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Nov
2014
On 6 November, Cerys Marie Yemm was attacked and murdered in a hostel for the homeless in Wales. Her killer was Matthew Williams, who is now being dubbed the ‘Welsh cannibal killer’ by many media outlets. On 10 November, Williams’ family spoke out about the killing, stating that the attack could have prevented if Williams […]
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Nov
2014
It really doesn’t matter what shape you are. Keira Knightley recently took a stand against the constant photoshopping of women’s bodies in a completely un-airbrushed, unenhanced topless photo-shoot for Interview Magazine. Talking to Time magazine about her reasons for doing the shoot, she said
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Nov
2014
People appalled by laddish advice on how to ‘pull birds’. Daniel O’Reilly’s ITV2 show is under investigation by the UK broadcasting regulator after it attracted 99 complaints. The news came after ITV said it would not recomission the programme for a second series. An online petition protesting
The perfect body: a set of healthy organs, strong bones and muscles, around 5 litres of clotting blood, and a functioning brain, all encased in a protective layer of tissue? Not according to Victoria’s Secret, whose latest advertising campaign suggests that the ‘perfect body’ consists of long legs
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Nov
2014
A new poll has revealed that many women are being harassed on London’s transport network and not reporting it The poll, released by the Thomson Reuters Foundation in partnership with YouGov, found that 32 per cent of women who use the transport network in London have been verbally harassed on
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2014
There are some things that very young person has the right to know. In 2010 more than 2800 cases of “honour” based violence were reported to the police. But this is not the full picture: in 2012 1 in 5 police forces failed to properly record cases and many cases are never reported. On 10 […]Leggi
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2014
‘Research shows clear support for change to the law on abortion in Northern Ireland.’ Northern Ireland has different laws to the rest of the UK that only allow women to have an abortion in ‘highly exceptional circumstances’. Although there is no formal guidance on what ‘highly exceptional
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2014
As new evidence reveals the extent of body image issues in the UK advertisers backing ‘body confidence’ campaigns need toconfront their ownmixed messages. The findings of the 2014 British Social Attitudes survey have revealed that only 63 per cent of women are satisfied with their appearance
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2014
More than 1,700 women and girls treated for FGM in September in England. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines female genital mutilation (FGM) as all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical
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2014
28 August was effectively the last paid day of the year for women working part-time. The following is an extract from the speech made on 17 October to the Kenilworth Chamber of Trade in Warwickshire by Andy Haldane, Chief Economist at the Bank of England: “Despite having fallen by almost 10 per
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2014
In stark contrast to the Liberal Democrats and Conservative party conferences, womenat the Labour Party Conference were visible from the word go. Evidence can be found on the party’s “YouTube” channel which lists 29 speeches from the conference – of which 11 were made by women. The conference was
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2014
Why don’t we criminalize the knowing or reckless use of the services of a trafficked person? By Anne Gallagher. There’s so much emotion and sentiment and evangelizing around trafficking. It’s very easy to fall into the trap of feeling good about feeling bad; to imagine that speaking about injustice
25
Nov
2014
Call to confront the prevalence of drugs in the UK in a practical and realistic way. In July 2013, 15 year old Martha Fernback died aftertaking half a gram of MDMA powder – more widely known as ecstacy – that was 91 per cent pure. Her death differs from the thousandsof other drug-related deaths
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Nov
2014
An awareness-raising fundraiser for Women’s Aid and Refuge. In 2009 Avon UK launched its Speak Out against Domestic Violence campaign, and has raised more than £1.5 million. Last September Avon teamed up with Glamour magazine to run a competition for Glamour readers to create an online campaign
Why exclude the Green Party? You would think it would be easy: set up a series of televised debates in the run up to May 2015 to promote each party’s policies and allow voters to be able to make an informed decision in the election booth. You’d be wrong. Plans released on 13 October showed
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2014
We Get It – Zero tolerance to sexual harassment at Manchester University. You probably know that sexual harassment can include unwanted groping, pinching or smacking of your body, uninvited kisses or bodily contact – but isn’t just physical. Other examples of sexual harassment include wolfwhistling
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2014
Regulations and initiative to ensure employers meet equal pay legislation requirements. As of 1 October, companies that are found to have breached equal pay law at a tribunal must produce an equal pay audit that analyses their pay structures – unless they qualify for 1 of 4 exceptions, or are
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2014
New survey launched to collect views on improving the lives of women and girls in the UK. The twentieth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action – a framework of commitments to advance women’s rights made in 1995 – is approaching, and the UK government’s Equalities Office
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2014
Figures reveal a 29 per cent increase in recorded rapes. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has just recently published its latest crime figures, and while most crime is either static or falling, the numbers for sexual offences have risen dramatically. Compared with the previous year, sexual
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2014
At the majority of visits they were not adequately assisted. Just recently eight mystery shoppers visited 16 local authorities across England to examine the quality of assistance single homeless people receive from Housing Options and homelessness services. Each mystery shopper took the role of a
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2014
What is the real taboo? I do work hard. Yes I do. Really. But in the middle of an important meeting, I found myself considering what we really mean when we talk about a taboo. It is broadly defined as a “system of prohibitions connected with things considered holy or unclean”. I’m no social
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2014
Could do better. Sincewe’ve now seen the end of three main parties’ conference season we thought we’d review of their main speakers’ policies and look how those policies impact on women. In order to be consistent we reviewed three speeches from each party: the party leader’s, ajusticepolicy
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2014
BBC World Service to launch a weekly programme about women, by women – for everyone. It is called ‘The Conversation’ and it starts on 27 October at 20.30 GMT with an all-female line up. Each week the programme will explore the success stories of two women from different parts of the world who work
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Nov
2014
An open letter to John Bercow. From Sue Marsh. Dear John Bercow, I was incredibly naive when I started campaigning for the rights of people with long term health conditions and disabilities. I believed passionately in democracy and that here in the UK, we had one of the best political systems in
10
Nov
2014
To all our constant readers – we have had a death in thefamily so we will be back in a fortnight. Thank you for all the follows. Jane and Sue, Managing editors, WVoN
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04
Nov
2014
I’m not upset about Cameron’s refusal to wear a t-shirt – it’s everything else that gets me By Grace Wright Last weekthe news broke that David Cameron repeatedly refused a request by Elle magazine to be photographed wearing a t-shirt. Why? Because on it, the t-shirt says “This is what a feminist
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2014
Women are still not paid equally for their labour. This week saw the highest recorded figures of women in work since records began in 1971, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The figures say that 67.2 per cent of women are now in work – approximately 14 million women. This
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2014
Seema Malhotra asks Farage to condemn EU ally’s “deplorable attitude towards women and girls”. As reported earlier this week, UKIP have allowed Polish MEP Robert Iwaszkiewicz to join their European Parliamentary group – Europe for Free and Direct Democracy group (EFDD) following the resignation of
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2014
Ratifying and implementing this Convention is about remedying existing injustices and preventing further violations of women’s human rights. The World Future Council, Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women awarded the Istanbul Convention their newly created Vision Award. Presented as part of the
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2014
National campaign launched to end the demand that fuels sex trafficking and exploitation through prostitution. In 2006, five women involved in prostitution at the time were brutally murdered in Ipswich by a sex buyer. In response to these appalling crimes, Suffolk Constabulary joined with local
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2014
Campaigners screening ‘Unearthed’ in Belfast on 25 October and Fermanagh on 26 October. Unearthed, “a rare glimpse into the murky waters surrounding the shale gas industry”, has its the Northern Ireland premiere this week followed by Q+A with its director Jolynn Minnaar. The award-winning
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2014
As I write, there are 20 conference speeches available to view on the Conservative YouTube Channel. Of these, 6 are from women. In an attempt to be consistent I was looking for the leader (clearly available) and the home secretary (prominent)but when it came to the equalities spokesperson I
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2014
Stop the distraction. By Karuna Jaggar, Executive Director of Breast Cancer Action. It’s Breast Cancer Industry Month, and the pink floodgates have opened. And again we ask: what have all these pink ribbon products and promotions done for women living with and at risk of breast cancer? Together
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2014
There were women of African descent in Britain long before the Empire Windrush arrived in 1948. Black women were here to witness the construction of Hadrian’s Wall in Roman Britain and everyday life over the centuries, in the markets and music halls, homes and factories. The Black Cultural Archives