FiLiA

We talk to Halaleh Taheri, Founder & Executive Director of MEWSo, who is campaigning to ban Virginity testing and Hymenoplasty (hymen repair) and to expose it as the misogynistic practice that it is, which has no place in society today.

In this episode, Halaleh talks about her life as an activist, the brilliant work of MEWSo and explains more about the campaign and how you can help to end this abuse of young women and girls.

We listen to stories of survivors of prostitution/pornography, female sexual mutilation, rape... It is now time we confronted the reality of torture. Jeanne Sarson and Linda MacDonald have compiled decades of activism against torture and testimonies of survivors in their forthcoming book Women Unsilenced: Our Refusal To Let Torturers-Traffickers Win.

In this episode of the FiLiA podcast, Yagmur Uygarkizi from Radical Girlsss speaks to Jeanne and Linda about feminist healing, 'the right to anger' and the power of laughter, and about their indefectible hope for change.

In this episode of the FiLiA podcast, we speak to poet Sharena Lee Satti about her work and inspiration.

Writing has never been optional for Sharena Lee Satti. Like eating and breathing, it’s something integral to her existence. Every day she is thankful to be able to make a small difference to society, sharing something she is deeply passionate about.

In January 2020 a literary agent (The Verve Poetry Press) saw her potential and that was the beginning of a new chapter of Sharena’s professional literary life. She published her book "She" in Autumn 2020.

"The poems in She cover an already long career as an inspiring live poet, host and workshopper. Her poems are real, raw and honest, addressing issues such as survival, cultural-identity, life’s battles, self-love, body dysmorphia and many other subjects that people struggle to speak out about. Her love of nature is also evident. She writes with her emotions to the fore and her heart at the centre – with a power that can leave you breathless." (Transcript available on filia.org.uk).

Birthing expert Milli Hill who was “cancelled” for suggesting violence in childbirth was committed against women rather than against “birthing people” talks to FiLiA Spokeswoman Raquel Rosario Sanchez in this episode of the FiLiA podcast.

Milli Hill, a bestselling author and an expert in women’s rights in childbirth and throughout their reproductive lives, found herself at the epicentre of a bullying and ostracism campaign last year that has spanned over eight months of her life. Recently, she published an essay titled ‘I will not be silenced’ where she details her experiences of ostracism and abuse in the birthing community, after stating that obstetric violence constitutes sex-based violence and is, therefore, a form of violence against women. (Transcript available on filia.org.uk)

Dr Helen Joyce, author, journalist and editor at The Economist, joins the FiLiA podcast to discuss her newly-released book Trans. An in-depth exploration of the phenomenon of gender identity theory, Helen writes about how these ideas impact our ability to speak about biological sex and what these developments mean for society.

Helen's work outlines how ideas that privilege subjective feelings of personal gender identity over objective definitions of sex are logically nonsensical, with implications that cause damage to children, erode the rights of women & girls, and make homosexuality once again taboo.

Helen highlights the importance of hearing the stories of detransitioners, the ethical duties of a journalist and whether the misogyny and homophobia we see in some aspects of gender identity activism might be a feature, not a bug.

Leading expert Stephanie Davies-Arai, founder of Transgender Trend discusses Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria with two concerned mothers, Emily and Marie, who are involved with Genspect, an international alliance of parent and professional groups whose aim is to advocate for parents of gender-questioning children and young people.  They discuss current parenting struggles within the transgender movement, the role of feminism in protecting all children, and Autism, which affects many girls struggling with gender identity as well. (Transcript available on filia.org.uk).

We speak to Houzan Mahmoud, a Kurdish feminist, writer and anti-war activist from South Kurdistan. She was one of the speakers at the anti-war rally in March 2003 in London and is the co-founder of the Culture Project, a platform for Kurdish feminists, writers and activists. Houzan’s book, conceived as part of Culture Project's self-writing program, is essential reading for anyone who wants to better understand the struggle of Kurdish women through their own words.

This May, feminists around the world greeted the news that efforts to uphold women’s sex-based rights were being upheld both in the Spanish and German national Congress:

On May 18th, Spain voted against attempts to introduce sex self-identification into Congress (in large part, thanks to the abstention of the left-wing PSOE political party).

The next day, on May 19th, through a couple of legislative proposals, Germany’s Congress also rejected similar efforts.

While this may represent temporary measures, it is important to note the significant opposition from grassroots feminist in achieving this outcome, recognise their efforts and learn about the next steps in this continuing battle.

In this podcast, FiLiA Spokeswoman Raquel Rosario Sanchez speaks with Tasia Aránguez Sánchez from Spain and Victoria Feuerstein from Germany about these recent developments.

Discover the real, often hidden story of the legalised German sex trade. Manuela Schon and Elly Arrow are two abolitionists from Germany, a country famous for its vast legal sex industry. Many people believe that the German model proves the success of legalisation, arguing that the sex trade is safer when legalised. However, feminist researchers and activists from Germany have been telling a completely different story for years. It is a shocking story about violence, suffering, rape, cruelty and even murder under the auspices of legal prostitution. (transcript available on filia.org.uk)