This week we have seen the conclusion of party conference season. The Conservative conference concludes today at 12 noon following a speech by party leader, Kemi Badenoch. Have you been uplifted and inspired by the conferences? How will we cope for the next year without the relentless tedium of front bench politicians droning on about how wonderful they are and how woeful the other parties are?
But there is another conference starting this Friday in Brighton. FiLia, a conference for women, will provide opportunities to learn about women’s rights and global feminism, for women to meet other women who are challenging sex-based injustices across the world, and to build feminist networks.
I know I can be cynical about party politicians who promise to “inspire”, but with FiLia it will be different. I met the chief executive and co-founder of FiLia, Lisa-Marie Taylor, over a cup of tea at the Pavilion Gardens Cafe. I am in no doubt that those going to this conference will leave inspired.
Lisa-Marie says she came to feminism in her late 30s and is “quickly making up for lost time!” Her pride in the work of FiLiA in creating and strengthening connections between women locally, nationally and internationally is infectious, and she believes that the world is “in the midst of the global Feminist revolution”.
But global? Really? Well, yes, actually. One of the headline speakers this year is the incomparable Martina Navratilova who my autocorrect changed to ‘Martin’s Navratilova’, perhaps showing how far even icons of tennis and feminism still have to go when her name is not recognised by Apple autocorrect.
London-based Ragani Lindquist, a solicitor from New Zealand, says that “attending FiLiA conferences has led to meeting many wonderful, inspiring women and learning so much about the battles they have fought – and continue to fight.” She also points to the “sheer joy of the all-women dance floor on the Saturday night!” (The Conservatives alternative to this is Michael Gove strutting his stuff in Manchester).
While FiLia is a national and international organisation, perhaps better described as a movement, there are local links like FiLia trustee Jo Gough who is the chief executive of RISE, Brighton’s specialist women-led, women-centred domestic and sexual violence service.
One of the speakers is Brighton-based community activist, Dani Ahrens, who is a member of Brighton Women’s Liberation Collective (Sisters Salon). “I believe change happens from the ground up”, says Dani. “Being in a room with women, talking about our lives and listening to each other is magical, nourishing and transformational. I am so proud to have helped create a space in my home town where that happens every month.” I have known and admired Dani since the late 1980s and throughout that time she has lived by her mantra that “change happens from the ground up”.
What Dani says about change marks a very clear distinction from the party political conferences where ‘wisdom’ and ‘truth’ and ‘inspiration’ is forceably injected into the ears of the faithful by party leaders. At FiLia real wisdom, truth and inspiration is shared by ordinary women, along with a small ration of extraordinary women like Martina, Julie Bindel, Beatrix Campbell, and Diana Namm, a political and human rights activist during the Shah and the Islamic regimes in Iran. She spent 12 years as a Kurdish freedom fighter against the Islamic Republic. She says she was shocked when, two decades ago, police told her: “‘honour killing’ is your culture and we have to respect it”. She responded that ‘honour killing’ is a crime, not culture.
Amongst the other local women speaking at FiLia 2025 will be members of the Brighton and Hove Women’s History Group as well as Katy Bourne and Jean Calder. Katy, the Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner, said that FiLiA is “an incredibly important space for bold conversations and for amplifying the views, thoughts and voices of women.” Jean will be speaking about an early campaigner for the rights of women, the suffragette Mary Clarke who led the campaign in Brighton for the right of women to vote. There is a campaign to erect a statue for Mary in New Road, Brighton.
I give the final word to Alyssa Ahrabare, a specialist lawyer in European law, who for over ten years has been working in France and abroad to defend women’s rights. She said that “feminism is getting rid of chains you didn‘t even know existed.” Where better to start or continue that process than at FiLia 2025? Tickets are available on the FiLia website (www.filia.org.uk).
Andy Winter is a former councillor who worked in social care and homelessness services for 40 years
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