Tag Archives: 50.50 Editor’s Pick

An art project on two narrow boats hitched together on a canal in northern England is celebrating co-dependency – countering both the racial divide and the massive cuts to women’s services. The wall hanging seen through the window of the boat, Selina Cooper. Photo: Rahila Gupta I am going to visit Idle Women, an art project based on two narrow boats hitched together somewhere on the canals of Lancashire. When my train tickets arrive, stating destination, Burnley, my heart skips …

“My daughter and I appeared before the Sharia court at Regent’s Park mosque in London. They were not interested in anything we had to say, the whole process was shocking.” Protest in London against the Law Society’s guidance on Sharia Wills April 2014. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/See Li The UK government is conducting an inquiry into the operation of Sharia courts which is being boycotted by a number of women’s organisations because its remit is too narrow, and the panel of …

With police violence against Black communities giving rise to the #Blacklivesmatter campaign, anniversaries of civil rights victories are an opportunity to bring to light the invisible actors behind historic moments.  Jo Ann Robinson, Head of the Women’s Political Council which initiated the Montgomery Bus Boycott In 2013, Angela Davis came to the UK on a lecture tour on the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech and argued elegantly and eloquently about how such celebrations, represented …

Weqfa Jina, the Foundation of the Free Woman in Rojava, based in a previously Assad-owned mansion   There is a real sense of a people responding to the facts on the ground with the few resources they have to hand. Rojava’s frontline of the war against ISIS is constantly shifting – at the moment in a positive direction, outwards, encroaching into ISIS held territory such as Shaddadi in Hasakah province and Tal Abyad on the Turkish border – which means …

This is the second in a series of articles by Rahila Gupta as she witnesses a revolution in Rojava. Read Part One  Its 3.30pm and Daham Basha, the border control officer, is clocking off. He jumps into the car with me because his home town Rîmelan, is on the way to Amuda where I am to be hosted by the Media Centre. The rolling countryside is dotted with oil wells, one reason why Rojava may prove to be self-sustaining and …

‘Traumatised into feminism,’ Mona Eltahawy speaks of her decision to unveil and understanding that ‘Muslim women’s bodies are the medium upon which culture is engraved, be it through headscarves or cutting.’ Women in the forefront of protests in Tahrir Square. Mohammed Omer. All rights reserved.She is fast. She is furious. She is a runaway train. But she is not off her rails. That is what I tweeted after hearing Mona talk about her new book, Headscarves and Hymens: Why the …

The EU Victims Directive comes into force this month. Will it prevent the further decimation of Black and minority ethnic organisations offering specialised services to women facing violence in the UK?  This is part two of an article addressing the cuts to the women’s sector in the UK. Read part one.  The Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, which the UK has so far failed to ratify, obliges member states to adequately fund both …

The quality of service in the independent women’s sector is no guarantee against the future as the British government continues its assault on specialist women’s services protecting women from violence.  It is tragic that we must mark the 16 Day period of activism and awareness of violence against women in 2015 with the recognition that the very sector that provides services to these women is looking emaciated, deprived of nourishment by a government which drones on about its commitment to …

The British government’s programme to counter violent extremism hands religious fundamentalists the gift of a narrative of victimhood, narrowing the political space for secular feminists and others to challenge fundamentalism. While governments struggle to come up with effective ways of countering extremism, the British government’s policy of choice appears to be the Prevent programme which has been placed on a statutory footing by the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015. From July 2015 every local authority has a legal duty to “prevent people from …

Anxieties about the erosion of freedom of expression, that touchstone of democracy, have surfaced across the political spectrum – from the no-platforming of certain speakers by students’ unions in UK universities to the deadly serious consequences of standing up against religious forces internationally. But all of it is animated by underlying concerns about:  power and privilege; the inflated notion of offence; the limits to freedom of speech; state imposed versus peer imposed limits; what constitutes acceptable protest; and, less discussed …