Politics and Current Affairs

Comment on newsworthy events or political issues.

The Oxbridge sex workers

Laurie Penny considers why so many Oxbridge students are going into prostitution and stripping, and the impact the media coverage of their stories has on women in less privileged positions

Published: 11 May 2008 | Written by Laurie Penny

Stripping the illusion...

Lap-dancing clubs are licensed in the same way as coffee shops. Anji Capes reports on the launch of a campaign to change all that

Published: 3 May 2008 | Written by Anji Capes

Abortion and disability - whose voices are heard?

Are disabled women's voices silenced in the abortion debate? asks Clare Laxton

Published: 4 April 2008 | Written by Clare Laxton

How to get an activist movement to keep women in prostitution

What use are sex worker groups that give out condoms and showers, but can't help women who want to exit prostitution? Ekis reports from Barcelona on prostitution and the campaign for legalisation

Published: 16 March 2008 | Written by Ekis

Where the 1967 Abortion Act doesn't apply

Women in Northern Ireland must still cross the water to get an abortion, and even setting out the law in an accessible form is controversial. Siún Carden reports

Published: 13 March 2008 | Written by Siún Carden

UK feminists must address worldwide issues

All over the planet women are denied the most basic rights. Ruthie Samuel asks: where is the outrage?

Published: 4 February 2008 | Written by Ruthie Samuel

The place of the 'Female Vote' in politics

Jessica Metheringham explores how the concept of the 'Female Vote' tends to cast women as fickle and uninterested in serious politics

Published: 6 December 2007 | Written by Jessica Metheringham

Built for women

The Women's Design Service is celebrating 20 years of feminist activism from the planners' office to the building site. Eeva Berglund reports

Published: 9 November 2007 | Written by Eeva Berglund

Abortion: still a feminist issue

It is 40 years since abortion was legalised in the UK, yet our right to control our own bodies is still under threat. Irina Lester reports

Published: 6 October 2007 | Written by Irina Lester

The F Word podcast: episode one!

Welcome to the first ever F Word podcast!

Published: 9 July 2007 | Written by Jess McCabe

A worthwhile women's day

Fed up with most of the events put on for International Women's Day, Angela Brant found herself at an illuminating talk on women living under religious and oppressive laws

Published: 29 March 2007 | Written by Angela Brant

Where's the real war on terror?

Michelle Wright thinks the Government has the wrong priorities when it comes to protecting British citizens from terrorism. Women are under attack, she argues; not only from the abusers and rapists, but from the institutions and systems that are supposedly there to protect us.

Published: 1 July 2006 | Written by Michelle Wright

New Rights, Old Wrongs

Civil Partnerships being restricted to same-sex couples is more than a strange and irritating political decision - it's an indefensible refusal to create real legal equality for all citizens. Susan Hunter explains how the Equal Partnership Campaign is fighting to end 400 years of sexual segregation - and how you can help.

Published: 29 May 2006 | Written by Susan Hunter

The Appliance of Science

Earlier this year the President of Harvard made some controversial comments about innate differences between men and women. Ealasaid Gilfillan explains why we should care, and how feminists can contribute to the debate by learning to distinguish between science and politics.

Published: 1 August 2005 | Written by Ealasaid Gilfillan

Left behind?

Louise Whittle explains why she is disillusioned with the revolutionary left and its attitude towards feminism. She argues that the revolutionary left only pays lip-service to feminism, and sexism and machismo are as pervasive in these organisations as in mainstream society. When women are exhorted to "wait for the revolution", what's a socialist feminist to do?

Published: 1 August 2005 | Written by Louise Whittle

Crime and Punishment: Maxine Carr and other 'evil women'

Jo Knowles explains how the media's demonisation of Maxine Carr is symptomatic of stereotypes often attached to women: either Angels or Monsters, not flawed human beings.

Published: 1 June 2004 | Written by Jo Knowles

Re-classifying rape

Ilona Jasiewicz argues for re-classifying rape from a sex crime to a hate crime, to make clear that the motive of rape is power - not passion.

Published: 19 December 2003 | Written by Ilona Jasiewicz

Support Our Boys

Lindsay and Francesca Levy discuss the difficulties of "supporting the troops" with a clear conscience, and the problems in being an anti-war demonstrator during wartime.

Published: 16 April 2003 | Written by Lindsay and Francesca Levy

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher - Was she good for feminism?

Published: 16 August 2001 | Written by Catherine Redfern

Election 2001

They seek her here, they seek her there. At last, the election is over. But where, oh where were the women?

Published: 16 June 2001 | Written by Catherine Redfern

Fawcett briefing on women and voting

This article is taken from a Fawcett Society briefing on women and voting reform.

Published: 16 June 2001 | Written by Catherine Redfern

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