Author Archives: Grainne

EVENT: Aldermaston Women’s Peace Camp (8th – 11th July, 2011)

*Aldermaston Women’s Peace Camp * invite you to *Long Weekend Camp

When: Starting at noon on Friday 8th July and ending at noon on Monday 11 July.

Where: “Dingly Dell”, outside AWE Aldermaston, (opposite Young’s Industrial
Estate) near Tadley, Berkshire.

How to get there: see http://www.aldermaston.net/camp/visit

Welcoming, relaxed and inclusive skills sharing and discussion that will nurture and inform us in our daily resistance to violence in all its forms; weapons, cuts to services, violence against women, destruction of the earth’s resources.

An extended weekend of women only non-violent discussion and activity,
including:

-A large banner that we make over the weekend which maps our thoughts and
discussions and that all women can contribute to

Discussions
-Why women only?
-Women’s Non-violence
-Inclusive action – looking at the common hierarchies of arrest
and not arrest and the criminalisation of resistance and how we can find
ways to address these issues.

Practical workshops
– tripod -everyone climbs
– dancing (with extreme ironing)
– blockading

Both Saturday and Sunday will include practical workshops and discussions
Please contact us if your group would like to contribute to the weekend
programme, or to any particular workshop.

Please bring vegetarian/vegan food to share and cook.
If you don’t want to camp, please let us know, and we can provide
information about local accommodation.

This is a women only event.
Further information will be sent out after 12 June or contact
info@aldermaston.net

EVENT: Leeds SlutWalk (Saturday 23rd July 2011)

Saturday July 23rd – 1200 – 1500

Meet at Victoria Gardens in front of the art gallery, Leeds. You may have heard of the success of the recent Slutwalk marches that are happening across the world! We are organising a march in Leeds for the 23rd July and we really hope you can join us! Please invite all your friends to march and rally and confront the rape culture that we live in.

With the rape conviction rate stuck at a shocking 6% (of reported rapes), 1 in 10 survivors never engaging with the criminal justice system and rape survivor survices being cut left right and centre now is the time to stand together and protest against the shameful victim blaming. It’s amazing that the comments of one ridiculous police officer in Toronto (who told students that if women wanted to avoid being raped they should “avoid dressing like sluts) can spark off a global movement. Lets celebrate the birth of a response to survivor/victim blaming, stand together and say that rape is NEVER the fault of the victim/survivor. For those on FaceBook here’s a link to the FB group https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=140250409386868

HELP: Forced marriage campaign – ‘Because I am a Girl’

forced marriagePlan UK’s “Because I am a girl campaign”, by Josephine Tsui // 30 June 2011, 11:06

The charity Plan UK would like your support for the ‘Because I Am A Girl Campaign’ being launched asking the UK public and government to #TaketheVOW by signing an online petition to end early and forced marriage.

You might have already heard about the campaign (which went live yesterday) as The Guardian very recently published a story on it, “10 million child brides each year, charity warns: UK must help to cut level of forced marriages for girls under 18” (25/06/11).

Plan UK wants to inform you of the launch because the campaign will have more impact with the support of influential feminist bloggers like yourself. We hope that the issue of early and forced marriage is of interest to you and your followers and that you will back our campaign.

Lend your voice through a quick and simple action of ‘taking the vow’ today, in support of raising the voices of the millions of girls married young, against their will in the developing world.

One girl is married off every three-and-a-half seconds worldwide. We think forcing girls to marry young is wrong. Please help put a stop to this.

Help us spread the word about our #TaketheVOW action on Twitter – we’re hoping you take your vow before millions of girls in the developing world are forced to take theirs.

** Take your vow at http://www.plan-uk.org/what-we-do/campaigns/because-i-am-a-girl/vow
** Please use our Twibbon, Facebook and blog badges to show your support!
** Use #takethevow to tell friends about the vow and urge them to take theirs!

EVENT: Pro-choice demo (9th July 2011)

Pro-choice Demo – 9th July 2011 from 13:00 to 15:30 – Trafalgar Square, London

Given the government’s recent appointment of Life to their sexual health forum at the expense of the British pregnancy Advisory Service, I’m organising a protest to show that we don’t think this is right. An organisation that is anti-abortion, advises abstinence, and doesn’t provide a full range of contraceptive services doesn’t have any place in influencing government policy decision. Whilst Life may offer a service to those wh…o do not see abortion as an option, we still live in a society in which women have a legal right to an abortion if that’s what they want and any step away from that endangers a woman’s right to choose what happens to her body. It has been argued that the appointment of one anti-abortion group will not make a difference to policy – I argue that this is a symbol of a further attack on women’s rights by a government that has shown itself to be retrogressive and misogynistic. We need to stand up and tell them to keep their hands off our bodies, to protest for the right to carry on deciding what happens to our bodies.

The police have not yet confirmed that this protest can go ahead in Trafalgar Square, but it isn’t inside a ‘designated area’ near Westminster so permission should be less difficult to get. Police support is desirable though, because some organisations have shown interest in speaking at a rally. I’ll post more information on this as soon as I’ve spoken with the Met.

So, if you believe that abortion rights are fundamental to women’s places as full citizens in our society, and that those rights are under threat, please join us on 9th July and publicise this page.

You can also check out #prochoicedemo2011 on Twitter.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=175470995844914

ACTION: Proposed changes to abortion law

Hi everyone,

Seriously time to sit up and act now – our government is attacking women again. Those of you following the F Word blog or keeping an eye on feminist news in general will probably already know, but abortion rights are, as usual, under threat.

Under new proposals, which won’t be well-publicised, and won’t be voted on in Parliament, women will be required to seek conselling before being able to access an abortion, effectively shortening the window she has. This counselling may be provided by organisations with a distinctly anti-abortion agenda. More information is below this email, where I’ve pasted the F Word blog post.

We need to make a *massive* fuss about these proposals, spread the word, tell people what’s happening and encourage everyone (not just women) to raise their voices and defend abortion rights.

Actions

  • Write to your MP. A letter is attached which you can adapt as you please or send in its entirety. You can find out your MP here. (Just pop in your postcode, then click on your MP’s name and you’ll be taken to a page where you’ll find their email address and postal address – you can paste the letter into an email or post it to them. Remember to add their name at the top and yours at the bottom)

Or be a superstar and do both.

Please send this email on to your friends and networks – it’s so important we stand up now and defend the hard-won abortion rights that we enjoy, but which are always under threat from those who seek to diminish women’s control and choice over their own bodies and lives.

Cheers!

____________________
The government is seeking ways to make it more difficult for women to access an abortion without bringing the proposal to a vote in Parliament, Liberal Conspiracy reports.

The Department of Health is looking for ways to force women to undergo mandatory ‘counselling’ before getting an abortion by changing existing regulations.

That is they are adopting the patronising proposal by Nadine Dorries and Frank Field in their quest to undermine the right to choose, rather that through the democratic process in Parliament, where it would at least face scrutiny by MPs and the Lords.

They also want to introduce a further ban on abortion clinics giving counselling. As Sunny says:

As BPAS (who have been targeted in this amendment) point out – around 20% of women they offer counselling to eventually chose not to have an abortion.

It’s like saying your doctor should not operate on you because they have an interest in doing so.

We’ve seen this all before in the US. Anti-choice campaigners wear away at one thing after another, till we’re left in a situation where women who miscarry and have stillbirths are being tried for murder, as the Guardian reported only yesterday:

What can we do? Writing to your MP and the Department of Health might be a good start. But also if you’re able to make the Pro-choice demo in London on 9 July, that’s another way to show your support for the right to choose, trusting women to make their own decisions, based on accurate information given out by healthcare providers.

HELP: Support the strikers this Thursday 30th June

Please do support those taking industrial action in Huddersfield on Thursday:
7.30am – picket line at Huddersfield Job Centre
10am – Public Meeting at St Patrick’s Irish Centre in Hudds
12pm – Rally at Market Cross, Huddersfield

Want to go further afield? Check the UK Uncut website for details of what’s happening around Britain

http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/blog/join-the-big-society-breakfast-and-support-the…

EVENT: Wild – three women writers perform (Sunday 3rd July 2011)

Wild: women/write/speak, Hebden Bridge Arts Festival Fringe, White Lion, Bridge Gate, Hebden Bridge

Sun 3 July – 8pm – £3/£4 on the door

Three vibrant women writers and performers, stretching from Manchester in the west, to Bradford in the east, picking up at Todmorden in the middle, all come together at the Hebden Bridge Arts Festival Fringe. Emma Decent of Todmorden presents her raw, funny and vibrantly performed words – a mix of provocative poetry and performance prose. Emma has had guest poet slots all over the north west including Manchester, Huddersfield
and Preston. She was chuffed to have her first ever poetry slam win when travelling further afield last year at the famous Chicago Uptown Poetry Slam. “Thought-provoking, lasting, understated but pivotal.” Belinda O’Hooley.

Jane Steele is a Bradford-based poet whose first collection, ‘Natural Light’ was published by Currock Press in November 2010. She has been doing stand-up performance poetry in and around Yorkshire for 5 and a half years, and in 2007 was a prizewinner at the Ilkley Literature Festival for a monologue bringing Medusa to Wakefield. Her poetry makes people cry with both laughter and sadness. Well, three of her mates have cried. They told her so.

Angela Smith is well known to anyone who enjoys the Manchester live poetry scene. Impish and wry, Angela’s poetry looks at love, relationships and life with only a little help from faeries and butterflies. Her book ‘This is the Me I Would Be if I Dared’ is published by Puppywolf in June 2011, so ‘Wild’ will be one of the first opportunities to taste it.

There may even be time for a little open mic so bring something if you fancy!

EVENT: Huddersfield Feminist Collective at Manchester Slutwalk

Slutwalk (1)Here’s a couple of shots from when some of us took part in the Manchester Slutwalk on Friday 10 June.

Another Slutwalk is currently being planned for Leeds – look out for them on Twitter if you want to get involved.

[Thanks to Pictures In The Cloud for letting us reuse the pics here!]

Slutwalk (2)

EVENT: Million Mothers March/ Million Women Rise (Sunday 31st July 2011)

Dear Manchester Wimmin Rising,

Planning for the Million Mothers March (MMM) is now fully underway. The date for the 2011 event is Sunday 31st July 2011. The theme this year is the EveryChild Matters outcome “Be Safe.” After the success of the 2009 event and last year’s 2010 “Be Health” theme the committee are once again hard at work planning the programme.

Mothers Against Violence and Million Women Rise will be working together to raise money for the Million Mothers March and the Million Women Rise March on 3.3.12.

We are looking for volunteers to help us do a street collection in Manchester on 29.7.11 and 31.7.11 at the march.

Please contact Patsy Mckie, Mother Against Violence (office@mavuk.org, 0161 2268134)

or

Louise Bond, Million Women Rise (jpluy@hotmail.com, 07872015114) if
you would like to be involved

Please see the following websites for more information:

www.millionwomenrise.com

http://mavuk.org/2011/05/28/million-mothers-march-31st-july-2011/

Together we will end violence!

**

*We are at a threshold. We are going to see change. If we can create
the vision in our heart, it will spread. As women of wisdom we cannot be
divided. As bringers of light, we have no choice but to join
together.*

Agness Baker Pilgrim – http://www.grandmotherscouncil.org/

EVENT: Zine Fest! Women’s Library, London (Saturday 24th June 2011)

*ZINE FEST 2011*

*Saturday 25th June 2011, 12pm-4pm, Free*

*The Women’s Library, 25 Old Castle Street, London*

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=182937295088674

Hey everyone,

So ZineFest is super nearly here! This Saturday we’ve got a great
programme of events lined up – including comic making, stencilling, zine tours,
stalls, exhibitions, crafting, a discussion on survivor zines, and a panel
on feminist media and memory- including speakers from Race Revolt,
Shocking Pink magazine, Sheba Press, and More Crackers Please. For more info
see, http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/thewomenslibrary/whats-on/events/zine-fest-2011.cfm

Please help spread the word!