This Consciousness page is concerned with raising awareness and having a dialogue regarding what is really happening and about us being in relationship one with another. It is also concerned with the experience of what it is to take responsibility as a Man or a Woman in a 21st Century globalised and still beautiful, yet vulnerably fragile Earth.

It is also very much about what we can do to effect positive change, by our actions. The Forced Marriage and the FGM sections are areas in which members of our collaborative network deliver interventions that produce that positive change. It is Jim Blairs lead responsibility.

Female Genital
Mutilation (FGM)

Is a cultural practice that is prevalent in North and sub- Saharan Africa, some Middle Eastern and South East Asian Countries. It is also consequently present in Europe and North America amongst communities whose origins are from those practising areas. It has also been used historically in the USA and UK as treatments for 'abberant behaviour' including lesbianism and masturbation... (These aren't used now at all, because the evidence does not exist that they are appropriate or ethical treatments for any condition... and most definitely not for endeavouring to control a womans free expression of her sexuality or her ability to have and enjoy sex).

It involves cutting, and in the worst cases removal of some or all of the external female genitalia, and this is usually done while the girl is young. It more often than not results in severe 'post-operative' complications (this terms is a misnomer as most of this practice is carried out by unskilled amateurs on a terrified struggling unanaesthetised child [some don't survive, they bleed to death] - by significant adults who are abusing the childs trust when they are very vulnerable).. Most of the complications are only apparent when endeavouring to have a normal sex life, or in pregnancy. The trauma is revisited. Many of these complications can threaten the health and survival of both mother and child....

And the biggest issue, is that it is a cultural practice that continues from a place of ignorance and exclusion.. The cultural belief that this is the only authentic way to be wholly identified with their culture so the family matriarchs visit this upon their daughters.. Exclusion because its only through the dialogue and informed discussions that the myths can be dispelled, ie that its ok not do this to your children and that they can live more fulfilled lives without it, and that their identity is more ok without it.. And it illustrates a possible consequence of not educating girls as well as boys..

Our effects on our only home..

I was on a bike ride through the Norfolk countryside and was taken by a flight of fancy about the world I want to live in. It was prompted by the amount of plastic bottles, cans and plastic strewn about the roads and verges. Having recently watched 'an inconvenient truth', I felt concerned about my contribution to the problem; and what I might actually be able to do about it.

I know there is some discussion re the exactness of the film, however the broad thrust, that we are the cause of global warming,  is the new paradigm, and it is not really seriously disputed, scientifically.

Can I or you have an impact? (we already have an impact by what we do or don't do with our rubbish) If we take action what are the consequences? How inconvenienced might we be?

If we think local but act global-'glocal'. I know we can have an impact and in the spirit of reciprocity, we have to give to get.

Which isn't a bad practical life tip...

And this prompted me to notice that vast quantites of my rubbish are plastics that are in fact recycleable (they have the recycleable triangle and a number impressed in the moulding process). My local authority recycle bin only lets me add plastic bottles, when I queried the facts they confirmed that the current contract only specifies bottles... I wonder why that is?

Indeed much of the pressure for packaging is the supermarkets, who are now using more recycleable materials..

All of which begs several questions.. Is my local authority waste collection scheme unusual?

Or are lots of meat and fruit and veg  packaging needlessly being put in landfill, throughout the country?

Is there an inability to recycle all plastics, or have we been sold a panacea, that's actually too difficult to take?

We have useful targets set by Europe about our levels of recycling- we are currently one of the worst. One way of achieving those targets might well be to get reycleable plastic recycled... Then we could all really feel that we are doing our bit.. Whats your local authority policy?
Al Gores website   

How might we be.. and see it differently? http://www.globalonenessproject.org/

‘The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice, and because we fail to notice that we fail to notice, there is little we can do to change; until we notice, how failing to notice, shapes our thoughts and deeds.’

- RD Laing

FORCED MARRIAGE

Affects women and men too, whilst most of the victims are women, and all those who have endured the worst excesses in the UK, have been women, men too can find themselves forced into a marriage against their will.

What is a Forced Marriage, it is...

‘A marriage conducted without the valid consent of both parties, where duress is a factor ‘ (A Choice by Right June 2000)

The Court of Appeal stated that the test for duress was:

“…whether the mind of the applicant (victim) has been overborne, howsoever that was caused.”

Forced Marriage is a Human Rights Abuse, it is not a true religious practice, though it often masquerades as one. No faith approves of it Indeed it would be legitimate grounds for an annulment or divorce. It is a cultural practice based on limiting beliefs about each individual’s right to freely choose their own life, and the ‘groupthink’ that Forced Marriage preserves the honour of the ‘family’, and any individual’s needs are irrelevant. It is an abuse of power.

It should be properly differentiated from an Arranged Marriage which is highly valued in many cultures and where there is a long established tradition based on compatibility, consent and retained choice. Such marriage practices have been universally accepted.

“Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses” Universal Declaration of Human Rights article.16(2)

Motives for Forced Marriage include:-

Peer group/family pressure and strengthening family links. Ensuring assets/wealth remains within family. Long standing commitments or promises made within or between families. Preventing ‘unsuitable’ relationships and to protect cultural ideals. Assisting claims for residence and controlling sexuality.

Offences that can be committed include:-

False imprisonment, Kidnap/Abduction and Sexual Offences. Theft, Harassment and Assaults that may lead to murder-so called ‘honour’ killings. If the person is under 18 years of age then there will be Child Protection Issues. The law allows intervention to protect vulnerable children and prevent more serious offences occurring. A child cannot consent to being assaulted.

If you or a friend are affected by these issues agencies that can help include.

Karma Nirvana

Tel: 01332604098/01332299166

Your local police; If its happening now then dial 999

Your local police Community Safety Unit.

Your Local Authority.

Domestic Violence Support Groups