A 1936 confrontation with Mosley’s BUF became part of a wider international struggle, with local activists later joining the fight against fascism in the Spanish civil war. TONY FOX tells the story ahead of a 90th anniversary commemoration event
The voices of prostitution survivors must be heard – including at the UN
Is the United Nations finally recognising that the sex trade is a form of exploitation and a breach of human rights? LUBA FEIN welcomes a new report which suggests that might be the case
Special rapporteur Reem Alsalem
[UN Women/Ryan Brown/Creative Commons]
Voters have delivered a stay of execution for Labour and exposed limits to Reform’s advance. But will Burnham offer a political alternative rather than just a different face at the top, asks ANDREW MURRAY
SEVIM DAGDELEN warns that Germany’s military resurgence and revival of old hostilities towards Russia have dangerous implications for Europe and beyond
MATT KERR takes stock of a night of by-elections, where the long repeated warnings for Labour and the political class remain stubbornly unheeded
Trump Is Building a Legal and Military Architecture to Invade Latin America. SARA VIVACQUA reports
Despite forming most of Britain’s trade union membership, women continue to endure harassment, inequality and minimal support for their sex-based rights, warns VALERIE COULTAS
WHEN the latest report by Reem Alsalem, the UN’s special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, landed in May, it sent shockwaves through survivors, support organisations and feminist groups alike.
The report declared that prostitution must be understood as a system of violence involving men and boys who purchase sexual acts, women and girls who are bought to satisfy these acts, and third parties who profit from this exploitation.
It criticised the term “sex work” for masking the severe human rights abuses inherent in prostitution, advocating instead for terms like “victims” and “prostituted women and girls.”
Similar stories
ANNA FISHER explores what would it mean for women’s equality and public safety if Britain embraces full commercialisation of the sex trade
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
The legacy of socialist feminists such as Alexandra Kollontai challenges us today to confront an uncomfortable truth: framing prostitution as empowerment lets the abusers of the Epstein class off the hook, warns HELEN O’CONNOR
Susan Galloway talks to ASH REGAN MSP about her “Unbuyable” Bill, seeking to tackle the commercial sexual exploitation of women in Scotland