‘Engendering Change’, WEN’s new campaign and research report, firmly places gender on the climate-change agenda. Our largest piece of climate change research to date, it will highlight women’s lack of participation in decision-making both generally and specifically with regard to climate change, and explore the links between gender and climate change in the developed and developing world.

Our research will show that while women are already being disproportionately affected by climate change, and have made a smaller contribution to the problem, they are poorly represented in positions of authority in general and therefore in decision-making at national and international levels.

The campaign advocates action on three fronts:

1. Gender-sensitive strategies to mitigate climate change – gender must be taken into account when planning mitigation strategies.
2. Addressing gender inequality – until gender inequality is addressed, women will continue to suffer climate injustice.
3. Gender-sensitive strategies for adapting to climate change – it is vital that adaptation strategies adequately take account of women’s considerations.

The grant of £1,200 will be used for printing a climate change and gender campaign briefing to accompany the launch of the new campaign and report. The briefing will outline the arguments for effective, gender-sensitive climate change legislation in a user-friendly format, and will offer activists, and other interested parties, practical advice on influencing decision-makers and MPs. As an educational tool, the briefing will be disseminated in partnership with other women’s and climate change organisations. WEN’s local groups will be among the first to use this briefing to lobby MPs and improve awareness at a regional level in the UK.

The campaign will initiate a wider public discourse on climate change and gender, and will shed light on a topic that has so far remained marginalised.

The dominant focus of research about the Menopause has been upon medical management of ‘the change of life’, viewed as a ‘problem’ that requires drug therapy to remedy. There is little written that explores the everyday experiences of women and the meanings they ascribe to menopause in their lives. There are no holdings in the British Library Sound Archive of oral histories of the menopause other than brief mentions in the Wellcome Trust oral history of medicine. Equally, the majority of life course research is focused upon earlier life transitions, such as adolescence and family formation, and those in later life around illness and bereavement. There is also a lack of socio-historical literature that engages with menopause as a significant life event; the exception, albeit framed by biomedical developments, is Judith Houk’s 2006 historical analysis of menopause in the USA from the late 19th century to the present day. However, there is no equivalent work in the UK.

This research project aims to address the absence of ordinary women’s (and men’s) voices in the debate, through the commissioning of a Mass Observation Directive that invites MO correspondents to specifically address issues of menopause and midlife transition, and to write about their personal experiences. As a life historian and adult educator, I intend to draw upon the responses to the MO Directive to explore the meanings of menopause in people’s live and identify the key issues that are reflected in correspondents’ narratives. The Directive responses will be archived in the MO Archive in Sussex University Library for immediate use by both academic researchers and others who wish to use the material.

The recession threatens to erode women’s equality of opportunity and economic rights. Progress towards closing the equality gap between women and men has been undermined with initial indications that pregnancy related discrimination is on the increase, whilst women’s representation as UK leaders is in decline, the gender pay gap is widening, and sex-object culture is creeping back into the workplace.

Women in the UK are already at higher risk of poverty than men. The gender pay gap is 17.1%, women with children average 57% less income than men with children, and women are more likely to work part time and in vulnerable employment than men.
 
We will deliver:

• a series of informative papers examining current policy, outlining radical approaches to reforming policy and practice to tackle pregnancy discrimination and promote equal pay, that will be debated at a series of seminars for key academics, policy makers and diversity practitioners
• a review of the impact of the recession on women’s experiences of pregnancy related discrimination 
• a literature review on the impact of pay inequalities on motherhood in the UK
• a report on the business use of the sex industry and its impact on women in the workplace

The Transnational Feminisms Conference will take place from the 4th – 6th of December, 2009 at the University of Manchester. It is being organised by two PhD students from the university’s School of Arts, Histories and Cultures, who want to expand on ideas of transnational feminisms from academic, artistic and activist standpoints.

Drawing on the impact of postcolonial feminism and its enactments, this conference will examine how women are affected by political systems in a global climate, how feminism translates and moves across borders, and how feminism can be utilised as a methodology for understanding the transnational context.

Here the transnational is understood to be a complication of notions of the 'elsewhere', highlighting the challenges of fluidity, movement and instability whilst also paying close attention to locatedness. This is a feminism that is engaged with the woman-as-subject without making universalising claims regarding women's experience; it both considers how gender operates and critiques categorisation.

The aim of the conference is to share research on transnational feminisms between students, academics, artists and activists and to promote discussion on these themes and on future strategies/ research. An important element of the conference is that it involves participants and as such there will be workshops, a history walk and ample opportunity for debate.

The award from the Feminist Review Trust is invaluable as it means that we will be possible to offer bursaries to attendees and thus allow a broader range of people to attend. It will also assist us in displaying work submitted by artists to the conference. The money will also help towards the essential costs of room hire and publicity, keeping the costs of attending minimal.

One of the key consequences of gender inequality in the UK is women's poverty, evidenced by the persistent gender pay gap and an average post- retirement income that is around 57 % that of men. Poverty also has some specifically gendered impacts, such as an increased vulnerability to sexual and domestic violence. This project tackles a long-term cause of poverty: the inability of those living in poverty to articulate a public policy position and actively participate in the democratic process. Women in particular lack voice in the UK's democratic processes, being severely underrepresented at local, regional and national level.

Voices of Experience is designed to develop the capacity of women living in poverty to engage with and influence government, and build women's confidence, and sense of agency.

In Stage 1, we worked with women with direct, current experience of grappling with the everyday problems poverty brings, and who wanted to develop a political voice to tackle these problems in practical ways. These women attended a series of workshops and training sessions with policymakers and parliamentarians, and based on their own experiences and priorities, developed an agenda for change.

This two day course will provide 20 women, from diverse backgrounds and from a spread of voluntary sector organisations, with training in leadership skills. Research indicates that the prohibitive costs of leadership training courses, coupled with a shortage of suitably qualified and skilled women leaders, are creating difficulties for the future of the women’s voluntary sector. This project attempts to address this by providing an opportunity for women to develop their leadership skills which they can then use within their own organisations and/or to seek leadership roles more generally in the sector.

The course will enable participants to develop their leadership potential within a supportive environment. The training will examine the role of women leaders and will incorporate areas such as networking, assertiveness, team building, public speaking, problem solving and developing strategies to deal with the challenges of leading women’s organisations through the current political and economic climate. They will have the opportunity to discuss ideas and strategies with women who are already in leading positions within organisations. Participants will also be encouraged to create a peer support system. They will receive ongoing support following the training.

Cine 25 is a unique one-day event at City Screen in York and is part of the 25th anniversary celebrations for the Centre for Women’s Studies at the University of York. The aim of the showcase is to address the current position of gender in film and media and to create networking opportunities. We hope to inspire future events providing space for a community of artists and academics who work on gender and media.

The day will include an academic panel discussion, featuring seven participants from institutions across the UK. These are experts in fields of film, television, sound, music and other media arts. A short film programme of 7 films exploring gender will conclude with the opportunity for the audience to speak with the artists. The screening of the feature-length film ‘The Viva Voce Virus’, directed by Kathleen Bryson and Kimmo Mokky, will be the UK premiere of what is already being hailed as a camp classic of queer cinema. This film has been shown in Portland, USA and will be appearing in Berlin the same weekend as Cine25. Kimmo and two of the film’s actors will be at the premiere to chat with the audience about the film.

A low-budget filmmaking workshop will be led by Alissa Juvan, of Girls on Film, a collective that organises multimedia nights by women artists. She is also a Coordinator for Fabric, the arts development organisation for Bradford. Participants will receive advice on funding and exhibiting media from Alissa along with representatives of the Arts Council, The London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and several of the artists from Cine25. 18 participants will take part in Cine25 and we expect to attract an audience of approximately 50 from across the UK.

The Feminist Review Trust funding is an invaluable contribution to the running of Cine25. Most importantly, it has enabled us to help towards the costs of our participants attending the event and also to subsidise ticket prices, allowing us to make the event as accessible as we could.

Asylum Aid is an independent charity working with asylum seekers in the UK. It exists because people seeking safety in this country from persecution and human rights abuses abroad, need specialist legal help if their asylum applications are to be fairly assessed. Asylum Aid established the Refugee Women’s Resource Project (RWRP) to advocate for the fair and non-discriminatory consideration of women’s asylum claims, using an evidence base provided by the Project’s dedicated legal casework, original research and policy work. The RWRP is the leading voice in the UK on gender and asylum, with a strong track record of achieving significant improvements to the UK asylum process for women seeking protection.

The RWRP at Asylum Aid is promoting a Charter of Rights of Women Seeking Asylum. The Charter is a framework of principles aimed at persuading the UK Border Agency to take both a strategic approach to the needs of women seeking asylum and to put in place the operational procedures and safeguards that will remove the discriminatory barriers they face. A multi-level approach to promoting the Charter, encompassing strategy, operational policy and service delivery, will be adopted in relation to the UK Border Agency. You can see the Charter at: http://www.asylumaid.org.uk

The project aims to set up a Feminist Art Studio “Spero” in the capital city of the Republic of Georgia – Tbilisi. The project will promote feminist art in Georgia and enable women artists to work and become more visible. The project will consist of three main components – feminist art studio “Spero”; workshops on feminist art and women artists; exhibition of the works by women artists working in the studio “Spero”.

The studio will be equipped with all necessary materials for painting and drawing in order to create a pleasant and comfortable atmosphere for working. The studio will serve specifically to professional and amateur women artists, who are unable to afford expensive art materials and studios for working. Women will be able to use all the studio resources free of charge in order to create artworks. During the project implementation, three workshops will be organized, which will be devoted to the work of raising women artists’ consciousness about feminism and feminist art. In the last month of the project implementation an exhibition will be organized showing the selected works of women artists created during their work in the studio. The studio will ensure women artists’ access to expensive art materials and will enable them to exhibit their works, which will be documented in a catalogue. The planned activities will raise public interest in feminist art and women artists’ work.

Goal: WTB's project focuses on Jewish and Palestinian women's ability to enjoy a basic amount of contraceptive autonomy, ability to access knowledge about reproductive options, and activate their right to choose the way in which to use state provided health insurance in the management of their reproduction.

Background: In Israel, women's rights and education on issues of abortion and contraception remain extremely sensitive issues, raising very little public and medical discussion, thereby diminishing women's freedom regarding their reproductive choices. The lack of public discussion is directly linked to current health policies: While all assisted reproductive technologies are heavily subsidized in Israel, long term and emergency contraceptives are not funded at all. Today, all women in Israel are required to cover the full cost of their contraceptives or abortions, regardless of their financial abilities.

The two stage mini-project: (A) Collecting the material: Stage A answers the immediate need for intensive critical research on policies, costs and available procedures of Elective Abortion in Israel. The research additionally focuses on grass-root levels, in order to present the experiences of Israeli women of all socioeconomic, ethnic and geographical locations.
(B) mainstreaming this knowledge by disseminating the data in simple accessible language to all female [and male!] residents in Israel. The materials will be distributed as a chapter on Abortion in the newly researched and culturally adapted editions of "Our Bodies Ourselves" in Hebrew and Arabic; on the WTB web data base free which will be available free for all users; and through workshops run by WTB.

Rights of Women is a well established not-for-profit feminist women’s organisation committed to informing, educating and empowering women on the law and their legal rights. It runs two national confidential legal advice lines for women provided by women solicitors and barristers; one specialising in family law issues, including domestic violence and the other providing legal advice and support for survivors of sexual violence. It also produces publications and runs training and other events on key areas of law affecting women.

This award will fund the distribution of ROW’s two most recent publications, From A to Z: a woman’s guide to the law and Pathways to Justice: BMER women, violence and the law, free of charge to individual women and key professionals and organisations working with women to increase their knowledge and understanding of their legal rights and remedies enabling them to access justice and attain equality.
From A to Z is a unique and accessible guide to an extensive range of legal topics affecting women. It covers a wide range of areas of law including asylum and immigration law, criminal law, discrimination and employment law, the English Legal System, family law, housing law, human rights law and welfare and consumer rights.
Pathways to Justice is a practical, accessible and empowering guide to the legal rights of Black, Minority Ethnic and Refugee, including asylum seeking, (BMER) women. It provides extensive coverage of issues including forced marriage, female genital mutilation, immigration and asylum, trafficking, child abduction and honour crimes. Distribution of free copies of these publications will enable more women to have access to and benefit from them, particularly those in hard to reach or disadvantaged communities.

Ladyfest Brighton is a non-profit arts and activism collective organising a multi-media festival - with art, music, film, dance, and workshops - to showcase the talent and vision of female and queer artists and to raise money for women’s charities.

‘A Woman’s Place’ is a series of free workshops, panels and discussion groups, organised by the collective, taking place in Brighton and Hove (21-23rd October 2005) during the festival. The programme will address a wide range of issues, such as: Women’s History and Activism; Skill-sharing and self-empowerment; and Sex, Sexuality and Our Bodies.

Over 20 workshops will take place, from discussions about ‘Racism, white privilege and feminism for all’ to drag king workshops; from learning how to d.j. to surviving sexual abuse. Workshops are a vital space in which to engage in discussion, overcome isolation, learn new skills, and to encourage women’s self-esteem and creativity through hands-on participation. Some workshops will be women-only, but Ladyfest Brighton is a community event open to all. 

This award will be used to help equip an audiovisual studio in La Eskalera Karakola, a feminist social center in Madrid.

The two principal activities of this studio will be the transmission of an online streaming feminist radio program and the production of video material by various collectives within the centre.

The principal objectives of the Eskalera Karakola are to 1) share mutual support and empowerment, 2) study and analyze the transformations of women’s situations, given the continual re-articulation of patriarchy, capitalism, racism, homophobia, the labour market, etc. and 3) on the basis of this analysis, produce strong and effective statements and interventions capable impacting on public debates and images. In this latter objective, the capacity to produce quality audio-visual material is essential. The capacity to produce radio and video is both a research tool and a means of diffusion, a compelling way to intervene in public understanding and to challenge the terms of the debate. Providing access to these facilities for open collective learning and use by women is an important step not only towards women’s technological literacy but also towards the development of situated research methodologies, the production and circulation of new images and voices, and the weaving of a feminist community through shared use and participation.

Educational Programme on Prostitution Migration and Trafficking in Ecuador

Support for attendance at workshops (funded by the Global Fund for Women) held for women likely to migrate abroad on the risks and dangers of so doing.

Production of a catalogue to support the 'Getting the Message Across?' Exhibition

This award will be used to produce educational material to support and extend an exhibition and conference challenging male violence against women and children.

The exhibition – entitled “Getting the Message Across?” - presents nearly 400 public education posters from around the world, all of which seek to raise awareness of the prevalence and nature of men’s violence against women and children. It is being organised by the Glasgow-based Women’s Support Project who are also organising a one-day conference on the theme of public education, media and men’s violence against women to accompany the exhibition.

The catalogue will be available to anyone attending the exhibition and conference. Beyond January 2005, the catalogue will continue to be used by the Women’s Support Project in our extensive programme of training on the issues of violence against women. 

In expanding the work of the Project, the exhibition and conference will be of interest to a variety of organisations and individuals including: schools and youth groups (special tours of the exhibition will be promoted to this audience); organisations working in the field of men’s violence against women and children in the statutory and voluntary sectors; educators; media professionals. The catalogue will be an accessible guide to the exhibition which will also contain information about successful public education campaigns and good practice guidelines for representing violence against women. The catalogue will also include training activities based around the exhibition with the aim of encouraging participants to think critically about the ways in which we represent violence against women in words and images, and the assumptions behind those representations.

Production of a documentary entitled The A Word

The A Word is an independent video documentary that attempts to research and detail the current issue of abortion and abortion law reform in Trinidad and Tobago.  The current law is one that was established in 1861 by British ruling parties and because of its ambiguous language, has proved to be ineffective and even harmful to women’s reproductive health.  Recent research shows that there are as many abortions as live births happening in Trinidad and Tobago each year, despite the criminal law that calls for the penalization of persons who both obtain and perform “unlawful” abortions.  A local advocacy organization recently proposed abortion law reform and the country has since been in a heated debate over the issue.  Most of the public discussions of abortion that have and are taking place in Trinidad and Tobago have been rooted in religious ideologies and this project seeks to move dialogue about the issue away from a religious discussion to one of national policy, law and health.  The documentary will make available factual information about the issue that has not yet been accessible to the wider public as well as insights to all sides of the debate.  It is hoped that interviews with various persons from different facets of society will help bring this taboo subject out of darkness and provide clarity on an issue that has remained under the veil of misinformation and non-action.  There will be no attempt to persuade or guide viewers to take a particular stance on the issue.  The goal is simply to present the issue as it currently exists with a hope that this information, in speaking for itself, will cause the public of Trinidad and Tobago to take an informed interest in this public health crisis and act for social justice as well as the improvement of women’s reproductive health in Trinidad and Tobago

‘Independent Heroines 2005’ is a feminist film festival taking place at the Cube Cinema, Bristol in February 2005. The aim of the festival is to bring together a wide range of films by women reflecting some of the many issues, past and present, surrounding gender, sexuality, and politics.

Workshops and seminars form a vital part of the festival, providing audience members with not only the opportunity to learn about and discuss the films they have seen, but also the chance to interact with each other as a group. We believe that feminist film theory should be made accessible and interesting to everyone, not only those with an academic background. The funding we have received from the Feminist Review Trust will allow us to programme and provide these workshops and seminars, hopefully making the festival a more engaging and enjoyable experience for participants.

The project is to produce a report on the experiences and specific issues facing lesbian, bisexual and questioning women of particular ethnic minority groups living in the UK.

The objective of the report is to:

1. Further public understanding of issues facing lesbian bisexual and questioning women from BME back grounds
2. To provide a rationale and framework for setting up similar support services for women of sexual and ethnic minority groups elsewhere in the UK
3. To raise awareness of the KISS group in the UK among LGB community groups and directly for women from South Asia, Middle eastern and North African descent.
4. To evaluate and celebrate the first five years of the KISS group
5. To document and archive the KISS support group celebration

Seminar on Tools and Legal Strategies for the Access of Women to their Rights –  Within the framework of CIPPEC’s Access to Justice Initiative, this project will organize a Seminar to improve women’s access to justice in the district of Moreno and its neighbouring zones. The objective is to strengthen the capacities of organizations working for the promotion of women’s rights by training them to increase their impact at a local level.

CIPPEC is a private, non-profit organization that strives to create a more just, democratic, and efficient State in Argentina to improve the quality of life for all Argentine citizens. It focuses its efforts on analyzing and promoting public policies that encourage equity and growth in Argentina. Our challenge is to turn sound ideas into concrete actions in the areas of Education, Politics, Fiscal Policy, Health, Transparency, and Justice.

This grant will support a Workshop on the Gender Dimensions of Bulgaria's New Migration Policy. The Workshop will review the emigration process in Bulgaria since 1989 and review policy implications of gender migration.

The Women's Therapy Centre is carrying out a two year research project to highlight the need for psychoanalytic psychotherapy for women with mental health issues. The research looks at:- the profile of Women's Therapy Centre clients

- women’s expectations of therapy at the Centre
- women’s experience of being in therapy at the Women's Therapy Centre
- the impact of psychoanalytic psychotherapy in their lives and the outcomes both internal and external changes

The qualitative research design includes in depth one to one interviews with women whose therapy has ended at the Women's Therapy Centre. The interviews last approximately 1-1.5 hours and are tape recorded. All interviews are transcribed for charting and analysis. The women who have been interviewed include women who have received individual or group therapy or a combination of both.

The project started in April 2003 with the appointment of a research and development worker and is funded by the Community Fund with Feminist Review providing additional funding for transcribing.