Women Talk Back! is commemorating the UN Women 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-Based Violence by hosting a series of consciousness-raising meetings, workshops and public events with feminist campaigners who have dedicated their lives to ending male violence against women and girls, starting on November 25th, which is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and culminating on December 10th, which is Human Rights Day. We are keen to host these public events 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.

‘Julie Bindel Talks Back!’ will follow on ‘Feminist Campaigners Talk Back!’ by inviting 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.

Internationally renowned feminist campaigner Julie Bindel will speak about the lead role that feminist campaigning plays in the fight to eradicate violence against women and girls worldwide. Particularly, Julie Bindel will speak about the human rights of women and girls living in prostitution and human trafficking. We are grateful to have Professor Marianne Hester OBE and Chair in Gender, Violence and International Politics in the Centre for Gender and Violence Research as chair to our public event.

Although a bleak and disillusioning subject, the Women Talk Back! Feminist Student Society at the University of Bristol is keen commemorate the UN Women 16 Days of Activism to end Gender-Based Violence, starting on November 25th and culminating on December 10th, as a reminder both to our academic community and the wider Bristol public that the fight to end violence against women concerns us all.

About Our Speaker and Chair

Julie Bindel is a journalist, writer, broadcaster and researcher. She has been active in the global campaign to end violence towards women and children since 1979 and has written extensively on rape, domestic violence, sexually motivated murder, prostitution and trafficking, child sexual exploitation, stalking, and the rise of religious fundamentalism and its harm to women and girls.

She has authored over 30 book chapters and reports on a range of topics relating violence and abuse of women and girls. She writes regularly for The Guardian newspaper, the New Statesman, Truthdig, the Sunday Telegraph and Standpoint magazines, and appears regularly on the BBC and Sky News. Julie is co-founder of Justice for Women, set up in 1990 in response to cases of spousal homicide in which men killed their female partners and were given sympathy and understanding by judges and jurors, in contrast to women who killed their male partners or ex-partners after suffering domestic violence and abuse, and were punished disproportionately by the criminal justice system.

Professor Marianne Hester OBE FAcSS (MA Oxon, PhD Leeds) holds the Chair in Gender, Violence and International Policy in the Centre for Gender and Violence Research at the School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol. She is Patron of Devon Rape Crisis and Sexual Assault Services. She is a leading researcher of gender-based violence and has directed groundbreaking research on many aspects of violence, abuse and gender relations, including child contact and domestic violence, and progression of domestic violence and rape cases through the criminal justice system.

Her work has directly influenced health, criminal justice and family policy and practice in the UK, Europe and other countries. Much of her research is comparative, focusing on the UK, Europe and Scandinavia. She is currently researching: interventions with high risk male perpetrators; progression of rape and domestic violence cases through the criminal justice system; and meanings of justice for victims/survivors of gender based violence.

About the Centre for Gender and Violence Research

The Centre for Gender and Violence Research at the University of Bristol is a key UK site for the study of gender based violence. Incorporating the Violence Against Women Research Group (VAWRG), the Centre has a long history of researching violence against women and gender based violence, feeding this into policy and practice nationally, internationally and at a local level. The Centre for Gender and Violence Research also offer a range of consultancy, teaching and training, including research dissemination events and tailor-made seminars for professionals. Using a gendered analysis of violence against women, we situate our work, wherever possible, within an activist framework.

About the 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; speech followed by an audience Q and A. Our public events are open to everyone in our community. 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.

Contact

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womentalkback.bristol@gmail.com