16 Days, 16 Ways to get Involved!

Written by Katherine Barry, GPSoc Treasurer

University of Birmingham GP Society has taken part in the annual ‘16 Days of Activism’ campaign against gender-based violence. Beginning on the 25th November and concluding with our 16th challenge on the 10th December, Human Rights Day, we tried to promote the work of Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid in this, particularly difficult time.

Day 1 - Share

For Day 1, the challenge was to share a woman’s story and the BSWA helpline (0808 800 0028). We shared the story of Payzee Malika, a survivor of child marriage and an active campaigner against the practice. She was married off by her parents at 16 and endured abuse and suffering in the name of honour. Tragically, that same honour was the reason her sister was killed.

Day 2 - Read

For Day 2, we read about women's rights and equality. Our book of choice was ‘Feminists Don’t Wear Pink (and other lies)’, curated by Scarlett Curtis. Scarlett Curtis has collated stories from some intelligent modern women, writing about how issues surrounding feminism and a patriarchal society have impacted them. An accessible read, it is a great introduction to the importance of equality in society and comes with a fantastic list of resources too.

Day 3 - Listen

Day 3 allowed us to listen to a podcast and dive into a world of feminism and activism. The podcast we listened to was ‘Feminists Don’t Wear Pink’, linked to our Day 2 Book. We heard personal stories from women, who were able to talk about their views and express opinions without fearing judgement or criticism.

Day 4 - Watch

As a committee, we hosted a watchalong on Zoom and discussed our thoughts. We watched ‘The Color Purple’, a film based on the book written by Alice Walker and highlights important themes such as domestic violence that Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid work so hard to help the women struggling in these situations and we are proud at UoB GP Society to be supporting them this year.

Day 5 - Donate

Today’s challenge was to donate to a foodbank. In current times, this was harder to do, but we promoted the drop off service run by Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid for essential items, helping support women and children accessing their services. To arrange to drop off, call Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid on 0121 685 8687 or email info@bswaid.org.

Day 6 - Create

For today’s challenge, committee member Anjitha created some beautiful paintings. Being creative is an outlet many use to express their emotions.

Day 7 - Move

Today we all did something physical and used our exercise to be mindful of others. Committee member Reeshma challenged herself to do a 5km run in the freezing UK weather. We reflected on the thousands of women enduring domestic violence for fear of being homeless with nowhere to go.

Day 8 - Educate

A woman who has been unfairly overlooked by history is Elizabeth Garrett Anderson. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first female doctor to qualify in England. She opened a school of medicine for women and paved the way for women’s medical education in Britain.Anderson failed to get into any medical school and enrolled as a nursing student at the Middlesex Hospital. She took the Society of Apothecaries examination and qualified in 1865. The society subsequently changed its rules in order to ban women entrants.

In 1866 she was appointed as a medical attendant at the St Mary’s Dispensary, London. Determined to become qualified as a doctor, she taught herself French and got a medical degree in Paris, but was still refused entry into the British Medical Register.

In 1872 she set up the New Hospital for Women at the St Mary’s Dispensary, later the London School of Medicine for Women. Partly as a result of her open campaigning, an act was passed in 1876 permitting women to enter the medical profession. Anderson was appointed Dean at the London School of Medicine for Women in 1883, and oversaw its expansion. She retired in 1902 to Aldeburgh, Suffolk, where she became the first female mayor in England in 1908. Anderson died on 17th December 1917.

Day 9 - Converse

Consent. Today was about having that difficult conversation about consent so we put together some top tips for teaching and discussing this difficult topic. We wanted to stress the importance of checking in on your friends to make sure they're happy in their relationships and that they know how important consent is for trust and respect in relationships.

Day 10 - Share

One way to get voices heard is to sign petitions. We shared 6 petitions we felt passionately about.

1. Increase funding for research into Endometriosis and PCOS: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/328570

2. Lower the age that breast screening services are offered: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/332828

3. Fund research into improving the safety of contraceptive options: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/333932

4. Fund free female sanitary products, such as sanitary towels and tampons: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/555551

5. Add education on diversity and racism to all school curriculums: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/323808

6. Ensure Student Nurses are paid whilst on placement: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/554624

Day 11 - Write

As well as signing petitions, another way to make a change is through writing to your MP. Vice President Niha took the time to write to her local MP to raise concerns about their track record on voting for women’s issues important to her. If you would like to do the same, you can start by looking at your MP’s voting record here: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mps/

Niha emailed her MP about improving access to healthcare for women; she also mentioned the need to increase awareness and access to female-only services for those with sex-specific conditions, mental health, drug, alcohol and substance misuse issues. You may want to talk about this to your local MP, as well as other issues that are important to you.

If you aren’t sure how to structure a letter or an email, it’s worth having a google of some templates that you can use. Make sure you add to these templates by explaining why these issues are important to you, as well as using personal knowledge and/or experience to add details and evidence to your letter.

Day 12 - Join

Today we encouraged you to support or become a member of a women’s rights organisation. UoB GP Society is holding our very first virtual conference on Saturday 16th January 2021 in support of Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid, and you can support this wonderful charity by purchasing a ticket! All proceeds will be going to Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid. You can find more information at https://fb.me/e/grLS1ULpx

Day 13 - Learn

Today was about learning a new language or trying sign language. Apps such as Duolingo make learning a new language much easier. For the UoB GP Society committee, learning some British Sign Language was really important for us to learn. If you would like to start learning or familiarise yourself with BSL (British Sign Language), British-sign.co.uk run a fantastic 'Introducing British Sign Language' course.

Day 14 - Spend

Day 14 was all about making an effort to purchase Christmas presents from a women-run enterprise. Only 1 in 3 UK entrepreneurs is female: a gender gap equivalent to 1.1 million missing businesses. (Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, HM Treasury 2019). In 2017, only 5.6% of UK women run their own businesses, compared to 15% of women in Canada, almost 11% of women in the US, and over 9% of women in Australia and the Netherlands. (Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, HM Treasury 2019)

Check out this Buzzfeed article: (https://www.buzzfeed.com/valezabakolli/female-owned-businesses-to-shop-on-international-womens-day) for some inspiration, or try to find some local female-led businesses to purchase your Christmas presents from.

Day 15 - Care

Today we reinforced the importance of self-care, and care for others. Self-care is always of importance, but even more so during the ongoing pandemic! We provided some ideas for self-care to fit around everyday life, ranging from brushing hair to painting a picture.

Day 16 - Support

Today, we stressed the importance of supporting Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid, and also promoted clear contact information for the charity.

These 16 Days of Activism have given us an opportunity for reflection and learning. We hope that we have had a positive influence on social media and started the conversation for others to continue.

Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid

Helpline open 9:15am to 5:15pm, 7 days a week: 0808 800 0028

Webchat available 10am-4pm, Monday to Friday: info@bswaid.org

Address: Ryland House, 44-48 Bristol Street, Birmingham, B5 7AA

Reg. Charity No: 1073926 Company No: 3509538

Don’t forget all proceeds of our Virtual Conference Exploring the World of General Practice will go to the BSWA.

Tickets are £3 each and we can’t wait to share our lineup of speakers and Workshops with you soon!

Tickets Available via filling in the form here https://forms.gle/sk9NPkYRRxQpJzsW8

Remember to donate to our Just Giving page here and please include your name so we can verify your donation and ticket https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/uobgpsociety