Tag Archives: women’s rights

EVENT: Radical Valleys: Valley Women, Politics and Protest in the Past 40 Years: Saturday the 11th October

There are lots of things going on at the moment in Yorkshire and the surrounding area so I will try to update more.

There is an event this coming Saturday – the 11th October – in The Red and Green Club, 42 Bankwell Road, Milnsbridge, Huddersfield HD3 4LU. It’s called Radical Valleys: Valley Women, Politics and Protest in the Past 40 Years and looks great.

Programme and details below:

 

Radical women day

Contact details: radicalvalleys@hotmail.co.uk
Webpage: http://radicalvalleys.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/valley-women-politics-and-protest-in-the-past-40-years/
Facebook page for the Red and Green Club: https://www.facebook.com/redandgreenmilnsbridge

#Vote4equality: Thursday 22nd May, European elections

From email:

On Thursday 22nd May, the country will go the polls to vote for the European Elections. In addition, almost 180 parts of England and Northern Ireland will be voting in local councillors or Mayors. Today women make up just:
– 32% of elected councillors
– 13% of elected Mayors
– 32% of Members of the European Parliament

Local government wields an enormous amount of power – a quarter of all public spending goes through local authorities, and three-quarters of their employees are women. It is vital that women’s views are equally represented in decision making at this level.

What you can do:

Arm yourself with the facts: Read our top stats on women’s representation in local government
#Vote4equality: Tweet your council candidates! Find out who your local council candidates are and ask what they will do for women

Donate to Fawcett:

Here at Fawcett we work tirelessly in public and behind the scenes to improve the representation of women in all public bodies. becoming a member of Fawcett. Every donation will be used wherever the opportunity is greatest to achieve greater gender equality. Forwarding this message onto just two of your friends could double the income from this appeal. Why not spread the message by telling the community you’ve supported Fawcett’s fighting fund through Twitter and Facebook?

Established in 1866, Fawcett is the UK’s leading campaign for equality between women and men. Our vision is of a society in which women and men enjoy equality at work, at home and in public life. As a campaigning charity, we need your voices behind us and we are always in need of financial support. Not already a member? Join us today.

EVENT: Feminism in the 21st Century: Privilege, Bias and Feminist Practice (5th March, 2014)

I’m going to this. Might see you there.

From email:

Timed to lead up to International Women’s Day, this one-day public forum will consider contemporary gender issues and persistent sexism. What does it mean to be a feminist in the 21st century and what are the new challenges facing women in an era marked by on-going global conflict and economic crisis? A panel of internationally renowned feminist thinkers will discuss the feminist now and the feminist future, alongside a day of networking opportunities and activities.

Questions under discussion will include:
Given recent high profile debates in the media and via social networking, what is the possible future relationship between Trans* people and feminists? What does the debate about intersectionality tell us about the state of feminism right now? Does the current worldwide scapegoating of the poor and working class have a particularly deleterious effect on women? Can new grass roots movements against austerity offer hope of positive change in gender issues? What are the connections and differences brought to light by recent media and legal attention to rape and sexual assault, both in the ‘bad old’ 70s and in the hyper-sexualised present of assaults posted to YouTube and ‘Everyday Sexism’? Does it still make any sense to speak of ‘post-feminism’, empowerment and sexual autonomy in the current context of commodification of sex and pornification of culture?

The day (5th March, 2014) will be accompanied by an activists’ fair including:

  • Stalls featuring women’s groups and feminist activities
  • Women’s choir
  • Feminist artwork and film screenings

Timetable for the day:

Activist fair opens at 11am

12.00 – 1.30pm Panel One: ‘Objectification’

  • Dr Jules Holroyd (Nottingham)
  • Dr Anna Bergqvist (MMU)
  • Finn MacKay (Feminist activist)

1.30pm – 1.45pm – break

1.45pm – 3.15pm Panel Two: ‘Intersectionality’

  • Rhian E Jones (Feminist activist and blogger)
  • Caroline Bayliss Green (MMU)
  • Well known feminist blogger #1 (invited, tbc)

3.15 – 3.45pm – break

3.45pm – 5.45pm: Panel Three: ‘Post-feminism and silencing’

  • Silence and ambivalence in discussions of post-feminism: Dr Katherine Angel (Queen Mary, University of London)
  • Jinan Younis (Altrincham Girls Grammar Feminist Group)
  • Dr Ginette Carpenter (MMU)
  • Well known feminist blogger #2 (invited, tbc)

5.45pm – 6.00pm – break

6.00pm: Generating Feminism: Plenary from Professor Iris van der Tuin (Utrecht)

7.00pm- 7.30pm: Discussion and closing remarks

7.30pm: Social evening (tbc)

This event is convened by members of the Institute’s research cluster on ‘21st Century Feminist Agendas’: Dr Ginette Carpenter, Dr Anna Bergqvist and PhD candidate in English Caroline Baylis-Green, and IHSSR Project Manager Helen Malarky

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS: research on the termination of pregnancy

A request on email:

University of York study needs YOUR stories

One in three women will have a termination of pregnancy (abortion) by the time they are 45. However, these women’s voices are often missing from discussion of termination. We need research about their experiences. For this reason, a major study at the University of York is inviting women to tell their stories through research interviews. Interviews are strictly confidential and women will not be identified.

Women can choose to take part by phone or by meeting with the researcher in person.

Can you help?

Firstly, a huge thank you to all the women who have already taken part in the research. In response to feedback from those who have taken part, the study criteria have been widened. Anybody aged 18 or over, who has experienced a termination in England, can take part in the research.

If this is something that you might be interested in, please visit the project website http://www.york.ac.uk/satsu/timing-termination for further information.

Alternatively, you can contact the researcher directly by emailing Siân at sian.beynon-jones@york.ac.uk or phoning on 01904 323064.

EVENT: WomenCentre Kirklees, raising awareness of FGM, Fri 8th Nov 2013, Huddersfield

From email:

Please find attached an event on raising awareness of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). This has been organised by WomenCentre Kirklees and the ‘Women Together’ project.

Friday 8th November 2013 – 10.00 – 15.30 – The Mission, Huddersfield

All details on attached flyer and booking form.

Also, along with the event the ‘Women Together’ project is launching its book around the narratives of asylum seeking and refugee women who have been affected by gender violence.

Please circulate around your contacts.

The event has got limited places so please book early to avoid disappointment.

Regards,

Melody

Huddersfield
Tel: 01484 450866
Email redacted.

WomenCentre, Calderdale and Kirklees
WomenCentre Ltd, 23 Silver Street, Halifax, HX1 1JN
Company Number 6084795, Charity Number 1118366

EVENT: Aldermaston Women’s Peace Camp(aign)

Aldermaston Women’s Peace Camp is held on the second weekend of every month. We arrive at camp on Saturday morning or sometimes on Friday evening (please ring to check we are there if you plan to come Friday evening). We stay until Sunday lunch-time.

Visit the events section for details for forthcoming camps.

All women are welcome to come along at any time – and male visitors are welcome at camp during the day, but not after dark.

You can get a flavour of camp life by reading the blog section. You can also download our new women’s leaflet (pdf below) containing basic information about the camp.

Site: aldermaston.net.

HELP: University of York research study – women’s experiences of termination of pregnancy

From email:

Hello

I work in the Sociology Department at the University of York and I’m getting in touch to ask whether your group might be able to help circulate/publicise information about a research project that I am running?

The project is funded by the Wellcome Trust (a UK research charity) and is using interviews to explore women’s and health professionals’ experiences of abortion provision in England. I am inviting women aged 18 or over, who have had a termination of pregnancy within the last 6 months, to participate in an interview about their experiences. The aim of the interviews is to allow women to tell their stories in their own words and to explore what this experience has meant to them. Interviews are strictly confidential and women will not be identified. The study has been ethically reviewed and approved by the University of York Economics, Law, Management, Politics and Sociology Research Ethics Committee.

I am trying to find ways to publicise information about the project to women, so that those for whom this is relevant can decide for themselves whether they want to contact me about taking part in an interview. I wondered whether you might be willing to circulate the advert (pasted below this message and also included as an attachment flyer) around your mailing lists, and perhaps post the information on your webpage?

Continue Reading…

PETITION: #losetheladsmags

It’s time for shops to Lose the Lads’ Mags

Today it’s no longer acceptable to have ‘girly calendars’ on office walls. Why? Because they create a sexist and degrading environment for female employees and customers. So why, then, do supermarkets and newsagents still think it’s OK to expose staff and customers to degrading, pornographic lads’ mags – the modern day equivalent of ‘girly calendars’ – in their stores?

A woman who works in Tesco told us, “I hate that Tesco sells these mags and papers like the Sun and the Star. In the store I work in there is a laddish culture and I don’t think having these magazines help that…”

Lads’ mags portray women as dehumanised sex objects. There is extensive evidence this fuels sexist attitudes and behaviours and creates a conducive context for violence against women.

We’ve also obtained brand new legal advice showing that shops selling lads mags’ – like WH Smith and Tesco – are potentially breaching equality legislation. Stocking and displaying lads’ mags and papers with Page 3-style front cover images can constitute sex discrimination or sexual harassment under the Equality Act. Employees could take legal action on this basis and, where the magazine is visibly on display, customers could also have a claim. Legally as well as ethically, lads’ mags are well past their sell-by date.

That’s why we’re joining with Object, Women’s Aid, End Violence Against Women and many others to tell shops to lose the lads’ mags.

Sign the petition and ask shops to lose the lads’ mags!

As is the case with ‘girly calendars’, people shouldn’t have to see sexist, degrading lads’ mags when they are going about their work or doing their shopping.

Sign the petition today.