Stylist • 7th September 2022

Why Liz Truss’s failure to appoint a minister for women is so concerning

She may have only been prime minister for 24 hours, but Liz Truss is already making waves from behind the door of Number 10 Downing Street. After travelling to Balmoral to meet the Queen and be named prime minister yesterday, Truss spent the rest of the day announcing her new cabinet. To say some of her choices have proven controversial would be an understatement. Appointments that are already making waves include naming Thérèse Coffey – who has voted against abortion laws in the past – the new

Stylist • 7th September 2022

Liz Truss has reportedly shelved the Bill Of Rights – here’s why that’s good news for women

When the Bill Of Rights was first introduced to parliament back in June, it didn’t take long for concerns to arise. The legislation – which was put forward as a replacement for the landmark Human Rights Act – was initially sold as a bill that would enhance “respect of free speech” and “recognition of the role of a jury trial”, but it soon became clear that the legislation’s scope would be far more wide-reaching. Fast forward two months, and the bill has been facing a growing amount of opposition

Stylist • 6th September 2022

“Boris Johnson’s legacy isn’t the shining example he makes it out to be – and we mustn’t forget it”

Boris Johnson has officially departed 10 Downing Street – leaving behind him a country facing the worst cost of living crises in a generation. You wouldn’t think it, though, based on the speech the former Conservative leader gave as he left No 10 this morning (6 September). Taking to the lectern at 7.30am, before he departed for Balmoral to meet with the Queen, Johnson remained defiant – using his time in front of the media to paint a picture of himself as the successful, victorious leader he wa

Stylist • 20th July 2022

The government has finally unveiled its first Women’s Health Strategy – here’s what you need to know

After a long wait, today the government has published its first-ever Women’s Health Strategy – a series of “bold ambitions” designed to tackle England’s gender health gap. The strategy – which focuses on a number of key areas of women’s health, including breast screening, fertility services and endometriosis care – was developed following a call for evidence which received over 100,000 responses from individuals across England.

The evidence gathered, which was published at the end of last year,

Stylist • 28th June 2022

What the government’s new Mental Health Bill really means – and why it matters

The government will invest £150 million into NHS mental health services over the next three years in a bid to improve patient care, it was announced yesterday (27 June). The reforms, which were laid out in the government’s draft Mental Health Bill, are based on the recommendations of a 2019 review of the 1983 Mental Health Act, which recommended that patients be given more choices when it comes their care. The draft bill, which will now be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny, also puts greater f

Stylist • 24th June 2022

What does the end of Roe v Wade really mean for US abortion rights?

As train strikes and hot weather make headlines here in the UK, across the Atlantic, women, pro-choice activists and healthcare providers have received news of an entirely different magnitude. The US Supreme Court has overturned the landmark precedent set by Roe v Wade in 1973 – an integral ruling which gave women the right to have an abortion during the first trimester of their pregnancy. While previous cases designed to overturn Roe v Wade have failed to achieve such a goal (although pro-choic

Stylist • 26th May 2022

Campaigners say new rape trial guidance constitutes “victim-blaming on an institutional level”

Updated guidance for rape trial prosecutors could deter survivors from seeking “vital” therapy before their case has gone to court, women’s rights groups have warned. The new pre-trial therapy advice from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) outlines the specific circumstances under which therapy notes can now be used as part of a rape investigation – but campaigners believe the updated guidance will “increase the likelihood” that rape victims’ private therapy notes will be used to “discredit” th

Stylist • 25th May 2022

The first-ever Victims’ Bill aims to fight male violence, but is it enough?

Victims will be given the opportunity to share their views with prosecutors before trial in certain cases under new draft legislation published by the justice secretary Dominic Raab. The legislation – which paves the way for the first-ever Victims’ Law – will also give victims of crime the right to attend parole board hearings, query an offender’s suitability for release and make it simpler for them to complain if they do not receive the correct support. “No victim should feel lost in a faceless

Stylist • 25th April 2022

What that sexist smear campaign against Angela Rayner actually reveals

If you’ve checked the news at all today, chances are you’ve seen reports of the ridiculous claims made against Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, this weekend. In yesterday’s edition of the Mail On Sunday, the newspaper’s political editor said that several Conservative MPs had claimed that Rayner tries to distract the prime minister when she goes head-to-head with him during PMQs by crossing and uncrossing her legs. A spokesperson for Angela Rayner has, of course, dismissed the story as “cat

Stylist • 30th March 2022

“I was told I just worried too much”: the reality of fighting for mental health support

I first sought help for my mental health in autumn 2016. A month or two into the first term of my second year at university, I’d found myself confronted with wave after wave of anxiety, which had grown steadily worse since the start of the year. It was unlike the low-level anxiety I’d experienced previously – and I knew something wasn’t right. I was, of course, nervous about the prospect of opening up to a stranger – it was something I’d never done before, and it was hard to imagine what receivi

Stylist • 3rd March 2022

One year on from Sarah Everard’s murder, is the UK a safer place for women and girls?

Today marks one year since Sarah Everard was kidnapped and murdered by Wayne Couzens. The 33-year-old marketing executive – who was falsely arrested by the then-serving Metropolitan police officer while walking home from a friend’s house in south London – was missing for seven days before her remains were discovered in woodland near Ashford, Kent, on 10 March. In the days, weeks and months that followed, Everard’s case sparked both an outpouring of grief and a powerful national conversation abou

Stylist • 10th February 2022

An expert just perfectly explained why it’s time to stop calling male violence an “epidemic”

In the wake of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa’s deaths and the rise in reports of domestic abuse during lockdown, the last two years have seen an increase in the number of conversations about male violence against women, both on social media and in the worldwide press. However, while some of this awareness has led to meaningful change – at the start of January, an amendment to the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to make misogyny a hate crime was passed despite opposition

Stylist • 10th February 2022

Enough of the apps already: why we can’t rely on technology to ‘fix’ male violence against women

Sarah Everard. Bibaa Henry. Nicole Smallman. Sabina Nessa. Ashling Murphy. Over the last two years, the news has been dominated by stories about women who have lost their lives to male violence. This is, of course, nothing new. While the issue of male violence against women may have seemed more prominent due to the extent of news coverage dedicated to it over the last 24 months, women have been facing this reality for years: in 2020, a report from the Femicide Census revealed that at least 1,425

Stylist • 18th January 2022

The big problem with how Ashling Murphy’s murder is being framed on social media

Ever since the details of Ashling Murphy’s horrific murder were released last week, the phrase “she was just going for a run” has taken over social media. Alongside sadness that another young woman has been lost to male violence – and empathy for the children who Murphy taught in her job as a primary school teacher – the idea that Murphy’s life was taken while she was completing such an ‘everyday’ activity has struck a chord. But that initial response – and the ‘not all men’ backlash that’s come

Stylist • 10th January 2022

“Insulting”: campaigners say the Home Office backing a new app won’t keep women safe on the streets

The Home Office’s decision to back an app that allows people to track their friends’ journeys home to help protect women in the wake of Sarah Everard’s murder has been met with widespread criticism from campaign groups and social media users. The free, not-for-profit app – which is called Path Community – provides those walking home at night with a monitored route on their phone. If the user strays more than 40 metres from the designated route, or stops for more than three minutes, the applicati

Stylist • 21st October 2021

This heartbreaking portrait collection spotlights the 118 women killed by men last year

During parliament’s International Women’s Day debate in March this year, MPs listened in silence as Jess Phillips read out the names of the 118 women who had been lost to male violence over the last year. The sixth such address Phillips has delivered since 2016, this year’s names included Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman – the two sisters who were stabbed to death in a brutal attack in London’s Fryent Country Park in June 2020 – as well as the 116 other women who lost their lives to male violence

Stylist • 14th September 2021

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will put vulnerable young women at risk, say experts

Warning: this article contains includes details of abuse and suicidality. The proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill could lead to more vulnerable young women being swept into the criminal justice system, a new report warns. According to research conducted by Agenda, the alliance for women and girls at risk, and the Alliance for Youth Justice, the proposed increase to the sentence length for assaults on emergency workers from 12 months to two years will have a detrimental effe

Stylist • 26th November 2019

Helen Pankhurst explains why this general election is such a crucial one for women

There’s no denying that 2019 has been a pretty bad year for the UK’s political scene. Thanks to the continued presence of Brexit, the rise of far-right rhetoric at home and across the world and the looming threat of the climate crisis, there have been few more crucial moments for the future of our democratic system, especially when you consider the fact that female MPs are facing unprecedented levels of abuse – and leaving politics because of it. All that considered, we should be more motivated