Blog.
Insights, analysis and commentary from Project Resist.
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Marieme Hélie-Lucas: friend and hero
Pragna Patel and Maryam Namazie pay tribute to Marieme Hélie-Lucas, who died recently in France. Marieme worked tirelessly to support feminist struggles worldwide and encouraged others to do the same. She helped build an international feminist politics capable of confronting religious fundamentalism without capitulating to racism, and defending universal rights without forgetting colonial history. Her legacy will live on.
International Declaration on Gender Apartheid and Its Destructive Consequences 15 August 2026
Pragna Patel is one of the early signatories to the declaration which was just published to coincide with the 5th anniversary of the Taliban Takeover in Afghanistan and 5 years of women's resistance. It calls for an immediate end to gender apartheid in Afghanistan and for a concerted international effort to codify the concept of gender apartheid in international law.
Defend Rajiv Menon: As women’s rights defenders, we have a duty to speak out and stop his persecution!
We have come together to stand in solidarity with Rajiv Menon KC, the criminal defence barrister from Garden Court Chambers, who is facing contempt of court proceedings. Now more than ever, we need to come together in collective defence of Rajiv Menon and, by extension, our own rights as well as those of others who are under assault in the UK and elsewhere. We have a duty to speak out and stop the spiralling descent into authoritarianism taking place in our own backyard before it is too late.
New Report into the criminalisation of black and minority women
Pragna Patel, our co-director, conducted the research for the vital report published today by Centre for Women's Justice on the unjust criminalisation of women who are themselves victim-survivors of abuse. The report, 'They Don't Understand Abuse', presents insights from survivors of violence and women's specialist services about police and prosecution practice when survivors are accused of offending, and recommends urgent reforms. One case shared in the report involves a survivor who was accused by her abusive partner of child abuse, and was separated from her children, including her breastfeeding baby, as a result.
Domestic Abuse and the Immigration System: False Claims and Genuine Victims
by Pragna Patel Project Resist deplores any exploitation of the Domestic Violence Rule route to settlement in the UK by unscrupulous so-called immigration advisers and organised criminal gangs. False claims of domestic abuse harm the very people that organisations like ours support: the most vulnerable victims of abuse. However, in its recent investigation report, the BBC has not attempted to ascertain the scale of this issue: neither how many such false claims are made nor how many are ultimately successful. Instead, the small number of cases they have identified are presented as a broader problem.
Tribute to Sir James Munby
by Pragna Patel I was very saddened to hear of the death of Sir James Munby on New Years Day 2026. He was a wonderfully receptive and gracious man whom I shall never forget. He has made a huge difference to the lives of migrant women subject to domestic abuse. I met him in 2016 when, as Director of Southall Black Sisters, I led on a campaign for the recognition of the rights of women abandoned abroad in contexts of domestic abuse and coercive control. In those days, little was known about the phenomenon of Transnational Marriage Abandonment (TMA).
Race riots in the UK left women squeezed between the far right and patriarchy
Blog by Pragna Patel, originally published on the LSE Website Anti-immigration activists in the UK mobilise around the perceived threat to women and girls. Pragna Patel shows how the riots were also used by religious and community forces to maintain patriarchal structures of power and control. The UK has experienced a series of far-right protests following the tragic murder of Alice da Silva Aguiar, Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe in Southport in August 2024. Their killer, British-born Axel Rudakubana, has since been jailed for a minimum of 52 years. But in the immediate aftermath, waves of online disinformation that the perpetrator was a Muslim asylum seeker.
Project Resist in Solidarity with: #FREE BETTY… Hundreds of Organisations Join the Free Betty Coalition to Mark Ibtissame Betty Lachgar’s 100 Days of Imprisonment in Morocco
Press Release from the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) 18 November 2025 Today marks 100 days since Moroccan feminist and human rights defender Ibtissame Betty Lachgar was imprisoned in Rabat, Morocco for posting a photograph of herself wearing an “Allah is Lesbian” T-shirt. Her sentence of 30 months stems solely from an act of peaceful expression defending women’s and LGBT rights made outside Morocco.
Review of ‘East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity’ by Philippe Sands
Read Pragna Patels review of Philippe Sands book is featured in Feminist Dissent Issue #8 (2025): Human Rights in an Age of Populist Authoritarianism (Edited by Stephen Cowden, Jane Gabriel, Gita Sahgal, Amrita Shodhan and Rashmi Varma). “The protection of the individual, and the idea of individual criminal responsibility for the worst crimes, would be part of the new legal order.
Recognising coercive control in counter-allegations: VAWG organisations call for reform in UKVI assessments
Project Resist and Rights of Women brought together VAWG organisations to examine how UKVI’s handling of counter-allegations is negatively impacting migrant women victim-survivors of domestic abuse applying for settlement. A briefing was produced outlining concerns and recommendations for change. Earlier, this year, the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) sector came together to discuss its concerns with the Home Office (UKVI) approach to assessing domestic abuse in immigration cases involving counter-allegations. Counter- allegations in the context of domestic abuse including coercive control arise when both parties of the relationship allege the other has been abusive.
Gender Apartheid: A Crime Against Humanity – International Women’s Day Event at the House of Lords Calls for Global Action
PRESS STATEMENT: by The International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), One Law for All and Project Resist. For Immediate Release 3 March 2025 Gender Apartheid: A Crime Against Humanity – International Women’s Day Event at the House of Lords Calls for Global Action Date: Thursday 6 March 2025 Time: 14:00 (for a 14:30 start) – 17:00 Venue: Committee Room 4A, Houses of Parliament, London [London] – In the lead-up to International Women’s Day, a powerful gathering of activists, legal experts, judges, and artists at the House of Lords will call for gender apartheid to be recognised as a crime against humanity.
Guest Blog by Charlie Weinberg:Understanding the world to change it – the women’s sector, sex and sexismWhat is the Women’s Sector?
Project Resist welcome Charlie Weinberg to be our inaugural Guest Blogger. One of the founders of our sister organisation Women’s Liberation Alliance, Charlie has published extensively about criminal justice and women as well as consulting to organisations, speaking at and facilitating events. Charlie runs August.org, you can learn more about her work below. Understanding the world to change it – the women’s sector, sex and sexism. What is the Women’s Sector? There is no clear definition of what the women’s sector is.
Justice for Survivors: Campaign Press Release
Press Release 21 February 2025 Project Resist is working in collaboration with the Girlington Centre in Bradford to support black and minority women who continue to encounter prejudices and obstacles when reporting domestic abuse and coercive control to the police. Yet again, we see systemic misconduct and incompetence in the police handling of such cases. Our work with Shareen and the Girlington Centre forms part of our advocacy work to improve women's access to justice.
Independent Sentencing Review
by Pragna Patel Project Resist has made a submission to the Independent Sentencing Review. (January 2025) on black and minority women’s experiences of sentencing in the criminal justice system. While we welcome the present government’s commitment to divert women away from custodial sentences, we remain concerned about the delivery of this commitment in the absence of effective legislative changes to homicide laws and proper financial, legal, housing and other support so that women and their children have a fair chance at integration and rehabilitation. We are also signatories to an open letter calling for an end to the punishment of women who are survivors of domestic abuse.
Solidarity with the Women of Iran
by Pragna Patel On 8 November 2024, Project Resist joined other women in protest against the brutality of the fundamentalist Iranian regime organised in London by One Law For All and FEMEN. We stood in solidarity with Ahoo Darhyae and the women of Iran. Ahoo Darhyae is the latest in a long line of women beaten and arrested by the Iranian police for dissenting against the imposition of the hijab. We stand against the daily assaults, denigration and torture of women that is taking place and endorsed by fundamentalist power not just in Iran but worldwide: “Globally a war is being waged against women – from Iran, Afghanistan to the post-Dobbs USA now under Trump and his Project 2025 agenda.
Gender Justice and Intersectional Practice Conference
by Pragna Patel On 29 November 2024, Project Resist took part in a major conference entitled ‘Gender, Justice and Intersectional Practice’ organised by the Phoebe Centre in Ipswich during 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence. The focus was on sharing ideas and experiences in support of black and minoritised and migrant women subject to a range of harms and discrimination. Pragna Patel gave a keynote speech on migrant women’s journey towards justice in the context of domestic abuse in the UK since the 90s.
Feminist Dissent & Project Resist Opposes Far Right Terror in the UK and Calls for Solidarity
Blog by Feminist Dissent We are horrified at the murder of three young girls that took place in Southport on Monday 29 July. Our whole-hearted thoughts go to their families and those that knew them. This incident is a horrific tragedy that must be seen in the context of violence against women and girls (VAWG). As with other incidents in recent years, the murders of Nicole Smallman, Zara Aleena, Bibaa Henry, Sarah Everard, Ellie Gould and Alice Ruggles, we have seen media outrage but a lack of willingness to identify this as primarily an issue of male violence.
Resourcing Our Resilience: Black Feminist Mapping Across the FiLiA Legacy Cities
Blog by Rosie Lewis (Project Resist) “We want a women's movement that is for all women, and we mean Black women who are from communities where they are already dealing with violence and abuse... we are campaigning on our own and we want support, or this isn't feminism.” (All quotes throughout are taken from Project Resist’s interviews with regional grassroots black and minoritised women’s groups.) The FiLiA Legacy Project (Campaigns and Policy) is a three-year project that continues a feminist tradition of independent grassroots campaigning and policy making.
The Michaela School Ruling: Religion, Education and ‘British Values’
Blog by Feminist Dissent NOTE: This article was written in late June 2024, before the July 4th national elections in the UK that were won by the Labour Party. It refers to ministers from the Conservative Party who are now no longer in office. However, the overall points we raise about the place of religion in schools are still very urgent and relevant. On 16 April 2024 a female Muslim pupil lost her High Court challenge against the banning of Muslim prayers at Michaela Community School, a secular secondary ‘Free School’ in London.
In Peril: religious authorities are closing in on minority women’s rights!
Blog by Pragna Patel (Project Resist) and Maryam Namazie (One Law for All) The announcement of the world’s first Sikh ‘Court’ in London in April 2024 – and due to open for business on 1 June 2024 – demands our urgent attention. In 2016, some of us campaigned against the growth of Sharia councils and the creation of the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal because we recognise that all such religious systems of dispute resolution, by their very nature, are tied to a rising politics of religious fundamentalism that targets the rights and freedoms of women.
Statement on the Genocide in Gaza
Blog by Feminist Dissent Note: Since we’ve written this statement, a new expanded cycle of violence has opened in the Middle East, triggered by the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria and the massive Iranian drone and missiles attack on Israel which was helped to be shot down with the help of UK and US forces. Where will it end? Sunday April 7, 2024 marked exactly six months since Israel unleashed its brutal war on the Palestinian people in Gaza, a war that shows no sign of stopping any time soon. We at Feminist Dissent can barely find the words to describe the pain and the rage we feel at the cruelty and injustice that has unfolded since 7 October 2023.