Here are some woman-centric events going on around the UK this week for your diary.

Belfast:

9 December: Women in Parliament at Greenway Women’s Centre, 19 Greenway, Cregagh Estate, Belfast.

Greenway Women’s Centre is hosting Clare Mullin from the Houses of Parliament Outreach Service to speak about the role of women in parliament. Activities will examine: Parliament’s work and processes, why engaging with Parliament is important, ways to effectively engage with Parliament, how to become directly involved by standing for election to Parliament.

9-14 December: Northern Ireland Human Rights Festival – in locations around Belfast.

This festival sees a broad range of organisations from across Northern Ireland come together to provide an exciting range of events that help reflect the festival theme of “Celebrating and Protecting Human Rights”.

The festival programme integrates classic festival style events with topical human rights issues from home and abroad in an effort to raise public awareness and participation in the promotion and defence of human rights.

This year as part of the programme there is a Human Rights Cabaret event in Belfast and Derry/Londonderry, the ‘From a Republic of Conscience’ poetry event at Queens University in conjunction with Belfast’s first Poet Laureate Sinead Morrissey and several talks, presentations and many other events.

Please check out the full programme of events.

Bolton:

Ongoing: Workshops are being held across Bolton to explore the impact of gender violence using The Mask as a symbol of solidarity.

Safe spaces will be created for women to share experiences and find out more about local support available to them. Women are then being encouraged to create a mask to contribute to the Beyond The Mask exhibition. The exhibition will be held in conjunction with a pop up shop to raise funds for Paws For Kids – a charity supporting families and pets affected by domestic violence.

Schools are taking part in a “These Hands are not for Hurting campaign and the White Ribbon Campaign encouraging men to pledge respect and support the ending violence against women and girls agenda.

A Community Woman of the Year awards event will recognise and celebrate the amazing achievements of women who give up their time and energy to make our communities a better and happier place.

For more specific info click here.

Glasgow:

Until 10 December: Glasgow Women’s Aid at 40: Past, Present, Future Exhibition at Glasgow Women’s Library, 23 Landressy Street, Glasgow open from 10am-4.30pm.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Glasgow Women’s Aid. Join the Glasgow Women’s Library during the 16 Days of Activism to Eliminate Violence Against Women for an exhibition that charts the development of the organisation to where it is today.

From the groundbreaking work of the women that founded GWA , the growth of refuge provision and service development and acknowledging the amazing strength of the women, children and young people that GWA has supported over the 40 years.

Entry is free.

Leeds:

14 December: Leeds Roller Dolls Christmas Bash! at FullCircle Bespoke Design Emporium, Aire Place Mills, Leeds, from 6.30pm.

Leeds Roller Dolls invite you to join them in celebrating what has been another fantastic and eventful year; travel teams had a seriously busy season; the arrival of several invaluable new sections to our League in our Wrecking Brawls and Junior League, and the start of a burgeoning relationship with Aire Force 1, Leeds’ first men’s roller derby team.

It’s been a fabulous year, so let’s have a suitably fabulous party!

London:

Until 9 December: Body Wars at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, London.

Body Wars is a contemporary art exhibition that will deal with the raw subject of anorexia and obesity.

The exhibition will suggest that the media’s enormous influence, as well as that from the fashion, health, beauty and cosmetic industries, may be having devastating effects on men, women and children. Using different art mediums such as paint, drawing, sculpture, photography and film sourced from international artists, the viewer will be challenged in an educational and visual way to address the issues and to question whether these industries are major factors in contributing to the paranoia and neurosis of those suffering these diseases.

10 December: Protest against Universities UK! No to gender apartheid! meeting at Woburn House, 20 Tavistock Square, London, WC1 from 5pm

On the occasion of the International Human Rights Day we oppose the legitimisation of forced gender segregation by Universities UK, the body representing the leadership of UK universities.

Universities UK has issued a guidance on external speakers saying that the segregation of the sexes at universities is not discriminatory as long as “both men and women are being treated equally, as they are both being segregated in the same way.”

The document also alleges that universities would be legally obliged to enforce fully, not only partially segregated seating orders on audiences at universities. Outrageously, the document has been supported by the National Union of Students.

We will meet at 5pm to start the protest at 5.30pm.

11 December: Free Angela and Other Political Prisoners: Screening and panel discussion on the work of Angela Davis at The Centre for Feminist Research, Goldsmiths, London, from 1-4pm

The launch of The Centre for Feminist Research at Goldsmiths will feature a screening of the film, Free Angela and Other Political Prisoners (2012) followed by a panel discussion. The event has been organised to coincide with Angela Davis receiving an honorary degree from Goldsmiths on 14 December  2013. The Centre will be recognising and celebrating the work of Angela Davis with a specific focus on her contributions to Black feminism.

The panel will include contributions from Sara Ahmed (Media and Communications), Joan Anim-Addo (English Language and Literature/Centre for Caribbean Studies), Claudia Bernard (Social, Therapeutic and Community Studies), Heidi Mirza (Sociology), Nirmal Puwar (Sociology) and Sunera Thobani (UBC, Vancouver).

12 December: Feminist Reflections on Researching So-called ‘Honor Killings’ with Dr Aisha K. Gill of the University of Roehampton, at SOAS, Russell Square: College Buildings, London, from 5pm-6.30pm.

On 3 August 2012, Shafilea Ahmed’s parents were convicted of her murder, nine years after the brutal ‘honour’ killing. The case offers important insights into how ‘honour’-based violence might be tackled without constructing non-Western cultures as inherently uncivilised.

Critiquing the framing devices that structure British debates about ‘honour’-based violence exposes the prevalence of Orientalist tropes and reveals the need for new ways of thinking about culture that avoid the trap of essentialism. Thus, rather than attributing patterns of violence simply to ‘culture’, debates on ‘honour’-based violence should explore the intersection of culture with gender and other axes of difference and inequality. To this end, women who have confronted ‘honour’-based violence must be allowed to speak for themselves about both their individual and shared experiences.

Dr Aisha K. Gill is a Reader in Criminology at University of Roehampton. She has been involved in addressing the problem of violence against women at the grassroots level for the past fourteen years and has published widely in refereed journals such as Current Sociology, Feminist Legal Studies, Feminist Review, Journal of Gender Studies, and Women’s Studies International Forum.

15 December: The Pink Jukebox at Bishopsgate Institute, London, from 2pm.

Celebrating the end of the Girls and Boys season, Bishopsgate Institute and the Pink Jukebox are delighted to present a day of Ballroom and Latin social dance. This event is open to dancers of all levels, from absolute beginners to the more experienced. Dances to be taught and schedule as follows:

2.00pm: Rumba (Advanced Level); 2.40pm: Quickstep and Samba (Intermediate Level); 3.40pm: Foxtrot and Jive (Beginners Level); 4.30pm – 7.30pm: Social dancing.

Tickets £10/ £8

Until 15 December: Ana Mendieta – Traces at Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1

The first retrospective of this major artist’s work to be presented in the UK.

Focusing on her later pieces, the exhibition reveals the full breadth of her work and her unique practice in a wide variety of media, from photography to film, sculpture to drawing.

You can read our account of the exhibition here.

Manchester:

10 December: Candle-Lit Vigil to remember the two women each week murdered by their current or ex-partner and all the women who are experiencing domestic abuse. Outside the Bridgewater Hall , Lower Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3WS, at 5pm.

Please bring a tea light holder/jar.

Newcastle upon Tyne:

Until 21 December: Inspirational Women North East at Hatton Gallery, Claremont Road, Newcastle upon Tyne.

A portrait exhibition featuring the work of photographers Bryony Bainbridge and Kami Dodds, celebrating the achievements of women who have played a vital role within the North.

Perth:

9 December: “One Lonely Word” a play about gender violence and mental health, at AK Bell Library Soutar Theatre, York Place, Perth, from 2pm-4.30pm.

As part of this year’s 16 Days of Action to Eliminate Violence Against Women, Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Perth and Kinross invites you to an afternoon with Naomi Breeze Productions.

Tickets free.