INSIGHTS Friday, January 24, 1992 — North Shore News - 7 Aiming for zero tolerance THINKING ABOUT the recently announced Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women, | couldn’t help recall- ing events that occurred at my alma mater, Queen’s Uni- versity, in 1989. In response to an anti-date rape campaign, sponsored by the stu- dent government, male students posted signs in their residences saying ‘‘No means kick her in the teeth,’’ ‘‘No means she’s a dyke,”’ **No means down on your knees, bitch’? — all mocking the central slogan of the campaign ‘‘No means No.”’ Wait a second, I thought to myself at the iime. This couldn’t be happening at good ‘ol Queen’s, academic home of all those solid, fresh-faced upper-middle-class achievers who love to belt out the school song (in Gaelic) at fall football games. Were the ‘‘nice guys’’ | remembered who walked to and from the ivy-covered limestone buildings by Lake Ontario capable of this? Was 1 too preoccupied with fitting in when I was at Queen’s in the mid-’70s to see signs of this attitude towards women? Certainly, there was no women’s movement — or even a sense of a movement -- when I attended Queen’s. Good heavens! Most of us didn’t want to chatienge men. Then you wouldn’t have a date Friday night! You’d be relegated to eating popcorn in the residence common room with the other “‘date-less’’ co-eds. A fate worse than running out of blemish cream to cover a zit just before class. Times have changed, thank goodness. Because of individuals like the 100 women who occupied the principal’s office at Queen's, and many others, violence against women has been placed as an issue in front of all of us. What the Queen’s experience showed is that there remains far too high a tolerance for violence against women in this country. (The university’s principal took three weeks to make a statement condemning the actions of the male students, and then only when media attention and alumni con- cerned about their daughters’ safety made the situation unbearable.) ‘Gift-packs’ bring gift of self-doubt Dear Editor: Re: ‘Formula promo drop- ped,’” by Elizabeth Collings, Jan. 5 So Shoppers Drug Mart has made a “‘business decision” to drop their free formula pack promotion because this technique was unsuccessful. What further “‘business’’ plans does Shoppers have to promote the sale of for- mula? J am offended. Perhaps Shoppers will scon _ learn that parents are not stupid, and know that if a formula is promoted, then it follows that breastfeeding is undermined. Perhaps Shoppers will soon learn that parents know that “sift”? packs bring only the gift of self-doubt and often lead to the cessation of breastfeeding, a physiologic process which is very sensitive to psychological meddl- ing. Perhaps they will soon iearn that parents no longer accept the right of business to ‘‘do what we have to do’? in order to make money from our innocent babies. They will soon learn that as health care providers their first duty is to do no harm. That they have a duty to promote practices which enhance the health and lives of the people they contact, prac- tices such as breastfeeding, as well - as a duty to provide formula where there is a real need. Sandra Yates North Vancouver Consumer’s responsibility to use product correctly Dear Editor: ! would like to address your News Viewpoint (Jan. 5), ‘An ethical formula.”’ The World Health Organiza- tion international code is trying . to protect Third World coun- tries from incorrect use of in- fant formula, i.e. with unsterilized bottles or unsafe water. For a country like Canada, infant formula is truly a product like any other at a retail store. Nevertheless, over the de- cades and centuries, women were either breastfeeding their babies, or not, depending on how it was recognized and popular at the time. Nowadays we are experiencing a great push toward breastfeeding by La Leche League etc., in Canada and the U.S.A. In comparison to mother’s milk, infant formula provides very similar nutritional ele- ments and may even be superi- or to breastmilk because of additional minerals and iron. Findings show that breastfed children are not significantly healthier or more well-adjusted than non-breastfed children. The only significant difference is between cuddled and loved children and neglected ones. To love their children pro- perly is clearly the mothers’ re- sponsibility, not Shoppers Drug Mart’s. Promotion of formula advertises a perfectly good product and will not affect a child’s emotional and physical well-being. As with any product it is up to each user to apply given in- structions correctly. E. Babicki West Vancouver Catherine JUST ADD WATER We now know that incidents like the one at Queen's, as well as the daily violence faced by women of all socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, constitutes a massive problem in this land. The nine members of The Ca- nadian Panel on Violence Apainst Women, all of whom have highly impressive experience as agents for change in the area, are well aware of the degree of the problem. They're well aware of research MAILBOX N \ . 8 SK bens x Ly) NANA woes revealing that a woman is sexually assaulted in Canada every 17 minutes, that as many as two- thirds of all men admit a likeli- hood that they would force a woman into unwanted sexual acts if they could get away with it, and that only 200 of the 1,400 feder- ally incarcerated sex offenders receive treatment every year. Experts who work in the area — mostly women working on the front fines to help victims of vio- lence — cite two major areas long overdue for some progress: a change in societal attitudes and prompt action. As Carol Ward-Hall, executive director of the North Shore Crisis Services Society notes, Canadians must develop a zero tolerance for violence against women — the way that they’re beginning to do for drunk drivers. As for the action required, Ward-Hall says the judicial system must deal with abusers more quickly. She also cites the serious lack of support and counselling for the children that are also victimized by the cycle of violence, and the lack of support and facilities for rural women. Another serious gap in the sup- port system, says Ward-Hall, is the shortage of ‘‘second-stage’’ transition houses in B.C. Whereas standard transition houses allow a woman to stay up to a month, second-stage facilities would allow her to stay up toa year and thereby make the dif- ficult transition to single parent- hood with some chance of success. But most important is the chronic lack of funding for facili- ties like Emily Murphy Transition House. Every year the board members of the transition house have to raise $100,000 so that this vital community service can meet its budget. That’s a lot of stress and pressure, says Ward-Hall. Ward-Hall is optimistic about The Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women with whom she met last Friday. She believes the panel members, who will visit 100 communities across Canada and present an ac- tion plan to the federal govern- ment in December, have a good chance to motivate politicians and other individual Canadians to act. It’s clear that this panel must make a difference — because we can’t afford much more discussion if the wreckage of so many lives across this country is to stop. Formula costs cover kickbacks Dear Editor: Readers might be interested to know why the cost of infant for- mula has become so expensive (‘Formula promo dropped,”’ N.S. News, Jan. 5). The U.S. Federal Trade Com- mission investigating formula sales and marketing practises (May ’91) found the cost of formula has in- creased 155% while the cost of the ingredients has gone up by only 36% in the last 10 years. (Cana- dian increases are comparable to American.) The dramatic increase in for- mula costs is to cover kickbacks to the health care system to main- tain practices that interfere with successful breastfeeding. For ex- ample: bribes to hospitals in ex- change for exclusive contracts to orovide ‘‘free’’ formula (half mil- lion dollars offered to Grace Hospital in 1989), research grants, conference sponsorship, provision of biased speakers and ‘“‘educa- tional’? materials, formula gift packs to mothers, samples to physicians, etc. . As more women choose to breastfeed, the formula industry N. Shore News LETTERS TO the editor must in- clude your name, written legibly, your full address and telephone number. Due to space the contraints looks for new ways to. protect their market share. Also Nestle (Carnation) has recently entered the Canadian markei; the estab- lished Canadian companies are scrambling to hold on to their piece of the pie. Ultimately it is the purchaser of formula who pays the kickback to the health care system. Renee Hefti West Vancouver Mailbox policy North Shore News cannot publish all letters. 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