#Southall Black Sisters

[ukrfeminism]

3 minute read

More than 10,000 women escaping domestic abuse across England were refused safe housing last year, amid warnings that many could be left homeless or driven back to dangerous partners as a result of a “woeful” lack of safe accommodation.

Official figures seen by the Observer found that almost 8,000 households referred to a safe accommodation service did not receive support because there was no capacity. A further 3,000 were denied places because the shelter “could not meet the needs of the household”, with figures suggesting this was often due to mental health issues, drug and alcohol use or disability.

The concerning figures emerge in the first report by a group set up to monitor progress under landmark laws designed to protect victims of domestic abuse and improve their access to help. Nicole Jacobs, the domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, said it was now “vital that service capacity is strengthened”.

Jess Phillips, Labour’s shadow minister for domestic violence, said the figures were “a clear indicator that more needs to be done”, and that legal duties to provide help for those escaping violence were not yet being fulfilled. “The government must produce a clear plan on their response to the amount of victims turned away and clarity on the standards expected of safe accommodation,” she said.

“Sadly too many of those who are being housed are absolutely not in specialist safe, secure, supportive accommodation, but instead in unregulated sometimes dangerous accommodation. The government should not crow about how much they claim to be doing in this space while the data still looks so woeful.”

The figures were published in the first annual progress report from the Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation National Expert Steering Group, which was set up to monitor how councils are meeting their duties under the Domestic Abuse Act of 2021. While the steering group did not analyse the gender of those who were refused support, 97% of the adults who were able to secure safe housing were women.

The figures for households whose referrals were rejected may include some who later found support elsewhere. However, the figures exclude people who were not referred to safe accommodation in the first place because their council knew there was nowhere available for them.

“Anyone who’s facing domestic abuse and who is not assisted to enter safe accommodation is at such huge risk. The consequences are that they’re exploited and abused on the streets, or they are driven back in an abusive relationship,” said Hannana Siddiqui, head of policy, campaigns and research at the women’s rights group Southall Black Sisters. “If they’re not provided with proper housing and support for themselves and their children, then what choices have they got left? A lot of them are very low income or no income.”

Christine Jardine, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for women and equalities, said: “Women’s aid organisations across the country have been ringing alarm bells for far too long that the government has been failing to provide the vital funding they need. This report highlights the inner failings of the treatment of victims of domestic abuse, and the government should now match their warm words about supporting survivors with the funding for more refuge spaces.”

The report also highlighted a lack of specialist provision for ethnic minority, disabled, LGBTQ+ and male domestic abuse victims, as well as those needing mental health or drug and alcohol support.

There is also a dearth of places that will accept migrants unable to claim state support. Leni Morris, chief executive of the LGBT+ anti-abuse charity Galop, said: “We see LGBT+ victims of abuse having to choose between staying in dangerous abusive situations or risking street homelessness. We often spend days trying to find accommodation for people we work with – sometimes for that person to arrive at that refuge space and face homophobia or transphobia from other residents and have to flee again.”

Sophie Francis-Cansfield, public affairs manager at Women’s Aid, said: “We share concerns about the number of instances highlighted in this report where a survivor is turned away from a service due to capacity. We know it’s not only refuges struggling to keep doors open, but also counselling, resettlement advice and services for children due to the lack of funding for these vital services.” 

The progress report said at least 36,545 adults and children were supported in commissioned safe accommodation services, but data issues mean the true figure will be higher. A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “It is absolutely critical that victims of domestic abuse get support, especially when they are in housing need. The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 placed a duty upon councils to provide safe accommodation, and we have been clear they must consider the specific needs of all victims.

“Since April 2021, we have provided £250m to councils across England to make sure safe accommodation spaces, such as refuges, can provide victims with support services including counselling and therapy, children support and advocacy support to access healthcare, social workers and benefits. We have committed a further £257m in funding for the delivery of these duties over the next two years.”

• In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org

[shakespearesglobeblog]

On the positive impact of creativity on woman’s mental health: a reflection.

This year sees the 40th anniversary of Clean Break and Southall Black Sisters, organisations that seek to empower women who have experienced disadvantages, through creativity and self–care.

On 15 May speakers from both organisations will join us in a panel, Clean Break & Southall Black Sisters @ 40: Activism, Women & Power. Chaired by our Dr Farah Karim-Cooper we will explore the themes of justice facing women, the current context and the strategies both organisations have adopted to affect change and reclaim power.

In this blog, one of Clean Break’s current Members[i], Beverly, reflects on her experiences, and the ways in which Clean Break’s Members Programme has contributed to her wellbeing, healing and self-care.

About Clean Break

Clean Break changes lives and minds through theatre – on stage, in prison and in the community. It produces ground-breaking plays with women writers and actors at the heart of its work. Founded in 1979 by two women prisoners who believed that theatre could bring the hidden stories of imprisoned women to a wider audience, it is still the only theatre company of its kind remaining true to these roots; inspiring playwrights and captivating audiences with the company’s award winning plays on the complex theme of women and crime.

Clean Break uses theatre to keep the subject of women’s criminalisation on the cultural radar, helping to reveal the damage caused by the failures of the system. Through its unique repertory of new plays and its’ participatory model, it raises difficult questions, inspires debate, and helps to effect profound and positive change in the lives of women with experience of the criminal justice system.

How has Clean Break had an impact on your life?

I still feel and carry numerous treasures in my heart, accumulated over the three (almost four) years l have been taking part in classes and workshops at Clean Break. In sickness and in health, as a student initially and now as a Member. Yes, in sickness and in health, we are committed to one another's betterment, through creatively supportive means.

My first year at Clean Break was purely about learning and re-learning self-care, and putting what l learnt into action. l am now, as l was then, encouraged, praised and thanked, not only by members of staff, but also by Women taking part in classes. And their words feel genuine.

It took some time, but l did begin again to believe 'This is what l deserve.' I had come to Clean Break because l was broken, internally and externally. I came across that years’ booklet[ii] advertising all the creative and healing wonders that were available back then, and knew l needed and deserved the self-care options. I didn't know if l could locate any inner resolve, or the courage to face the possibility of another rejection. I did say l was broken. Thankfully courage and need led me to self-refer, and after an interview l was accepted, as a human being as well as a student. This experience of not being judged negatively alone has been the foundation for my present and my future.

How has Clean Break has had an impact on your wellbeing?

No matter what one’s state of health, (that’s emotional psychological spiritual physical financial – I am still so grateful for fares and lunch[iii]), being with Women who want to create art as part of their healing and sharing lives, definitely has the most positive impact on all the Women's lives. I did move on from - and took with me, what l needed -  the Self-care and Self-Development courses -  rejuvenated, and even more curious to know for myself what went on in 'Introduction to Drama,' 'Performance Level 1' and 'Performance Level 2.' I found out! - Lots of hard work made easier with laughter, and a level of inclusion (daily) that l still truly appreciate, and try to live by.  

My very first ‘Writers Circle’ participation led to professional actors bringing to life my words and my scene, set in the Perthshire woods!! I was there, we were all there.  I could not remember having a feeling like it before or since. I did/we did that.  One of the actresses further encouraged me afterwards by telling me she had felt what l had felt. It was pure magic.

Because of these shared successes, which l can see now are validations of my burgeoning growth in becoming more of a human being and as an artist, l have auditioned for roles and not been accepted, and l have experienced the opposite. Actively taking part in Clean Break's 'Making Choices' with each rejection and acceptance l eventually saw the opportunity to really choose my response to each outcome, and to own my feelings.

What are your hopes for the future?

This is Clean Break’s 40th year of being. I know our futures are entwined for eternity. I hope to see Members who are ready willing and able fully integrated in the company's artistic presence in the UK and abroad. We have a unique and valuable approach to fully living life and we need to be out sharing it. The wider world is waiting for us.

Can you leave us with a positive message you would like to share?

Never forget that at your core there are treasures that are meant to be mined, brought up to the light, and shared, so that you and everyone you share your environment with, can experience the true treasures of life. I aim to do this daily.

Clean Break continues its 40th anniversary year following the success of its Spring season, which opened with the sold-out run of Inside Bitch at the Royal Court Theatre. Its second season of work includes:

The launch of Rebel Voices, an anthology of 40 monologues for women by women, from across 40 years of Clean Break, published by Methuen (May)

Sweatbox, the revival of Chloë Moss’ play performed in a prison van at Chichester Festival Theatre and travelling across the UK (from June)

Plays by Sonya Hale and Natasha Marshall at HighTide Festival (September)

The full-length premiere of [BLANK], a new play by Alice Birch, a Donmar Warehouse and Clean Break co-production (October-November)

A series of talks and events featuring conversations with Clean Break’s Founders, Southall Black Sisters, Deborah Coles and Sonali Naik QC.

[i] Member: A woman attending Clean Break’s onsite Members Programme for women with experience of the criminal justice system and women at risk of entering it because of drug/alcohol use and/or mental health needs.

[ii] Years booklet: This refers to Clean Break’s annual prospectus detailing the full year of courses and qualifications that women could enrol onto.

[iii] Fares and lunch: Clean Break pays towards Members travel expenses and provides a free hot meal on a daily basis, as well as contributing to child care costs.

[fioralbafiore]

InTRATTAbili

Proseguono le iniziative legate al #blackhistorymonthMonth – Firenze. Venerdì 26 febbraio dalle 15.30 alle 17.30 sarà possibile seguire il webinair “InTRATTAbili: schiavitù contemporanee e il caso della tratta delle donne” confronto e incontro con alcune tra le principali realtà dell’associazionismo femminile sul territorio di Firenze, Scandicci, Pisa che si occupano delle schiavitù contemporanee…

[sybilspretexts]

Pragna is the ex-director and a founding member of Southall Black Sisters advocacy and campaigning centre and Women Against Fundamentalism. For 40 years, she was at the helm of SBS and has been centrally  involved in some of their most important cases and  campaigns involving domestic violence, immigration and religious fundamentalism. She is also a member  of Feminist Dissent and has written extensively  on race, gender and religion.  I think if ever there was a time to take stock of where feminism is heading, surely it's now. Around the world women are under intense and sustained attacks  from ascendant fascist and authoritarian  forces. These forces have become emboldened by the triumph of unbridled free market  capitalism and the widening socio-economic disparities that has deepened the divide - that  has increased disparities in wealth and power.   These authoritarian and fascist forces have  also ushered in the politics of hatred, intolerance and violence that is driven by fear of the other and holds sway as governments themselves become complicit in, if not drivers of, new forms of terror and censorship. In Europe the far-right target migrants, Muslims,  Roma and other minorities who are perceived to threaten their monocultural and ethno-nationalist  world view, whilst the religious right denounce secularists, humanists, atheists other religious  and sexual minorities as well as women.   Both act as if they're opposed to each other  but they can and do converge when it comes to maintaining the so-called authenticity or purity of identity culture and tradition. What they have in common is the desire to protect their extremist ideologies by suppressing dissent, if necessary by eliminating altogether those who try  to promote the idea of our shared common humanity and the universality of Human Rights. 

Added  to this is the complexity of identity politics that has gripped many on the so-called left, which  is more often than not dominated by simplistic one-dimensional focus on diversity, anti-racism,  anti-imperialism and post-colonialism. It is a framework that recognizes state generated terror oppression and authoritarianism from above but allows little or no room to critique authoritarianism from below. The logic of such politics is also divisive since it too rejects universalism and descends into a form of moral absolutism in which internal critique is suppressed.  

In the face of these developments where should feminism position itself? How  can we avoid feminism becoming a vehicle for the re-invigoration of a hyper masculine  form of patriarchy and authoritarianism?   My response is that we build an  autonomous political Home of Our Own.This is not a new idea or even a unique position. It is a lesson that I have learned from the history of black feminism of the late 70s and 80s when we found ourselves politically homeless in the UK. Formed in the heat of anti-racist struggles and  under the shadow of a rising neoliberal state, groups like Southall Black Sisters formed out of our frustration with the failure of the anti-racist movement to  deal with the question of sex, failure of the wider feminist movement to  deal with the question of race. We argued that domestic abuse, forced marriage, rape,  honour-based violence and religious coercion, together with police brutality, homelessness,  poverty and harsh immigration laws, were all political priorities for feminism and challenging  this involves a multi-directional struggle. But we also understood that autonomous organisation  alone would not achieve political change, which is why we placed emphasis on building  coalitions and solidarity networks.   Even though on a daily basis we focused  on challenging violence against women we also tried to connect with other progressive  left struggles for social justice. For example, we joined black delegations to the mining  communities during the great strike of 1984 whilst at the same time challenging  the trade union and labor movement to confront its own blind spots on race and sex. This has not come easy to us since the logic of identity politics has brought with it serious dilemmas and contradictions, particularly as the religious and far-right forces have sought to enter left and feminist spaces to legitimate a profoundly anti-democratic  worldview. 

To give an example, around 2015 some South Asian women's groups in the UK debated  the question of whether or not to support an  amendment through the serious crime bill which sought to criminalize sex selection abortion. Sex selection abortion or female feticide is  a practice involving the abortion of a fetus  for no other reason than it is female. It is one of the many forms of violence  and discrimination faced by South Asian women and in countries like India it is pervasive. At the time, there was some anecdotal evidence  to suggest that the practice was taking place in South Asian communities in the UK but  there was no hard evidence of its extent.   However, we were alarmed by the proposal to criminalize it for two reasons. First - quite apart  from the fact that there were evidential problems,  there was no corresponding measures being proposed  to ensure more specialist services to protect and support women or to ensure better screening and risk assessments around reproductive coercion in routine medical examinations of pregnant women. We argue that the protection of women could be better achieved through a safeguarding framework as opposed to a criminalization framework and that the practice needed to be considered within a broader context of gender discrimination including domestic violence and honour-based violence.   But our second and perhaps more significant concern was that many of the groups calling for the  criminalization of sex selection abortion publicly claimed that they only wanted  to clarify the existing law on abortion but in reality the issue was being used to  bring in abortion limits by the back door. It was driven by the pro-life Christian right lobby whose spokesperson was Nadine Dories. Since at least 2012 she has often led campaigns on limiting the legal limit for abortion. In this instance she was supported by Hindu and Sikh fundamentalist groups who claim to  be moderates but who are anything but.  They had quietly gone about using the state's multi-faith policies to communalize identities and  to promote an agenda that threatened the rights of women and suppress progressive struggles.   So it was clear to us that the issue of sex selection abortion was being hijacked by the  anti-abortion religious lobby whose long-term agenda was to limit women's rights to abortion. People like Fiona Bruce MP who proposed the  explicit prohibition of sex selection abortion  and other right-wing forces used the feminist  language of choice and sex discrimination in effect to subvert the feminist goals of freedom and autonomy. To make matters worse, at the same  time dubious statistical evidence in support of  the criminalization of sex selection abortion  was produced by right-wing organizations such as  the anti-immigration think tank Migration Watch. They too were using sex selection abortion to justify their extreme immigration policies  and whilst both forces on the right had different rationales they came together in an alliance that spell profound dangers not just for Asian women but for all women. So as you can see, it was a tricky minefield to tread. 

As black and minority feminists we could not afford to make alliances  with those that appropriated the language of  feminism to achieve their long-term goal of unraveling the feminist struggle for reproductive rights or the struggle for migrant Justice.   This is why I strongly believe that as feminists, we must create our own autonomous movements to understand how experiences of choice and coercion on issues to do with reproduction  play out differently amongst different groups  of women, both locally and internationally, and to find ways of knitting these experiences together within a wider framework of democratic rights and in solidarity with each other.   We must be amongst the first to defend not only women's rights but also democratic rights because they go hand in hand. As democracy expands so do women's rights and vice versa. This is why some of us as black feminists remain  located in left spaces, problematic as they are, and why aligning ourselves  with the right is a no-go area.

[dippedanddripped]

When this year’s LVHM Prize ceremony was derailed due to COVID, all eight finalists were named joint-winners, including London menswear innovator Priya Ahluwalia. Known for her slick reinvention of patchwork and multi-media exploration of her heritage and identity, Ahluwalia has found herself in high demand, turning up everywhere from to the Copenhagen Fashion Summit to the New York Times in recent weeks. But while she’s happy to inspire the sustainability conversation around change in the fashion industry, big brands need to step up.

Allbirds: You use deadstock and surplus materials. What’s the drive to upcycle?

Priya Ahluwalia: “Actually I prefer the word repurpose. I feel like upcycling is not a attractive word. I’m trying to make it sound more desirable, more luxury. As a designer, it was always in the back of my mind. Towards the end of my masters [in menswear from University of Westminster], I was researching for my photography book, Sweet Lassi.

“My heritage is Indian and Nigerian, and I was in Nigeria to visit family. I kept seeing hawkers in the traffic jams wearing really obscure western clothing. Like, a London marathon T-shirt, and loads of branded stuff. I was curious as to how it got there and started asking people. I found out about this big second-hand market. I followed a hunch that took me on a journey to find out what happens to clothes when we’re done with them in places like the UK.

“That took me to Panipat, in India, which has become a global capital for recycling textiles. I stayed with family in Delhi, and went there. I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t even call ahead. I just turned up with my camera and found a couple of businesses and, luckily, they were really forthcoming. The photographs ended up in Sweet Lassi. What struck me was the sheer scale. It also made me feel a bit sick about the way that, in the west, we dump things in other countries, and decide it’s someone else’s problem. That’s about colonialism and white supremacy. I learned how local textile industries are really suffering because there’s this influx of cheap second-hand clothing and people are buying that instead. So that’s what kicked it off for me.”

Allbirds: How do you approach sustainability, responsible sourcing and production? What are the biggest challenges?

Ahluwalia: “I’d say I’m maybe a little bit more fortunate than businesses that are trying to change retrospectively, to backpedal and implement sustainability where there was none. Because I found all this out before I launched my business. I had it in my mind from the beginning that sustainability would be a part of the brand DNA, so I’ve led forward with it.

“Hopefully as the business grows, I will be thinking about who I employ, and do their values align? It helps that our culture is from the ground up. For example, I’m not a vegan, but my studio manager and my two interns are so maybe that leads us to make different choices.

“With sourcing, there’s a big bunch of places, from different wholesalers to direct contact with mills to see if they have anything left over. Sometimes brands will give me their deadstock. It’s a myriad of ways. You’ve just got to be resourceful. I will say that it’s not the easiest option. For example, you might design something that’s in the show and the sales samples have loads of blue - and I always, always make sure that the colours and fabrics are the same; while the details will be slightly different. Say, if we’re doing a patched style, each patch will be slightly different, so we have to communicate that it’s one of a kind. But you sell blue, you need to source blue. Or you sell grey, it’s got to be grey.

“For our Spring/Summer ‘20 collection, I was going out to all these wholesalers and there was so much grey tracksuit material, it was everywhere. Then of course when it comes to production, everything is black. It was a nightmare to get the quantities we needed. That’s the biggest challenge with our process.”

Allbirds: How would you like to see the fashion industry change, and how are you working to create that change?

Ahluwalia: “Reducing waste obviously. Recently I’ve been learning more about biodiversity, and looking at the planet as an ecosystem. I’m really interested in that. But I don’t think we can even talk about sustainability or biodiversity or anything, if we don’t consider people. Sustainability is quite a privileged issue, because until those big companies really start to move, it’s always going to cost more to do it. That means it’s not attainable for loads of people. And I’m not going to say to a single parent, ‘Don’t buy your kids’ clothes from Primark because it’s bad for the planet.’

“Big companies need to sort that out so everyone can engage in these sustainable systems because the pricing comes down. It’s economies of scale. Then, further to that, it’s about respecting people. I feel kind of resistant to say, what are you doing to change it?! For example, these big companies will say ‘black lives matter’, they’ll post their black squares, but they don’t pay the people who make their collections fairly, which is back to white supremacy and colonialism. I really think sustainable change has to be about treating people with respect on both sides. So, giving people the opportunity to shop sustainability, and be able to access that, and ensuring that the people in the supply chain are respected.”

Allbirds: What does leadership look like for you? How can independent brands help lead the change?

Ahluwalia: “I guess you just get on with it. You figure out your niche way, and do the best you can. And then you do get bigger companies coming to you, and asking: can you consult on this or collaborate on that. That’s positive, but sometimes I get a bit miffed to be honest, like, why are you asking me all this stuff? I didn’t build your unsustainable system, did I? I don’t even have a marketing budget!

“Sometimes I feel like it’s all put on our shoulders as young brands, when the responsibility is not actually with us. I also get grilled. People will literally be doing an interview and they’ll be like, ‘How are your zips sustainable?’ And I’m thinking, ‘Are you kidding me? Why are you nit-picking?’ Putting your head above the parapet, puts you in sight. I guess sometimes it’s easier for people, and less scary, to say nothing.

“When you ask me about how I can lead change, I feel a mixture of wanting to drive change, but at the same time not really wanting the responsibility. Because I’m a small business and I’m still learning. It takes up a lot of energy to be always giving my opinion all the time. Especially now. It’s Black History Month here in the UK, and all of a sudden everyone wants my free advice on what they can do in their companies with diversity and inclusion. I am a Black woman in a white space. Everything I do is politicised, whether I like it or not.

“With sustainability, because the smaller brands keep pushing and moving in this way, quite forcefully, I do see that we are changing conversations, particularly in the media and with buying habits. I just don’t necessarily feel that powerful compared to some, you know? I don’t think it should be left up to us. I would like to see the powerful brands do more.”

Allbirds: How do you engage with your audience on these issues?

Ahluwalia: “I love photography books. I love art. I feel like I’m a mixed media communicator, although I’m designing clothes. With Sweet Lassi and more recently Jalebi, I felt like sharing these stories from these worlds, and to do a book and a digital exhibition, that’s a nice way to communicate the world of the brand. It’s still growing. I’m not sure how much I planned this! It all seems to roll along quite fast, but I am always thinking how to best communicate what we do and where we stand, what we want to say as a brand.”

Allbirds: What have 2020’s disruptions highlighted for you as a business?

Ahluwalia: “This year has shown me how important it is to be agile, but it’s also put the importance of digital in focus. As much as I am an analogue person, you’ve got to conquer it otherwise you are going to be left by the wayside.

“The other big thing that came out of 2020 is the need to support local economies. If on one side, it’s Jeff Bezos on track to become a trillionaire, and on the other, all our local shops closing, what kind of society are we going to be? It’s about what we value, and what we are willing to lose. Through lockdown especially, I was very clear in my intention to support local businesses and shops, and I will continue to do that. Whether that’s fabrics or going to your local greengrocer, it’s important that we take these actions, rather than just talk about them.”

As part of this project, Priya Ahluwalia is supporting anti-racist charity The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, which focuses on marginalised youth, and Southall Black Sisters, which supports and empowers women dealing with violence.

[woman-for-women]

I got the middle one (without the word disgusting I think). I forgot to screenshot it before I deleted it (which is what I do with all hate mail, so people should save their energy).

I’ve decided to donate some amount of money (I think a dollar? We’ll see* how it goes) for every piece of hate mail I get. So anyone who feels obliged to send me messages like the ones above will be (indirectly) funding women’s rights/radical feminist-aligned/gender critical/LGB organizations. I’m just going to tally it up and donate every month or so and put a post with the hate mail screenshots and the donation proof under the hate mail donation tag.

I’m thinking of donating to organizations like:

LGB Alliance - Lesbians, gay men and bisexuals living free from discrimination or disadvantage based on their sexual orientation. Provides advice, support, information, and community for men and women who are SSA.

CamFed - Giving education to girls in rural Africa as well as providing menstrual products, form of travel, books, clothing. Turn girls into future leaders!

Fair Play For Women - raises awareness, provides evidence and analysis, and works to protect the rights of women and girls in the UK! Supports & Protecting women's sports

Educate Girls - Challenging patriarchy and poverty in India by enrolling girls into school and providing support. Has helped 1 million girls ENROLL into school!

Immigrant Women Services - Helps immigrant women by providing translation, crisis intervention & counseling, and with settlement & integration

Women For Afghan Women - Helps support Afghan women & girls / families with food & healthcare goods. As well as providing resources to Afghan refugees. There has been a 300% service request increase since the Taliban takeover in 2021

Southall Black Sisters - Providing help for women of color who are victims of abuse / violence by offering: Legal advice and representation (ranging from) family to immigration cases , offering emotional support , and shelter.

Nia - UNDER ATTACK BY TRA’s Offers help to women who are victims of sexual abuse / violence (including prostitution) and domestic violence / abuse.

Katrina Dawson Foundation - Helps young women attend The Women’s College within the University of Sydney through scholarships! Offers fellowship and mentoring as well (to undergrads and post-grads / nearly graduating)

One Girl - Providing an education to girls in Sierra Leone. Girls have uniforms, books, and menstrual products paid for. As well as mentorship & extra tuition

SisterWorks - Their mission is to support women who are refugees, asylum seekers or migrants to improve their confidence, mental well-being, sense of belonging and economic outlook.  

Fondo Maria - Helps women gain access to abortions in Mexico City. Helps provide financial, emotional, and logistic support to women who lack resources to access legal abortion

Global Women Project - Help give women around the world the tools and resources they need to build better lives for themselves, their families and communities. Helps in Australia, Nepal, and Cambodia

Ovarian Cancer Australia - They provide a hotline for women with ovarian cancer. Funds goes towards research towards ovarian cancer, as well as offer support for women with ovarian cancer by providing a nurse. Their priorities are: Patient / family care, diagnosis and treatment, early detection, biology, and prevention

Mariposas (Mujeres Cambiando El Mundo) - Women led Organization to offer community and eduction funds to young women / girls in rural Mexico. Empower them to break poverty cycles due to lack of education or limited access to education.

Vancouver Rape Relief & Women's Shelter

I want to put my money towards worthy organizations. If you know any organizations you think I should donate to, drop the name below!

Edit: updating this list with organizations I want to donate to [x]

Probably all from the same person, anyways, thanks. I definitely feel urged to abandon radical feminism & join your loving movement now. <3

[prismmagazine-blog1]

Justice for Seeta Kaur: Ending Honour Killings

On the 7th of December, the UCL Gender & Feminism Society attended the launch of the campaign Justice for Seeta Kaur (#Justice4Seeta) at the Houses of Parliament. The event was organised by Southall Black Sisters, who provide legal advice, protection, and psychological support services to women and children experiencing domestic and sexual violence.   At the launch, we learned about the tragic death of Seeta Kaur, a British national of Indian origin and a mother of four children, who died in very strange circumstances on a trip to India in 2015. Seeta’s family provided a shocking account of the events surrounding her death, starting with the revelation that Seeta had suffered from domestic violence for years prior to it.   The events leading to her death began when her husband, an Indian national who resided in the UK, promised his brother and sister-in-law that they could adopt one of Seeta’s and his sons, as they were childless. Seeta strongly resisted giving up one of her children, voicing her refusal once again on the family trip to India, leading to a violent dispute with her husband and in-laws the day before she was flying back to the UK.   The next day, Seeta’s family received a phone call from India: Seeta – a healthy young woman – had suffered a ‘sudden heart attack’. A post-mortem examination was not performed, and before Seeta’s family could arrive in India, her body was wrapped up in blankets and stuffed in a box. When her family opened it, they were horrified by the evident bruising around her neck and chest, but were denied an opportunity to investigate this, as she was cremated soon after without their consent. The local police department, being loyal and devoted to the elder members of the family as part of their immediate community, also refused to investigate the death.   Since then, Seeta’s family, along with the help of Kate Osamor (MP for Seeta’s family constituency), and Southall Black Sisters, has been gathering evidence to prove that Seeta was a victim of an honour killing perpetrated by her husband and in-laws. They believe that her husband felt a duty to fulfil his promise to his brother, and that Seeta’s resistance was shameful to his family. Dispute the evidence, their calls for justice have been denied on several occasions, both in India and the UK.     The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Metropolitan Police have also failed to investigate. They argue that the case was a ‘private matter’ and that they cannot interfere in other country’s affairs. They fail to recognise that Seeta was a British citizen, like her children, who are still in India, separated from Seeta’s family for over two years.   The British authorities’ response to this case raises many issues regarding violence against women, transnational justice and racial bias. They are avoiding accountability in Seeta’s death and any responsibility in bringing Seeta’s children back to the UK. Their response reveals how violence against women is still considered a private matter and something that should stay behind close doors.   In keeping with this stance, the UK has also failed to ratify the Istanbul Convention for years. The Istanbul Convention is the most comprehensive legal framework on protection, prevention and prosecution of violence against women at a European level. It legally bonds the government to guarantee support services for survivors, such as refugees, and 24 hour helplines, to collect monitoring data on gender-based violence and to educate children on gender equality and violence against women and girls. The reason for not ratifying the convention was, again, ‘jurisdictional problems’. The truth is that the lack of action at a national and international level perpetuates impunity. Finally, on the 16th of December 2016, MPs voted on the Istanbul Convention, four years after it was signed, moving the bill to the next parliamentary stage up to its final ratification.   But this has come too late for Seeta. It is heart-breaking to realise that things could have been different for her if the Istanbul Convention had been ratified sooner. It is upsetting to realise that authorities do not take violence against women seriously and do not recognise that women’s rights are human rights. As one of the speakers in the launch of the campaign said, ‘justice must be done and must be seek to be done’.   If you feel the same way as us, let’s do something about it! You can find more information about Justice for Seeta and sign the letters to the MET police and FCO here:   http://www.southallblacksisters.org.uk/campaigns/justice-for-seeta-campaign

- by Cecilia Francisco Carcelén  

[septembriseur]

Hello! Do you have any recommendations for specific organizations good to donate to in order to help Afghan refugees?

I can recommend a few groups and organizations who have public fundraisers. All of these are people that I’ve either worked with or know people who have worked with. So I know that the money they raise goes directly to people who need it.

The Bard Afghan Students Fund

The Khadijah Project

The Aman Project

Paiwand

Because of a refugee I know who has been in a tough situation in the UK, I’m also really thankful for the work done by Southall Black Sisters, who provide information and assistance to women “with insecure immigration status” who are in domestic violence situations.

[excuseyouclarke]

The fight for equality in the UK is far, far from over.

Last night, a 14 year old black boy playing football in the streets in was murdered by a group of men. Birmingham Police are trying to say it was not racially motivated, I say that once again that police are talking shit. I see no reason why a group white of men would get out of their car to chase down a group of teenagers and stab one of them to death. This a boy who was out enjoying the sunshine on a bank holiday Monday, ready for half term with his friends, a boy with his whole life ahead of him. He had a family at home, probably waiting for him to come home for his dinner, now they’re mourning their son while his killers are still out there.

This comes just weeks after Sasha Johnson, a BLM activist in the UK was shot in the head.

The government claim there’s no systematic racism, that is a clear lie. They have tried to put a positive spin on past slavery. Our invasions and colonastions throughout history are not taught in schools, 95 percent of young black people have witnessed or heard racist language at school in the UK.

We need to step up, we need to be calling out racism and showing that this is not okay, and we should not be standing for this. I hear casual racism being brought up in conversation all the time, it took me a long time to educate myself and get the confidence to not only call out this behaviour, but attempt to educate. I’m sick to my stomach with what has happened, i can’t even begin to imagine how the black community is feeling. I’m linking some resources below, please, please support anti racism causes in the uk, we have such a beautiful and diverse culture, we should be embracing it.

Resources below.

Organisations:

Stop hate UK - anti-racism charity

Show racism the red card - anti racism charity

Charity So White

Black Lives Matter

BMECP Centre – a sustainable resource centre which champions the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) community in Brighton and Hove and supports BME communities and their families.

MOSAIC Brighton – Black and Mixed-Parentage Family Group

Immigration and Asylum Helpline from Rights of Women

Southall Black Sisters – addresses the needs of BME women empowering them to escape Domestic Violence, Forced Marriage, Honour Based Violence, FGM, Rape

Karma Nirvana – supporting victims of honour-based abuse and forced marriage

Imkaan – “addressing violence against Black and minoritised women and girls”

Justice for Grenfell

Movement For Justice

Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust

The National Memorial Family Fund is the first permanent national resource of its kind specifically for those that are affected by deaths in custody.

UK Black Pride

Imaan London – LGBTQ Muslim Charity

Liberty help challenge injustice, defend freedom and campaign to make sure everyone in the UK is treated fairly.

The Black Curriculum

Runnymede Trust – the UK’s leading independent race equality think tank

The United Families & Friends Campaign, is a coalition of those affected by deaths in police, prison and psychiatric custody.

BAME recruitment consultancy website

Black LGBT organisations you should know about: a list from Stonewall staff

Books:

Why I Am No Longer Talking to White People About Race, by Renni Eddo Lodge (non-fiction)

Me and White Supremacy, by Layla F. Saad (non-fiction)

White Fragility, by Robin Diangelo (non-fiction)

Kill the Black One First by Michael Fuller (non-fiction)

Brit(ish) by Afua Hirsch (non-fiction)

Black and British by David Olusoga (non-fiction)

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (fiction)

The Windrush Betrayal by Amelia Gentleman (non-fiction)

Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins (non-fiction)

Ain’t I A Woman by bell hooks (non-fiction)

Redefining Realness by Janet Mock (non-fiction)

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde (non-fiction)

Me, Not You, by Alison Phipps (non-fiction)

Queenie, by Candice Carty Williams (fiction)

Sula, by Toni Morrison (fiction)

How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi (non-fiction)

Assata, by Assata Shakur (non-fiction)

Articles and social media posts:

Welcome To The Anti-Racism Movement — Here’s What You’ve Missed

“Where are the Black girls?” about (in)visibility in Childhood Sexual Abuse bu Jahine Davis

Report from Imkaan: Reclaiming Voice: Minoritised Women and Sexual Violence Key Findings

Intersectionality infographic from Listen Up Research CIC

The Truth About Women and White Supremacy

How We Make Black Girls Grow Up Too Fast

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

What will you do to continue the work? (IG)

What to do if you can’t protest on the streets for Black Lives Matter

Why you need to stop saying “All Lives Matter”

10 Steps to Non-Optical Allyship

When Feminism Is White Supremacy in Heels

I want to be an ally but I don’t know what to do (IG)

What does black British activism look like in 2020

We revolt simply because, for many reasons, we can no longer breathe – statement from Diversity & Ability and resource list

Structural Racism vs Individual Racism (IG)

Everything else on Gal:Dem, an online and print publication committed to sharing perspectives from women and non-binary people of colour.

Black Ballad, a UK based lifestyle platform that seeks to tell the human experience through eyes of black British women.

A more extensive list can be found here, please feel free to add more!

[ukrfeminism]

Leading charities across the UK that support survivors of honour-based violence and abuse are calling on victims to spot the signs and report the crime.

In the lead up to the Day of Memory for victims of Honour Based Abuse (July 14), National Lottery-funded charities throughout the UK are calling for increased visibility, reporting and understanding of HBA, to ensure survivors get the right support they need.

The National Lottery-backed campaign also coincides with the launch of a book, ‘No Safe Place’, co-written by award-winning author, and Head of Policy and Research at Southall Black Sisters, Dr Hannana Siddiqui. Dr Siddiqui wrote the book in collaboration with Bekhal Mahmod, whose sister, Banaz Mahmod, was murdered in a so-called ‘honour killing.’

The book, which comes out on July 12th, recounts the extraordinary and horrific true story of Banaz’s murder at the hands of her father, uncle and male cousins, and the subsequent court case, at which Bekhal gave evidence against her family members.

National Lottery-funded charities and organisations throughout the UK are taking part in the call to action today. These include Southall Black Sisters in West London, the organisation which supported Bekhal Mahmod following the tragic murder of her sister; Glasgow-based charity, Community Infosource, which sees men working in partnership with men to tackle issues, supporting them to change their attitudes and practices; Welsh charity BAWSO, which supports ethnic minorities affected by violence and exploitation; and Savera UK, a charity which has supported hundreds of clients with their one-to-one services covering Merseyside and Cheshire, as well as reaching thousands more through their national helpline.

Award-winning journalist and broadcaster, Samira Ahmed, has also lent her voice, encouraging a more open dialogue around the issue of HBA.

She said: “Throughout my career, I have always had a special interest and concern in violence against women, particularly honour-based violence against women. Honour-based violence has always been there, but we did not always call it honour-based violence. The word ‘honour’ is controversial - some people feel it should not ever be used in the context of violence against women - but it struck me that the problem was never going away, that there were always accusations of racism if people tried to talk about it, and women were being silenced.”

Mrs Ahmed acknowledged HBA continues to be underreported and underacknowledged by the wider public, partly due to these difficulties associated with labelling and discussing it.

She added: “I’ve been really struck when I’ve gone into some communities, and spent time talking to people, police, social workers, women’s groups, about how much pressure there is to not talk about honour-based violence, because somehow it tars a whole community and that it suits racists to talk about it.

“That’s been the real challenge as a journalist: finding that balance between being scrupulously fair and not feeding racism, but also just calling a crime a crime.”

There is no specific offence of ‘honour’-based violence. However, the Crown Prosecution Service describes ‘honour’-based violence as an incident or crime “which has, or may have, been committed to protect or defend the ‘honour’ of the family and or the community.”

‘Honour’ can be the motivation, excuse, or justification behind a range of violent acts against women and girls, sometimes resulting in so-called ‘honour killings.

HBA can take many forms, including child marriage, virginity testing, enforced abortion, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, as well as physical, sexual, and economic abuse and coercive control.

HBA is widely misunderstood and underreported, meaning that hundreds of victims are not being helped and perpetrators are escaping justice.

Yasmin Khan, founder of National Lottery-funded charity, the Halo Project, believes the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in survivors coming forward after two years of being unable to seek help.

Her charity has identified huge gaps in the reporting and understanding of HBA, which Khan says is even more prevalent than official figures suggest: the Home Office has only started collecting data from police forces on HBA offences since April 2019 .

Khan said: “We are seeing a tsunami of victims coming forward who have been extremely traumatised.

“This pandemic has exposed such inequalities and gaps in services, and a lot of staff are burnt out.”

The Halo Project’s long-term aim is to build a ‘zero-tolerance’ approach to honour-based abuse and ‘eradicate’ gender-based violence.

Khan said that funding from the National Lottery has enabled the Halo Project to develop its services further.

  National Lottery players raise more than £30million a week for good causes, making projects such as these possible. Find out how your numbers make amazing happen at:  www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk   

[thatsonemorbidcorvid]

It was at the tail end of 2017 when Cora*, a frontline worker for a south London organisation supporting women who have survived sexual violence, realised that undercurrents of transmisogyny had become a new precedent for her workplace.

“I just remember there being far more comments like ‘Yeah we only support real women’,” Cora says.

Both visibility and hostility were on the rise for trans people in the UK thanks to proposed reform to the Gender Recognition Act. As a result, many junior workers were attempting to ensure inclusivity for trans survivors. But senior staff, made up of cis women, responded by shutting down the conversation altogether.

Cora’s organisation is not an island. On record, gal-dem has spoken to workers in the violence against women and girls [VAWG] sector, who have spent time at organisations including Imkaan, Rape Crisis, Refuge, Amnesty International and Liberty, academics working in the field of gender studies and members of the dedicated gender-based violence branch of union United Voices of the World. Of the workers who spoke to gal-dem, all were too terrified of reprisals to use their real names.

Alongside interviews, gal-dem examined records of public statements made by senior members of organisations like Nia, Southall Black Sisters, and the Centre for Women’s Justice. What emerges is a hostile landscape to navigate for trans survivors of sexual violence, both in accessing immediate frontline services and overcoming ideology that seeks to shut them out of the gender-based violence sector (GBV) in general. With one in six trans women experiencing domestic violence between 2017 to 2018 (and more recent figures suggesting violence against trans people remains high), this landscape’s hostility is undoubtedly already having damaging effects.

At Cora’s organisation, it quickly became apparent that senior staff were deliberately shelving pressing trans-related issues, in the hope that they would disappear altogether. Cora alleges that the CEO Rachel*, who had served as the head of the organisation for nearly three decades, encouraged a culture that was openly hostile to trans women.

Regular requests for the centre’s policy regarding trans women were lodged, but the policy didn’t exist. A lone attempt to create a gender inclusion policy ended with the firing of the employee tasked with producing it. As Cora remembers it, the day after the employee submitted their work, they were told their position was no longer viable. Although it wasn’t cited as a factor in the decision, Cora believes the incident speaks for itself. The policy was not adopted by the centre.

Staff soon began to organise and demand an outright commitment to supporting trans people, pushing the transphobic views of senior management into the open.

“We do get abusive callers on the helpline. But they present as men, not as trans women”

Cora remembers one member of the counselling department declaring that it was “unsafe” for cis survivors using the centre’s services to have people in the building who had not fully medically transitioned. She was challenged by Cora and her colleagues, who explained that this transmisogyny went against the fundamental principles of sexual violence workers: that you must believe survivors.

“I find it fascinating in a horrific way that this bedrock of [sexual violence services] is thrown out of the window immediately,” Cora observes. “They say, ‘Oh, men will just call up pretending to be women, and saying that they’re trans to get into the space to enact harm’.

“Do you not think we are trained in such a way that we are able to speak to someone and know? Because we do get abusive callers on the helpline. But they present as men, [not as trans women]… When you get a call like that, you know. As soon as you pick up the phone, it doesn’t feel right. The gut that you’ve honed so wonderfully and beautifully to do this work, it knows”.

When Cora and her colleague refuted transmisogynistic claims, the goalposts shifted. Senior staff instead claimed they weren’t equipped to work with trans women because they wouldn’t “understand” their experience with sexual violence. Tellingly, one staff member who used such a defence said they would feel comfortable supporting trans men who had “experienced violence as women” – revealing that they didn’t recognise trans men as men.

“There is a real focus on the penis,” Cora says.

Cora left the organisation a few years ago, in part due to the virulent transmisogyny that had become the norm. Rachel stepped down from the CEO position in 2020, after what Cora describes as “successful unionising efforts” from the organisation’s staff. While the new CEO is “far more inclusive”, Cora says, her former co-workers report that hostility to trans survivors persists.

“The problem is much deeper than top down,” she says. “It runs through most of the services.”

Women vs women

Cora’s organisation has become part of a larger war. Transphobia – or ‘gender criticism’ as its proponents like to position it – has become a battleground for a small but powerful pocket of UK feminists. With access to mainstream media platforms, large social media audiences and political influence, these ‘gender-critical’ feminists are attempting to turn trans people from a minority group into a full-scale moral panic.

But where does the antagonism towards trans people in the VAWG sector come from? Academic Alison Phipps, professor of gender studies at the University of Sussex, links it to “political whiteness”. Transmisogyny in the UK is focused on violence against white, cis women and “lasers in” on the male body as the source of that violence, Phipps explains. “There’s a lot of straight, [white], privileged [cis] women involved. Whiteness has a lot to do with it. Whiteness and class privilege.”

Weaponising woundedness against marginalised groups has always been a core component of white womanhood and political whiteness, adds Phipps. “It’s Carolyn Bryant [Emmett Till’s accuser] all over again,” she says. “[Trans-exclusionary feminism] is grounded in fear and, in some cases, a hatred of the Other and a deep need for protection.”

For the last few years, trans-exclusionary feminists central objective – achieved for the time being – was to prevent reforms to the Gender Recognition Act that promised to make the process of legally identifying as trans or non-binary (which isn’t a recognised legal identity at the time of writing) far quicker.

A spotlight fell on women-only services for survivors of sexual and domestic abuse as a result. In order to provide rationale for their aversion to trans individuals, the gender-critical cabal alighted upon whipping up fear around trans women who might need to access such spaces. For trans-exclusionary feminists, the argument goes that allowing self-determination through GRA reforms would open up ‘single-sex’ sites to ‘predatory men’, who would supposedly pretend to be women in order to perpetuate abuse.

Yet trans women, with some exceptions, already have access to single-sex spaces under the 2010 Equality Act, which would remain unchanged by any amendments to the GRA. Furthermore, no countries that already allow self-determination have reported any sudden trend of cis men engaging in such behaviours. A 2018 Guardian investigation found that Ireland, which introduced self-determination in 2015, has seen “no evidence” of new legislation leading to men “falsely declaring themselves female”.

No matter; gender critical feminists in the UK still insist that the sex assigned at birth must decide who is admitted to women-only spaces. Never mind that multiple global studies show that trans women report sexual and domestic violence at double the rate of cis women (with trans women of colour facing the most peril) – but, as with cis women, the perpetrators were most likely to be men.

“Trans-exclusionary feminism is grounded in fear and, in some cases, a hatred of the Other”

Phipps believes many transphobic, white radical feminists also think that acknowledging their own privileges compared to the likes of trans women is tantamount to erasing their traumatic experiences. “It’s as if they think ‘if you tell us we’re privileged because we’re cis, that means we haven’t been raped or haven’t experienced these awful things’,” she observes. “Well of course you have and that’s awful and it’s because of your gender. But that doesn’t mean you don’t also have race and class and cis privileges.”

In the VAWG sector in particular, Phipps says there is the feeling of “living in the past”, with particular aping of the 1970s women’s liberation movement. It’s a notable reference point for trans-exclusionary feminists, many of whom experienced the movement as young women. But they’ve created a warped pastiche that erases contemporary critiques of white radical feminism that were made at the time, says Phipps.

Radical feminist texts of the 1970s were often trans-inclusive. While the likes of Andrea Dworkin held problematic notions around issues like sex work, they weren’t trans-exclusionary and didn’t see the body in “essentialist” terms. In stark contrast, trans-exclusionary feminists of the present, do.

The crusade against trans women is tragic, says Phipps, a focus of energies on completely the wrong target. “There is a war against women worldwide,” she says. “But trans women are also [victims] of this war, not the perpetrators.”

A worsening situation

Frontline VAWG workers say that hierarchical power structures mean transmisogyny is often sanctioned from the top. Close ties between powerful names in the sector mean it is hard to challenge for fear of being blacklisted from multiple organisations. Nevertheless, those who spoke to gal-dem said they did so out of a desire to lift a lid on the situation and encourage more scrutiny of the reality behind the press releases.

“I couldn’t [continue to] work for an LGBTQ charity that poses like it’s inclusive,” says Lily* a former employee of one high profile organisation serving sufferers of domestic violence. She says she witnessed virulent transmisogyny during her time there.

One incident occurred when Lily’s workplace was developing a helpline for clients. She and her colleagues were concerned that the helpline wasn’t inclusive enough because the organisation didn’t have a gender inclusion policy. They asked for clarity on who the helpline was for.

“The reply from [Martha* the director of operations at the organisation] and another senior staff member was that ‘if they sound like a woman on the phone, talk to them’,” remembers Lily. “‘If they don’t sound like a woman, it doesn’t matter if they say they are, hang up. We’re not supporting them’.”

Lily also heard references to “men-women”, assertions that only “biological women” should have access to refuges and accusations from a senior staff member that junior employees were behaving like “perpetrators” by supporting trans-inclusivity as it put them on the side of “men”.

“They told us: if they don’t sound like a woman, it doesn’t matter if they say they are, hang up”

According to those present at one group meeting, a staff member declared that there needed to be a “step back” on giving “privileges” to trans women because they were damaging support being provided to “women”. The staff member is also alleged to have said this view was the organisation’s “policy” as well, blaming trans-inclusive terms like “person with a cervix” for having “erased” cis women.

Allegations of increased transmisogyny are mirrored across the sector. Eva, a non-frontline VAWG worker who has spent time at multiple women’s organisations, says she became aware the issue wasn’t going away in 2016.

One early indicator came when Eva posted on a social media platform, from the official account of one prominent organisation about the death of a trans woman in a men’s prison. The next day, she says, she was handed a social media policy that “explicitly stated” she was not allowed to post about trans people anymore.

Even in supposedly inclusive environments within the women’s sector, transmisogyny simmers, says Eva. Her organisation, which focuses on ending gender violence for Black women and girls, still throws up obstacles when it comes to officially including trans women, including a failure to create and implement a trans-inclusive policy.

She also believes economic factors have caused trans women to become a lightning rod of the frustrations and fears of some cis women within the field.

As she explains it, many of the more senior positions in the modern VAWG sector are filled by women who have been there since its foundation. They’ve seen funding and resources chipped away by successive governments, resulting in resignation that “they’re never going to win a victory over the government”.

Collective fightback

Eva stresses that she doesn’t believe the sector itself to be transphobic and that younger, more junior members of staff tend to be fiercely trans-inclusive. There are some power players in the sector attempting to make change.

Cara English, head of public engagement at trans-led charity Gendered Intelligence (GI), says that she’s been approached by CEOs of VAWG organisations to provide training on trans inclusivity to staff. But plans have been stymied by the individualised structures of centres and refuges subject to the decisions of CEOs.

“[GI] met with the CEO of probably the largest VAWG service provider in the UK,” Cara recounts. “She was saying transphobia is very prevalent and she’s not content with it. But there’s not really a great deal they can do apart from bringing training from trans organisations in house.”

The situation is particularly dire in England and Wales. Scotland however, while no utopia for trans survivors, offers a look at how trans inclusivity can begin to be implemented.

Simple commitments have made huge differences to services says Mridul Wadhwa, manager of the Forth Valley Rape Crisis Centre in central Scotland. One such initiative is the LGBT Charter, a programme which includes education on trans inclusion. Completion of the course sees organisations given a digital “badge” to display on-site, letting survivors know they are an inclusive space.

As a trans woman managing a refuge, Wadhwa says she has received “unnecessary negative attention”, despite over 15 years of experience in the sector. After a recent bid to become an SNP candidate, she was even hit with accusations online that she had “lied” by not disclosing her trans identity when she was first employed in 2005 by Shakti Women’s Aid.

“This was before the Equality Act,” she remembers. “I said in an interview that if [Shakti Women’s Aid] had known I was trans, they would not have hired me. But everyone knew I was trans when I was [hired] for my current position.”

Wadhwa’s experience has taught her that many trans women survivors seeking support are too fearful of being faced with transmisogyny to approach services in the first place. This renders them invisible within the sector, despite being a group disproportionately affected by sexual and domestic violence.

“You have to be explicit that you’re inclusive, you cannot assume that people know,” Wadhwa says, adding that as a member of intersecting minority groups, she expects to be “oppressed in every place I go”.

“You have to wear the badge – these things make a huge difference, as well as word of mouth recommendations spread by survivors who have worked with you. There also needs to be a trans-inclusive workplace policy”.

“You have to be explicit that you’re inclusive, you cannot assume that people know”

For workers who want to push back against institutionalised transphobia, organising collectively offers a glimmer of hope.

Cora tells me that challenging transphobia was a key driver of unionising efforts by herself and colleagues who didn’t feel “safe” enough to do so as individual unprotected workers. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the workers union United Voices of World, which has a dedicated arm for workers in the gender-based violence sector, says that one of the union’s goals is fighting transphobia in the field.

Those pushing for change recognise that while the pocket of women they’re up against is small and unrepresentative, they’re powerful, with a reach that extends into the upper echelons of journalism, the legal system and the halls of Westminster. All workers who spoke about the transphobia they’d witnessed feared the impact their whistleblowing might have on the sector, which they stressed still does vital work. But as Eva puts it, if the services are not working for all women, they’re ultimately failing in their purpose.

“If frontline services aren’t working for all women, they’re not working for any of us really,” she says. “They’re not rooted in our liberation or justice.”

Pulling trans-inclusive training in-house, as suggested by Cara English is also a key goal. But it will take determination and demand on the part of the workers within those organisations.

And ultimately, it will need the battle-weathered radical feminists perpetuating transmisogyny in the the GBV sector to do something they are unused to: rethink the dogmatic approach that has for so long served as a survival technique but now works to oppress a deeply vulnerable group of women.

The entire situation is, says Cara English, a “degradation”.

“The fact we’re still in a position when we’re actively having to humanise trans women and trans people to services that would seek to exclude us, in order to get into places that we should have the right to access… this is just an obscene position to be in,” she adds.

“It’s a wholesale failure to take into account the needs of trans people. It’s embarrassing. The issue isn’t that trans women aren’t accessing VAWG services. It’s that people aren’t seeing this joint fight against the patriarchy and the oppression of all women.

“That’s where we need to be focusing our attention. It’s about solidarity between all people who need help and an escape”.

*Names have been changed to protect identities

[sarkywoman]

Hey everyone. In the wake of the Sarah Everard tragedy in the UK I just want to share some resources that cropped up at the end of a government survey on violence against women, in case they’re needed. Although the survey was specifically about crimes against women, as it touched on domestic violence there are also charities listed here to support male victims of DV.

I know a lot of people are feeling more anxious and upset than before. Please seek help if you need to.

#shewaswalkinghome

Beyond the Streets Beyond the Streets provides a confidential call back service for women who are involved in prostitution and want to explore possible alternatives. Telephone: 0800 133 7870 (call back service) Email: support@beyondthestreets.org.uk Galop Galop runs a specialist helpline for LGBT+ people who have experienced hate crime, domestic abuse or sexual violence. Telephone: 0800 999 5428 (Monday-Friday 10am-5pm, Wednesday-Thursday 10am-8pm) Email: advice@galop.org.uk Karma Nirvana Karma Nirvana support victims of so called 'honour-based' abuse and forced marriage. They operate a national helpline to support victims and professionals. Telephone: 0800 599 9247 (Monday-Friday 9am-5pm) Email: info@karmanirvana.org.uk Male Survivors Alliance [I struggled to find a national website for them] The Male Survivors Alliance provides help and information to male victims/survivors or sexual abuse, rape and sexual exploitation. The National Male Survivors helpline is 0808 800 5005. The helpline is available Mon-Weds 9am-5pm, Thurs 8am-8pm, Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 10am-2pm.There is also a text service and online chat function available via Safeline here- https://www.safeline.org.uk/contact-us/ ManKind Initiative [https://www.mankind.org.uk/] Mankind offer support to male victims of domestic abuse. Their helpline provides both emotional support and practical information. Telephone: 01823 334 244 (Monday-Friday 10am-4pm). NAPAC (National Association for People Abused in Childhood) NAPAC offers support to adult survivors of all types of childhood abuse, including physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect. They offer a range of resources for survivors, as well as those who care for and work with them. Telephone: 0808 801 0331 (Monday-Thursday 10am-9pm and Friday 10am–6pm) Email: support@napac.org.uk National Domestic Abuse Helpline (run by Refuge) Refuge's National Domestic Abuse Helpline provides free, confidential support 24 hours a day to victims of domestic abuse and those who are worried about friends or loved ones. Telephone: 0808 2000 247 (24 hours a day) Email (via website): https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/Contact-us NSPCC / Childline The NSPCC helpline is staffed by trained professionals who can provide expert advice and support. If you are concerned about a child, if you're a parent or carer looking for advice, or if you're a professional in need of information and guidance. Whatever your worry – call the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, email, or submit the online form . They also have advice about spotting the signs of abuse. You can call Monday to Friday 8am – 10pm or 9am – 6pm at the weekends. It's free and you don't have to say who you are. Website- https://www.nspcc.org.uk/ Childline offers free, confidential advice and support whatever your worry, whenever you need help. Counsellors are available to talk to by calling 0800 1111 or via 121 chat between 7.30am and 3.30am every day. Website- https://www.childline.org.uk/ Rape Crisis England and Wales Rape Crisis Centres provide specialist support and services to women and girls who have experienced sexual violence. The Rape Crisis National Helpline offers free, confidential emotional support and information. Telephone: 0808 802 9999 (every day between 12-2.30pm and 7-9.30pm) Rape Crisis Live Chat: Live Chat is a free, text-based support service. For more information please go to https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-help/want-to-talk/ Respect Respect is a domestic abuse organisation which runs a confidential helpline for men and women who are harming their partners and families, as well as a confidential helpline for male victims of domestic abuse and those supporting them. Respect Phoneline: Telephone: 0808 802 4040 (Monday-Friday 9am-8pm) Email: info@respectphoneline.org.uk Men's Advice Line: Telephone: 0808 8010 327 (Monday-Friday 9am-8pm) Email: info@mensadviceline.org.uk Revenge Porn Helpline The helpline is a UK service supporting adults (aged 18+) who are experiencing intimate image abuse, also known as, revenge porn. Due to concerns around the Coronavirus outbreak, the Helpline will be operating an email only service for the time being, therefore voicemail messages may not be responded to immediately. Please contact by email on help@revengepornhelpline.org.uk open Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm. Safeline Safeline's National Male Survivor Helpline is a dedicated service for men and boys in England and Wales affected by rape or sexual abuse and those that support them such as friends and family. Telephone: 0808 800 5005 (Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9am-5pm, Tuesday and Thursday 8am-8pm and Saturday 10am-2pm) Email (via website): https://www.safeline.org.uk/contact-us/ Southall Black Sisters Southall Black Sisters specialise in domestic and gender related violence, including forced marriage and 'honour-based' abuse. They provide specialist advice, information, casework, advocacy, counselling and self-help support services in several languages. Telephone: 0208 571 9595 (Monday to Friday from 9-5pm) Email (via website): https://southallblacksisters.org.uk/contact-us/ Stay Safe East Stay Safe East provides specialist and holistic advocacy and support services to disabled people who are victims and survivors of domestic or sexual violence. Telephone: 0208 519 7241 Email: enquiries@staysafe-east.org.uk National Male Support Service - SurvivorsUK SurvivorsUK support men, boys, trans and nonbinary survivors of sexual violence. They offer one to one counselling, ISVA services, and an online helpline. Website: www.survivorsuk.org (Monday-Sunday 12pm-8pm) Email: info@survivorsuk.org Suzy Lamplugh Trust Suzy Lamplugh Trust run the National Stalking Helpline, which gives practical information, support, and advice to victims of stalking, their friends, family, and professionals working with victims. Telephone: 0808 802 0300 (9:30am-4pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; 1pm-4pm Wednesday) Email (via website): https://www.suzylamplugh.org/forms/national-stalking-helpline-enquiry-form The Survivors Trust The Survivors Trust provides confidential information, advice and support for people who have experienced rape and sexual violence. Telephone: 0808 801 0818 (Monday-Friday: 10am-8:30pm, Saturday from 10am-12:30pm, 1:30pm-4:30pm and 6pm-8:30pm and Sunday from 1:30pm-4:30pm and 6pm-8:30pm) Email: info@thesurvivorstrust.org www.thesurvivorstrust.org Women's Aid Women's Aid provides support for women who are experiencing or have experienced physical, mental, sexual or domestic violence or abuse. Live Web Chat: https://chat.womensaid.org.uk/ (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am-12pm) Email: helpline@womensaid.org.uk Bawso (Wales) Bawso is an all Wales voluntary organisation providing specialist services to black and minority ethnic (BME) women and children made homeless through domestic abuse. Bawso’s work extends to providing support to BME women confronted with forced marriage, FGM and so called ‘honour-based’ abuse. Telephone: 0800 7318147 (24hr) Email: info@bawso.org.uk Dyn Wales Helpline The Safer Wales Dyn Helpline provides free confidential support to men who experience domestic abuse in Wales. Telephone: 0808 801 0321 (Monday and Tuesday 10-4pm, Wednesday 10-1pm) Email: support@dynwales.org

[armandyke]

75 things white people can do for racial injustice

Color of Change

The Red Card

Stand up to Racism

Stand Against Racism and Inequality

Black Table Arts

The Bail Project

National Bail Out

Women for Political Change

She Safe We Safe

Southall Black Sisters

[woman-loving]

Black British Lesbian History

Selection from “Herstoric Moments,” by Valerie Mason-John, in Talking Black: Lesbians of African and Asian Descent Speak Out, ed. Valerie Mason-John, 1995.

The movement

A separately organized Black lesbian movement is perhaps the response to our exclusion from the Black heterosexual world, the women’s liberation movement and the white lesbian and gay community. The herstory of lesbians which has been uncovered, recorded and celebrated is predominantly about white middle-class women. In fact, it is dead white lesbians who dominate the bookshelves: Radclyffe Hall, Djuna Barnes, Vita Sackville-West, Eleanor Roosevelt and Romaine Brooks are just a few of the names which we repeatedly come across when searching for lesbian herstory. The documented rise of the women’s movement during the 1970s mainly records the contribution of white women, including some white lesbians, through photography and writing. Although the 1980s have witnessed the beginning of the documentation of Black lesbian literature, it has been normally by women of African descent from the USA. Therefore, it has been important for Black lesbians living in Britain to begin documenting their own contribution to the movement before it is lost.

The herstory of the Black lesbian movement is typified by the struggle to have our gender, race and sexuality placed on the agenda. The Black political movements of the past--Garveyism, Pan-Africanism, the Black Power and civil rights movements--were all dogged by debates, splits and silence around gender and sexuality. Gender was most definitely not a priority issue, and the consideration of sexuality was completely ignored. Due to such conflict it was felt among some Black people that Black women could not afford to be separatist over certain issues and debates, because of the need to work together with Black men to overcome racism. In fact, it can be said that organizations such as Manchester Black Women’s Co-op and Southall Black Sisters, who spearheaded the ‘Stop the SUS’ (Suspect Under Suspicion) campaign; Zanus Women’s League; East London Black Women’s Organization; the Organization of Women of African and Asian Descent; and other Black lesbian groups were all a response to the years of struggling to be recognized as women in the Black political movement, as lesbians in the Black feminist movement and as Black in the women’s liberation movement and the lesbian and gay community.

Black lesbians were isolated, they had lost their allegiances among white women and with the Black heterosexual community. A whole feminist herstory had been written excluding the contribution of Black women. White women, whether lesbians, feminists or lesbian feminists were not interested in American chemical companies polluting first-nation countries, or in the illegal mining in Namibia; in fact, they were only concerned with their immediate needs.

Although there has been a separate movement, Black lesbians have always been part of the wider Black, feminist and lesbian struggles. Many were always active in the Black liberation movement and others took part in Women Against Violence Against Women (WAVAW), the women’s liberation movement, the Gay Liberation Front, antinuclear campaigning (Greenham Common) and Reclaim the Night marches, between the late 1960s and 1980s. Our herstory has been shaped by our oppressions. However, Black lesbians have risen above their oppressors, and achieved monumental feats, despite the odds stacked against us.

African and Asian unity

Although the Black political movement had initially brought men and women together, Black women, unhappy with their declared position in the movement, found the need to organize autonomously, and used the opportunity to forge links with other Black women they had met in the global Black struggle. As a result, the Organization of Women of Africa and African Descent (OWAAD) was founded in 1978. However, during its first year, it was argued that if OWAAD was to address issues concerning all Black women effectively, women of African and Asian descent should stop organizing separately around the issues of racist attacks, deportations, Depo-Provera and the question of forced sterilization of Black women in Britain. This shift towards forging links together was sealed in 1979 when OWAAD changed its named to the Organization of Women of African and Asian Descent. As the first documented and cohesive national network of African and Asian women, it united Black women from all over Britain, and had a profound influence on Black British women’s politics. To ensure links were maintained, a newsletter (FOWAAD) was printed. [/] However, rifts soon began to appear in the organization, and one of the major splits occurred over the issue of sexuality. Black lesbians, although they were most definitely at the forefront of the organization, found themselves to be invisible. Some remained in the closet while others were continually silenced, and those who were publicly outed caused a furore. From its outset there was a noticeable absence of debate around this issue; sexuality was perceived as being too sensitive to speak about publicly. The prevailing opinion was: ‘How could members wast time discussing lesbianism, heterosexism and bisexuality when there were so many more pressing issues?’ One of the first out and visible Black lesbians in public and the media, Femi Otitoju, remembers the conference which caused the damage, ‘A woman announced, there is no space for Black lesbians, so let’s have a workshop over here.’ She remembers some Black women being abusive and hostile, and hurling insults. She recalls: ‘Some women stood up and said we’re lesbians and we’re offended and upset. I remember thinking, shush, you damn fools.’ An ignorance of the background to the struggle and/or a hostility towards feminism from the newer members, together with the failure of the organization to take on board the differences, meant that OWAAD had a short life, and it folded in 1982. Although members of OWAAD failed to unite with each other over some issues, it was an important chapter in Black women’s herstory. It campaigned against immigration authorities and virginity tests at ports of entry, it demonstrated against state harassment, battled against expulsions in education and fought many unjust laws. OWAAD for all its faults had much of the vibrancy and energy a Black movement needed.

Positive results came out of the rise and fall of OWAAD. Black lesbians belonging to the organization came together in 1982 and formed their first group, called the Black Lesbian Group, based in London. it is claimed that Black women travelled from Scotland, Wales and all over England to attend the fortnightly meetings. A fares pool was provided by members for women who needed expenses for their travel. However, the group struggled for survival. It initially asked to meet at Brixton Black Women’s Centre, but was denied access because some of the workers were concerned that a lesbian group on the premises would add to the hostility it was already experiencing as a Black women’s centre. Black lesbians of mainly African descent and some of Asian descent eventually found space at the now-defunct centre, A Woman’s Place, based in central London.

OWAAD’s driving force

Members of Brixton Black Women’s Group (BBWG) were part of the motivating force (along with other politically active Black women around Brtiain) which founded the national organization, OWAAD. BBWG was set up in 1973, in response to redefining what the Black and feminist movements meant to them. Its members were an amalgamation of Black women from the women’s and the Black liberation movements. In its early days the group’s politics was influenced by socialism. Some women preferred not to call themselves feminists because it would link them to the women’s movement which had many racist attitudes. Others identified as feminists, but emphasized that feminism stretched beyond the narrow concepts of white middle-class women. During the early 1980s the group had a strong core of members who identified as Black socialist feminists. Although the question of lesbianism featured quite low on the agenda, many of the BBWG founding members were lesbians.

The group met at the Brixton Black Women’s Centre, which was established by the Mary Seacole Group. This group aimed to provide a meeting space, gave support and advice on housing, social security and to mothers. Skills such as sewing, dress-making and crafts were shared. Although the crafts group collapsed over an argument about their political posture, the BBWG survived, and opened up the centre’s doors to the public in 1979. This group was involved in various campaigns which affected every aspect of being a Black woman.

Black lesbians worked at the centre along with Black heterosexual women, and continued to serve all Black women until 1986, when the workers learnt they had been working in a condemned building, and suffered a cut in funding. This marked the end of an era; all that is left is a derelict building with an unfinished mural of Black women working together. ‘Groups like Brixton BWG were just one of the strands which, when woven together, helped bind the political practice of the Black community as a whole. They were in many ways simply a continuation of the Black groups which had existed ever since our arrival after the war.’[1] There were thirty or more groups like the BBWG (with a strong input from Black lesbians) scattered throughout Britain during the 1970s and early 1980s.

Renaissance Black lesbians

In 1984 a group of white lesbians set up Britain’s first lesbian archive, to preserve the contribution lesbians had made to British culture. During the 1970s Black lesbians had taken part in many campaigns which affected women and Black people, but this was not being recorded. Similarly, in setting up this archive, the contribution made by Black lesbians was overlooked. The archive reinforced the white-only image of lesbians through the books and information it collected, by the workers and volunteers it employed, and through its membership. Five years after it opened, a Black employee, Linda King, was taken on to try and redress this imbalance. She explored the relevance of the Lesbian Archive and Information Centre to the Black lesbian community, and how it could be improved. During her four-week contract, she collected interviews, transcripts and photographs of Black lesbians (some of which are only available to Black lesbians), and compiled a report. One of the points raised in the interviews was the fact that Black lesbians had contributed to the intellectual and cultural interests of all lesbians in Britain.

Making our mark in the 1980s

The 1980s was a decade in which Black lesbian activity flourished throughout Britain. After the first Black lesbian group was set up in 1982, Black lesbians took the initiative to organize groups, meetings and conferences on a grand scale. During 1983 a Chinese lesbian group was launched after three lesbians of Chinese descent met for the first time at a conference on lesbian sex and sexual practice. In 1984 the ‘We Are Here’ conference marked the first time that Black women had come out publicly as Black feminists. An organizer, Dorothea Smartt, recalled: ‘It was unashamedly a Black feminist conference where Black lesbians were welcome.’ The conference planning group was open to all Black women including Black lesbians.

From discussions at the conference several initiatives were launched: an incest survivors’ group; a Black women writers’ network; a mixed racial heritage group; ‘We Are Here’ newsletter and the Black Lesbian Support Network (BLSN). The BLSN offered advice, information and support to Black women questioning their heterosexuality. it also collated articles by and about Black lesbian lifestyles from all over the world. It was forced to close in 1986, as the exhausted volunteers moved on to do different things in the Black lesbian community. However, the collated articles are available from the Lesbian Archives in central London. The ‘We Are Here’ newsletter covered many issues, including health, incest, definitions of Black feminism, Black lesbian mothers and reports about such ongoing national and global campaigns as anti-deportation fightbacks and nuclear testings in Africa. This also folded in 1986, a year which saw the closure of many women’s, gay and lesbian, Black and left-wing groups in London. The abolition of the Greater London Council (GLC) in 1986 initiated a period of severe cutbacks in funding for many community-based groups.

However, despite the effects of a Thatcherite government, some groups did spring up and survive. During the mid-1980s a Black lesbian group was established at Waltham Forest Women’s Centre, but folded after two years; and in the London borough of Camden, a Black lesbian group which was set up next to the Camden lesbian project in 1985, still exists today. In this same year several black lesbians were involved in the establishment of the Lesbians and Policing Project (LESPOP); this project was forced to close in 1990 due to a complete cut in its funding. Black lesbians of Asian descent also launched a group, but this folded before the new decade. Funding was secured for a research project on Lesbians from Historically Immigrant Communities, which included testimonies from lesbians of African and Asian descent. Although the work was never published it can be found in the Lesbian Archives. Most of the groups which were set up for Black lesbians during the first half of the decade existed in London, but there were groups in other parts of Britain.

The impact and effect of these groups (with a donation of £11,000 from a white working-class lesbian weekend) culminated in Zami 1, the first national Black lesbian conference to be held in Britain. In October 1985 over two hundred lesbians of African and Asian descent flocked to London to attend this herstorical event. It was a natural high in itself to be in one space with so many other Black lesbians, and it was a proud moment for those Black lesbians who had been part of the struggle for visibility and recognition during the preceding decade. Delegates discussed issues of coming out in the Black community, disability, prejudices between lesbians of African and Asian descent and various other topics. As with all conferences there were differences of opinion, in this case over the question of who was and was not Black. However, such debate was not surprising when so many Black lesbians from all over Britain had come together for the first time, the political thinking of OWAAD, and of London, had not necessarily filtered its way all over the country.

Zami 1 was and still is one of the greatest achievements of Black lesbians. It paved the way for further conferences, gave confidence to those Black lesbians who were frightened of coming out, and most of all it told the general public that Black lesbians do exist, and in numbers. In the same year Black lesbians were instrumental in setting up Britain’s first lesbian centre in Camden, London, and during the latter part of the 1980s, Black lesbian groups were established in Birmingham, Manchester and Bradford, together with a group for Black lesbians over forty and a group for younger Black lesbians in London.

At the turn of the decade (April 1989), Black lesbians organized the second national conference, Zami II, in Birmingham. Unlike the first conference, Zami II was open to other Black lesbians with one or both parents from the Middle East, Latin America, the Pacific nations, to indigenous inhabitants of the Americas, Australasia and the islands of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean, along with those of us who are descended from Africa, Asia and its subcontinent. Over two hundred women came together and debated the issues of sex and sexuality, sexual relationships between Black and white lesbians, motherhood and many other issues. From this conference a group of women imitated a group for lesbians and gays of mixed racial heritage (MOSAIC), which still exists today, and which held its first conference in 1993 in London. In 1991 two Black lesbian groups were set up in Nottingham and Bristol, and in 1992 a day-long event was held where Black lesbians could discuss the issue of safer sex and HIV and AIDS.

During the early 1990s the rise of Black lesbian activity reached a plateau, and is now beginning to dwindle and stagnate. Although 1992 saw another Black lesbian conference in the North, only a few groups have been founded. There have also been Zami (events of Black lesbians) days in Birmingham in 1993 and 1994.

Organizing with Black gay men

To a lesser extent Black lesbians have also organized with Black gay men. 1981 is a landmark for Black lesbians and gay men organizing together, as it was the year when the Gay Asian Group became the Black Gay Group. Although the group was initially dominated by men, women soon became a more visible presence when it renamed itself the Lesbian and Gay Black Group in 1985. This group went on to secure funding for a Black Lesbian and Gay Centre based in London. The project survived seven years of looking for sufficient funds and suitable premises, but in 1992 the centre was finally launched, and two years later it still exists as the only centre in Britain serving Black lesbians and gay men exclusively.

In 1988 Shakti, a network for South Asian lesbians, gays and bisexuals was set up in London. Since then, other Shaktis have sprung up in major cities, providing a fundamental resource for the Asian community. In 1990 Black lesbians and gay men came together to organize the sixth International Lesbian and Gay People of Colour conference in London, when over three hundred people came together from all over the world to discuss issues which concerned them. During this same year Black lesbians and gay men came together and formed Black Lesbians and Gays Against Media Homophobia (BLAGAMH), which led to one of the most successful campaigns against the Black media in Britain this century. This had centred on the ferocious attack made against lesbians and gay men by Britain’s most successful Black newspaper, The Voice. During the last three months of 1990, it carried malicious and homophobic stories, including a report on the Black British footballer Justin Fashanu, and printed Whitney Houston’s remark that she was not a ‘Lesbo’. The paper’s columnist, Tony Sewell, wrote: ‘Homosexuals are the greatest queerbashers around. No other group are so preoccupied with making their own sexuality look dirty.’ BLAGAMH, along with the support of the National Association of Local Government Officers (NALGO), initiated a successful boycott of The Voice, instructing local authorities not to advertise in the newspaper. After almost a year’s battle, BLAGAMH won a full-page right-to-reply. The Voice also promised to adopt an equal opportunities policy and ensure positive coverage of lesbian and gay issues, a commitment which the newspaper has so far upheld. BLAGAMH continues to monitor the Black community, and has challenged ragga artists like Buju Banton and Shabba Ranks over their use of misogynistic and homophobic lyrics.

That same year (1990) saw the establishment of Orientations, a group for lesbians and gay men of Chinese and South Asian descent. Groups have also been formed by Black lesbians and gays in Manchester, and, in 1991, by Black lesbians, gays and bisexuals in Bristol. All three groups exist today. The short life of Black lesbian and gay groups is typical of the whole lesbian and gay community: as soon as one group disappears, another emerges.