Women's Fightback, Feminism

Women’s vote tips Polish election

When the results were announced of Poland’s general election on 15 October, progressives breathed a sigh of relief. The ultra-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party was finally out of power. PiS’s eight years in government were characterised by attacks on democratic institutions, LGBTQ+ people, migrants and women. In 2020, a move to further restrict Poland’s already draconian abortion law led to the biggest wave of protest in the country’s democratic history. While the mass demonstrations didn’t manage to stop the near-complete ban on abortions, the election was seen as an opportunity to...

The horror of US jails and pregnancy

A US woman is suing after being forced to give birth in prison showers. Pregnancy Justice, Southern Poverty Law Center and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in Alabama on behalf of a woman whose constitutional rights were violated when a US prison treated her with cruel indifference, first restricting her access to necessary medical care during her high-risk pregnancy and then ignoring her pleas for help as she delivered her baby alone in a filthy jail shower — almost losing her life. Ashley Caswell was two months into her high-risk pregnancy when she was detained...

All the Rage 2023: A socialist feminist dayschool

Internationally the right's culture war is gaining ground, attacking LGBTQ people, in particular the trans community, rallying against immigration, and restricting reproductive freedoms. Working class women are at the sharp end of this assault and at the forefront of fighting back. Join us at for a day of workshops and talks to discuss where we stand and build a movement that can turn the tide. 10am-6pm + after-party until late. Pelican House, 144 Cambridge Heath Road London E1 5QJ Free childcare & London crash space on request SESSIONS (click on links for session details): • Opening Plenary...

Russell Brand’s friends on the (supposed) left

Those who’ve leapt to the defence of Russell Brand following the Dispatches and Sunday Times allegations have included the predictable far-right or misogynist grotesques: Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, Jordan Peterson, Andrew Tate, Tommy Robinson, Alex Jones, Katie Hopkins … etc, etc. But there have also been supposedly “left wing” figures whose immediate reaction has been either openly to defend Brand, or at least to cast doubt upon the evidence revealed by what appears to be a painstaking four-year-long investigation that notoriously risk-averse British libel lawyers obviously cleared for...

Labour, democracy, and Rosebank

Activists from Workers' Liberty and supporters of Solidarity will be at Labour Party conference and women's conference, 7-11 October in Liverpool. We'll be there to help the efforts of Free Our Unions, the Labour Campaign for Free Movement, the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign, India Labour Solidarity, and other campaigns; to sell literature, seek discussions and contacts. There will be demonstrations for the NHS and for abortion rights on Saturday, for free education on Sunday. And agitation for a block on new North Sea oil and gas fields, following the Tories' decision to "max out" licences in...

A critical eye on Nancy Fraser

At a discussion on Nancy Fraser’s Cannibal Capitalism as part of the ongoing South London Socialist Feminist Reading Group, we reached very different conclusions to Stuart Jordan’s review for Solidarity 680 . We thought it would be worth highlighting the key disagreements to open up some discussion. Fraser is right that capitalism is structurally entangled with questions of racial injustice, crises of social reproduction, and ecological disaster. There is a tendency within left circles to say that these things are important for the “health” of our movement; that the left must be anti-racist...

Union demands 12 months maternity for firefighters

A new report into maternity pay and provisions in the fire service has been published by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) showing women firefighters are “systematically undervalued” by the current arrangements. Information gathered from fire and rescue services across England has uncovered vast inequality in maternity pay. Freedom of Information requests reveal that a firefighter in Cornwall receives £15,000 less than their counterpart in Staffordshire in maternity pay. The national minimum for maternity pay for firefighters provides only 90% pay for an initial six weeks, decreasing to 50% pay...

“Shout her name: Jina Amini”

Protests were held across the world to mark the first anniversary of the murder in custody of Mahsa Jina Amini, killed on 16 September 2022. Jina was beaten by Iran’s so-called morality police, the Guidance Patrol, after being detained for allegedly “improperly” wearing her hijab. Jina was a 22 year-old Iranian Kurd born in Saqqez, north-west Iran. She was killed in Tehran, Iran’s capital after travelling with her family to visit her brother. The Iranian Islamic regime that killed Jina lied to cover up the crime, claiming she had died of an underlying health condition. Her parents insist that...

Behind the Rubiales row

Spanish football is in turmoil after weeks of uncertainty over the future of football federation (RFEF) President Luis Rubiales. At a ceremony after Spain’s World Cup win, the now-suspended football chief kissed midfielder Jenni Hermoso. Rubiales claims the kiss was consensual. Hermoso denies that, stating she was she said she was “the victim of an aggression”. The Spanish government, Fifa, and many high profile players have condemned Rubiales, but he refuses to resign. This is not the first scandal to hit women’s football in Spain. Less than a year before their World Cup win, Spain faced a...

Sarah Jane Baker cleared. Now free her!

Sarah Jane Baker was cleared in court on 31 August of “intentionally encouraging the commission of an offence”. However, she is still suffering utterly disproportionate punishment, being held in Wandsworth men’s prison, because parole authorities have revoked her “licence”. It could be months before she even gets a hearing. The campaign to free her continues. There were a number of protests calling for her release across the country on the day of the court hearing. She was arrested on 12 July after a speech at London Trans Pride (4 July) in which she said, “if you see a Terf, punch them in the...

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