So, a few days ago I found the wording on some signs in a park annoying. There had been an attempted rape and the park managers' response was to put up notices warning women not to walk by themselves in the park. Since I object to being told where I can and cannot go, and being implicitly blamed for being attacked if I don't follow someone else's ( Read more... )

Yesterday while walking through Mudchute Park on my way to Asda I was displeased to see the following posted around the various entrances to the woodland, on laminated bits of A4 (loosely paraphrased).

'Regrettably, due to a number of recent attacks it is no longer advisable for women to walk alone through the Valley. The police have been ( Read more... )

FYI ( Read more... )

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ETA 16/06/09Phew, what a load of comments! I really appreciate everyone's contributions to this, and am very glad to say that it's all been respectful and mutually supportive and especially the comments by men have been thoughtful and humble and generally something to be ( Read more... )

Like most of you, I've been horrified by what has been happening in Gaza in the last few weeks, not to mention the months of blockades of food and medical supplies which foreran the current military action. All the superlatives seem to have had the edge taken off them by this: one of the most densely-populated areas in the world, inhabited largely ( Read more... )

Prossy Kakooza sought asylum in the UK because of the violence she suffered in Uganda as a lesbian. ( triggering details )

This is the letter that I wrote to my congressman about being stopped within the USA by a border patrol, detained and threatened. PLEASE DISSEMINATE THIS. Copy, make reference and tell people, because this is still new and needs to be challenged before people start accepting it. Many people in the San Juan Islands are angry about this, and I would ( Read more... )