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All the latest from HER-itage and our affiliates

3 March 2021 17:00 ~ Sexual Violence & Criminal Justice: Approaches in Psychology, History, and Literature – Clear Lines – Online

In conversation with Amina Memon, Winnie M Li, and Joanna Bourke

  • Finishes at 6.30pm
  • Online via Microsoft Teams

We are pleased to launch our season of spring events in partnership with The SHaME Project, an interdisciplinary research hub at Birkbeck, University of London. Funded in part by The Wellcome Trust, these events are designed to bring academics researching sexual violence into dialogue with survivors, activists, and artists. The season will consist of three public events over the next few months — all of them FREE & accessible online. Our first event will be next Wednesday, March 3rd:

In this unique online discussion, Professor Amina Memon, Professor Joanna Bourke, and SHaME Writer in Residence Winnie M Li will explore a range of issues relating to the lived experience of sexual violence and its treatment in the criminal justice system. Each will bring to the table their own expertise, spanning a range of fields: Amina will speak from her extensive experience in psychology, emotion, and the law; Joanna will look at the historic handling of sexual violence in criminal justice proceedings; and Winnie will draw from her own lived experience as a rape survivor and her decision to imagine the trial of her rapist in her award-winning novel Dark Chapter.

Like all SHaME events, this evening is designed to bring together interdisciplinary scholarship on the field of sexual violence.  Expect a wide-ranging dialogue, followed by an audience Q&A. Some of the questions addressed will be:

  • What are the mental health impacts of sexual violence — and of the criminal justice process on victims? Is the criminal justice process a form of further trauma on victims?
  • Historically, how have these impacts been recognised or ignored by criminal justice policy?
  • What role does psychology play in how authorities and the public perceive guilt and believability around sexual violence cases? Has this remained the same throughout history and into modern times?
  • How can literature best capture the nuances of these experiences and convey them to a wider audience?
  • How can narrative and the arts re-imagine an alternative possibility, when the current and past reality of the criminal justice system may fail victims?

For more information on Winnie’s Writer-in-Residence programme at SHaME, click here: https://shame.bbk.ac.uk/blog/shame-x-winnie-m-li/

Clear Lines is the UK’s first-ever festival dedicated to addressing sexual assault, abuse, and consent through the arts and discussion. Since its founding, Clear Lines has run two multi-day festivals in 2015 and 2017 and a series of regular events, but remains a grassroots, voluntary organisation.

FREE to attend, but pre-booking is essential: https://shame.bbk.ac.uk/events/sexual-violence-and-criminal-justice-approaches-in-psychology-history-and-literature

February 26, 2021

18 February 2021 18:00 ~ LGBT+ History Month 2021: Angela Bowen + The Watermelon Woman + Q&A – Newham Community Cinema – Online

LADIES WHO LOVE season takes a look through time at the romantic bonds between couples that identify and/or relate as women.

Newham Community Cinema presents an online month-long celebration of LGBT+ culture on film with curated conversations and special guests brought to you free by Newham Council and in partnership with Women Over Fifty Film Festival (WOFFF).

SHORT – THE PASSIONATE PURSUITS OF ANGELA BOWEN

  • Jennifer Abod | USA | 2018 | Documentary | 25mins
  • A portrait of Angela Bowen from inner cities streets of Boston, to founder of Connecticut’s beloved Bowen-Peters School of Dance, to Black lesbian feminist activist, to distinguished writer and professor.

FEATURE – THE WATERMELON WOMAN

  • Cheryl Dunye | US | 18 | 1996 | Drama | 85mins
  • ‘The Watermelon Woman’ was the name given to the mythical Fae Richards, a beautiful yet elusive Black actress from the 1930s. In all her films, it was her only billing, why should that be? It is a mystery that perplexes Cheryl (Cheryl Dunye), a young Black filmmaker. She sets out to solve the mystery by making a documentary about this forgotten star.
  • (Courtesy of Peccadillo Pictures)

About the Q&A/Panel

  • Nuala O’Sullivan (Host) – Founder of Women Over Fifty Film Festival (WOFFF) – a celebration of older women in front of and behind the camera. She has written plays for theatre and has been a series writer for the BBC Radio 4 drama Brief Lives. She launched Women Over 50 Film Festival as a positive and practical response to this lack of visibility so that older women in film would have a platform dedicated to them and their work.
  • Jennifer Abod (Guest) – Director of THE PASSIONATE PURSUITS OF ANGELA BOWEN is an American filmmaker, activist, musician, journalist, poet and filmmaker. In 1970 she co-wrote “The Liberation of Lydia,” the first feminist radio soap opera as well as co-founding the women’s liberation rock band Papa Don’t Lay that Shit on Me. She was a radio broadcaster for 19 years and released her first documentary “The Edge of Each Other’s Battles: The Vision of Audre Lorde” in 2002.

Running Order

6pm: Film Starts (Suggested viewing time)

  • Participants will receive a link to watch the films after registering that will be available for 24hrs before the Q&A/Panel.

8pm: Live Q&A Panel starts with a host and special guests (Fixed viewing time)

  • Participants will receive a link to watch the Q&A/Panel after registering and before the live event along with the links for the virtual screenings.

9pm: Event Ends (Book your next event now! Limited spaces!)

Book online at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lgbt-history-month-2021-angela-bowen-the-watermelon-woman-qa-tickets-140561909455?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

February 17, 2021

23 February 2021 14:00 ~ Talking to Extremists: Gender, power and belonging – Centre for Women, Peace and Security – Online

Speakers

  • Shannon Foley Martinez
    Consultant, Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab
  • Deeyah Khan
    Documentary Filmmaker
  • Shafqat Mehmood
    Founder and Chairperson of PAIMAN Alumni Trust

Chair

  • Sanam Naraghi Anderlini MBE
    Director, LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security

In the second event of the “Coming of Age of Women Peace and Security, In Conversation” series, Sanam Naraghi Anderlini MBE will host three guests who have had the courage and conviction to talk to extremists.

As polarised echo chambers are exacerbating the divisions and entrenching extremes, the parallels between acts of domestic terrorism, such as the January 6th insurrection against the US Capitol in Washington, DC, and violent extremist movements in other parts of the world are evident. The radicalisation of individuals – men and women – is a complex process. Drawing people away from violent extremism is equally complex with a need to understand not only the political, cultural, psycho-social and emotional factors at play but also the centrality of gender ideology and roles.

In this conversation our guests will talk about their experiences and work making them uniquely placed to respond to these issues.

About the speakers: 

  • Shannon Foley Martinez (@_Shan_Martinez_) has worked within at-risk communities teaching and developing dynamic resiliency skills. She has helped to build preventative models of counter-extremism, focusing on family values, the importance of individual empathy, and intersectional consciousness. Since leaving the white supremacist movement over 25 years ago, Ms. Foley Martinez has been equal to the gruelling task of educating others and building expertise within herself. She has worked for school systems, nonprofits, and community organisations sharing expertise with many entities including the UN Office of Counter Terrorism, National Counterterrorism Center, and US government and global media outlets.
  • Deeyah Khan(@Deeyah_Khan) is a two-time Emmy award winning and twice BAFTA nominated documentary filmmaker. Through her work she has explored how people are drawn to violent extremist movements. She has spent years filming Islamist extremists, convicted terrorists, former jihadis, as well as current and former white supremacists and domestic terrorists in America for her documentaries.  Deeyah is also the founder of Fuuse, an independent media and arts production company. In 2016, she became the first UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for artistic freedom and creativity.
  • Shafqat Mehmood, founder and Chairperson of PAIMAN Alumni Trust (@PaimanTweet), served in the defence forces for 33 years and retired as a Brigadier General. He is one of PAIMAN’s most experienced peace practitioners and a pioneer of PAIMAN’s model of community engagement for P/CVE which received international recognition and was declared best practice initiative by the European Union and replicated in a few countries with PAIMAN’s technical support. He has been instrumental in the de-radicalisation, rehabilitation and re-integration of thousands of radicalised youth. Mr. Mehmood has presented PAIMAN’s work and contributed to P/CVE subjects at numerous international seminars and conferences.

Chair:  Sanam Naraghi Anderlini MBE (@sanambna) is Director of the LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security and the founder of The International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)

This event is co-hosted by The International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) and The Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy.

Finishes @ 3:15pm

Register online at https://www.lse.ac.uk/women-peace-security/events/Current-Events/Talking-to-Extremists-Gender-Power-Belonging

 

February 17, 2021

25 February 202118:00 ~ LGBT+ HISTORY MONTH 2021: Halwa + The Journey + Q&A – Newham Community Cinema – Online

  • Free

LADIES WHO LOVE season takes a look through time at the romantic bonds between couples that identify and/or relate as women.

Newham Community Cinema presents an online month-long celebration of LGBT+ culture on film with curated conversations and special guests brought to you free by Newham Council and in partnership with Women Over Fifty Film Festival (WOFFF).

SHORT – HALWA

  • Gayatri Bajpai, Nirav Bhakta | USA | 2019 | Drama | 15mins
  • Sujata Chopra connects with an old friend on Facebook. As she prepares a meal for her husband in the kitchen, memories bubble to the surface.

FEATURE – THE JOURNEY

  • Ligy J Pullappally | India | PG | 2013 | Drama | 107mins
  • The Journey tells the story of two young women who grow up together in a rural Indian village, where arranged marriage is the only acceptable form of relationship. Kiran, a studious and reserved young woman, is mortified by her growing lesbian desire for the effervescent Delilah. Ashamed and frightened, she agrees to help her neighbour Rajan in his attempts to win Delilah’s heart, but Delilah soon discovers Kiran’s true feelings.
  • (Courtesy of Peccadillo Pictures)

About the Q&A/Panel

  • Nuala O’Sullivan (Host) – Founder of Women Over Fifty Film Festival (WOFFF) – a celebration of older women in front of and behind the camera. She has written plays for theatre and has been a series writer for the BBC Radio 4 drama Brief Lives. She launched Women Over 50 Film Festival as a positive and practical response to this lack of visibility so that older women in film would have a platform dedicated to them and their work.
  • Gayatri Bajpai (Guest) – Director of HALWA
  • Gayatri Everitt Bajpai is a Writer/Director of narrative films and documentaries, as well as a Video Producer and Editor of nonfiction/reality pieces. Her most recent short film, “Halwa” won first place in the HBO APA Visionaries Competition and was licensed by HBO for all of its platforms. Other recent highlights include producing a documentary about legendary director Francis Ford Coppola’s live cinema project, Distant Vision, and directing on the anthology feature film RIO, executive produced by James Franco.

Running Order

  • 6pm: Film Starts (Suggested viewing time)
    Participants will receive a link to watch the films after registering that will be available for 24hrs before the Q&A/Panel.
  • 8pm: Live Q&A Panel starts with a host and special guests (Fixed viewing time)
    Participants will receive a link to watch the Q&A/Panel after registering and before the live event along with the links for the virtual screenings.
  • 9pm: Event Ends

Full details and booking at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lgbt-history-month-2021-halwa-the-journey-qa-tickets-140570830137?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

February 17, 2021

Stop building women’s prisons – Howard League for Penal Reform

The government has announced that it is to increase the number of prison cells for women by 500. This is despite the number of women in prison falling and there now being 591 fewer women in prison than at this time last year.

The plan is to put prefabs and new build in existing prisons. There is some pretence that this will improve facilities for women, but in fact this is not true.

Expanding women’s prisons runs contrary to the government’s own published policy of reducing the use of prison for women and stemming the flow of women into the toxic criminal justice system. The Howard League has been supporting this policy and working with police to reduce arrests and divert women to services that meet their needs and reduce crime.

The number of 500 cells has been plucked out of the air and appears to be a knee-jerk reaction to the recruitment of 20,000 additional police officers. More police must mean more women arrested, apparently – well, not necessarily. We know that women who come into conflict with the criminal justice system are likely to be victims.

The government should back its own policy and not spend money on an admission of failure.

We are about to publish research showing that nearly half of the 90,000 women who are arrested every year face no further action. This is often because they are clearly in need of help and are not serious criminals. Very few women are convicted of serious violent crimes. So the government’s own policy of reducing the use of prison for women is the right one. The government should back its own policy and not spend money on an admission of failure.

The cost of building extra places will run to millions and, of course, the extra costs will last for generations. The cost of prisons is not simply in building them but also running them, year after year. These sums dwarf the money being given to women’s centres and organisations working in the community to prevent crime and support women – work that the Ministry of Justice’s own research shows reduces crime and turns women’s lives around.

Women’s prisons are a bloodbath. Self-injury by women in prison went up yet again last year. Women are so distressed in prisons that they cut themselves, they ligature, they develop eating disorders and obesity, they are deeply depressed. Putting more women in prison will not prevent crime, it will increase distress.

We need to stop this. We need to come together to stop this profligate waste of public money on the wrong policy. Money should go to women’s centres and housing and work and mental health support in the community.

https://howardleague.org/blog/stop-building-womens-prisons/

February 17, 2021