Southall Black Sisters (SBS) is a non-profit organisation based in Southall, West London, England. This women's group was established in August 1979 in the aftermath of the death of anti-fascist activist Blair Peach, who had taken part in a demonstration against a National Front rally at Southall Town Hall. [1] [2] In 1980, SBS successfully campaigned against virginity testing in the UK, a policy that was being used to verify the authenticity of Asian marriages by checking the state of women's hymens. [3] [4]
The SBS was originally established in order to provide a focus for the struggle of Asian women in the fight against racism, but became increasingly involved in defending the human rights of Asian women who are the victims of domestic violence and in campaigning against religious fundamentalism. [2]
Throughout most of its existence, the group's primary campaigners have been Pragna Patel, Meena Patel and Hannana Siddiqui. [2] Gita Sahgal, the writer and journalist (on issues of feminism, fundamentalism, and racism), film director, and human rights activist, has also been an active member of the organization.
They are best known for the role they played in the Ahluwalia case in 1989 when a woman named Kiranjit Ahluwalia set fire to her abusive husband. They supported her in the case, and were eventually successful. [5]
In 2008, SBS won a legal challenge against Ealing Council, which had threatened to withdraw their funding for black and other ethnic minority women in the borough, in order to fund services for all women regardless of ethnic background. The Council sought to justify its decision on the grounds of "equality", "cohesion" and "diversity". [4] [6]
In 2010, the organisation was awarded Secularist of the Year by the National Secular Society, in recognition of their support of black and Asian women's human rights. [7]
In July 2015, Pragna Patel was a co-recipient of the inaugural Bob Hepple Equality Award, alongside Mauro Cabral of GATE. [8] The award is named for Bob Hepple, the former lawyer of Nelson Mandela. [9] In 2011, Patel was named in The Guardian as one of the Top 100 Women Activists and Campaigners. [10]
Peter Gary Tatchell is an Australian-born British human rights campaigner, best known for his work with LGBTQI+ social movements.
The Sydney Peace Prize is awarded by the Sydney Peace Foundation, a non profit organisation associated with the University of Sydney. The prize promotes peace with justice and the practice of nonviolence. It aims to encourage public interest and discussion about issues of peace, social justice, human rights, and non-violent conflict resolution.
Provoked is a 2006 British biographical drama film, directed by Jag Mundhra. It stars Aishwarya Rai, Naveen Andrews, Miranda Richardson, Robbie Coltrane, Nandita Das and Steve McFadden. The film is loosely based on the true story of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, who unintentionally killed her abusive husband.
Secularist of the Year, also known as the Irwin Prize, is an award presented annually in the United Kingdom by the National Secular Society in "recognition of an individual or an organisation considered to have made an outstanding contribution to the secularist movement."
Maryam Namazie is a British-Iranian secularist, communist and human rights activist, commentator, and broadcaster. She is the Spokesperson for Fitnah – Movement for Women’s Liberation, One Law for All and the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain. She is known for speaking out against Islam and Islamism and defending the right to apostasy and blasphemy.
Julie Bindel is an English radical feminist writer. She is also co-founder of the law reform group Justice for Women, which has aimed to help women who have been prosecuted for assaulting or killing violent male partners.
Gita Sahgal is a British writer, journalist, film director, and women's rights and human rights activist, whose work focusses on the issues of feminism, fundamentalism and racism.
Sir Bob Alexander Hepple OLG was a South African-born legal academic and leader in the fields of labour law, equality and human rights.
Global Action for Trans Equality (GATE) is an organisation and think tank on gender identity, sex characteristics and bodily diversity issues. The current executive director is Mauro Cabral Grinspan. Cabral Grinspan is an Argentinian intersex and trans activist, and signatory of the Yogyakarta Principles.
Amina Cachalia, OLB was a South African anti-Apartheid activist, women's rights activist, and politician. She was a longtime friend and ally of former President Nelson Mandela. Her late husband was political activist Yusuf Cachalia.
Mauro Cabral Grinspan, also known as Mauro Cabral, is an Argentinian intersex and trans activist, who serves as the Senior Officer for Gender Justice and Equity at the Global Philanthropy Project. Before that, he was the Executive Director of GATE. His work - as a signatory of the Yogyakarta Principles - focuses on the reform of medical protocols and law reform. In July 2015, Cabral received the inaugural Bob Hepple Equality Award.
The feminist movement in Malaysia is a multicultural coalition of women's organisations committed to the end of gender-based discrimination, harassment and violence against women. Having first emerged as women's shelters in the mid 1980s, feminist women's organisations in Malaysia later developed alliances with other social justice movements. Today, the feminist movement in Malaysia is one of the most active actors in the country's civil society.
Nimko Ali, alternatively spelled Nimco, is a British social activist of Somali heritage. She is the co-founder and CEO of The Five Foundation, a global partnership to end female genital mutilation (FGM).
End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) is a UK-based coalition of individuals and organisations which campaigns to end all forms of violence against women. It was founded in 2005 and became a registered charity 31 March 2015.
Dame Sara Khan is a British human rights activist and the chief executive officer of Inspire, an independent non-governmental organisation working to counter extremism and gender inequality. Khan is a contributor to The Guardian and The Independent newspapers, as well as The Huffington Post and has made appearances on British television and radio. She has been interviewed for the BBC's HARDtalk and Desert Island Discs.
Sara Hossain is a Bangladeshi lawyer. She is a barrister in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. She is the honorary executive director of the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), a major legal aid provider. She has been at the forefront of advocating for women's rights in Bangladeshi courts and played a key role in drafting legal reforms to protect women. She was the plaintiff's lawyer in the landmark case of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLW) v. Bangladesh, in which the Supreme Court supported the judicial practice of referring to international human rights law in the absence of domestic legislation. She is known for her role in challenging fatwa violence when a fatwa is issued to mete out punishment to women and girls. She co-edited 'Honour': Crimes, Paradigms and Violence Against Women with Lynn Welchman.
Ourida Chouaki was an Algerian women's rights activist. Founder of an association campaigning for reform to the Algerian Family Code she coordinated the 20 ans, barakat! which successfully brought about the replacement of the law in 2004. She also worked for the Marche mondiale des Femmes.
Sussan Tahmasebi is a leading women's rights advocate and expert from Iran. ُHer work has focused on promoting women's rights and peace in the Middle East and North Africa and Asia.
Pragna Patel is the Director of Southall Black Sisters a women's rights organisation in London, UK. She was a founding member, chair and Director.
Zita Holbourne FRSA is a British community and human rights campaigner and activist, and a multi-disciplinary artist, creating work as a writer, performance poet and visual artist. As a trade unionist, she is National Vice President of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) in the UK, and chairs its national equality committee and women's committee, and as joint national Chair of Artists Union England she also leads on equality. She sits on the European Public Services Union National and European Administration Committee. She co-founded with Lee Jasper the organisation BARAC, which campaigns against the impact of austerity on black communities.