Quarantine Thoughts (1): Forget feminism, race & LGBTQ rights- why freedom is the only right we should fight for!

The splitting up of campaigns to fight for the interests of different communities was useful. It provided focus, drive and benefited from the determination and understanding of affected people working together. But that time is nearly over. We have emigrated, educated and pioneered our way into a melting pot of intersecting multiple identities and oppressions.

Telling women not to go out to avoid rape isn’t about safety. It’s about restricting women’s freedom. Here’s why.

    We’re into Season 2 of The Handmaid’s Tale (which I’m not yet watching, but I’ve just read the book. Aside: Is it weird that the show has already gone past the book in terms of June’s pregnancy?) And I’m seeing lots of posts from Americans about how the show “is slowly happening in

Why does the law force rape victims to share child custody with their rapists?: The legal principles behind parental rights and responsibilities

In seven states in the USA. rapists can sue victims for custody of any children concieved by the assault.  A conviction is needed to anull rapists’ parental rights. The problem is that most rapes don’t even go to court. Even in the minority of cases where a conviction is secured, these are often the result of

Why British Campus Sexual Assault Victims Can’t Get Justice From Their University- But Americans Can

First published on The Fifth Column, 2/10/17. Students, sexual assault survivors and campaigners in the USA are riled up, and rightfully so: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos last week rescinded Obama-era guidance on universities’ duties to deal with campus sexual assault. But just because there’s a relative lack of public debate on the issue in Britain,

Motivational meme

I don’t think I’ve ever done a short ‘n sweet blog post. I’m usually into analysis of news stories or commenting on gender equality or human rights issues. The most light-hearted post was probably that last one about archetypes of women in Game of Thrones. So, here it is:   I’m prone to long and

How Game of Thrones Debunks Archetypes of Women

It wasn’t so long ago that Game of Thrones was widely criticised for its initial portrayal of female characters as powerless victims. In my view, the disconnect between the books and TV series was the main factor in these concerns: scenes such as Sansa’s (Jeyne Poole in the books) abuse was shot for TV in

Vote remain: how EU human, women’s and labour rights protect us from the Tories

  While the Brexit vs Bremain debate has been- and will continue to be- argued and analysed to death, one very important issue has escaped mainstream attention: human rights. The EU’s European Court of Justice, its laws and its Charter of Fundamental Rights safeguards our human rights more than the European Court of Human Rights.

US Government lost woman’s citizenship records, condemning her to live as an illegal alien

First published on Mint Press News, 10/11/15.   Photo credit: Flickr / U.S. Navy / Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW/AW) Felicito Rustique   Sally Anne is a US citizen. She came to the US as an 18-month-old when she was adopted from India by her American parents and became a naturalized US citizen. But

Why Women Shouldn’t Take Precautions Against Rape

  First published on The Fifth Column on 24/11/15. If you’re a female in the UK- and if you identified as or were labelled as female when you were growing up- you’ll have been told something like this: “Don’t go out at night, it’s dangerous.” “Don’t go for a walk alone, you never know who

Why Amnesty International Should Support Decriminalising Sex Work

First published on The Fifth Column, August 2015   Amnesty International’s proposal to recognise sex work as a human right and adopt a position in favour of decriminalising sex work has met with controversy from anti-sex work groups. A group of Hollywood celebrities have signed an open letter to Amnesty calling for sex work to