Southall Black Sisters (SBS) is a non-profit organisation based in

Southall Southall () is a large suburban county of West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

, West London, England. This women's group was established in August 1979 in the aftermath of the death of

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

activist

Blair Peach Clement Blair Peach (25 March 1946 – 24 April 1979) was a New Zealand teacher who was killed during an anti-racism demonstration in Southall, London, England. A campaigner and activist against the far right, in April 1979 Peach took part in a ...

, who had taken part in a demonstration against a National Front rally at

Southall Town Hall Southall Town hall is a municipal building in High Street, Southall, London. It has been designated a local heritage asset. History In 1878, the vestry, which had not previously been active, was instructed to find a permanent home for its meeti ...

.'Against the Grain', SBS Tenth Anniversary book, 1989. In 1980 SBS campaigned successfully against virginity testing in the UK, a policy which was being used to verify the authenticity of Asian marriages by checking the state of women's hymens.

History

The SBS was originally established in order to provide a focus for the struggle of Asian women in the fight against racism, but became increasingly involved in defending the human rights of Asian women who are the victims of

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

and in campaigning against

religious fundamentalism Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishing ...

. Throughout most of its existence, the group's primary campaigners have been

Pragna Patel Pragna Patel is the Director of Southall Black Sisters a women's rights organisation in London, UK. She was a founding member, Chair and Director. Patel is also a co-founder of Women Against Fundamentalism. She trained as a lawyer and writes ...

, Meena Patel and Hannana Siddiqui.

Gita Sahgal Gita Sahgal (born 1956/1957) is an Indian writer, journalist, film director, and women's rights and human rights activist, whose work focusses on the issues of feminism, fundamentalism and racism. She has been a co-founder and active member of ...

, the writer and journalist (on issues of feminism, fundamentalism, and racism), film director, and

human rights activist A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

, has also been an active member of the organization. They are best known for the role they played in the Ahluwalia case in 1989 when a woman named

Kiranjit Ahluwalia Kiranjit Ahluwalia (born 1955) is an Indian woman who fatally burned her husband in 1989 in the UK. She claimed it was in response to ten years of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse. After initially being convicted of murder and senten ...

set fire to her abusive husband. They supported her in the case, and were eventually successful. In 2008 SBS won a legal challenge against Ealing Council who had threatened to withdraw their funding for black and other ethnic minority women in the borough, in order to fund services for all women regardless of ethnic background. The Council sought to justify its decision on the grounds of ‘equality’, ‘cohesion’ and ‘diversity’.

Awards and recognition

In 2010 the organisation was awarded

Secularist of the Year Secularist of the Year, also known as the Irwin Prize, is an award presented annually by the National Secular Society in "recognition of an individual or an organisation considered to have made an outstanding contribution to the secularist movement. ...

by the

National Secular Society The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was ...

, in recognition of their support of black and Asian women's human rights. In July 2015, Pragna Patel was a co-recipient of the inaugural Bob Hepple Equality Award, alongside

Mauro Cabral Mauro Cabral Grinspan, also known as Mauro Cabral, is an Argentinian intersex and trans activist, who serves as the executive director of GATE. A signatory of the Yogyakarta Principles, his work focuses on the reform of medical protocols and law ...

GATE A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word derived from old Norse "gat" meaning road or path; But other terms include ''yett and port''. The concept originally referred to the gap or hole in the wall ...

. The award is named for

Bob Hepple Sir Bob Alexander Hepple (11 August 1934 – 21 August 2015) was a South African-born legal academic and leader in the fields of labour law, equality and human rights. Early life and education He was the son of Alexander Hepple (1904–1983), w ...

, the former lawyer of

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

. In 2011 she was named as one of the Top 100 Women Activists and Campaigners.

References

*Gupta Rahila (ed.) (2003) ''From Homebreakers to Jailbreakers: Southall Black Sisters'' London: Zed Books

External links

Official website

1999 Interview with Black Flag magazine
{{Authority control 1979 establishments in England Anti-racist organisations in the United Kingdom Asian-British culture in London Black British culture in London Black feminist organizations Feminism in England Feminism in the Asian diaspora Non-profit organisations based in London Organizations established in 1979 Secularism in England Women's organisations based in England Southall Women in London

History

Awards and recognition

See also

References

External links