Feminism and women’s rights

At bottom, there is one fundamental question: Why do we take prison for granted? While a relatively small proportion of the population has ever directly experienced life inside prison, this is not true in poor black and Latino communities. Neither is it true for Native Americans or for certain Asian-American communities. But even among those […]

On the night of June 25 last year, Alex Aleti Seu sexually assaulted a young man in an alleyway and on the grounds of a Dunedin church. Seu, who identifies as transgender, has been sentenced to prison for the attack as well as that of two of his former flatmates. Having entered the prison system,

In November 2016, New Zealand’s prison population ticked over ten thousand. So in February, abolitionist organisation No Pride in Prisons lead a “10,000 Too Many” march, calling for decarceration and challenging government plans to expand New Zealand’s prison system. NPIP and its supporters say that instead of building more prisons when they are ineffective, inhumane

There’s a new catchcry in town. It’s been flying around New Zealand media like a ball in a pinball machine since February 20, when Family First launched a campaign called Ask Me First. The campaign amplifies the voice of Laura, an 18 year-old student who has challenged policy changes at a New Zealand all girls’

For Kate. Image by Untameable Shrews (@untamableshrews). New Zealand leftist news site The Spinoff recently published a “now what?” article for feminists, following the Women’s March. The piece recommends organisations to support, and tells readers that the “New Zealand Prostitutes’ Collective advocates for the rights, health and well-being of all sex workers. Remember to include

This is post is written by Emily Scott, whose name has been changed for privacy.   Recently, I was referred to see a psychologist. I had been sexually abused from the age of nine – a total of twenty-one years, and I had just begun a new relationship. My new boyfriend was (and still is)

On 20 February, conservative lobby group Family First New Zealand launched a campaign called Ask Me First, in response to the “growing trend in both New Zealand schools and public places to allow men to enter women’s spaces — female toilets, showers, changing rooms, camp bunk rooms, and sports teams.” A key campaign video amplifies

In 2003, the Prostitution Reform Act (PRA) was passed, introducing a policy of full decriminalisation of the sex trade to New Zealand. Under this model, women in prostitution are no longer criminalised, like they were previously; but neither are pimps or johns. The PRA decriminalised women by legitimising prostitution, accepting it as business, or “a

This is a guest post by Kate, whose real name is changed for safety reasons. Image by the Untameable Shrews (@untamableshrews). As a woman engaged in feminist discussion, having spent 15 years in the sex trade – I am getting angry with being told that “misgendering” is violence, whilst being silenced and banned for stating

it is not so much the cause of feminism to provide a shinning walk way for a female leader, so much as it is to arrive at a governance that takes issues that affect women seriously. – Rae Story Over the last few weeks, anti-feminist backlash has been more than evident in mainstream media, even