Showing 186 results

Authority record
NWN1 · Corporate body · 1985 - 2000

The National Women’s Network for International Solidarity (NWN) was a feminist networking group focused on facilitating contact for women concerned with international issues. The network was formed in 1985 during the run up to the Third World Conference in Nairobi, and was officially established in 1995. It was a non-profit organisation coordinated by volunteers and funded by grants and membership subscriptions. It aimed to connect women’s groups and individuals, and promote feminist solidarity for women’s organisations in the UK and abroad. The network also campaigned for change in the policies of governments, aid agencies and other institutions. The group dissolved in 2000 due to lack of finance.

Monklands Women's Aid
MN · Corporate body · 1979 -

Airdrie Women's Aid was established in 1979 after a need for safe places for women who had experienced domestic abuse was identified by social workers. A public meeting was held in June 1979 where women with experience of abuse and violence, along with members from local groups including Citizens Advice Bureau, Community Councils, Inner Wheel, Ladies Circle, local churches, and other voluntary organisations, discussed setting up a local women's aid group. A steering group was formed from this meeting and the group began undertaking training as well as providing educational programming throughout the community. The group opened their first refuge in 1981.

In October 1983, Airdrie Women's Aid was granted office space and they opened the Advice and Information Service in The Resource Centre, Anderson Street, Airdrie. A second office was opened in Coatbridge in 1990 but the group had trouble finding a suitable location for a second refuge until they met with Vera Weisfeld, who owned the retail chain, What Every Woman Wants. She purchased a house for Airdrie Women's Aid in December 1991, which then opened on 5th February 1992.

LO1 · Corporate body · 1975-1985

The London Lesbian Offensive Group (L.L.O.G.) was a feminist lesbian activist group focussed on contesting anti-lesbianism. It was officially formed after strong interest shown at the 1982 Lesbian Conference workshop called “On Anti-Lesbian in the WLM”. It was comprised of women with differing feminist politics, all concerned with the prevalence of anti-lesbianism, and sought to prove the anti-lesbianism should be identified as political oppression. There was also a strong focus on the treatment of lesbian mothers, as most of the core members were mothers themselves. They held meetings and workshops for other women to attend, wrote articles and collaborated with other lesbian activist groups, and held discussions considering the Women’s Liberation Movement and its impact on lesbian women.

Josephine Butler Society
JBS1 · Corporate body · 1962 - present

The Josephine Butler Society, originally known as the Ladies National Association (LNA), was founded by Josephine Butler (1828 – 1906), and was created in order to oppose the Contagious Disease Acts of 1864, 1866 and 1869. These Acts focussed on suppressing venereal disease in the armed forces. The 1869 act controversially forced women suspected of being a prostitute to be examined and, if found to be infected, be quarantined for up to three months. The LNA campaigned against such measures, and in 1886 the Contagious Diseases Acts were repealed. The LNA further campaigned against sex trafficking and child prostitution, and it was their efforts that raised the age of consent to 16 in 1885, as well as introducing measures to suppress brothels and prevent trafficking. In 1915, the LNA joined with the British Branch of the International Abolitionist Federation (IAF), also founded by Josephine Butler, to become the Association for Moral and Social Hygiene (AMSH). The society took Josephine Butler’s name in 1962. The society acts to this day as a pressure group campaigning against the legalisation of prostitution, the trafficking of women and the marginalisation of those vulnerable to being forced into the profession.