FiLiA

Lock up your boys, there's a new Sheila Jeffreys book in town: Trigger Warning. Her ideas are so triggering, we had to warn our listeners! Godlessness forbid you heard about women's liberation or other frivolous ideas without mental preparation. In this FiLiA podcast, you'll learn about Sheila Jeffreys's life as an activist and her opinions on religion (hint: it's a patriarchal institution), lesbianism, animal liberation and more. She is interviewed by Yağmur Uygarkızı.

Sheila Jeffreys is a radical feminist activist who has worked mainly against male violence and for lesbian feminism. She joined her first Women’s Liberation Movement group in the UK in 1973 and became a lesbian in 1977. In 1991, she moved to Australia to teach at the University of Melbourne, and retired back to the UK in 2015. She is the author of ten books on issues such as the history of sexuality, lesbian feminism, prostitution, gay men’s politics, beauty practices, the threat of patriarchal religion to women’s rights, and the politics of transgenderism.

We warned you...

Find Sheila’s book: Trigger Warning

Read Yağmur’s review of the book here

Louise Godbold shares her experience and knowledge on how trauma can affect us, what happens in the brain and how that might show in our behaviour and body. Lou shares examples from her work with fellow trauma survivors, and personally as a Weinstein survivor to help us deal with our trauma or support those we care about. For this podcast, she joins FiLiA’s Sally Jackson in discussion.

Lou is Director of Echo Training, which provides trauma & resilience training for families, communities, professionals and organizations. Echo Training draws on the latest scientific research on trauma as well as emotional regulation techniques and nonviolent communication to empower survivors and educate those who support them.

Follow Lou’s work:

Echo Training Website

Twitter @EchoTrainingOrg

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

This episode was edited by wonderful FiLiA volunteer Michelle Kerwin.

Harriet Wistrich is founder and director of the Centre for Womens Justice 2016, a multi partner organisation aimed at bringing cases holding the state to account in relation to violence against women and girls. She is also a solicitor of many years experience, winner of the Liberty Human Rights Lawyer of the Year award 2014 and Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year 2018. She also a founder of the campaign group Justice for Women and trustee of the charity, the Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize. She has acted for Sally Challen, for the two women who sued the police in the Worboys case and challenged the parole board decision to release him and for Fiona Broadfoot and others in their challenge of the governments disclosure and barring scheme requiring them to disclose criminal records for soliciting. Harriet joins Pippa Banham in conversation about her vital work for women, the law and feminism.

Update: Further to our interview with Harriet Wistrich in which we discussed this case and pending appeal we are absolutely delighted by the Court of Appeal’s recent judgment giving permission to proceed with a judicial review of the CPS policy & practice on charging rape cases. Huge congratulations to Harriet and all the team at the Centre for Women’s Justice for this important work.

LINKS

CENTRE FOR WOMEN’S JUSTICE

TWITTER - CWJ

TWITTER - HARRIET WISTRICH

FACEBOOK - CWJ

Audrey Ludwig is a discrimination solicitor who, unusually, puts her head above the parapet on social media. She tweets openly as @AudreySuffolk about her subject. As part of Audrey’s commitment to public legal education, she gives her general opinion where she thinks people have got rights under Equality law. More recently, she has done so with regards to the heated gender identity/trans rights versus women’s rights conflict. She tweets politely and tries to assume interest and goodwill from those who correspond with her. Sadly, this is seldom replicated by some who engage with her with hostile condemnations (perhaps known by some women as the “die in a fire scum TERF” brigade). For this podcast, she joins FiLiA’s Raquel Rosario Sánchez in discussion.

Audrey believes that people who come under all nine protected classes have equality rights, but sometimes those rights conflict and have to be balanced, in accordance with the principles of UK Equality law.

For this, she has been complained about to her employers, to her organisation's funders and to her professional networks, despite these explicitly being her own thoughts and not necessarily shared. Luckily, all the organisations have shown a backbone, but others have not been so fortunate. You can read her two most recent articles on the conflict between sex-based rights and ‘gender identity’ policies here and here.

Or connect through Twitter @AudreySuffolk

We spoke to lesbians living in block 13 of Kakuma refugee camp Kelly, Eva, Keryn, Juliet, Seema, Latifah, Ann-Marie, Brenda and Regina.

Escaping violence and lesbophobia in their home country, these women are sent by UNHCR to Kakuma refugee camp. As they are seeking asylum due to their sexuality they are put in the LGBT Block 13. This identifies them to other refugees in the camp and they suffer ongoing violence and abuse as a result. The UNHCR and Police have been informed of these crimes but do nothing to support them or keep them safe.

“Every woman deserves to be respected, Women have no dignity here, Please help us.”

FOR WAYS TO HELP please read this CAMPAIGN PACK, which details how you can support including: volunteering as a counsellor, donating funds, signing a petition, emailing UNHCR (the pack includes a draft letter & addresses) and sharing on social media.