Well, so much for the "We're helping the women in Afghanistan" meme. Canada's New Government™ might be trying to help Afghan women, but it's declared war on women at home. It got to quench its thirst for female blood again today with the closure of yet another womens' organization:"The latest organization to close its doors is the 33-year-old National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL), which lost a critical $300,000 a year after Status of Women Canada changed its funding rules last fall.
The government announced last fall that groups that do advocacy and research work would no longer qualify, in favour of groups - including for-profit ones - that provide direct services." [...]
"NAWL had been instrumental in lobbying for the inclusion of women in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and for changes to criminal laws dealing with sexual assault. Most recently, it had been involved in the ongoing battle for pay equity in the workplace."
And NAWL does much more than that. Ultimately all women are affected by NAWL, because the work they did made our world a little better, a little more balanced. But more than anyone it's the poor, minorities and marginalized or disadvantaged women who'll suffer from not having the kind of safety net NAWL adds to the legal system.
So who could possibly be happy about hanging disadvantaged women out to dry? Well, the same people who were happy when Status of Women Canada was ravaged last fall. Socially conservative women, not known for their commitment to womens' equality, are licking their chops with malicious pleasure that another womens' group has been shut down. "We don't need womens' groups, we can look after ourselves", goes their bleating refrain.
Sure babe: Come back and talk to me after Daddy hits the road and you have to get a job at a donut shop or a stinky fish cannery, put up with harassment from customers and co-workers alike just to make a measly $8.50/hour for 40 long, miserable hours a week, and after all that, still be barely able to make the rent and feed the kids without a trip to the Food Bank. Then you'll know what "looking after ourselves" really means to a lot of women. Until then, you have zero credibility on that particular score and should shut the fuck up. Or at least try to contain your glee that poor and marginalized women have one less group working on their behalf. It's really fucking tacky.
So who could possibly be happy about hanging disadvantaged women out to dry? Well, the same people who were happy when Status of Women Canada was ravaged last fall. Socially conservative women, not known for their commitment to womens' equality, are licking their chops with malicious pleasure that another womens' group has been shut down. "We don't need womens' groups, we can look after ourselves", goes their bleating refrain.
Sure babe: Come back and talk to me after Daddy hits the road and you have to get a job at a donut shop or a stinky fish cannery, put up with harassment from customers and co-workers alike just to make a measly $8.50/hour for 40 long, miserable hours a week, and after all that, still be barely able to make the rent and feed the kids without a trip to the Food Bank. Then you'll know what "looking after ourselves" really means to a lot of women. Until then, you have zero credibility on that particular score and should shut the fuck up. Or at least try to contain your glee that poor and marginalized women have one less group working on their behalf. It's really fucking tacky.
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