I received an email today alerting me that I could use bar codes to determine the country in which a product was made. The general idea was to spot the items made in China, even if they weren’t so labelled. Perhaps you have seen something similar. Here is the text of the email I got:

The whole world is scared of China made ‘black hearted goods’. Can you differentiate which one is made in the USA , Philippines , Taiwan or China ? For your Information the first 3 digits of the barcode is the country code wherein the product was made.

All barcodes that start with 690, 691, 692 until 695 are all MADE IN CHINA. 471 is Made in Taiwan

This is our human right to know, but the government and related department never educate the public, therefore we have to RESCUE

Nowadays Chinese businessmen know that consumers do not prefer products ‘Made in China’, so they don’t show from which country it is made.

However, you may now refer to the barcode, remember if the first 3 digits is 690-695 then it is Made in China .

BARCODES:
00 ~ 13 USA & Canada
30 ~ 37 France
40 ~ 44 Germany
49 ~ Japan
50 ~ UK
57 ~ Denmark
64 ~ Finland
76 ~ Switzerland and Lichtenstein
628 ~ Saudi-Arabia
629 ~ United Arab Emirates
740 ~ 745 - Central America
All 480 Codes are Made in the Philippines

So is it true? Well according to the Urban Legends (Snopes.com) people, not exactly. First of all, it’s not the bar code that gives you the country information: it’s the EAN or European Article Number. So unless the product you’re looking at buying has an EAN, this whole discussion is moot.

The second problem is that the first two or three digits that represent the country code refer to the country in which the product was registered, not necessarily where it was grown or manufactured. If a product was made in China and then shipped to another country for packaging, then it will not bear the country code for China.

This recalls a problem we have in Canada with items that are labelled “Made in Canada,” as exposed by CBC’s Marketplace in the fall of 2007. Our laws state that as long as a majority of the cost of the product was incurred in Canada, an item can be labelled a product of our country. This includes packaging, and of course advertising expenses. Under this law, food made in China or any other country can be given a “Product of Canada” label as long as the distributor spent most of its money here.

What are we to do? Well, buying local produce is one idea. And how about making our own toys and games, or buying from local artisans and craft sales?

We can also let our shopkeepers know we prefer local products, and tell our governments that laws that allow foreign products to masquerade as made in Canada are no longer acceptable.

The general message of the email rings true: we can’t wait for someone else to tell us what’s safe for our families & what isn’t. It’s up to us to act for change.

Thanks to Dad, who brought this very interesting and timely issue to my attention

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

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This morning was something of a triple whammy for me, so I thought it was worth mention. Almost first thing this morning I listened to a childhood friend of my sister’s talk about her own rape at age 12 on the TV news, in aid of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM.) We’ve all heard about young girls being assaulted but it touched me a little deeper to think of that girl keeping her secret when I walked past her in the corridor between classes, when she hung out with my sister and their friends, and when we were went to school dances. She says she felt for a number of years that she was “damaged goods” and didn’t seek help because she thought she was the only one in her situation.

A visitor to my blog commented on my story about Noellee Mowatt, the pregnant teenager who was jailed last month to ensure she would testify against her boyfriend in a spousal abuse trial. While the visitor rightly pointed to the damage that can be caused by a false accusation, I strongly suspect this is a case of a woman who wants the police to intervene to make the beating stop, but who is reluctant to testify against her abuser. People who work with victims of abuse stated that the treatment Noellee Mowatt received is likely to cause victims to avoid seeking police assistance in the future.

Finally, a dear friend from my own childhood posted a link to her article on what to do if you suspect a co-worker is a victim of abuse. Angie was a victim of spousal abuse herself, as a young adult. Her advice reflects that experience and is also intelligent and practical. I hope she’ll forgive my use of the word “victim” here, because if there’s anyone I can think of who has faced challenges in her life and (more than) successfully overcome them it is Angie Mohr. But I just can’t think of another word that adequately expresses what a person is when they experience domestic violence first hand.

Every one of these three stories has something to teach us. I hope my readers will read them, discuss them, and find their own personal ways to act on them even if it is in a very small way.

During my gerontology training we were taught that it is important to enable people who are going through a difficult situation in their lives - I think the expression used these days is “empower” (”enable” having acquired some negative connotations from its very different use in the 12-step community.) The key to that is the phrase, “How can I help?” It’s a good thing to remember - and use….

For anyone in a violent relationship: Please read accountant Angie Mohr’s advice on protecting yourself physically & financially.

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks!

Just a few quick bits to update the story of the pregnant 19 year old, Noellee Mowatt, who was jailed earlier this month on a material witness warrant:

1. It turns out the baby is not due April 15, but rather May 15. So while Noellee is still “very” pregnant, the worry over her delivering her baby in jail is a tad exaggerated;
2. Noellee appeared at the trial of her boyfriend Chris Harbin on Friday, and although she is due to return to finish her testimony she was set free;
3. When questioned about her 911 calls in December, Noellee downplayed the violence. She was shown photos of the bruises on her face, and she claimed she had bumped into a wall. When questioned about other marks of violence she said she must have slept on something hard in the bed. She says she was angry when she called 911, and that she lied out of spite.

Sources:

“Pregnant teen released from jail after testifying in boyfriend’s trial” (CBC News)

“UPDATE: Pregnant woman to be freed after testimony” (Chris Wattie, National Post)

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks!

Noellee (also given as Noelly) Mowatt is nine months pregnant. She’s due to give birth to her second daughter next Tuesday. Instead of being home preparing for her baby’s arrival Noellee is behind bars at the Vanier Centre for Women in Milton, Ontario.

Noellee isn’t there because she committed a crime. She’s there because she was the victim of a crime.

Let’s go over that again. A 19 year old woman who is ready to give birth at any moment has been locked up in a maximum security jail, because she was assaulted and she reached out to police for help. The young woman is described as a “petite teenager… isolated and frightened.” (”Premier uncomfortable…”) She has not been contacted by prosecutors, police or even victims services since she police dragged her from her to jail at midnight last Wednesday.

What happened? Back in December 2007 Noelly was assaulted by her boyfriend, Christopher Harbin. She called police to ask for help, and Chris was arrested. He faces a handful of charges including assault with a knife, unlawful confinement, assault, theft and breaching probation. He is behind bars awaiting his trial tomorrow.

Noellee is being held as a material witness, after police say they tried to serve her with a subpoena and couldn’t. She failed to appear for an earlier court date on March 20th.

Police and crown attorneys claim she provided welfare an address but wasn’t living there. They also say she missed three appointments to pick up the subpoena at the police station. Noellee says she talked to detectives several times, and even asked about the court date. She declares that when she asked she couldn’t get a straight answer from the detective, who instead replied, “You know.” No one talked about her picking up a subpoena, nor did anyone try to drop one off where she was staying. The young woman had been living in shelters and rooming houses until her arrest on April 1st.

It seems police were able to find Noellee to arrest her. One wonders why they couldn’t find her to serve the subpoena?

Noellee’s lawyer Lydia Riva says that material warrants are generally used to compel criminals to testify against other criminals. She’s never heard of a victim of alleged domestic violence being jailed like this - although a spokesperson for the Attorney General says it is not the first time. Noelly was refused bail despite the fact that she had been prepared to accept quite strict conditions including house arrest and reporting to police daily until she testified.

Detaining a young woman so close to her due date over what seems to be a bunch of red tape and “he said, she said” seems rather punitive to me. Noellee’s lawyer thinks so too.

“My client is being punished for not pursuing charges against her boyfriend,” Riva said Monday. “We’re supposed to reserve jail for the worst offenders, not for victims.” (”Pregnant teen sent to jail…”)

Crown Attorney Susan Chapman is quoted by CBC as saying:

“The problem with autonomy is you’re giving the power over to the victim in the case in what is really a public prosecution,” she said. “And then you can make that woman vulnerable to intimidation and further abuse by the perpetrator.” (”Pregnant teen jailed to ensure …”)

That doesn’t sound like a whole lot of concern for victims of domestic violence to me! It sounds more like a concern for the grease the wheels of justice need - making the job easier for police and prosecutors without regard to the victim.

A concern for the “intimidation and further abuse” does seem reasonable enough, but then with Chris in Jail it would be easy enough to prevent the couple from seeing one another. Especially if Noellee were under house arrest…..

It’s interesting, one of the reasons Chris Harbin is in jail at the moment is that he failed to attend court mandated anger management and spousal abuse counselling. So he’s being punished at least in part because he wasn’t willing to work on the problems that led Noellee to call police in the first place. On the other hand, she’s being punished because she does want to work on them, and because she feels that he’s “a good man” with whom she can build a life and raise a family.

Can you all see me shaking my head?

What makes the whole thing seem even more of an intimidation or reprisal on the part of the justice system is the fact that Noellee was placed in segregation after talking to reporters. She later said in a telephone interview that she feels the guards were punishing her.

Afraid she will deliver in jail, Noellee is concerned for her health and that of her unborn baby. She is not eating well and has caught the flu since being arrested. She is particularly nervous about being imprisoned with women who have hepatitis and HIV.

A woman so close to her delivery date is usually seen once a week by her attending physician if all is well, and we would expect her to be monitored more carefully if it isn’t. None of the reports I found mentioned anything about Noellee receiving proper obstetrical care in jail, despite the fact that she is distressed and has had to seek medical care as a result of the flu she caught. She has already been in custody for ten days. She may have missed up to two pre-natal appointments at this point. Is she being given access to adequate care for her unborn baby in jail?

After all the trouble this has brought her, Noellee vows never to call the police for anything again, not even if she is dying. She feels that news of her treatment will make other women who are living with domestic violence reluctant to come forward and seek help from the courts. Several people who work with victims of violence have indicated it will probably have women thinking twice before they ask for help in the future. No one wants to end up in jail because they forgive a boyfriend or husband and want to try to reconcile.

Vivien Green, formerly of the Woman Abuse Council of Toronto, says the way the courts are handling Noelly is a “glaring example of the courts’ inability to deal with spousal abuse.” She further goes on to say, “This is a lesson in how pathetically our courts work in these cases.” (”Premier uncomfortable…”)

Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, under attack from both the Conservatives and NDP, admits Noelly’s situation “creates a little bit of discomfort.” He is, nevertheless, not going to “second guess” a judge. Attorney General Chris Bentley also has “some discomfort with the outcome of this case.” I wonder whose discomfort the officials are worried about: Noellee’s or their own?

To be fair, I must mention that Noellee also is facing charges for theft and failing to appear in court. However I believe it’s rather rare for someone to be held in maximum security even if convicted on such charges, especially if she is about to have a baby.

Experts on domestic violence say that many, if not most, women react the way Noellee has when it comes to testifying in court. There is a reluctance to appear in court and often a desire to reconcile with a man whom they love and still want to be their partner. They call police in fear, just wanting the violence of the moment to stop. Police and prosecutors may look upon the women as uncooperative or unreliable, but if this is the reaction of the majority of women in such a circumstance it would seem it is for the system to change - not the women.

In fact, the laws were changed some time ago. Whereas victims once had to press charges the courts now file assault charges on their behalf. And while the victim is still sometimes called upon to testify, the emphasis in a case like this should be placed on evidence and testimony from people who have some knowledge of the violence - those who heard fighting, saw bruises on the victim, a doctor who treated injuries, etc.

Some people are suggesting that had Noellee Mowatt been someone else perhaps she wouldn’t be in jail for her reluctance to testify. Her race, her poverty, the fact that she is both a recent immigrant to Canada and charged with theft herself, all seem to have contributed to the way the courts have seen fit to treat her. There is more than a slim chance that police and court staff failed to communicate with Noellee, and there is no question that their reaction to her not wanting to testify was both severe and highly unusual. Court officials and police have drawn a picture of an unreliable, possibly dishonest and thieving young woman who refuses to cooperate with them.

They ignore the fact that Noellee is concerned for her daughter, mother and grandmother in Jamaica, and that she tries to send money to them to help pay for their living expenses. Only one of the sources I found even mentioned that - or the fact that Noellee and Chris plan to take correspondence courses together and make a better life for their child. It’s all too easy for both the courts and even the media to accept a two dimensional description of a person. It’s what fits into their mold, and anything that doesn’t fit gets discarded as not important.

There may be “a little bit of discomfort” in this whole business, but I simply can’t see how tossing an already scared and disadvantaged young woman into jail serves to do anything but punish and intimidate her into compliance. Wasn’t the goal supposed to be protecting women from violence?

Sources:

“Heavily pregnant teen remains in Ont. jail” (Chris Hattie, National Post)

“Jailed teen due to deliver baby” (Michele Henry, Toronto Star)

“Pregnant woman ‘never calling the police again’” (Michele Henry, Toronto Star)

“Pregnant teen jailed to ensure testimony against boyfriend” (CBC News)

“Pregnant teen jailed after refusing to testify on abuse” (Karen Howlett, Globe and Mail)

“Pregnant teen sent to jail for not testifying against boyfriend” (Canwest News Service)

“Pregnant witness held in Toronto-area jail to ensure testimony” (CBC)

“Premier grilled on girl in jail” (Chris Wattie & Jordana Huber, National Post)

“Premier uncomfortable over jailed pregnant teen” (Chris Wattie & Jordana Huber, National Post)

“Still won’t testify” (Sam Pazzano, Toronto Sun)

“Toronto pregnant teenager jailed on no charges” (Shameless Blog)

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Photo courtesy of the National Post. Thanks!