Is speaking English really that important?

The Government is planning to introduce stricter rules for immigrants coming from outside the UK, who will be forced to learn English if they want to stay in this country. A heated debate has arisen on whether this is in the genuine interest of society or is just a...

The truth about burn out

Sharan founder Polly and I met about four years ago, working on the National Domestic Violence Helpline in central London. I’ll always remember going for dinner with Polly one evening – I’d just been offered a new job and was in negotiations around the kind of...

The Portrayal of Women in Music Videos

We firmly believe that violence against women and girls does not happen because men are naturally evil but is the result of a culture that does not value women and considers them inferior human beings. Media play an important role in reinforcing such culture by...

No Land’s Song – Reviving the female voice

On Sunday we headed to the Ritzy in Brixton to watch the film No Land’s Song, which is part of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. The film is set in Iran and tells the story of Sara Najafi, a composer whose dream is to set up a show of all female soloists with the...

India’s Daughter – Why we oppose the ban

On March 6 we were invited to a private screening of “India’s Daughter”, the powerful documentary recounting the gang rape and murder of Jyoty Singh in a Delhi bus in 2012. At the event, organised by Plan UK and hosted by Doughty Street Chambers, we also had the...