Blog posts by Helen G: 2011
Events listings
by Helen G // 30 December 2011, 09:09
Just a quick reminder about The F-Word's Events listings page - if you are organising, or know of, an event in your area that's of interest to other feminists, please email us with the details at events@thefword.org.uk and we'll add...
Advancing transgender equality: a plan for action
by Helen G // 8 December 2011, 13:30
The UK government's Home Office yesterday (7 December 2011) published its Transgender action plan [direct link to PDF download, 1mb]. The document describes "the specific actions we will take across government to advance transgender equality and it includes firm commitments...
25 November: International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
by Helen G // 25 November 2011, 10:40
Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Women's activists have marked 25 November as a day against violence since 1981. This date came from the brutal assassination in 1960, of the three Mirabal sisters, political...
20th November 2011: 13th International Transgender Day of Remembrance
by Helen G // 20 November 2011, 00:01
Every transsexual, white, black, man, woman, rich, poor, is in a state of primary emergency as a transsexual. [Andrea Dworkin in 'Woman Hating'] Today, 20th November 2011, is the 13th International Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR). It's a day when...
Transgender Europe: Press Release: November 16th 2011
by Helen G // 16 November 2011, 17:54
Transgender Europe's Trans Murder Monitoring project reveals 221 killings of trans people in the last 12 months In total, since January 2008 the murders of 755 trans people have been reported The 13th International Transgender Day of Remembrance is being...
Intersex Day of Remembrance
by Helen G // 8 November 2011, 08:20
Today, 8 November, is Intersex Day of Remembrance. From the Organisation Intersex International (OII) website (here and here): Today, Intersex Day of Remembrance, is the 14th and ultimate day of The Fourteen Days of Intersex celebrated by intersex people the...
UnderWire Festival's 2011 Programme
by Helen G // 2 November 2011, 19:55
UnderWire, the UK's only short film festival dedicated to showcasing the raw cinematic talents of women, have announced the programme for their second annual festival, running 23 - 26 November at The Shortwave Cinema in London, featuring an eclectic mix...
Weekly Round-Up And Open Thread, 2 November 2011
by Helen G // 2 November 2011, 15:41
Here's this week's open thread for discussion and our regular round-up of some of the articles and blogs we've noticed over the last week or so, but not had time to post about. If you have a link or comment...
Ghanaian women driving success
by Helen G // 14 October 2011, 13:46
"Behind every great man there's a great woman": surely one of the most irritating clichés routinely used to devalue the contribution of women in this global sexist patriarchy of ours. That it still has traction nationally and at an...
Channel 16 launches 'Green Scarves For Solidarity' campaign
by Helen G // 7 October 2011, 09:34
Further to my recent posts (7 October: 'green scarves' campaign in solidarity with Afghan women and Women in Afghanistan: 10 years on), today sees the launch of the Green Scarves For Solidarity campaign in support of women in Afghanistan. Via...
October 16 is Blog Action Day
by Helen G // 7 October 2011, 09:06
Via the Blog Action Day website: About Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. Our aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion...
Ada Lovelace Day 2011 has begun!
by Helen G // 6 October 2011, 18:02
Via email from Suw Charman-Anderson: Ada Lovelace Day has already begun in the island nation of Kiribati! One of the curious things about a 'day' is that, due to various dateline shenanigans, it's Ada Lovelace Day somewhere around the world...
Women in Afghanistan: 10 years on
by Helen G // 3 October 2011, 18:27
As I mentioned in my earlier blog post, this Friday (7 October) sees the 10th anniversary of western intervention in Afghanistan and ActionAid UK is marking the date with its Women in Afghanistan: 10 years on campaign. As part of...
September 2011: Trans Murder Monitoring Project update
by Helen G // 30 September 2011, 22:01
The TGEU's Trans Murder Monitoring project has issued a press release confirming that 116 reported murders of trans people have been registered since the start of this year. The September 2011 update reveals a total of 681 cases of reported...
7 October: 'green scarves' campaign in solidarity with Afghan women
by Helen G // 28 September 2011, 09:54
I was fortunate to be able to attend ActionAid's IWD event in March, when four prominent women's rights activists from Afghanistan spoke of their experiences and the day-by-day struggles faced by many women in the republic (my review is...
Schoolgirl bullied by cis classmates and their parents
by Helen G // 13 September 2011, 11:35
Both yesterday's Worcester News and today's Metro carry reasonably well-balanced reports of a girl, medically diagnosed as gender dysphoric during the summer, who has returned to her new school year with a gender-appropriate presentation. To be honest, I'm not really...
Bristol Feminists Network and Bristol Indymedia film night: Africa Rising
by Helen G // 30 August 2011, 10:30
This is a guest post by Sian Norris This collaboration between Bristol Feminists Network and Bristol Indymedia film presents the powerful documentary Africa Rising. From the Horn of Africa to the Western shores of the sub-Saharan nations, everyday 6,000 girls...
Transgender e-bulletin No.3 August/September 2011
by Helen G // 23 August 2011, 13:58
Via email from the Government Equalities Office: The third Government Equalities Office transgender e-bulletin has now been released. This includes a third survey which focuses on two other areas which respondents said were important - employment and identity/privacy. We would...
Weekly round-up and open thread, 23 August 2011
by Helen G // 23 August 2011, 11:51
Better late than punctual, here's this week's open thread for discussion and our regular round-up of some of the articles and blogs we've noticed over the last week or so, but not had time to post about. If you have...
UnderWire 2011
by Helen G // 16 August 2011, 12:09
This is a guest post by Sophie Mayer, who is the author of Her Various Scalpels (Shearsman, 2009) and The Private Parts of Girls (Salt, 2011), as well as The Cinema of Sally Potter (Wallflower, 2009). She recently curated a...
Organic Grassroots fundraiser for WfWI
by Helen G // 11 August 2011, 12:49
This is a guest post by Fiona on behalf of Grassroots Organic On behalf of Grassroots Organic, I'm organising a charity fundraiser event for Women for Women International. The event itself will take place on Thursday, 29th September 2011 at...
Reminder: GEO trans health survey closes on Sunday
by Helen G // 15 July 2011, 17:14
The Government Equalities Office (GEO) second e-bulletin (June/July 2011) is available for download from the Home Office website It contains a brief overview of the results of the survey linked in the first bulletin; one of the most important -...
London: Crossroads Women's Centre fundraisers
by Helen G // 9 June 2011, 11:19
The Crossroads Women's Centre is organising two events this month to help raise funds for the refurbishment of their new Women's Centre in Kentish Town, London. If you'd like to attend, here are the details: 18 June - Summer Solstice...
Bailey Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood: Final report published
by Helen G // 6 June 2011, 12:19
Via the Department for Education website: A six-month independent review into the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood, which reports today, calls on businesses and media to play their part in ending the drift towards an increasingly sexualised 'wallpaper' that surrounds...
Introducing Amy Roch, guest blogging at TFW in June
by Helen G // 3 June 2011, 08:55
Please welcome our second guest blogger for this month, Amy Roch. Here's Amy in her own words: Amy currently lives in Glasgow and has worked in various human rights organisations in the UK since graduating from a politics MA in...
Egypt: "virginity checks" performed on women arrested after protests
by Helen G // 31 May 2011, 17:57
Via CNN International and others, it seems that the allegations of enforced "virginity checks" made by Amnesty International (link here after the pro-democracy protests in March this year - and denied by military authorities - have now been confirmed...
Events listings
by Helen G // 27 May 2011, 16:09
Just a quick reminder about The F-Word's Events listings page - if you are organising, or know of, an event in your area that's of interest to other feminists, please email us with the details at events@thefword.org.uk and we'll add...
Poland: ECHR ruling says pregnant woman's human rights were violated
by Helen G // 27 May 2011, 13:00
Via email from Human Rights Watch: The European Court of Human Rights found on May 26, 2011, that Poland’s failure to ensure that a pregnant woman was given access to available diagnostic services to which she was legally entitled was...
Draft DSM-5 again open for public comment
by Helen G // 25 May 2011, 08:58
The forthcoming revised DSM-5, which will shape diagnoses of not only Gender Dysphoria, but also such conditions as Bipolar and Related Disorders Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive-Related, and Trauma-Related Disorders, has been opened up for public...
Weekly round-up and open thread, 23 May 2011
by Helen G // 23 May 2011, 10:41
Here's this week's open thread for discussion and our regular round-up of some of the articles and blogs we've noticed over the last week or so, but not had time to post about. If you have a link or comment...
17 May: International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia
by Helen G // 17 May 2011, 07:36
To mark this year's International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA-Europe) has published its Rainbow Europe Map and Index in which it rates each European country's laws and administrative practices according...
Weekly Round-Up And Open Thread, 10 May 2011
by Helen G // 10 May 2011, 12:59
Here's this week's open thread for discussion and our regular round-up of some of the articles and blogs we've noticed over the last week or so, but not had time to post about. If you have a link or comment...
Weekly round-up and open thread, 2 May 2011
by Helen G // 2 May 2011, 08:21
Here's this week's open thread for discussion and our regular round-up of some of the articles and blogs we've noticed over the last week or so, but not had time to post about. If you have a link or comment...
Call for Papers: Transgendered Feminism
by Helen G // 27 April 2011, 14:04
Via the Department of English at the University of Pennsylvania: Transgendered Feminism full name / name of organization: MP an online feminist jourmal contact email: llhinkle@academinist.org MP: Transgendered (Fall issue) - Deadline August 31, 2011 Can there be a multi-gendered...
Woman brutally beaten for using women's toilet in fast-food restaurant
by Helen G // 23 April 2011, 11:20
Trigger warning: violence against trans women Restroom panic, sometimes also known as bathroom panic; the terms mean the same. They refer to the sense of moral outrage and indignation experienced by some cis people on realising that trans people (generally...
Ireland: woman wins workplace discrimination case
by Helen G // 19 April 2011, 15:12
Via NewsTalk (also The Journal and RTE): In the first case of its kind, the Equality Tribunal has awarded €35,000 to a transexual worker who was discriminated against on gender and disability grounds. Louise Hannon complained that after she told...
DSM-5: will everyday worries be medicalised into Generalized Anxiety Disorder?
by Helen G // 16 April 2011, 14:34
Over the past three years I've written at length about the likely impact on TS/TG people of the revisions proposed for the forthcoming fifth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Although the DSM originates in...
'Budget for growth' leaves women out in the cold
by Helen G // 15 April 2011, 09:28
The Impact on Women of the Budget 2011, a UK Women's Budget Group report produced in partnership with the Fawcett Society warns that the 2011 Budget will do little to help those faring worst in the face of drastic public...
Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating VAW and DV adopted
by Helen G // 12 April 2011, 13:24
Via a Council of Europe press release: At their 1111th meeting on 6 April 2011, the Ministers’ Deputies adopted the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence and agreed to open it for...
UK Government Equalities Office online survey of transgender people
by Helen G // 12 April 2011, 09:01
In its first Transgender e-bulletin, the coalition Government's Minister for Equalities, Lynne Featherstone, says: We recognise transgender issues are distinct and need to be addressed separately. This is why we will also be publishing the first ever cross Government transgender...
An open letter to Cameron, Clegg, May and Featherstone
by Helen G // 4 April 2011, 13:37
Via email from Sian Norris: I am writing to ask you, as feminists living in the UK, to sign a letter I am writing to Cameron, Clegg, May and Featherstone, regarding the funding cuts to domestic violence support service providers,...
Via email from Queer Resistance - an independent collective of queers and allies across the UK coming together to fight the cuts - we've received this update about upcoming activities building on the success of the March for the Alternative:...
"Asylum Dialogues: On a Clear Day you can see Dover"
by Helen G // 23 March 2011, 14:57
Iceandfire Theatre in collaboration with UCL’s Migration Research Unit are performing extracts from two of their plays examining asylum and migration in Europe today. The performance is followed by a panel discussion with Sonja Linden, founder of iceandfire and writer;...
Trans Murder Monitoring project update reveals more than 500 reported murders of trans people in the last 3 years
by Helen G // 23 March 2011, 10:52
The Trans Murder Monitoring (TMM) project has published its latest update regarding the numbers of recorded murders of trans people worldwide - and it makes depressing reading. From the Trans Murder Monitoring project website: In total, the preliminary results show...
26 March 2011: March for the Alternative - Women's bloc
by Helen G // 22 March 2011, 15:57
Women Against the Cuts - "A group of women from diverse backgrounds who have come together to fight the government cuts from a feminist perspective" - are organising a women's bloc for this Saturday's March for the Alternative. From the...
UK welcomes UN statement on human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity
by Helen G // 22 March 2011, 14:48
Via the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website: Foreign Office and Equalities Ministers have welcomed the statement on "Ending acts of violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation & gender identity" at the UN Human Rights Council. The...
Dalia Ziada on Women in the New Egypt
by Helen G // 21 March 2011, 21:08
By way of a postscript to my recent post about the exclusion of women in Egypt from the democratisation process, I've just come across this interview with blogger and activist Dalia Ziada in which she talks about the problems she's...
27 March: Seizing the Screen - all female hip-hop film screening
by Helen G // 20 March 2011, 18:31
Seizing the Screen is an all female hip-hop film screening to take place in London especially for Women’s History Month in March. We welcome an audience of all ages, genders, shapes and sizes and everything in between to experience the...
26 March 2011: March for an Alternative to cuts - Access and disability
by Helen G // 20 March 2011, 12:49
This Saturday, 26 March 2011, sees the March for the Alternative taking place in central London. The march will form up from 11am on the Victoria Embankment between Waterloo and Blackfriars bridges and proceed through central London until reaching Hyde...
25th BFI London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
by Helen G // 15 March 2011, 12:59
The 25th BFI London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival is being held from 31 March to 6 April 2011. As ever there's a huge range of films and events on offer, with the following specifically to mark the 25th anniversary...
Zimbabwe: IWD marchers harassed by police
by Helen G // 10 March 2011, 21:41
As if it wasn't infuriating enough to have written one IWD post about the British government apparently deciding that violence against women is no more than a serious obstacle for women’s enjoyment of human rights (and not, as I'd naively...
IWD Million Woman March in Cairo disrupted
by Helen G // 8 March 2011, 20:24
According to ColorLines, a Million Woman March in Cairo today was "met by some men shouting anti-feminist slogans". Via CNN International: Egyptian activists had called for a Million Woman March on Tuesday, demanding "fair and equal opportunity for all Egyptian...
Britain reported to be attempting to weaken European pact on violence against women
by Helen G // 8 March 2011, 15:47
You might think - and I would agree with you - that the phrase "violence against women is understood as a violation of human rights" is not only glaringly obvious but also something that any government would accept as a...
EU: Urgent action needed on pact for gender equality and fighting violence
by Helen G // 8 March 2011, 15:37
Via Human Rights Watch: Governments should act immediately to fulfill commitments under a new gender equality pact adopted on March 7, 2011, by the Council of Ministers of the European Union, Human Rights Watch said today. The pact, adopted the...
European Parliament's Intergroup on LGBT Rights: International Women's Day
by Helen G // 8 March 2011, 14:05
Via The European Parliament's Intergroup on LGBT Rights: Today is the 100th anniversary of a global day to recall women's struggle to secure fundamental rights in all areas of life; to celebrate the many achievements of women activists; and to...
Cambodia: Rally Barred on Women's Day
by Helen G // 8 March 2011, 13:41
Via Human Rights Watch: The Cambodian government should reverse its decision to refuse a permit to the Cambodian Women's Movement Organization (CWMO) for a rally in central Phnom Penh, Human Rights Watch said today. The rally was intended to mark...
EQUALS? - Join the big equality debate
by Helen G // 8 March 2011, 06:49
Via EQUALS, a partnership of leading charities that have come together to step-up the call to demand a more equal world: Six in ten young women (aged 15-30) have personally experienced sexist remarks or sexist behaviour, while nearly half of...
Here comes the new boss, same as the old boss
by Helen G // 7 March 2011, 14:41
In November last year, the People’s Assembly (Maglis El-Shaab) - the lower house in the Egyptian Parliament and the principal legislative body - passed a law mandating the creation of 64 new seats in the house that must go to...
Hecate Theatre put a new twist on old tales in Metamorphoses
by Helen G // 7 March 2011, 11:34
All-female, Bristol-based theatrical company, Hecate Theatre, will perform their twisted retelling of Roman classic "Metamorphoses" on 23rd - 26th March at Clifton pub, The Lansdown. The cast and production team, composed of students, graduates and local actors, have also announced...
Women's Views on News and the vibe join forces for IWD
by Helen G // 7 March 2011, 08:10
In a unique collaboration, writers from the daily women's news service, Women's Views on News (WVoN), and the current affairs site for young writers and journalists, the vibe, have come together to celebrate the centenary of International Women's Day (IWD)....
Violence against women must be top priority for UN Women, say women’s rights campaigners
by Helen G // 23 February 2011, 10:18
To coincide with start of the fifty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women taking place at the UN Headquarters in New York, a new survey and report, A blueprint for UN Women, commissioned by Oxfam Novib and...
Holyrood motion to call for Aitken's resignation
by Helen G // 21 February 2011, 11:38
The furore surrounding the remarks made by Bill Aitken, Conservative MSP for Glasgow, Shadow Minister for Community Safety and Justice Committee Convenor (which helps formulates rape laws), shows no sign of decreasing as the Green Party's MSP for Glasgow, Patrick...
Bidisha: Where are the Women? event - Bristol, 6 March
by Helen G // 16 February 2011, 16:39
Over the past four years the Bristol Fawcett Society (BF) and the Bristol Feminist Network (BFN) have researched the representation of women in the media. One of the most startling findings has been the absence of women in British culture...
Her Circle Ezine: International Women's Day events
by Helen G // 8 February 2011, 13:55
Her Circle Ezine - a webzine dedicated to women's arts and literature is organising a number of events for the weekend of International Women's Day. IWD itself is on 8 March and HCE's programme will run from the Saturday before...
Weekly Round-Up And Open Thread, 31 January 2011
by Helen G // 31 January 2011, 14:35
TRIGGER WARNING: This post contains hyperlinks to external websites and blogs, some of which have comment threads and other material which some people may find triggering. The links here are posted in good faith but, as The F-Word has no...
As Time Goes By
by Helen G // 26 January 2011, 15:46
Letters of Note has an interesting post about the iconic photo V-J Day in Times Square, taken by the photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt on the day of the surrender of Japan during the Second World War. It seems that, in 1979,...
Weekly Round-Up And Open Thread, 10 January 2011
by Helen G // 10 January 2011, 08:59
TRIGGER WARNING: This post contains hyperlinks to external websites and blogs, some of which have comment threads and other material which some people may find triggering. The links here are posted in good faith but, as The F-Word has no...
Naomi Wolf: a round-up of some recent links
by Helen G // 9 January 2011, 06:45
Last month, Naomi Wolf was quite vocal about the sex assault charges faced by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in her open letter to Interpol in the Huffington Post and her subsequent debate with Jaclyn Friedman (videos at Democracy Now: part...
Haiti: Sexual violence against women increasing
by Helen G // 6 January 2011, 07:38
In a new report released today, Amnesty International has found that women and girls living in Haiti’s makeshift camps face an increasing risk of rape and sexual violence. Those responsible are reported to be predominately armed men who roam...
A Year of Feminist Classics
by Helen G // 1 January 2011, 15:01
If you're casting around for a New Year's resolution that might offer both a sense of fulfilment and a way of expanding your literary horizons, it's not too late to take part in A Year of Feminist Classics. From the...
Founder of The F-Word, Catherine Redfern, has co-authored a new book with Kristin Aune. Find out more at the 
