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19 imagesAccording to the latest report by Save the Children, Norway has, for the third year, the highest rating in the world for the quality of life of mothers. It has the second lowest "under 5" mortality rate, the highest ratio of female-to-male earned income, and one of the most generous maternity leave benefits in the world. Ullevål Hospital is the largest in Norway. The 'ABC' (Alternative Birth Care) Natural Birth Centre is part of the hospital. Its philosophy is to provide a natural birth experience, that does not require medical intervention, in a comfortable atmosphere which offers privacy and intimacy.
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41 imagesThe UK is the country with the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe. The majority of young mothers in the city of London are concentrated in the southern districts of Lambeth and Southwark. Lambeth Council, together with partner institutions, works to reduce teenage conceptions and births to teenage mothers. Communications campaigns have been used to raise awareness and prevent the teenage pregnancy rate. The key messages of the local campaign fit with the national teenage pregnancy campaign: condom distribution, information and advice about sexually transmitted infections, addressing sexual behavior, and cutting down alcohol and drug use- which makes young people more vulnerable to having unsafe sex. South London YMCA is a charity based in Stockwell Road. It provides a residence for young mothers called Teenage Parents Service (TPS). TPS consists of 7 independent flats: 5 for single mothers (aged between 16-25) and their baby, and 2 for couples and their baby. TPS is staffed by specialized Housing Support Workers who help the girls with advice on how to raise their children and to achieve stability and independence in life. Many of the mothers and couples hosted by TPS services have African and South American origins. Stockwell is an area with a large Black Afro community. Carolina, Melissa, Stephanie, Sarah and Johanna have become pregnant between 16 and 17 years old. Moving away from the family of origin, they have found a place to stay at TPS.
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44 imagesHow do traditions travel across borders? How do archaic and patriarchal cultural practices occur when the principle of gender equality is staunchly upheld in Europe? This is a difficult – and very current - question for immigrant communities and their respective host countries. An excellent example of how this hot topic can play out, lies within the well-established Indian community in the UK. Some of the traditions that undervalue women and girls in India - whether it is arranged marriages, dowry payment for girls or a preference for male heirs - have crossed borders, and some British Indians have upheld certain traditions. Since 2012, investigations have suggested that, some UK doctors practiced sex-selective abortions as a means to dispose of female foetuses. Some of the expecting women in the UK were even sent to clinics in India for the same purpose. After a heated debate in the British media and the House of Commons, the MPs rejected the proposal to ban sex-selective abortions. Yet, in maternity wards, there are still women who cry when a girl is born... In order to change mentalities behind the practice, and to encourage British Indian families to place more value on girls, there are options beyond criminalising gender-selective abortions. Even the defenders of the ban agreed with Ajit Singh, a Punjabi radio station programmer, when he declared: “It’s not enough to say: ‘Don’t kill girls’, you have to empower them.” Over the course of the debate, positive initiatives were demonstrated, spotlighting interesting British Indian leaders, dedicated to enhance pride and self-esteem among women and girls. Working within the Sikh and Hindu communities of Southall and Slough (Great London), we met with politicians, advocates for the cause, as well as individual families. Challenging these antiquated traditions, they work hard to bring about a more balanced world, in which women and men both have the opportunity to be strong and free to make their own choices, to study, and reap the benefits of having their rights respected. Text by Katie Breen. Paris, September 25, 2015 http://www.coverlines.net
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53 imagesThis project is a look at female enterpreneurship in Poland, told through the stories of entrepreneurs who have founded their own companies in different sectors. Poland, despite being less recognized than China or India, is one of the countries which has had a major development in the last 20 years. The Polish economy has followed a policy of liberalization since 1990, after the fall of communism, and has been the only EU country to avoid recession in these difficult years. Protected by keeping the zloty, the Polish currency, instead of introducing the euro, Poland has developed exchange and cooperation policies with the countries of central and western Europe since 2009, when the first recession wave started. Poland also has one of the highest numbers of women entrepreneurs among European countries, together with the Netherlands, Austria, Latvia, Lithuania and Portugal. The percentage is around 34.5% and covers all sectors of industry. Generally speaking, we can say that companies headed by women are more concentrated in the areas of retail direct to the consumer, followed by processing and services.
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15 imagesThere's a large muslim community in Aarhus, Denmark, and a very high number of danis h converted to Islam. The estimated number of women wearing the niqab in Denmark is about 150-200. Aisha is a Danish woman who converted to Islam 22 years ago, when she was just 20. Today, she wears the niqab, the 'total veil', subject of many discussions in different countries in Europe. Like so many other governments in Europe, the idea of banning the burqa or niqab in public places has been progressing in Denmark. The debate caused a split beetween the Conservatives and the Liberal Party in 2009. Lawyers of the Justice Ministry finally found the proposal unconstitutional. But today the idea is still a topic of discussion: it is argued that the burqa or the niqab are strongly anti-integrationist, an attack on the dignity of women and also a security risk. "Even if the Niqab will be banned, I'll continue to wear it, anyway," Aisha says, it is my religion, my choice and I have to respect it.
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21 imagesIn Denmark, about 70% of fathers take advantage of paternity leave. Here the patterns of parental leave are among the most generous in the world. Nowadays Danish legislation grants fathers 2 weeks of parental leave following the birth of the child. After that, both parents have a right to 32 weeks each of leave. Paid parental leave was extended to 52 weeks.
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17 images21-year-old Chiara Insidioso Monda has been hospitalized at the Santa Lucia Foundation in Rome since December 2014. In February 2014, when Chiara was only 19, she was brutally beaten by her ‘partner’, 16 years older than her, till she fell into a coma due to the violence of the blows. The kicks, punches and having her head slammed against a wall caused irreversible damage to Chiara’s body and reduced her cerebral functioning to 10%. Chiara had to undergo three brain surgeries when she arrived at the hospital. She woke up from the coma after 10 months and is now in a state of semi-consciousness. This means that she can’t talk, move and has to be assisted in every single activity of daily life. Chiara’s story initiated a discussion on the subject of violence against women in Italy. On the 4th of November 2015, Maurizio Falcioni, the man guilty of the violence against Chiara, obtained a 4-year reduction of his 20 years sentence. Chiara’s father, who fainted in the courtroom at the announcement, that same day published on his facebook page a moving picture of Chiara in her wheelchair, together with a letter, in which he expressed his rage regarding the verdict, but also a deep love for his daughter. According to the 2015 Istat Data in Italy 6,788 million women have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. In 2015, 137 women were killed. In 71% of the cases the person responsible for the violence is the partner or the former partner, of Italian nationality Chiara Insidioso Monda, 21 anni, italiana, è ricoverata da 18 mesi alla Fondazione Santa Lucia a Roma. Nel febbraio 2014, all’età di 19 anni Chiara è stata brutalmente picchiata dal compagno, 16 anni più grande di lei, fino a cadere in coma per la violenza delle percosse. Calci, pugni e la testa sbattuta contro un muro hanno provocato danni irreversibili al suo fisico e ridotto al 10% le sue capacità cerebrali. Chiara ha dovuto subire tre operazioni al cervello al suo arrivo in ospedale. Risvegliatasi dal coma dopo 10 mesi, è ora in stato di minima coscienza. Questo significa che non può più parlare, muoversi, e deve essere guidata in ogni azione quotidiana. La storia di Chiara ha sollevato discussioni sulla questione della violenza sulle donne in Italia. Il 4 novembre 2015, al colpevole Maurizio Falcioni, condannato a 20 anni di carcere e nullatenente, è stato concesso uno sconto di pena di 4 anni. Il padre, svenuto in aula alla notizia, il giorno stesso ha pubblicato sulla sua pagina facebook una toccante foto di lei in sedia a rotelle e una lettera in cui esprimeva la sua rabbia per la sentenza, ma anche un grande amore per la figlia. La situazione della violenza sulle donne in Italia riporta cifre inquietanti. Secondo i dati Istat 2015, in Italia 6 milioni e 788 mila donne hanno subito nel corso della propria vita violenza fisica o sessuale. Nel 2015 sono state uccise 137 donne e nel 71 % il responsabile della violenza è il partner o ex partner, di nazionalità italiana.
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47 imagesAccording to ISMU (Initiatives and Multiethnic Studies), women of foreign nationality currently represent more than a quarter of women on maternity. The following images represent the reality of motherhood for immigrant women in Milan. They are the result of visits to three centers in Milan: Centro di aiuto alla vita - Mangiagalli Clinic, and the health centers for foreign women at the San Carlo and San Paolo hospitals in Milan. Here immigrant women are receiving help and assitance during and after pregnancy by qualified staff: gynecologist, pediatrician, midwife, social worker, psychologist and a staff of linguistic-cultural mediators from Morocco, Algeria, China, South America, Philippines, Albania, and Romania. Children who are born today in Italy will be the adults of tomorrow.
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34 imagesSumedha and Sapan is a present day story, but tied to tradition. Sumedha Sood, 30, is an Indian woman from New Delhi. Sapan Basnett, 29, is an Indian man born in Gangtok, the Indian state of Sikkim. Sumedha and Sapan graduated from the same school: the National Institute of Fashion Technology, in New Delhi. This is where they met for the first time, through mutual friends. After completing his studies, Sapan moved to Bangalore to work as a fashion designer. In February of 2008, Sumedha moved to Milan to study for her Masters at the European Institute of Design. One evening in October 2010, surfing on facebook, Sumedha found Sapan through "People You May Know", and sent him a friend request. Sapan accepted the invitation and they started a chat online. In the following days they were constantly chatting, and then they started talking on Skype. Shortly after, Sapan sent Sumedha an airline ticket from Delhi to Bangalore for her next trip to India. A few days after their meeting in Bangalore, Sapan was presented to Sumedha's family. In January 2011, they celebrated their marriage.
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12 imagesThe number of foreign entrepreneurs in Italy is constantly increasing. There are almost 100 thousand of migrant women in Italy who, thanks to a winning idea, managed to create a business out of the country of origin. At the 2011 edition of 'The MoneyGram Award', annual prize for immigrant entrepreneurship, 8 out of 15 the number of women among the finalists and category winners, from Colombia, Morocco, Peru, Brazil, Congo, Tunisia, Ecuador. The latest survey by the Confcommercio Observatory on women's entrepreneurship and Censis testified that the number of foreign entrepreneurs has quadruplicated since 2007 and in 99% of cases new companies were founded. Seventy percent of them are located in the service sector, 13.5% in the rental and travel agencies. Eighty percent are under 50 years. The center of Italy is the most multi-ethnic area with 9.3% of foreign companies led by women. Il numero di imprenditrici straniere in Italia è in costante aumento. Sono quasi 100mila in Italia le donne migranti che grazie ad un'idea vincente sono riuscite a creare una propria attività fuori dal paese di origine. All'edizione 2011 di 'The MoneyGram Award', premio annuale all'imprenditoria immigrata, 8 su un totale di 15 il numero delle donne tra finaliste e vincitrici di categoria, provenienti da Colombia, Marocco, Perù, Brasile, Congo, Tunisia, Ecuador. Le ultime indagini a cura dell'Osservatorio sull'imprenditoria femminile di Confcommercio e Censis testimoniano che dal 2007 il numero di imprenditrici straniere è quadruplicato e nel 99% dei casi sono state fondate società nuove. Il 70% di loro si colloca nel terziario, il 13,5% nei settori noleggio e agenzie viaggio. L' 80% ha meno di 50 anni. E' il Centro Italia ad essere la zona più multietnica con il 9,3% di imprese femminili guidate da straniere.
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