Feminist experience and input into the theory and practice of nonviolence has much to offer a new generation of grassroots Occupy activists. Rebecca Johnson reflects on the lessons of the successful Greenham Common protest
Storytelling, in itself, will neither eliminate sexual violence nor entirely heal PTSD. But it can help shift the conversation to a narrative that avoids shaming survivors, carving out a space for understanding.
"It is only now we realise that female genital mutilation is child abuse, many people in our home country don’t realise that”. Nasheima Sheikh reports on working with women at grassroots in Birmingham to end this illegal practice
Women’s groups such as Women in Black have long led the way in challenging the mindsets and structures of patriarchal power and militarism, but men must recognise that they have the primary responsibility to make the changes, says Rebecca Johnson
The dominant HIV intervention response assumes that HIV transmission only occurs in contexts of danger and violation. It is time to take into account young women’s actual sexual experiences and recognise that sex is also a positive and joyous experience, however unsettling this may be for the HIV
Thirty years into the AIDS pandemic, an AIDS-free generation is in our grasp at last. Alice Welbourn asks whether we are really going to let it vanish, thanks to the aggressive traits of financiers and governments ?
Plans by the government to criminalise forced marriage in the UK will put women and girls at even greater risk of violence. Forced marriages can only be tackled from within and by the community, with sufficient resources to support this work, says Sajda Mughal
It is time that debates surrounding religion and migration in the UK move beyond the almost monolithic focus on Islam, recognising the multiple and fluid ways in which religion shapes, and is in turned shaped by, experiences of migration, says Chloé Lewis
"Violence can be prevented. This is not an article of faith, but a statement based on evidence" (WHO 2002). Scilla Elworthy calls for a strategy based on the clear evidence of what is working in scattered pockets around the world, with the creation of 'Infrastructures for Peace' at its core.
Sri Lanka's Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission has no mention of gender in its mandate and no dedicated expertise related to women; it has just one female commissioner out of eight. For Tamil women, the LLRC simply reaffirms bad old habits.
The Fawcett Society believes that the UK coalition government has broken the law in not assessing the impact of budget cuts on women. Ray Filar marched with them last weekend to hear their reasons for protesting
As increasing numbers of articulate women use Islamic sources to defend varying ways of life, they are challenging western feminist models, at least in name and quite often in substance, making detailed study of the full range of female Islamic leadership crucial, say Masooda Bano and Hilary Kalmb
