Saturday, July 30, 2016

Women's Views on News

Bristol celebrates forty years of feminism

Posted: 29 Jul 2016 06:58 AM PDT

With a panel discussion, a book launch and a party.

In October ‘Forty Years a Feminist’ at the Bristol Festival of Ideas will commemorate Bristol's feminist activism with a panel discussion, the launch of Miriam David's book ‘Reclaiming Feminism’, and a party to celebrate four decades of achievement.

There will also be exhibitions from Feminist Archive South and the University Women's Theatre Collection.

The Bristol Women's Centre opened in September 1976 at 44 The Grove. Focus for many feminist campaigns, the Centre offered pregnancy testing, and advice on legal issues, accommodation, contraception, domestic violence and rape.

In ‘Reclaiming Feminism‘, Miriam David, Professor Emerita of Sociology of Education at UCL's Institute of Education and a well-known and influential feminist in higher education, celebrates the achievements of international feminists as activists and scholars and illustrates the power of patriarchal social relations and how everyday sexism or misogyny is keenly felt.

As a feminist academic activist for over 40 years, she has written on family, gender, education and social policies: most recently ‘Reclaiming Feminism: Challenging Everyday Misogyny’, to give it its full title and ‘A Feminist Manifesto for Education‘.

In her review of Reclaiming Femnism, Professor Emma Renold of Cardiff University said: “This book powerfully sets out how reclaiming and reinventing feminist futures continues to matter. It’s a must read for new generations of academic feminists struggling to challenge and change neo-patriarchal structures and practices in education and beyond.”

The women on the panel at the Bristol event – Liz Bird, Helen Dunmore, Ellen Malos, Pam Trevithick and Jackie West – represent various campaigns and activities that made up the mid-1970s Bristol Women's Liberation group, and will be chaired by Helen Taylor.

Helen Taylor is now Professor Emerita of Literature at the University of Exeter, and Honorary Research Fellow, British Association of American Studies.

She was the director of the first 'Sistershow', in Bristol in 1973, and has published widely on women's writing and culture.

Liz Bird worked with adults in higher education for over thirty years – latterly at the University of Bristol – teaching cultural studies, women's studies and film. She is currently a printmaker and member of Spike Print Studio.

Helen Dunmore is a novelist, poet, short-story and children's writer. Her most recent novel is ‘Exposure‘.

She was the inaugural winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction (now the Baileys Prize) and her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Ellen Malos was a founder member of the Bristol Women's Liberation Movement after her arrival here in the UK from Australia in 1962. The first Bristol women's centre and refuge was a room in her home.

A published author, writing on women's history and feminist thought, Malos co-founded the Gender and Violence Research Centre at Bristol University and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate for her work.

Pamela Trevithick was actively involved in the running of Bristol Women's Centre and later focused on setting up Bristol Womankind, where she worked for nearly 10 years with women struggling with mental health issues.

She is a member of Bristol Fawcett, has been chair of Bristol Rape Crisis and is currently a retired social worker and Visiting Professor in Social Work at Buckinghamshire New University.

Jackie West was a sociologist; working at the University of Bristol. Campaigns for employment equality and reproductive rights inspired her teaching and research. She had particular interests in work, the family and sexuality, was vice chair of the Brook Advisory Centre in Bristol for many years, and has undertaken research for the Health Authority on young people and sexual health.

She is currently involved in an EU project on sex work and prostitution policy.

The Bristol Festival of Ideas, established in 2004, emerged out of Bristol's bid to be Capital of Culture in 2008, the aim being to get more debate going in the city and in a bid to celebrate the work of great writers, commentators and thinkers in and outside the city. In the past 10 years it has hosted more than 2,000 events.

For tickets to ‘Forty Years a Feminist’ click here.

Friday, July 29, 2016

Women's Views on News

Exhibition: Margaret Glover in Bradford

Posted: 28 Jul 2016 05:32 AM PDT

Glover’s combined passions for peace and art create a fascinating socio-historical record of peace activism.

And from 5 August until October 2016 the Bradford Peace Museum will be exhibiting work by artist and peace activist Maggie Glover with the title 'Painter of Honest Portraits'.

A portrait painter, very active in the Labour party, the peace movement, and on environmental issues, she used her art as a tool for her witness, travelling in the ministry giving illustrated talks about the work of campaigners and peacemakers she had portrayed.

Through her work Glover combined her passions of peace and art to create a fascinating socio-historical record of peace activism. She covered various meetings, peace vigils conferences, anti-war protests throughout her life, and these are depicted in her artwork.

She also completed a mammoth PhD on Peace artists in which she investigated the rich range of images and outlets associated with pacifism, and considered the changing palette and motifs of peace, especially between 1900 and 1940.

Following on from a successful exhibition showcasing her work in 2014, entitled 'Images of Peace', this new exhibition will feature artwork already held in The Peace Museum Collection, but will include newly acquired objects from her personal records.

The exhibition will also include a 'behind the scenes' look at her artistic process, through documents and photographs from her archive.

To celebrate the opening of the Maggie Glover exhibition, on 11 August 2016 there is a special evening event, starting at 5.30pm with a drinks reception and followed by introductions to the exhibition and a viewing. Entry is free, all are welcome. Please RSVP.

The Bradford Peace Museum's exhibitions explore peace history as well as contemporary issues, local heritage, peacemakers' stories and the ways in which people have worked to make the world a better place to live.

Its 'Bradford Room' chronicles Bradford's long affinity with peace, peacemaking and peacemakers, such as Kenneth and David Hockney and social campaigners Margaret MacMillan and William Forster.

A room dedicated to the First World War tells the stories of those who opposed the war, including conscientious objectors such as the 'Richmond 16'.

Other exhibits look at ‘Campaigning; then and now’. The 'Greenham Common: Common Ground, Uncommon women' exhibit details the tireless campaigning of the Greenham women.

The Peace Museum also has a mini-exhibition 'What Story Will You Tell?' and covers the story of Sadako Sasaki, the Japanese girl who was two years old when an American atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, near her home.

Sadako became one of the most widely known hibakusha — a Japanese term meaning “bomb-affected person”.

She is best remembered through the story of the one thousand origami cranes she was determined to fold before her death, aged 12, and is to this day a symbol of the innocent victims of nuclear warfare.

Sharia law inquiry failing women

Posted: 27 Jul 2016 02:54 PM PDT

In the absence of a response from the government, women’s groups call for boycott.

As we reported here, earlier this month an unprecedented number of women's rights campaigners and organisations from Britain and abroad submitted a letter to Theresa May, at that time Home Secretary, raising serious concerns about the government's 'independent review' into Sharia courts in Britain launched on 26 May 2016.

The letter said that the limited scope of the review/inquiry and its inappropriate theological approach would do nothing to address the discriminatory effect and intent of the courts on private and family matters – areas where, arguably, the greatest human rights violations of minority women in the UK take place.

They labelled the inquiry a whitewash and called for it to be boycotted until the government ensured that the terms of reference were broad enough for this to be a thorough inquiry into the full range of human rights concerns raised by all parallel legal systems; until a judge was appointed to head the inquiry with the powers to compel witnesses to appear before it; and that it dropped the inappropriate theological approach, where clerics and theologians are inquirying into their own attitudes, and was instead framed as a human rights investigation.

Despite these serious concerns, the government has not responded to the open letter and is going ahead with the inquiry without making any changes.

That was at the beginning of July.

More than 200 women's rights campaigners sent a letter to the Home Secretary raising serious concerns about the government-appointed independent review into Sharia councils in Britain, but received no response.

So several of the intial signatories – Diana Nammi, director of Iranian Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation; Gina Khan, women's rights campaigner; Gita Sahgal, director of Centre for Secular Space; Maryam Namazie, spokesperson of One Law for All; Nasreen Rehman, co-founder and chair of British Muslims for Secular Democracy; Pragna Patel, director of Southall Black Sisters; Rayhana Sultan, spokesperson of Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain; and Yasmin Rehman, Centre for Secular Space board member – issued another appeal, this time to the signatories and others who had called for such an inquiry and to those who had been invited to attend, to boycott this inquiry as it stands to date.

Elham Manea, Senior Fellow at the European Foundation for Democracy, Associate Professor of Middle East Studies at Zurich University, and author of several books including 'Women and Sharia Law: The Impact of Legal Pluralism in the UK', was due to testify before the inquiry this week but instead made the following statement:

‘Elham Manea was to testify in London on Wednesday 27th July to the Independent Review into the application of Sharia Law in England and Wales.

‘With regret and after much consideration she decided not to provide evidence to the Sharia Review Panel meeting.

‘This is because of her concern about the terms of reference of the panel; the inclusion of a number of Islamic scholars on the panel, who are part of the system they are supposed to be investigating, rather than exclusively judges, lawyers and human rights experts to examine a human rights issue; the specific issues before the Inquiry, which did not include among others the type of law being implemented and the role of Islamic extremism in the promotion of this parallel legal system, as well as the implications for the scope and impartiality of the Inquiry.

‘While she welcomes the Inquiry and respects the Chairperson, Manea is of the opinion that the Inquiry in its current form and terms of reference will not be in a position to address the discriminatory nature of the law applied in the parallel legal system of Sharia law in the UK and the Islamist extremism that feeds it.’

The inital signatories to the first open letter have asked that instead of providing evidence to the inquiry, interested or invited parties write to the current Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, with further supporting evidence on the need to correct the terms of reference, and to push for a judge-lead inquiry. For only a judge-led inquiry would, they feel, examine what they see as the problems of legal pluralism rather than promote it.

They also ask for interested or invited parties to send such supporting evidence to the Home Affairs Committee launched on 24 June 2016, which is examining how Sharia councils operate in practice, their work resolving family and divorce disputes and their relationship with the British legal system. The deadline for submissions to this committee was midday on 20 July 2016, but the Committee's webpage says submissions will be accepted after that date.

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Let the fun begin...

View this email in your browser

Welcome to Casino Life

I know we touched on the launch of the OEG casino and Hilton Hotel in Tallin last month but in this edition we have a chance to talk in more detail to Armin Karu. Chairman of the board, and Madis Jaager, CEO, about the development.

By co-incidence, Ron Goudsmit, who I bumped into in Tallinn at the launch, also features this month, letting us know about his initiatives since leaving Holland Casinos and his role as Honorary President of the European Casino Association.

"Bon viveur" is a title that could have been made up just for our casino restaurant reviewer Steve Donoughue who has the difficult task of now having to review subsequent casino restaurants after having dined at the 5 Star Barracuda Club. Good luck Steve (and the long-suffering La Contessa).

Our Vegas-based correspondent David McKee talks to Marcello Cascone, owner and Training Manager of Turin-based gaming school about his approach to training slots and table trainees. I'd like to cover more training schools in more detail in future issues as I think they are under-promoted and do a cracking job... so, let's hear from you out there.

Down-under, AGE is in it's 27^th year and seeing a resurgence with 25% more space being sold for the 2016 event. Too much travel this year or I would have loved to attend... so, note to self: Perhaps add it to the calendar for 2018.

Meanwhile Victor Royer is railing again – this time against the folly of building an NHL ice hockey rink in Las Vegas... but he grudgingly acknowledges that it's arrival may well cause licensed sports betting to be back on the books... so it's not all bad.

Bob Ambrose is also in fine fettle with a spur of the moment referal to management leading to a staff member getting a raise. Good for you Bob – it's something we all should be doing when we get exceptional service.

Finally Mark Wayman urges us all to follow his example and "...not work a single day in a job we hate." Well, we all have off days – so try and stick it out if you're working for a bad employer... but get your CV polished.

Glyn Thomas
Editor in Chief
glyn@ace123.com

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Women's Views on News

A new way out of domestic abuse?

Posted: 27 Jul 2016 02:49 PM PDT

Three main steps aim to get victims of domestic abuse to safety, freedom and independence quickly.

On average two women are killed by their partner or ex-partner every week in England and Wales.

The national domestic abuse charity Women's Aid and domestic abuse charity SafeLives launched a new comprehensive approach and scheme to tackle domestic abuse called 'Change that Lasts' recently, after reviewing current approaches to tackling domestic abuse and the systems in place which are clearly not working effectively.

'Change that Lasts' is being piloted in Northumbria, Nottinghamshire and Surrey to help women experiencing domestic abuse receive support earlier, and help them to achieve long-term recovery and independence.

It is a shift from a ‘risk’-based approach to one that starts with the individual needs of survivors – including their safety.

The focus of risk shifts to the perpetrator, who is held to account and provided with opportunities to change their behaviour.

Survivors frequently report to Women's Aid that opportunities to help them were missed.

The charity therefore reviewed how it works and proposed a new model to provide a framework that facilitates the shortest, and/or most effective route to safety, freedom and independence for each survivor.

This programme will put the survivor at the heart of it, basing the support given on their individual situation and the resources available to them; for example, support from her friends, workplace, or a family network.

'Change that Lasts' is formed of three main schemes which will work together to get victims of domestic abuse to safety, freedom and independence quickly: 'Ask Me', 'Trusted Professional' and 'Specialist Support Services'.

'Ask Me' is a community-based campaign, aiming to create communities in which survivors can disclose abuse early, and access support quickly.

The idea is to create safe spaces in local business and community settings where women experiencing coercive control and other forms of domestic abuse can talk to someone and get help they need quickly.

'Ask Me' appeals for residents who work in jobs that interact frequently with local communities to become an 'Ask Me Ambassador' and help spot victims of domestic abuse and signpost women for additional help to their local services.

The 'Ask Me' pilot was, as we reported, launched earlier this year in Brighton & Hove & East Sussex; Tri-borough (Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, and Hammersmith and Fulham) and Powys with a call for people to be part of this element of the change.

The second element, 'Trusted Professional', is centred around support and professional services, and will provide specific training to those working in a service who are likely to have contact with victims of domestic abuse – for example a health visitor, children's centre, drug/alcohol support, housing and family intervention.

The training they will receive will help these professionals to identify the signs of domestic abuse and violence, provide support and advice including safety-planning and signpost victims accordingly.

'Specialist Support Services', is a specialist domestic violence services-focussed scheme working with local services to adopt a strengths-based, needs-led, trauma-informed approach, reflective of the Change That Lasts model.

All three schemes making up 'Change that Lasts' will be rolled out later this year.

For many women, when they first disclose they are experiencing domestic abuse no one listens to them.

No one talks to them about how to stop the abuse, despite the fact that nobody knows the perpetrator better than they do.

Often women who do say anything about their abuse are assessed by domestic abuse professionals for risk, and then divided into categories.

Those at "standard" or "medium" risk are left to fend for themselves, or offered an hour of counselling a week with little support to escape their abuser.

Not surprisingly, many women struggle to escape the abuse permanently, build their independence, and get their lives back.

Too often any other kind of approach is considered 'too complicated' and 'too expensive'. So to make their case for Change That Lasts clearer, Women's Aid have created some infographics, visualising some of these women's journeys, and the journeys they could have taken.

These illustrate the enormous cost, in human and financial terms, of not listening to women and responding to their needs.

Change That Lasts will be trying this instead:

Listen – always listen to survivors and place their needs at the centre;

Ask & Act – ask the right questions safely and act appropriately;

Specialist support – know when and how to refer to your local specialist service;

Tools – provide clear procedures, roles, information and training across agencies;

Sustained independence and freedom – work together for an independent future for survivors.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Women's Aid, said: "Our decades of experience working with women, and our research, have confirmed that we need a better way than the current approach to domestic abuse.

"Too often our response to women who are in appalling situations is still based on an inadequate understanding of what they really need to be safe and to recover.

"We end up focusing on short-term measures which do not enable families to thrive in the future.

"By listening to women we can provide help earlier, and make sure that the help is effective and long-lasting, leading to true independence.

"We are thrilled that we can finally put into practice our innovative response to domestic abuse that has survivors at its heart – and will lead to long-term change."

For further information, or to find out how you can get involved, click here.

If you or someone you know needs help, you can call the Freephone 24-hour National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0808 2000 247.

In an emergency – if you or someone else are being or feel threatened, for example – call 999.

Yes, misogyny is a hate crime

Posted: 27 Jul 2016 02:44 PM PDT

If you don’t think misogyny is a hate crime, then you’re probably part of the problem.

Earlier this month, as Women’s Views on News reported, Nottinghamshire Police became the first police force in England and Wales to record misogyny as a hate crime.

They define misogyny hate crime as: ‘Incidents against women that are motivated by an attitude of a man towards a woman, and includes behaviour targeted towards a woman by men simply because they are a woman.

‘Examples of this may include unwanted or uninvited sexual advances; physical or verbal assault; unwanted or uninvited physical or verbal contact or engagement; use of mobile devices to send unwanted or uninvited messages or take photographs without consent or permission.’

These are incidents that happen every day and everywhere, incidents that massively affect women and girls, and incidents that I – and so many others – dread every single time I – we – leave the house.

Police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland already monitor the following types of hate crime on an annual basis: disability; gender identity; race, ethnicity or nationality; religion, faith or belief; and sexual orientation.

To me, it makes perfect sense to add misogyny to this list, given that when we talk about discrimination and abuse we often refer to racism, homophobia, sexism, or transphobia.

For, exactly as the force’s Chief Constable, Sue Fish, said: “What women face, often on a daily basis, is absolutely unacceptable and can be extremely distressing.”

Quite frankly, I think this decision is long overdue, and while I strongly applaud Nottinghamshire Police for taking this step I believe that this should have been implemented throughout the UK a long time ago.

Unfortunately however, and partly as a result of the misleading headlines about Nottinghamshire Police’s decision, some of the reactions to what is in my opinion a fantastic piece of news have been frustrating – to say the least.

Contrary to what the mainstream media would have us believe, men are not going to start being given 10-year prison sentences for wolf-whistling at women in the street.

For a start, consider how lenient sentences often are for other crimes committed against women such as domestic violence.

But – somewhat unsurprisingly – there have been people exclaiming that it is a waste of police time and money and that police should be focusing on ‘serious crimes’.

Others have bemoaned the fact that society has become ‘too PC’ (politically correct), and described it as an attack on free speech (oh please…).

And incredulously, or perhaps not so, some women have defended the wolf-whistlers by claiming that they take it as a compliment and actually ‘enjoy the attention’.

Obviously, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but personally I’m running out of words to express how sick and tired I am of these kinds of narrow-minded and dismissive views about sexual harassment.

I really do wonder what it will take for people to universally acknowledge and understand that it is a very real and very serious problem, and that tackling it is fundamental to changing the way in which women and girls are viewed and treated in general.

The current ‘fourth wave’ of feminism has seen a renewed focus in recent years on sexism and misogyny, including the abuse and harassment that women face on a daily basis, often from complete strangers.

More and more women and girls are speaking out about their experiences and taking action to prevent it, with initiatives like the Everyday Sexism Project and Girls Against, for example.

Recording misogyny as a hate crime is a much-needed and positive step in the right direction, and has undeniably come about partly as a result of people raising awareness and campaigning about sexual harassment and assault.

The current state of affairs is also arguably worse than it’s ever been due to a number of factors including the rise of social media, which is why the law does need to start taking a stronger stand on the issue.

Just because these sorts of behaviour have been normalised for so long does not mean that it is not a crime or that we shouldn’t do anything to stop it.

Women are not being ‘over sensitive’ and society is not becoming ‘too politically correct’; things are getting worse and people aren’t prepared to put up with it anymore.

Simple.

It’s high time that we – not just women, but everyone – started calling this behaviour out for what it is, without feeling ashamed, scared, or like we are overreacting.

And people need to realise that while wolf-whistling and catcalling are in themselves a problem (and not a compliment) that needs to be wiped out, Nottinghamshire Police’s decision is about so much more than that.

It’s about women and girls being victimised, harassed, touched, shouted at, grabbed and leered at.

And most importantly, it’s about women reclaiming their independence, their safety, and their space in society.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Women's Views on News

Speaking tour for support against sweatshops

Posted: 26 Jul 2016 06:29 AM PDT

Women activists from China fight back against sweatshop exploitation.

Ten million garment workers in China work for up to 20 hours a day, for poverty pay, in deplorable factory conditions.

But now China's labour movement is exposing fashion's hypocrisy and building workers’ power on the ground.

This although China does not allow independent trade unions or conform to international regulations that protect worker rights. The increasing number of strikes and protests by workers struggling for their rights are crushed by the government.

But against all odds, workers are fighting back.

With the support of a vibrant labour rights movement based in Hong Kong, groups like Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) and Worker Empowerment, have made extraordinary leaps forward in exposing the impunity enjoyed by fashion brands and have built a movement of workers aware of their rights on the factory floors of China.

SACOM conducted undercover investigations of Japan-based fashion giant UNIQLO to expose the grim working conditions facing workers, and demonstrate that what the brand had said was false.

Within months, they had pushed the brand to take corrective action in investigated factories – which benefited thousands of workers.

With brands hiding their supply chain, it has been nearly impossible for local groups in garment producing countries to expose working conditions.

SACOM, China Labor Watch, the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions and
Worker Empowerment have also taken on Disney for what they call ‘blatant violation of Chinese law’ and its International Labour Standards Programme – which required all its suppliers to follow local laws – and ‘showing a complete disregard for the lives of workers’.

And a tour of the UK by speakers from these organisations, who have been winning battles on the ground, has now been made possible by the generous support of TRAID and the Burdon & Blockley Memorial Fund.

The speakers, Sophie Chen, Patricia Tse, Kiki Yeung and Monina Wong, are now calling for supply chain transparency and for international solidarity in joining the push for brands to make their factory suppliers go public and improve working conditions.

Sophie Chen is with Students and Scholars against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) which began as a students' movement and has developed into a campaign group monitoring international corporates' practice in mainland China.

SACOM conducts undercover factory investigations and advocates labour rights in the garment, electronics, and toy industries, and is campaigning against global brands including Disney, Apple and UNIQLO as well as Zara, H&M and Gap.

Patricia Tse, from Worker Empowerment, creates labour education materials, conducts research and supports campaigns in Shenzhen and Huizhou.

Worker Empowerment has gained considerable experience on labour education over the past six years – experience essential to strengthening the labour movement.

Kiki Yeung is with the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) which represents 190,000 members and plays a key role in supporting workers' rights in mainland China, where independent trade unions are banned.

And Monina Wong is from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), based in Brussels, and has worked as part of the labour movement in Hong Kong for over 15 years.

Tour dates: 26 July – London; 27 July – Glasgow; 28 July – Newcastle; 29 July – Manchester. Your support would be very mugh appreciated.

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Women's Views on News

Centre for Women’s Justice launched

Posted: 25 Jul 2016 03:22 PM PDT

“A powerful new institution which is going to challenge the state when it is letting women down”.

The Centre For Women's Justice was launched last week at an event hosted by the Sylvia Pankhurst Gender Research Centre at Manchester Metropolitan University.

The Centre is a new project which aims to advance the human rights of women and girls in England and Wales by holding the state to account for failures to prevent violence against women and girls and by challenging discrimination against women and girls in the criminal justice system.

It also aims to support individuals and groups that challenge institutions and laws that perpetuate violence against women by using strategic litigation, linking up lawyers, academics, NGOs and those on the frontline, providing advice and support for those involved in legal challenges and undertaking research and public education.

The website is currently under construction; to like the facebook page, click here.

The launch event was a day of discussion, ideas and debate, followed by a party bringing together feminist activists, survivors, and frontline practitioners with lawyers, academics and journalists to explore ways of using the law to challenge and redress violence against women and girls.

Among those at the event were Harriet Wistrich, the founding director of Centre, and Marcia Willis-Stewart, from Birnberg Peirce and Partners, who was lead solicitor for seventy-seven of the families at the recent Hillsborough Inquests.

Fiona Broadfoot, prostitution survivor, campaigner and educator, founder and founder of 'Build a Girl'; ‘Sana’, the member of WAST who brought legal challenge against Home Office, Serco and Bedfordshire police arising from sexual abuse at Yarl’s Wood; and Alison Boydell, Independent Sexual Violence Advocate (ISVA) at SARSVL, co-founder of End Online Misogyny and co-founder of JURIES, the campaign to introduce mandatory briefings of juries in rape and sexual abuse trials, also took part.

The closing plenary was given by Estelle du Boulay, director of Rights of Women; Sally Chesworth, producer of BBC Radio 4’s File on 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live Investigates and Sonia Birdee, a barrister and volunteer with Greater Manchester Law Centre.

The event was supported by the Baring Foundation and the Sylvia Pankhurst Gender Research Centre at Manchester Metropolitan University and sponsored by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

The Sylvia Pankhurst Gender Research centre was launched at Manchester Metropolitan University on International Women's Day 2016.

The Centre provides a home for the "remarkable number" of researchers from throughout the University who are involved in gender research.

Sylvia, a daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst, was the most imprisoned suffragette and also one of what is now Manchester Met's alumni, having been a prize-winning student in the Manchester School of Art at the beginning of the 20th Century.

Dr Kate Cook, head of the Sylvia Pankhurst Gender Research Centre, said: "This is an important Northern incarnation of a powerful new institution which is going to challenge the state when it is letting women down."