11 h. ago Lucy Worsley fears that women’s rights haven’t improved enough since Austen’s time

Although this year marks 250 years since the novelist’s birth, women are still on the hunt for financially eligible bachelors

Politics

33 h. ago Islamist protests threaten to derail women’s rights reforms in Bangladesh

Concern grows over religious hardliners exploiting fragile law and order situation to curtail women’s rights

Events

7 d. ago Black smoke signals Vatican conclave has failed to elect new pope on first day

Cardinals begin locked-in selection process amid throng of pilgrims and peaceful protest for women’s rights in churchExplainer: how does the conclave work?Plumes of black smoke have emerged from the chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel, signalling that the 133 cardinals sealed off inside have failed to elect a new pope on the first day of conclave.After the formal procession to the Sistine Chapel and each of the cardinals swearing the oath to secrecy, the first voting round only got under way at about 5.45pm local time. Then all eyes were on the famous chimney, which was diligently guarded by a seagull for some of the time the cardinals were voting. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Women's rights campaigners storm male pond at Hampstead Heath in false beards, wigs and moustaches in protest over self

Around 30 female protesters wearing false beards, wigs and moustaches descended on the male-only pond demanding to be let in because they self-identified as male.

Events

9 d. ago Women open up about having to travel to a different country for abortions and fork out £1,000s

Although women have a legal right to an abortion up to 24 weeks, certain hospitals do not offer these services up to the limit, with at least 88 patients having to cross the border to access care last year.

Economics

9 d. ago Catholic feminist writer calls for the creation of Lay Women Cardinals

Catholic feminist writer Debra Maria Flint has criticised the absence of women at the forthcoming Papal Conclave and called for the creation of lay women cardinals with voting rights at future synods.

Politics

1 week ago Thousands of Islamists rally in Bangladesh against proposed changes to women's rights

More than 20,000 supporters of an Islamist group have rallied in Bangladesh’s capital to denounce proposed recommendations for equal rights for mainly Muslim women

Politics

2 w. ago Shein explores US restructuring as tariffs threaten to derail London IPO

Fast-fashion company searches for workarounds as Trump’s trade war endangers operations in its most important market

Economics

2 w. ago Trump’s first 100 days supercharged a global ‘freefall of rights’, says Amnesty

World now in era of repressive regimes’ impunity, climate inaction and unchecked corporate power, says reportThe first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency have “supercharged” a global rollback of human rights, pushing the world towards an authoritarian era defined by impunity and unchecked corporate power, Amnesty International warns today.In its annual report on the state of human rights in 150 countries, the organisation said the immediate ramifications of Trump’s second term had been the undermining of decades of progress and the emboldening of authoritarian leaders. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Logan Paul raises eyebrows with ‘woke’ claim about women ‘having it hard’

‘Women’s rights are considered “woke” now ’ one X user wrote

Politics

2 w. ago ‘Rights can be knocked out in a second’: older trans women shocked by supreme court ruling

Women who transitioned decades ago feel their safety and security has suddenly been removed“The fear is back. The fear I had when I first started my transition in 1979, that people will hurt me,” says Janey, who is 70. She has been living “happily and independently” as a woman for nearly half a century. Based in London, she still works in the mental health sector and is part of a large and accepting Irish family. She is also transgender.“I still go into the women’s toilets at work, but when I open the door there’s that little voice inside me: ‘Will someone shout at me?’,” she says. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago JK Rowling blasts India Willoughby for saying Wayne Couzens would have 'loved' the Supreme Court gender ruling

Harry Potter author JK Rowling has been among those celebrating the Supreme Court's gender ruling on social media, having been at the forefront of women's rights campaigns in recent years.

Events

2 w. ago We obsess over the angry young men going Reform. But what of the anxious young women going Green? | Gaby Hinsliff

Desire for a politics that cares about global and local injustice is sharpening the political gender divideSometimes a political backlash doesn’t take the shape you expect. Though there are times when it goes off like a firework, as young men’s TikTok-fuelled surge of enthusiasm for Nigel Farage did last summer, sometimes it’s more of a long, slow burn. The most underexplored form of revolt against mainstream politics right now is the second kind, involving not angry young men lurching rightwards but anxious young women turning, if anything, more sharply left.Almost a quarter of women aged 18 to 24 voted Green last July, roughly double the number of young men who voted Reform, though predictably it’s the latter who have since got all the attention. While the big parties chased avidly after so-called Waitrose women, well-heeled home counties matrons considering defecting from the Tories, they had little to say to their daughters. So it was the Greens who ended up cornering the market...

Politics

2 w. ago Top European court condemns France over failure to protect girls who reported rape

The European Court of Human Rights has sided with three women who said they were raped when they were aged 13, 14 and 16 and argued that French authorities did not protect them well enough

Events

2 w. ago London Marathon shows flagrant disregard for women’s rights and the law

London Marathon shows flagrant disregard for women’s rights and the law  The Telegraph

Politics

3 w. ago Donald Trump is RIGHT to ban transgender athletes from women's sports, says Martina Navratilova

Navratilova, 68, has long voiced her opposition to transgender sportspeople coming against biological females, calling them 'failed male athletes' - despite being subjected to stinging attacks.

Politics

3 w. ago The global south has lost its pope. The world has lost its conscience | Nathalie Tocci

He was no liberal, but Francis embodied a spirit of international solidarity that is in alarmingly short supplyPope Francis died hours after meeting the US vice-president, JD Vance. If that wasn’t a bad enough omen, the Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, Donald Trump’s acolyte and self-styled “Christian nationalist”, appeared to welcome the pope’s death as a sign of “evil” being “defeated”.In fact, despite a series of clashes with the Trump White House, Francis was no liberal. While refraining from judging homosexuality, he explicitly disapproved of the liberalising synodal path embarked on by the Catholic church in Germany, which ruled in 2023 that church employees could not be sacked for entering same-sex relationships or remarrying after divorce. On abortion, euthanasia, women and LGBTQ+ rights, Francis betrayed the high hopes that liberals and progressives had bestowed upon him. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Equalities minister says ‘it is time to move forward’ following Supreme Court ruling on biological sex

Women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson has said it is "time to move forward" following the Supreme Court's ruling last week that women's sex-based rights under the Equality Act concern "biological sex" and does not include trans women.

Politics

3 w. ago Starmer says he is ‘really pleased’ supreme court has given ‘much

Prime minister says he thinks court’s decision has given a ‘much clearer position for those drawing up guidance’Keir Starmer has been under pressure for days to comment on the supreme court ruling, particularly from the rightwing papers. Yesterday the Daily Mail even splashed on a story saying he “must break his silence”. His opponents want to embarrass him over the issue because of his past comments supporting more rights for trans people, including one interview when he said it was “not right” to say only women have a cervix.This morning, in interviews during a school visit in Bath, Starmer said he was “really pleased” the supreme court had clarified the law on the definition of a woman. He told the BBC:I welcome the decision of the supreme court, which has given us clarity, much-needed clarity, and I think for those that are now drawing up guidance, it’s a much clearer position.So I’m really pleased that the court has now clarified the position.I think the supreme court has answe...

Events

3 w. ago JK Rowling praises Kemi Badenoch as the 'only political leader offering solidarity to women' with Keir Starmer STILL silent on Supreme Court ruling

JK Rowling said it was 'astounding' that Kemi Badenoch was the only UK political leader offering vocal backing to women 'defending their rights'.

Politics