Activism

The Bristol Feminist Network believes in activism and seeks to support actions which promote gender equality. Over the years we have marched, picketed, lobbied, subverted and protested, have organised workshops, vigils, debates, discussions film nights, club nights, quiz nights, live performance and book groups in Bristol - over 80 events in 5 years!

Many of these actions are awareness raising activities to draw attention to sexism in our society and suggest ways of combating them, to raise understanding about equality issues and to promote local support services. Some events are celebrations of women in the arts and creative promotions of equality messages. 

A few of BFN's activities are listed below, many of which are on-going and would welcome your participation. Please contact us to get involved as a volunteer or to tell us about other local projects or campaigns promoting gender equality.

Upcoming actions are also listed on our EVENTS PAGE. You can subscribe to updates on our activist emailing list.

Update on funding cuts to domestic and sexual abuse services in Bristol

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Last year groups and individuals across the city lobbied Bristol City Councillors to defend vital services from further cuts. We were delighted when Councillors and candidates re-affirmed their commitment to protect these services and the draft budget signalled there would be no direct cuts to this sector in 2014. 

A press release highlighting the commitment made by Bristol Council can be read here.

We are therefore very concerned to discover that the Mayor’s proposed budget includes cuts to the services Councillors promised to protect. A £100k cut from Safer Bristol in 2014 and a further £150k cut two years. These cuts come on top of a reduction in Safer Bristol’s domestic and sexual abuse services of £130k which has already happened.  

It is not possible to make these cuts without directly affecting the level of service provision, impacting on the safety and lives of women and families in violent situations who desperately need support. 

The scale of domestic and sexual abuse is huge. In Bristol every year, between 15,400 and 22,000 women will experience abuse. We believe the Council has a duty to protect their lives and safety and cannot afford to cut funding to the services that support them, which are stretched on smaller budgets and already struggling to meet their needs. Such as Next Link reporting a 24% increase in victims seeking assistance

Last year BFN, like many groups and individuals in the city, were encouraged by the council’s commitment to not cut domestic and sexual abuse support services. We hope that 2014 does not see an end to this important commitment to supporting some of the city’s most vulnerable.

Below is the full list of serving councillors who committed to protecting life-saving women’s services in May 2013:

Our statement on the proposed budget can be read here and can be used as a template letter to Bristol Councillors. Please write to your Councillor to let them know how important domestic and sexual violence services are to our city. Alternatively write to democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk

Representations of Women in the Media

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The Representations of Women in the Media project (“Reps” to its friends) is a grassroots volunteer-led research project which investigates how women are represented, misrepresented and not represented at all in the media. Click here for more details or visit their website at www.rowitm.org. 

Protest against Hooters

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After opening in 2010, Hooters in Bristol closed down after two years.

Many people objected to the opening of Hooters and protested against the business, the lease by M&S and the licence granted by the Council. Hooters is an American sports style "breastaurant" which requires female staff to dress in a revealing uniform. More details on the campaign in Bristol here.

Reclaim the Night

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Reclaim the Night is an international movement against sexual violence. In Bristol supporters organise vigils to remember those affected by sexual violence and march to demonstrate our right to walk the streets at night. The campaign focuses on three actions: support for victim services, increase rape conviction rates and better sex and relationships education. For more details of RTN2011 on 18th Nov, go to our main RTN page.

 Lobbying

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Influencing decision-makers through lobbying and advocacy is an important form of activism. It can take the form of letter writing, petitioning, participating in consultations and generally leaning on the people or groups who hold the power to make legal and political changes. For more details about lobbying your local MP, council or media click here.

Public art project 

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BFN exhibits public art to illustrate the need to give special attention to violence against women and to counter some of the myths and excuses around domestic violence. In 2009 Bristol marked International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25th November) with a week of events. The artwork was exhibited on the Jamiaca Street wall, one of the People's republic of Stokes Croft's public spaces. More details can be found here.

Volunteering

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Big Society? We were volunteering, supporting and organising way before Cameron's government tried to capitalise on our efforts. Tragically it is families, women and the women's sector who will be most affected by the global economic crisis. Even essential services such as Rape Crisis and Women's Aid are under huge pressure and need support more than ever

Please click through to read appeals for local volunteers and lend your time to women's organisations and projects.

Donations

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So many good causes rely on donations in order to provide services and support to people in need. Their funding is often precarious and they are unable to secure income for more than two or three years at a time. Several local groups are appealing for donations of funds, good or time. You can find more details here.

To support the work of the Bristol Feminist Network, which is totally volunteer led with no regular income or funding arrangements, please donate via below:

One Click Activism

Teaching of positive body image: Petition the Prime Minister to add a new compulsory hour per year to the National Curriculum that will seek to alleviate the rising body image problems in the UK’s 12-20 year olds. Sign the petition here.
Four new Rape Crisis centres in London: Hold Boris and the Tories to their promise for funding for four new Rape Crisis centres. Sign the petition here.
End the Gender Pay Gap: Petition the Prime Minister to End the national scandal that is the gender pay gap by including mandatory pay audits, hypothetical comparators, and representative actions in the Equality Bill. Sign the petition here.
Anti Airbrushing Campaign: Want advertisers to be honest and upfront about the sheer amount of airbrushing that goes on?  Want to make a start on helping children to beat body image pressures? Sign the petition here.
Pregnancy Related Discrimination: Petition the Prime Minister to enforce the law prohibiting workplace discrimination on pregnancy related ground and that the Government does not weaken the law on pregnancy discrimination in the Equality Bill. Sign the petition here.
Anonymity for Rape Defendants: Support reporting of rape and increased rape convictions by objecting to the government's proposal to extend anonymity to rape defendants. Sign the petition here.