Europe | U.K. | Activism

HearHer Is The UK’s First All-Female Festival Giving Women In Music The Space They Deserve

In 2018, UK festival line-up statistics were still rather disappointing. 70 percent of festivals featured all-male bands, leaving many to wonder why female artists were still being dismissed. These figures come from the founding members of the UK's first all-female festival, HearHer: three days of musical bliss performed exclusively by female artists. Set to take over Dorset's Sandford Holiday Park from Oct. 11 to 13, HearHer has enlisted over 20 incredible performers to share their talents with the nation. The festival has been curated by singer-songwriter KT Tunstall and actress-slash-mu

Europe | U.K. | Activism

Women in science: Smashing glass ceilings and glass walls

Source: BBC News

A woman engineer who worked on the moon landing spoke this week of how she was once told the control room was no place for women. Things have changed a lot in 50 years, but not as fast as some had hoped. BBC News spoke to five scientists from different generations who are breaking barriers in their field. Famous for discovering the first pulsar more than 50 years ago, Prof Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell has also been a lifelong advocate of women in science. As a school pupil in Northern Ireland in the 1950s, like other girls she was not permitted to study science until her parents (and others

Europe | U.K. | Activism

How Coppafeel Founder Kris Hallenga Is Changing The Face Of Breast Cancer To Include Young Women, Too

Source: Huffington Post

"Ihate the word 'breasts'," laughs Kris Hallenga, rolling her eyes. "It just sounds so clinical. They're just 'boobs' really, aren't they?" As a woman who has spent the last six-and-a-half years living with terminalbreast cancer and subsequently set up the award-winning charityCoppafeel!, it's a word she has given a lot of thought to. Her charity is run by young women, for young women, and aims, through its straight-talking but light-hearted approach, to raise awareness around breast cancer and show it isn't just an older women's disease. This is something that Kris found out the h

Europe | U.K. | Activism

Exclusive: Stella Creasy ‘Why I Refuse To Be Silent On Sexism’

Source: Grazia Daily

She's standing to be deputy leader of the Labour Party but, in a personal and provocative piece, Stella Creasy says that it's time women stopped fighting sexism politely - and stepped up to run the world Well-behaved women may rarely change history, but it seems however good our manners are, we are still too often the unwanted guests in public life. Outnumbered, patronised and more scrutinised for our make-up than whether we make a difference, politics is not just a mug’s game but a man’s too. So, why bother? Because I believe, for the good of all, it’s time we took Beyoncé at her wo

Europe | U.K. | Activism

All Women’s Magazines Should Come With This Anti-Photoshop Warning Sticker

Source: Huffington Post UK

Everywhere women turn they are confronted with negative messages about their bodies, whether it's a advert of woman in a bikini selling weight loss supplements (we're looking at you, Protein World) or stupid social media trends where women contort their bodies to show they have slim waists (goodbye, Belly Button Challenge). But newsflash, ladies, the truth is all women's bodies are different and should be celebrated equally. That's why we're head-over-heels for this warning sticker, that reminds women about the negative impacts of consuming "unrealistic body images". Remember, Photoshop

Europe | U.K. | Activism

Nobel scientist resigns over sexist remarks about women in labs

Source: CNN

The scientist and Nobel laureate who sparked criticism after saying women in laboratories "fall in love with you and when you criticize them, they cry" has resigned from his position at a UK university. In a brief statement on its website, University College London (UCL) said that Tim Hunt had resigned from his position as Honorary Professor with the university's Faculty of Life Sciences "following comments he made about women in science." "UCL was the first university in England to admit women students on equal terms to men, and the university believes that this outcome is compatible

Europe | U.K. | Activism

The workshops helping women stand up to forced marriage

Source: BBC

Forced marriage is now a criminal offence in the UK but there are concerns that the message is not getting through. The Muslim Women's Network UK (MWNUK) is holding workshops across England in an attempt to come up with ideas on how to eradicate the problem. The Birmingham-based charity, which aims to empower women and girls, is concerned that it still receives calls from teenagers who are being pressurised to marry against their will. "It is still a huge problem, it is entrenched in our culture," said Faeeza Vaid, MWNUK executive director. "We all need to be unified to say it [force

Europe | U.K. | Activism

The Rise of Women’s Transnational Activism: Identity and Sisterhood between the World Wars, by Marie Sandell

Source: Times Higher Education

This valuable work sheds light on the building of an ‘international sisterhood’ to further the struggle for women’s rights, says June Purvis Recent years have witnessed the rise of transnational perspectives in studies of the “first wave” of the women’s movement. Leila Rupp’s groundbreaking 1997 work Worlds of Women: The Making of an International Women’s Movement explored the growth and nature of international women’s organisations from the 1880s to 1945. In this clearly written, informative book, Marie Sandell builds on Rupp’s pioneering research, and focuses on

Europe | U.K. | Activism

Five things I learned as women’s officer

Source: theguardian

‘Inspirational woman student of the year’ Dolly Ogunrinde explains what she learned from her role as women’s officer at UEA There’s power in collective action Sanitary products are currently taxed at a “luxury” rate of 5%. However, everyone I have asked agrees that they are definitely essential to those who have periods. I decided to present a motion at union council in favour of selling sanitary products at a profit-free price in my university’s union shop. The motion was passed, almost unanimously, and students can now buy sanitary products on campus for as little as 59p.