26 h. ago As asylum seekers are engulfed by slurs and lies, our leaders shrug. Truly, this is shameful | Frances Ryan

The narrative that they are a threat to women and girls has no basis in fact, but bad actors peddle it, and ministers encourage themAs anti-migrant demonstrations continued in Canary Wharf in London at the weekend, one group stood out: women dressed in Barbie pink. Holding cardboard signs drawn in bright felt-tip pen (“save our kids”), the “pink protest” marched under the banner of protecting women and girls.The crowd may have looked a novel sight, but it points to a rationale that is increasingly gaining ground this summer: asylum seekers are a danger to British women and girls.Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnist. She is the author of Who Wants Normal? The Disabled Girls’ Guide to Life Continue reading...

Politics

41 h. ago Campaign highlights increased levels of violence against women and girls during and after major sporting events

Recent statistics and reports from frontline services have shown that incidents of domestic abuse and gender-based violence spike around the time of significant sporting occasions.

Sport

48 h. ago Cricket must get on the front foot in helping women and girls to feel accepted | Isa Guha

The charity Take Her Lead is striving to get more South Asian females taking up the sport, and cut the number of them dropping out due to feelings of alienationNearly a quarter of a century has passed since myself and Ebony Rainford-Brent made our England cricket debuts. It was awesome for us to win World Cups together as the first two female internationals from ethnically diverse backgrounds. Since then there have been only four others, two with an Indian heritage. When you think of the interest shown in the game by the South Asian community, it is a staggering number.In 2022 I founded a charity, Take Her Lead, in honour of my mum, with the aim to increase the number of women and girls playing and staying in the game, and advance equity and diversity in cricket. We do this through connecting young players from under‑represented groups to aspirational role models through life-skills workshops, to build the mental and social skills required to stay in the sport (girls ...

Politics

51 h. ago After a torrid 100 days, Germany’s Friedrich Merz is mocked as a ‘dead man walking’. He must fight back | John Kampfner

With the AfD surging, it could soon be the largest party here. But, if he acts now, that dark scenario need not come to passJohn Kampfner is the author of In Search of Berlin and Why the Germans Do It BetterThe passing of the 100-day milestone for any world leader usually denotes the end of their honeymoon period. Friedrich Merz has not been able to enjoy even a single day of grace, beginning with the very moment he was supposed to be elected Germany’s chancellor but wasn’t. On 6 May, as Angela Merkel watched from the visitors’ balcony, the Bundestag voted and declined to approve its new leader. For a few hours, chaos ensued, until the second round of voting saw his chancellorship approved, so the swearing in could proceed.It was a symbolic act of defiance, and because it was a secret ballot, it wasn’t clear how many of the 18 dissenters came from Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU) or from their new coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD). But it cast a shadow over the new admi...

Events

5 d. ago Prince Andrew's seedy date with playboy model as he fed her chocolate strawberries

An explosive new book has claimed that Prince Andrew has slept with more than 1,000 women, and one of his Playboy model girlfriends opened up about her first meeting with the Duke

Politics

5 d. ago How Ghislaine Maxwell fell from high society to Epstein’s teen

Survivors of Epstein’s abuse testified that Maxwell played a central role in recruiting vulnerable young women and girls to be groomed for sexual abuse

Politics

6 d. ago Afghanistan's Taliban have 'weaponized' the judicial system to oppress women, UN expert says

The independent U_N_ investigator on human rights in Afghanistan says its Taliban rulers have “weaponized” the legal and judicial system to oppress women and girls in what amounts to “crimes against humanity."

Events

6 d. ago US destruction of contraceptives denies 1.4m African women and girls lifesaving care, NGO says

Incineration of $9.7m of contraceptives to lead to 174,000 unintended pregnancies and 56,000 unsafe abortions, IPPF saysA decision by the US government to incinerate more than $9.7m (£7.3m) of contraceptives is projected to result in 174,000 unintended pregnancies and 56,000 unsafe abortions in five African countries.More than three-quarters of the contraceptives (77%) were destined for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Mali, according to the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), an NGO global healthcare provider and advocate of sexual and reproductive rights. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Trump’s destructive plan ‘will deny 1.4m women and girls birth control’

The supplies could prevent an estimated 174,000 unintended pregnancies and 56,000 unsafe abortions if they were handed out, the International Planned Parenthood Federation says

Politics

6 d. ago Five dead and over 100 missing after flash flood sweeps away Himalayan village

Floodwaters destroy homes and road in Uttarakhand

Events

8 d. ago Hiroshima’s fading legacy: the race to secure survivor’s memories amid a new era of nuclear brinkmanship

Eighty years on from the destruction of the city, registered survivors of the blast - known as hibakusha – have fallen below 100,000The fires were still burning, and the dead lay where they had fallen, when a 10-year-old Yoshiko Niiyama entered Hiroshima, two days after it was destroyed by an American atomic bomb.“I remember that the air was filled with smoke and there were bodies everywhere and it was so hot,” Niiyama says in an interview at her home in the Hiroshima suburbs. “The faces of the survivors were so badly disfigured that I didn’t want to look at them. But I had to.” Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Expert names five signs of autism 'often' seen in women and girls

An autism assessor has shared the most common signs he sees in women and girls - including people pleasing and avoiding social interaction

Politics

9 d. ago Jess Phillips: Nigel Farage would enable ‘modern day Jimmy Saviles’

Jess Phillips, the Home Office minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, condemned the Reform leader.

Politics

9 d. ago The problem is far bigger than Jeffrey Epstein | Rebecca Solnit

Treating the scandal as an aberration misunderstands the global epidemic of violence against womenOn 2 July, the jury delivered a guilty verdict on some of the charges against the music mogul Sean Combs, accused of horrific sexual abuse of women with the help of his extensive staff and deep pockets. He’s also accused in many civil suits of sexual abuse of adults and minors. It seems like everyone promptly forgot about Combs when the facts about the financier Jeffrey Epstein’s decades of horrific sexual abuse of at least a 100 girls and women, with the help of his extensive staff, deep pockets, banks, and elite connections became the next front-page ruckus.In June, the movie producer Harvey Weinstein was found guilty in a New York retrial for some of his decades of horrific sexual abuse of women, with the help of his extensive staff, top lawyers, the film industry, some ex-Mossad agents and of course his deep pockets. In February a federal appeals court upheld the convictions and 30-...

Politics

1 week ago UK has got fat on the free labour of women, says Jess Phillips

The minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls said the country has been reliant on the charity of women for years.

Politics

3 w. ago Preventing violence against women and girls must remain a priority

Editorial: Our second refuge – built thanks to the generosity of our readers – is complete. But far more work is needed to tackle the scourge of domestic abuse

Events

3 w. ago I used to be scared of being a ‘difficult woman’. Now it’s a badge of honour | Jacinta Parsons

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned by talking to older women, it’s that being a ‘bad girl’ shouldn’t faze you – it should embolden youI remember the thrill I felt when someone would tell me that I was a “good girl”. I understood from a young age that, as a girl, goodness would be my supreme achievement – my calling in life. But what that looked like or how I might embody its essence took time to decode.I remember being in the back seat of our brown HJ Holden when I was young, leaving a family party and being reprimanded by my parents for my “behaviour”. I was mystified. I had no idea what I had done that had caused them such embarrassment. Had I run when I was told not to? Or had I misunderstood an instruction? Was I a “bad girl”, I remember wondering. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago How hard will UK aid cuts hit projects helping women and girls?

Programmes around education and health are expected to be especially hard hit by the cutting of international aid from 0.5 to 0.3 per cent of Gross National Income

Events

3 w. ago Acid attacks skyrocket by 10% as campaigners warn of rise in violence against women and girls

Almost a quarter of all attacks took place in Northumbria in 2024

Events

4 w. ago Crimes of 'morgue monster' necrophiliac killer 'could be repeated', inquiry finds

The final report of the inquiry into Morgue Monster David Fuller's crimes at the now-closed Kent and Sussex Hospital and the Tunbridge Wells Hospital has found there are inadequate protections in place for the care of people after death

Events