November 25th is the International Day to End Violence Against Women. A result of the efforts of Latin American and Caribbean feminists, the date became officialised as an international Remembrance Day by the United Nations in 1999. November 25th was chosen to mark the date of the assassination of the Mirabal sisters (Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa), three Dominican political activists, by dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo in 1960.

To commemorate this sombre occasion, Women Talk Back! will host feminist campaigners who have dedicated their lives to ending male violence against women and girls. We are keen to host this public event at the University of Bristol, in light of the way that academic institutions have historically condoned and continue to enable the abuse of female staff and students, inside university campuses across the UK.

‘Feminist Campaigners Talk Back! at the University of Bristol’ invites both our University of Bristol community and members of the public, to listen and engage with feminists activists as each speaker focuses on different aspects of the interconnected forms male violence against women and girls takes in our society, including: prostitution, honour-based violence, State enacted abuse, political repression and the importance of single-sex services for women exiting abuse.

Internationally renowned feminist campaigners Beatrix Campbell, Pragna Patel, Helen Steel, Karen Ingala-Smith and our own Erandi Barrero Moreno will speak about the lead role that feminist campaigning plays in the fight to eradicate violence against women and girls worldwide. Although a bleak and disillusioning subject, the Women Talk Back! Feminist Student Society at the University of Bristol is keen to host a public event precisely on November 25th as a reminder both to our academic community and the wider public that the fight to end abuse and violence against women concerns us all.

About Our Speakers

Pragna Patel is Director of Southall Black Sisters and a founding member of Women Against Fundamentalism. She has written extensively on race, gender and religion. Her publications include ‘Citizenship: Whose Rights?’ in Women and Citizenship in Europe: Borders, Rights and Duties and ‘The Time Has Come ... Asian Women in Struggle’ in Black British Feminism - A Reader. She has been centrally involved in some of Southall Black Sisters most important cases and campaigns around domestic violence, immigration and religious fundamentalism. She has also written extensively on race, gender and religion.

Beatrix Campbell (OBE for services to Equality), is a provocative and influential feminist writer, social commentator and political activist. She was the founder of Marxist and feminist journal Red Rag and has written multiple books, including: Goliath: Britain's Dangerous Places (1993), Agreement: The State, Conflict and Change in Northern Ireland (2008) and End of Equality (2014).

Helen Steel is a long time campaigner on environmental and social justice issues. She was sidetracked into fighting McLibel, the longest trial in British legal history, which eventually was taken to the European Court, where Steel won the case against the UK government on the grounds that she had been denied a fair trial. She has been instrumental in the fight against political undercover policing (SpyCops).

Karen Ingala-Smith is Chief Executive of nia, an East London charity providing services for women, girls and children who have been subjected to sexual and domestic violence, including prostitution. She has been recording and commemorating UK women killed by men since 2012 in a campaign called Counting Dead Women. She is the co-founder of The Femicide Census in partnership with Clarissa O’Callaghan and Women’s Aid (England) supported by Freshfields LLP and Deloitte LLP.

Erandi Barrera Moreno is Women Talk Back!'s Unruliness Coordinator. An enthusiast of sport, dance, nature, and art, her most recent academic project has been designing spaces for intergenerational encounters. Since she joined Women Talk Back!, she has become more active in pursuing the creation of a better reality for women, through our weekly consciousness-raising gathering, hosting multiple street safety workshops, and other hands-on projects. She organises regular women-only parkour sessions across Bristol and encourages women to roam about in the outdoors. She is concerned about the pervasive nature of violence against women and will address the importance of visibilising this plight in society.

About Women Talk Back! Feminist Student Society

Women Talk Back!, the Feminist Student Society at the University of Bristol, provides a weekly space for women to engage in lively discussion and debate. We are open to all women, regardless of student status, income or social background. We are in pursuit of global liberation from all forms of patriarchy. We therefore centre women who experience misogyny, but who may also face racism, anti-lesbianism, classism and other forms of structural discrimination that arise from male domination.

Women Talk Back! are committed to the power of sisterhood and believe that it is only through an understanding of our similarities and differences that we can liberate ourselves from patriarchy. We believe that dialogue with each other is the first step towards liberation from oppressive structures and practices. We welcome women from all backgrounds to join and take part in all aspects of the group. We aim to foster a culture of collective responsibility, care, and honesty with ourselves and one another.

Doors open at 18:30 for a 19:00 start; speeches followed by an audience Q and A. Our public events are open to everyone. If you have trouble affording our tickets, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us. Please bring a form of identification to the event. We cannot let you in without it.

We would be grateful for any donations to help us cover the costs of our events and Student Society initiatives.

Contact

twitter.com/womentalk_back

facebook.com/womentalkback

womentalkback.bristol@gmail.com