http://blogs.independent.co.uk| Blogs from the Independent newspaper - news, views and features from the world's most free-thinking newspaper| Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:44:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2| en hourly 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/23/justice-for-sale-but-who-pays-for-the-cost/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/23/justice-for-sale-but-who-pays-for-the-cost/#comments Thu, 23 May 2013 17:17:30 +0000 Charlotte Rachael Proudman http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=35132 Justice, the bedrock of our society is for sale under the Government’s latest plan to sell legal aid contracts to the highest bidders.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/23/justice-for-sale-but-who-pays-for-the-cost/feed/ 7 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/08/forced-adoption-the-demonization-of-parents-in-care-proceedings/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/08/forced-adoption-the-demonization-of-parents-in-care-proceedings/#comments Wed, 08 Aug 2012 05:00:30 +0000 Charlotte Rachael Proudman http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=27182 The Children and Families Bill expected to be introduced in 2012/2013 sets out plans to speed up adoption and care proceedings. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/08/forced-adoption-the-demonization-of-parents-in-care-proceedings/feed/ 159 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/19/the-movement-spreads-north-leekensians-occupy-roundabout/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/19/the-movement-spreads-north-leekensians-occupy-roundabout/#comments Tue, 19 Jun 2012 09:00:21 +0000 Charlotte Rachael Proudman http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=25390 Like Occupy London, local groups are concerned that high powered institutions are controlling their towns by silencing inhabitants and undermining democracy. Leek, a small market town in Staffordshire, is the latest town to join the national occupy movement. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/19/the-movement-spreads-north-leekensians-occupy-roundabout/feed/ 13 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/10/in-criminalising-forced-marriage-the-uk-joins-a-europe-wide-movement/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/10/in-criminalising-forced-marriage-the-uk-joins-a-europe-wide-movement/#comments Sun, 10 Jun 2012 13:25:21 +0000 Charlotte Rachael Proudman http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=25099 Last Friday the Prime Minister announced that forced marriage is to become a criminal offence. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/10/in-criminalising-forced-marriage-the-uk-joins-a-europe-wide-movement/feed/ 69 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/05/the-diamond-jubilee-elizabeths-60-years-at-odds-with-democracy/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/05/the-diamond-jubilee-elizabeths-60-years-at-odds-with-democracy/#comments Tue, 05 Jun 2012 03:00:07 +0000 Charlotte Rachael Proudman http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=24940 In my eyes, partaking in the Diamond Jubilee is not just a celebration of Elizabeth’s 60 year reign, but a celebration of something far more sinister – to me, it’s a celebration of the ingrained inequality and class segregation within our country.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/05/the-diamond-jubilee-elizabeths-60-years-at-odds-with-democracy/feed/ 358 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/22/charitable-rape-peacekeepers-dirty-little-secrets/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/22/charitable-rape-peacekeepers-dirty-little-secrets/#comments Tue, 22 May 2012 03:15:45 +0000 Charlotte Rachael Proudman http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=24353 Last summer I travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to help establish the first free legal advice centre in Kinshasa. I arrived with grand aspirations and bags of enthusiasm. But it was short lived. It was not long before I discovered the vast sexual exploitation of young Congolese women at the hands of peace keeping troops, aid workers, non-governmental organisation employees and others acting on behalf of the international community.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/22/charitable-rape-peacekeepers-dirty-little-secrets/feed/ 91 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/23/broken-baby-making-machines-restricting-surrogacy-through-unequal-maternity-rights/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/23/broken-baby-making-machines-restricting-surrogacy-through-unequal-maternity-rights/#comments Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:15:14 +0000 Charlotte Rachael Proudman http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=23451 Jane Kassim, mother to twin daughters through surrogacy, is fighting for equal maternity rights – after she discovered that she is not entitled to the same rights as birth mothers.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/23/broken-baby-making-machines-restricting-surrogacy-through-unequal-maternity-rights/feed/ 14 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/13/women-vaginas-and-blood-menstruate-with-pride-breaking-taboos-with-artist-and-provocative-feminist-sarah-maple/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/13/women-vaginas-and-blood-menstruate-with-pride-breaking-taboos-with-artist-and-provocative-feminist-sarah-maple/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:14:27 +0000 Charlotte Rachael Proudman http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=23140 In an unfailingly mischievous manner, Sarah Maple uses narrative artwork to challenge traditional notions of religion, identity and the societal role of women. Her artwork never fails to shock; her latest piece Menstruate With Pride (right) is no exception. Surrounded by a horrified and disgusted crowd, Maple stands centre stage, a proud woman menstruating in [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/13/women-vaginas-and-blood-menstruate-with-pride-breaking-taboos-with-artist-and-provocative-feminist-sarah-maple/feed/ 250 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/02/sex-and-sharia-muslim-women-punished-for-failed-marriages/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/02/sex-and-sharia-muslim-women-punished-for-failed-marriages/#comments Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:02:32 +0000 Charlotte Rachael Proudman http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=22906 Today I received another telephone call from a young Muslim woman, Nasrin, who pleaded with me to help her obtain an Islamic divorce. After fleeing a forced marriage characterised by rape and physical violence, Nasrin applied for an Islamic divorce from a Sharia council; that was almost 10 years ago now. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/02/sex-and-sharia-muslim-women-punished-for-failed-marriages/feed/ 58 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/18/the-new-muslim-suffragettes-of-the-united-kingdom/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/18/the-new-muslim-suffragettes-of-the-united-kingdom/#comments Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:59:04 +0000 Charlotte Rachael Proudman http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=20493 An increasing number of Muslim women activists are receiving death threats, fatwas and even hate-mail from extremist male and female Muslims. Their crime? Rescuing fellow Muslim women from violent and life threatening situations.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/18/the-new-muslim-suffragettes-of-the-united-kingdom/feed/ 797 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/09/white-women-in-forced-marriage-triangle/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/09/white-women-in-forced-marriage-triangle/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:34:09 +0000 Charlotte Rachael Proudman http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=20186 What are the consequences of forced marriage for white women who fall in love with forbidden Asian men?]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/09/white-women-in-forced-marriage-triangle/feed/ 20 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/12/29/forced-marriage-what-about-the-men/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/12/29/forced-marriage-what-about-the-men/#comments Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:55:37 +0000 Charlotte Rachael Proudman http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=19972 As male forced marriage rates soar, we must call for the criminalisation of forced marriage to highlight the gross abuse of human rights many male victims experience.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/12/29/forced-marriage-what-about-the-men/feed/ 63