“I imagine if Emmeline and Sylvia [Pankhurst] could see this map, they would be extraordinarily moved” - Helen Pankhurst, great-granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst Women from Northern Ireland are among those being honoured today (8 March) by Amnesty International as it launches its Suffragette Spirit Map to celebrate the incredible work being carried out by women in their communities 100 years on from first winning the vote. For the past month Amnesty has worked to scour the country for women who embody the continuing suffragette spirit - today’s women human rights defenders. Elaine Roden of N

"I was immediately put in solitary confinement. My cell was as deep as a grave with very tall walls. It had no window and no toilet. It was infested with insects, and their stings irritated my skin."
Atena Farghadani

Imprisoned for drawing a satirical cartoon, prosecuted for shaking her lawyer's hand in prison - Atena Farghadani has paid a high price for making art and speaking her mind in Iran, where dissent is met with heavy punishment.

Second reading of ‘slapping bill’ tomorrow condemned

Our Women's Action Network Committee is expanding. It will now be made up of eight elected members, who each serve voluntarily for two consecutive years.

This year all 8 seats are up for election. This will take place on 9 December 2017 at the Thematic Networks Conference.

There is a near-total ban on abortion in Northern Ireland, even in cases of rape, incest and fatal foetal abnormality. Women face life imprisonment for a health service freely provided on the NHS everywhere else in the UK.

This Victorian-era law dates from a time before the invention of the lightbulb. It must be brought into the 21st century – urgently, before more women are criminalised, forced to travel or left to suffer alone. Abortion is a matter for women and their doctors, not judges.