Rescue guide for internet abusers

A rescue plan for churches, families and individuals affected by pornography addiction has been produced by leading Christian social concern charity CARE.

Published in conjunction with Authentic Media, Searching For Intimacy is part of a fresh counter-movement against the new millennium revolution of internet pornography.

For while sexually explicit magazines, videos and books have been on most high streets for years, a more sinister snare has been wired for users of the worldwide web.

To help them steer clear of internet pornography, this book offers expert practical advice to both leaders and laypeople on how to deal with this 21st century menace – which is crippling families.

Specialists Trevor Stammers, Stephen Carrick-Davies and David Partington share their insights into the pornographic industry, children and the internet, and personal change.

The publication has emerged from a highly successful conference that CARE staged last autumn. The event is to be taken to Scotland and Northern Ireland later this year.

It is all part of CARE’s response to their own survey that showed most ministers and pastors believed pornography to be a serious problem within the Church.

"We’ve had some incredible conversations with people who’ve faced this threat to their family lives," said General Director Nola Leach. "We realise there is a real need."

CARE is looking at organising events in other parts of the country. Invitations to speak have come from churches, men’s meetings, deanery synods and theological colleges.

"Requests are flooding in," said Nola. "We want to help others to be part of the answer."

Welcome for manifesto but support questioned for full-time mums

The Mothers' Union welcomes the Liberal Democrats' efforts to recognise the impact that women's votes can have on the outcome of the General Election by the launch of their Manifesto for Women.

Reg Bailey, Chief Executive, said: "Women make up 52% of the electorate and yet the political world is a predominantly male one, which all too often overlooks the concerns of women and their families."

Childcare is an issue high on the agenda of all political parties. This manifesto, along with other parties' pledges, commits to better childcare and some financial support for working mothers during the first six months to a year after childbirth. However, while welcoming efforts to enable women who want to return to work to do so both quickly and easily, the Mothers' Union is increasingly concerned that the needs of mothers caring full-time for their children are being ignored and as a result they are often financially disadvantaged and certainly socially undervalued.

The Mothers' Union urges all of the political parties to articulate how their election pledges will respond to the needs and opinions of women, ensuring they are not discriminated against. Women are more likely to go to the polls than men and are more likely to be 'floating voters'. Therefore, it is in the interest of each party that women's issues are seriously addressed.

The Mothers' Union is encouraged that the Liberals Democrats' Women's Manifesto has opened up the debate on pension reform. Ruth Lee, Social Policy Officer, said: "The current system condemns women who have taken time out from work to care for family members to financial hardship when they grow older. Discrimination against women in this way must end. The Mothers' Union encourages the other political parties to join in this debate."

For more information about the Mothers' Union Social Policy Unit, contact: Ruth Lee, Social Policy Officer at The Mothers' Union, 24 Tufton Street, London on Tel: 0207 2225533.

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