Make Change Happen!

Our first webinar of the year aims to give you the confidence and the knowledge needed to get involved in policy making in The Green Party.

On Monday 22nd April, Anne Gayfer, Policy Development Co-ordinator, will talk about the work of the PDC (Policy Development Committee) and the policy working groups.

Join us at 7pm to find out how you can get involved.

Green Party Women’s very own Liz Mansfield will then talk to us about the Truth About Zane campaign.

What is the story behind the campaign? How was the campaign’s profile raised within the Green Party? What was the ground breaking achievement of Green councillors in Lewes and how was it brought about?

Register for our zoom webinar here.

There will be time for questions from our members after our speakers have given their presentations. We will take questions from the floor but would really appreciate having as many questions as possible in advance.

Get in touch at info@greenpartywomen.org.uk and let us know whether your question is for Anne or for Liz.

Committee News

The committee met on Monday, with members reporting back on what they had achieved since the March meeting, agreeing the Social Media policy and strategy for the year, planning our first webinar and discussing issues around EEDI (Equity, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion).

The productive meeting was ably chaired by Liz who stepped up to the role at very short notice, allowing us to finish with an Open Mic session where any observers were able to raise matters of interest or of concern.If you were unable to attend the meeting, you can read the full minutes here.

In the interests of transparency and openness, all documents discussed have already been uploaded to the Green Women’s Space to make them accessible to all of our members. You can also read them by clicking on the links below:

Social Media Strategy

Social Media Policy

April Membership Secretary report

April Secretary report

April Social Media report

April Treasurer’s report

April Website report

Building an Inclusive, Equitable and Diverse Green Party

As you are aware, from a previous newsletter, Hamza Egal, EEDI (Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) manager for the Green Party is conducting an EEDI needs assessment survey. This is your opportunity to share your experiences and make suggestions for improvement to current practice.

The survey is confidential and should take about 10 – 15 minutes to complete. It was originally due to close at the end of March but with hundreds of submissions already, it is providing invaluable data which is helping Hamza and his team to pinpoint challenges and craft solutions that will make a real difference in the next few months, especially on EEDI training.

As a result, the deadline has been extended and the survey will now stay open until 29th July. Take part in the survey and please share with your local party.

Club News

Quick reminder: our next book club will be on Tuesday 30th April at 7pm and, as always, will be on Zoom. This month, we are going to be reading Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch by Rivka Galchen. “Funny and Scary” according to our Twitter team.

Register for Book Club here

Green Witchers, our birding (and more!) club is back and will again be hosted by Anne. Our first meeting will be at 7pm on Tuesday 16th April and will focus on the tension between supporting green energy and supporting wildlife and wildlife habitats.

Register for Green Witchers here

Green Women in Action

We usually celebrate women in GPEW but we couldn’t ignore the amazing achievement of the Swiss environmental campaigners who, in a landmark case, have won the first ever climate case in the European Court of Human Rights.

The campaigners are all women and are mostly in their 70s. They successfully argued that their sex and their age made them particularly vulnerable to the effects of heatwaves linked to climate change.

Read more about their historic victory.

2 Minute Activism

In the run up to the 2024 General Election, Women’s Aid is calling for the national prioritisation of domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG). Find out more about the campaign.

We are proud to confirm that the Green Party’s Caroline Lucas is part of the Women’s Aid network of Parliamentary Champions, already helping to elevate the voices of survivors of domestic abuse.

We would encourage you to sign Women’s Aid’s open letter which calls on all political parties to commit to investing in services to reduce domestic abuse and to support survivors.

best wishes,

Tina, Sue, Kaz, Hazel, Jess, Anne, Linda (Loppy), Sarah, Siobhan, Rachel, Liz and Amanda
Your Green Party Women committee

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UNIVERSITY GRADUATION? As the UK makes tentative steps towards post-lockdown recovery, this year’s University Graduates face looking for work during an economic climate of mass unemployment, collapsing sectors (from traditional industries to the arts), all whilst teetering on the brink of a global recession. HOLLY PITTAWAY examines whether there are still opportunities to be found for the most ambitious and talented of our new graduates. Read HERE.

BOOK CLUB LAUNCH Join us for a coffee (or wine) and a chat about all things Green literature. Our first book is “Dare To Be Great: Unlock Your Power to Create a Better World” by Polly Higgins. Polly was a prominent Scottish Barrister, Author, and environmental campaigner who fought to recognise ecocide in Law. Our first session is Wednesday 29 JUL 2020, 8pm, BOOK HERE. Then again every last Wednesday of the month. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Ethical or unethical (but cheap), paperback or ebook, it’s up to you! Let us know which books you want to read.

GPW ASSOCIATION OF GREEN COUNCILLORS PRESENTATION On Sunday 5 JUL 2020, GPW Committee members gave a presentation to the AGC annual conference. It became clear that women councillors and GPW in the public eye need a SUPPORT GROUP, so we are starting one! We need to know when you are all available, survey HERE. Councillors (or would be councillors) withing to join the AGC Slack group email Sally Pickering a request HERE.

The post Newsletter 11-07-20 appeared first on Green Party Women.

MISOGYNY AND JK ROWLING

Like many women in the public eye with an opinion, JK Rowling has faced floods of sexist and sexualised abuse, threats and harassment in the past few days. After bravely sharing her own story of surviving domestic violence, the Sun newspaper put a quote from the perpetrator on its front page saying he was glad he abused her. Green Party Women condemn this shameful and irresponsible act which will put women at risk in a period of already increased violence for women.

The post Newsletter 12-06-20 appeared first on Green Party Women.

GREEN PARTY WOMEN

REBEKA POPOVIC Rebeka is a PhD student at the MRC Toxicology Unit. Her PhD project explores molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration in a fruit fly model of Parkinson’s disease. She graduated from Kings College London with a MSc in Neuroscience and from University of Surrey with a BSc in Biochemistry.

DR. LIZA SELLEY Liza joined the MRC Toxicology Unit (University of Cambridge), after completing her PhD in air pollution toxicity at Imperial College, London. Her research explores why and how air pollutants cause harm to the body, focusing on the biological changes that they create in the lungs as well as their role in promoting airway infections. Carrying out regular public engagement work, she hopes to raise awareness of these harmful pollutants.

2020-04-26 GPW CONFERENCE Catch up on the last online sessions (if you missed them) via our dedicated GPW YouTube Channel, here. Or find out more about our speakers, below. www.womeninprison.org.uk www.5050parliament.co.uk www.silvertowntunnel.co.uk

The post Newsletter 29-05-20 appeared first on Green Party Women.

Green Party Women Need YOU!

On October 3rd the voting will open to elect the GPW committee, and are looking for women to come forward to stand. If you are interested in shaping what Green Party Women does over the coming year, please consider putting yourself forward. Maybe you have a green party friend who you think might be great: why not ask them to stand?

CONFERENCE: GPW AGM 03 OCT 2020 12:45-14:00

The online conference offers GPW an opportunity to connect with its membership. We are currently drafting a preliminary schedule. Some mandatory items we need to discuss include:

1. Presentation of a report from the GPW Committee (via powerpoint).
2. The election of the committee
3. Campaigns update

Claudine Letsae has offered to run a 15 minute healing meditation session that we welcome members to participate in.Here is the link to book a place at the Green Party Autumn Conference

GPW Conference: Defending Democracy SUN 27 SEP 2020

Organised by Julia Lagoute, our freshly minted GPEx Publications Officer!

Democracy in the UK and worldwide is being rolled back – with devastating impacts on the planet, women’s rights, and equality. Our September conference sees three women come together to talk about the state of democracy here and worldwide, ecofeminism, and what we can do.

Molly Scott Cato, Professor of Economics and Green Member of the European Parliament 2014-2020. Adenike Oladosu, ecofeminist campaigner and founder of ILeadClimate, pioneering the Green democracy initiative. Klina Jordan, Co-Chief exec of Make Votes Matter, which campaigns for proportional representation

When: Sep 27, 2020 4:00 PM via Zoom. Register in advance, here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

SUMMARY: House of Lords/Commons Debates 

We thought our GPW members might be interested in the good work being done by prominent Women politicians within the party. Let us know if you would like to see more of this in future newsletters. You can even set up your own alerts, here.

Speaker: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb : 2 Lords debates

Rape: Prosecutions and Convictions – Question (14 Sep 2020)

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2020-09-14a.983.3&s=speaker:25214#g984.1

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: My Lords, it is quite obvious to those who have been watching this situation that both the CPS and the police drastically need some training and education. The obvious people to go to are charitable organisations that work with women and girls who have been raped. Can the noble and learned Lord tell me whether the review will encompass those organisations and when it will report?

Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill – Committee (3rd Day) (14 Sep 2020)

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2020-09-14a.1009.0&s=speaker:25214#g1012.0

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: My Lords, this amendment is about basic human decency; I am very pleased to support it. Personally, I would like to scrap immigration detention altogether. It is inhumane that we as a country are doing this to people. Convicted murderers and paedophiles get better treatment than refugees and asylum seekers fleeing war, famine and persecution, often as a result of our own foreign policy.

GPW Facebook Posts Summary

Some Women in the party have made the very sensible decision to avoid facebook and others, even more impressively, stay away from social media altogether! We applaud you. However, it does mean that they miss out on some of the world news, local events or issues that have been shared across our GPW public facing platform over the last month. So here is a summary of the good stuff you missed without giving Zuckerberg you eyeballs in exchange for advertising money.

15 Sep 2020 – Green World UBI by Natalie Bennet: It’s #BasicIncomeWeek! We’ll be linking to a few pieces which explain the pioneering, and feminist, idea of Universal Basic Income (UBI). Start with Natalie Bennett, Green Party Member of the House of Lords on how this unconditional payment to every citizen would have transformed the impact of the pandemic in her article for Green world here.

BOOK CLUB – 29 SEP 2020

This was the most popular choice, helped by being recommended by two Deputy Leadership candidates; Andrea Carey Fuller and Cleo Lake. Book Summary – A hard look at structural racism in Britain and the world at large. Journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge wrote a blog post in 2014 called “Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race.” It immediately went viral; her frustrations with ambivalent or defensive white people resonated with many readers while infuriating others. In this Snapshot, you’ll learn her thoughts on structural racism and how it seeps into every facet of our lives.

We want to hear from you, please get in touch here, if you want to contribute or feedback. Follow us on Twitter here! Follow us on Facebook here! 

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