After years of silence, Turkey’s women are going into battle against oppression

Elif Shafak As a high-school student in Turkey, whenever I took the bus I would make sure to keep an open safety pin in my hand – to poke molesters with. By the time I started university, I was carrying pepper spray in my bag, as did many of my female friends. We spoke about …

Boycott 50 Shades of Grey for ‘glamorizing’ domestic violence, say activists

Online activists have launched a campaign against the controversial release of Fifty Shades of Grey. The movement claims the film glamorizes domestic violence, and urges fans to boycott the cinema release. The campaign, called “50 dollars not 50 shades” encourages people to donate the cost of an evening at the cinema to a charity which …

Potty Mouth Princesses: all they want from Santa is equal pay for women

They may be on the naughty list but these pint-sized princesses are determined to teach a sexist Santa Claus about women’s rights. The young girls caused a stir earlier this year with a video highlighting sexism against women, and in the Potty Mouth Princesses’ latest film they’re back to promote equal pay. Dressed in their …

High time for legislative action to combat violence against women

After staging a group action outside the Parliament’s hemicycle before the debate on combatting violence against women (see here), GUE/NGL MEPs this afternoon called for legislative action at EU level as well as ratification of the Istanbul Convention by all member states.  “We have talked about statistics – terrible statistics that show the terrible realities …

La Via Campesina: Day of Action Against Violence Towards Women

On this International Day of Action Against Violence Towards Women, La Via Campesina is again denouncing the structural violence that women have to confront each day and that has been systematically silenced, made to appear natural, and rendered invisible by patriarchal capitalist society. In 2008, in its Vth Conference, La Via Campesina launched the Global …