In his latest piece for The Countess, Consultant on Prisons, Gearóid O Loingsigh gets to the heart of the problem of male violence against women. Approximately 90% of MVAW occurs in the home. In February 2021, Safe Ireland[1]Safe Ireland (2021). Tracking the Shadow Pandemic – Lockdown 2. A report on women and children seeking support from...

In his latest article for The Countess, Gearóid Ó Loingsigh examines the OIP’s (Office of the Inspectorate of Prisons) latest report into conditions in Limerick Prison. He questions whether the report has been thorough enough in addressing the particular needs of women with regard to issues such as access to children, mental health care, and...

The danger of trans-identified male prisoners being housed in women’s prisons has been highlighted recently in the UK, with the Judicial Review Case brought by a female prisoner who claims she was sexually assaulted in Downview Prison by a trans-identified male prisoner with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).

Edie Wyatt has traced her maternal line back to Mary Mullender, a 22-year-old woman separated from her family in Essex in 1788 and shipped thousands of miles away to Australia for the crime of stealing some clothing. The real reason for such an extreme punishment was because the men who had set out to colonise...

We are proud to present this article from contemporary Spanish feminist and activist, Alba Lopez. Here she provides a fascinating insight into the formative influences behind the current resurgent wave of feminism in Spain. She explores the reasons for the cohesiveness of Spanish feminists, which has helped them to secure their recent victory against government...

Our bodies have been used against us since Eve plucked the apple from the tree. Our lives are constrained by our biological functions from periods to pregnancy to menopause. These are things that only happen to females. To pretend otherwise is risible.

The recent decision taken in California to place men and women in the same wings of prisons as a response to the violence meted out to trans prisoners is a nascent issue in Colombia, but sooner or later it will get here. So it is incumbent upon us to analyse it in time.

This is the second part of Dr Em's two-part feature on the experiences of the ever-growing cohort of ‘trans widows’ – women whose husbands have decided to ‘live as a woman’ – and the patterns of abuse enacted on them. Read part one here.  PART II: GASLIGHTING & PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOUR