospital where they are able to help others with similar disabilities.
Catherine Hamlin, now well into her 80s, still operates and has fundraised to set up several other hospitals. She has ensured that the issue of obstetric fistulae is securely on the UN agenda and has received numerous awards and accolades, including nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Despite increasing fame, Hamlin’s priorities remain the same. She tells of a father who had sold his only ox to travel many miles with his daughter so she could be treated. She asked him how he would manage on the farm without an ox and he replied “I don’t mind, I want my daughter to be cured”. A few days later some visitors to the hospital heard his story and collected enough money to buy him two oxen.

The daughter, who had serious injuries and will probably never be able to marry again, now works as a nursing aid in the hospital.

To support the work of the Fistula Hospital contact “Ethiopiaid” on 0207 201 9981.