Care Revolution | Have a heated argument and then carry on together anyway?
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Have a heated argument and then carry on together anyway?

Aktuelles – 23. December 2016
Review of a Care Revolution themed evening in Potsdam in November 2016. Finally paying care professions fairly and securing them in the long term? Entering into alliances across the boundaries of training, scope and ideas of the 'right' care? Or should we start by demanding humane basic care for everyone, especially refugees? The people in the Care Revolution network have set their sights high. And every now and then they fail to fulfil their own ambitions. Do nothing? Do a lot! Let's learn from this, get up and keep going! "People are exhausted from constantly running on the hamster wheel."Founding member Barbara Fried begins by shedding light on the Care Revolution as a transformation strategy to overcome the crisis of social reproduction. After all, 30 years of neoliberalism have led to people and social infrastructures being completely exhausted. On the one hand, this is the result of overtime, competition and pressure to perform. They are the hallmarks of a wage labour system in which not only employed people toil, but also unemployed people are confronted as supposedly asocial. It is a squeezing system: many people, e.g. in nursing and care, do not even make it to the statutory retirement age. On the other hand, the continuous privatisation of welfare state services means that more and more responsibility for care is being transferred back to the individual. This also increases the workload - and distributes it unfairly. Firstly, good care and support is (once again) increasingly dependent on money because it is offered as a paid service. Secondly, it is (once again and increasingly) being outsourced to private households, where it is mostly women who look after their relatives free of charge - alongside paid work and housework, of course. The employment of (mostly) migrant women for private households is, among other things, a phenomenon that follows this increased workload - and it makes sexist and racist structures in this society recognisable. The aim of the Care Revolution is therefore to make paid and unpaid work of social reproduction visible, to valorise it and to fight for structures that guarantee good care for all in social responsibility. The social fabric is exhausted and people are exhausted in a system that puts human needs last. It is a system of social divisions that must be overcome. That is also the goal of the Care Revolution."The asylum laws were tightened in 2015/16 to an extent that we could not have imagined a few years ago."Elisabeth Ngari founded Women In Exile together with other refugee women in Potsdam in 2002. The women organise themselves independently to fight against the inhumane living conditions in the collective accommodation, which they refer to as camps. Together with Damarice Okore, Ngari shows the short documentary WOMEN IN EXILE and reports on the work of the organisation. Women in Exile regularly visit collective accommodation and refugee camps, where they document the conditions. They recently published an open letter from the women in the camp in Henningsdorf . It reads: "Mothers and their children live in rooms measuring just 12 square metres, four women have to share a 24 square metre room. As we live together with men in a corridor, there is harassment and sexualised violence. Despite the traumatic event, one woman who was personally affected was accommodated in a corridor where only men normally live. Our children don't dare to go to the toilet on their own. There is a lack of privacy, not only because we have to live together in cramped conditions, but also, for example, because Muslim women have to put on their hijab every time they go to the kitchen. As the operator of the GU [i.e. shared accommodation], the district has so far shown no interest in endeavouring to provide us with shelters and flats. Due to the even worse conditions in the new building, we not only feel that our concerns have not been taken into account, we feel downright insulted." Women and children are particularly at risk in the collective accommodation - sexualised violence, abuse and harassment are commonplace. This is why Women In Exile are not only demanding that they be accommodated in flats as quickly as possible, but also that they be involved in organisational decisions in the collective accommodation centres: "For this reason, we demand that women, children and families be accommodated in flats that protect us after a maximum stay in the camp of 6 months.[1] During these 6 months, we demand the use of a house exclusively for women on the premises in Stolpe-Süd. We want to be involved in the allocation of rooms in order to prevent conflicts. To make it easier to move into flats, the district should adjust the cost of accommodation to the actual rent level." Women In Exile & Friends organise raft tours throughout Germany and demonstrations to draw attention to the situation of refugees. They also organise empowerment workshops to inform refugee women about their rights and show them how they can defend themselves. Most of them only do voluntary, unpaid work, as many committed women do not have a work permit. They make it clear that they would particularly like help from the network in this area:"I go to the clinic and the midwife doesn't have time for me. That can't be right."Martina Schulze reports on an endangered care profession: midwifery. The chairwoman of the Brandenburg Midwives' Association emphasises that it is not just the liability issues[2] for freelance midwives, but the working conditions as a whole that are gruelling for everyone. Schulze reports that the demand for midwives cannot currently be met in Brandenburg. There are recruitment problems. Earnings are very low and obstetrics is only profitable through medical interventions. Sometimes midwives attend up to four births at the same time. This does not guarantee a safe birth and means that colleagues are increasingly burnt out. The postnatal period normally lasts at least ten days. Today, it is increasingly being outsourced at home, as there is even less money for nursing care than for obstetrics. In addition, more and more clinics and maternity centres are closing without replacement. This is particularly problematic in the sparsely populated areas of Brandenburg. Schulze appeals to the women affected to protest: "I go to the clinic and the midwife has no time for me. That can't be right." However, it is not only mothers and parents, but also the midwives themselves who are difficult to mobilise; in a large state like Brandenburg, it is a long way from the extreme north just before Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to the southern edge in the Spreewald. Schulze recommends the documentary film Einsame Geburt - Hebammen in Not (Lonely Birth - Midwives in Need) for a comprehensive presentation of the nationwide problem. Why is such a large liability insurance policy imposed on midwives? It may be a question of power: midwives are the only medical profession that can work without a specialist's instructions. This often seems to be a thorn in the side of doctors. The medical lobby is big. However, there is evidence that other reasons play a role: the foetus in the womb is a black box and therefore the risk for insurers is almost impossible to assess. Not the number of claims, but the claims payments have increased. In addition, midwives are a very small group of insured persons, so the risk is spread over far fewer shoulders."Insurance companies capitalise on parents' fears"A discussion ensues: doctors also have to pay liability insurance. Can we join forces on the liability issue? Couldn't the resistance to DRGs[3] also be an opportunity to work together for better patient care, better working conditions and fairer remuneration? After all, the problem is the economisation of medicine, and we know from nursing that everyone is working against each other. Joining forces within the groups would be a great benefit. However, political output only comes from men. Women need to be motivated. They are suppressed, but "they also allow more than men," he says. There is resistance to this in the discussion group. It is requested that social divisions are not repeated by repeating clichés. Today's event, on the other hand, shows that women are speaking out and organising themselves. An appeal is made to start at the structural level instead of personalising contradictions and instead to become active together against the problematic system. Another person speaks up: "Women still have more to deal with [than men], so it's no wonder that they are less politically engaged." Instead, women need to be met where they are, she adds:"Where should I start discussing with you? The situation is so much different for refugee women!"Refugee women have their child and go back to the camp the next day. There they are alone with all their problems. There are usually no midwives. The distances to the common rooms (bathroom, kitchen) are long. They are often forced to leave their babies alone in their rooms. This is because there are dangerous situations in the communal areas; assaults and arguments are commonplace. The women lack networks. Can demands be formulated from the perspective of refugees that can be added to the political demands of midwives? We have to learn to think about different life situations. Is this similar in nursing? Do you think about the situation of refugees? One person asks back: Why don't refugees want to go to hospital? Because many have had bad experiences, e.g. with doctors who make no secret of their everyday racism. Word gets around. Because the barriers to getting information, defending themselves or even just changing doctors or hospitals are extremely high, this is a reason to stay away from hospitals. That's not really a reason, they say. The indignation is palpable in the discussion round. First of all, it is made clear that there is only healthcare for refugees in emergencies. It is also important that bad experiences are not played down, but taken seriously. Only then are alliances and a joint struggle for improved conditions for all possible."People are being played off against each other instead of working towards a better care situation."The divisions are also difficult to overcome on this evening. There are arguments about words, recognition and respect. Sometimes sexist and racist remarks are made. These may have been thoughtless and perhaps unintentional - but they were no less painful for those addressed. The fact that we as organisers failed to establish clear communication rules at the beginning didn't make things any easier. Although we demanded these during the course of the evening, not everyone stuck to them. The conflict is almost impossible to resolve, but we still gain important insights during the evening - even if it is about how complicated it is to overcome power relations that constantly set us against each other. To do this, we also have to change ourselves - but by no means just ourselves! That is why we should continue in Potsdam despite this - or even more so! - to continue. Possible joint projects include supporting various campaigns: on 8 March for Women's Day, when Women In Exile take to the streets; in late summer, when the Midwives' Association tours the country with an information bus for the federal elections. Or during the Berlin-Brandenburg Change Week in September 2017, when the sustainability scene will focus on the topics of "participation of refugees", "climate justice", "places of good living" and "self-determined work" - and the care perspective is absolutely part of this. The next networking meeting is planned for early 2017. The date has not yet been finalised, so further information about meetings and other networking ideas can be found at care-revolution@riseup.netDocumentation of the working meeting on 8 July 2016 in preparation for the event can be found here. [1] Section 47 of the Asylum Act stipulates that asylum seekers are obliged to live in an initial reception centre (EAE) for "up to six weeks, but no longer than six months."[2] In 2003, the annual liability premium for midwives was €1352.56; since then, it has risen continuously to €6843.00 in July 2016 and will continue to rise. More and more midwives can no longer afford this high sum due to their low income[3] DRG = Diagnosis Related Groups, i.e. diagnosis-related case groups according to which services are billed to health insurance companies on a flat-rate basis.
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