Economists estimate extreme poverty could be drastically reduced for a fraction of global defence spending, yet military budgets continue to expand year on year, says JON TRICKETT MP, ahead of the Stop the War International Conference on Saturday
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Young women and girls too often face a distressing reality of online hypersexuality and harassment. BEC WONDERS previews the launch of a feminist summer camp to provide a safe space for young women and girls to express themselves and their needs
Freeing the imagination: Bec Wonders led a session asking the Young Women's Group at Nia to imagine their feminist utopias
As Unison launches its Year of Women Workers, ANNIE COGAN-THOMAS argues that stronger organisation and collective bargaining are essential to winning equality
Trade unions, trades councils and community organisations must work together to build lasting solidarity and resistance to the far right, argues DREW GILCHRIST
Recent violence in Belfast was not spontaneous — it was built on years of failure and political neglect, argues STIOFAN O NUALLAIN
As delegates meet in Brighton this week, Unison faces pressing questions about pay, organising, workers’ rights and political representation, explains ANDY CHAFFER
Andy Burnham’s growing stature has fuelled hopes of a Labour revival – but ALAN SIMPSON warns that Britain’s crisis runs far deeper than just its leadership and traces its roots to decades of financialised capitalism
WHEN we think of the trajectory of historical improvements to the status of women in society, we often conjure up a one-dimensional narrative that begins at women’s suffrage, followed by equal pay, abortion rights and anti-discrimination legislation, and finally lands in the 21st century haven of “not perfect but better than nothing” liberal ideals of equality between men and women.
Though there is some truth to this chronology, it overlooks the frustrating cycle of feminist progress: advancements for women are made after long and difficult campaigns, temporarily appeasing tired and burnt-out feminist campaigners, after which revolutionary ideals of female liberation are forgotten to the next generation, leaving room for a renewed wave of patriarchal backlash.
And the cycle repeats. Women’s gains, in other words, are not linear, and certainly never guaranteed.
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Legal frameworks designed to safeguard women are too often weaponised against them, reinforcing male power and entrenching injustice. The FiLiA Ending MVAWG Team highlight some of the issues
Women are a vital part of the labour movement and have much to contribute, but there’s far more to be done to make sure that our sisters’ voices are truly heard, says PHILIPA HARVEY
Sisters came together last weekend for the landmark launch of a new women’s group. ROS SITWELL reports
ROS SITWELL reports from the Morning Star conference on ‘Race, Sex and Class Liberation’ last weekend