This week we celebrated International Women’s Day with members of others women’s organisations – Southall Black Sisters, Million Women Rise and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom – calling for an end to violence against women in peace and war.

International Women’s Day

February’s vigils draw attention to the refugee and displaced women throughout the world, the UK government’s failure to admit refugees and grant asylum, and the appaling practice of detaining refugees indefinitely, including the continued detention of women at the YarlsWood Immigration Removal Centre.

Support Refugee Women

We continue with this important theme for the rest of the month. Today, as we held our vigil, protests were also taking place outside a London hotel where arms dealers were holding a dinner. See our leaflet in last week’s vigil entry.

End Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia

WiB Vigil 16 Jan 2019 End Arms sales to Saudi Arabia
A new year, but for the people of Yemen, any hope for peace is just as far away. Thet have not only suffered war since 2015, but faced famine and a cholera epidemic in 2018. This war continues because of the intervention of other states, including the Saudi Arabia-led coalition. The UK is among several […]

End UK Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia

Women in Black London’s vigils take place every Wednesday from 6-7pm at the Edith Cavell Statue, St Martin’s Lane, just above Trafalgar Square and opposite the National Portrait Gallery. We vigil in silence, preferably wearing black, calling for peace and justice, and against war and militarism, on a range of different themes related to war […]

Join our Vigils in 2019

Here we are in our shiny sparky vigil urging the public to make a donation to organisations that provide support people in conflict zones or who work for peace, and to resolve to work for peace and against war and the arms trade in the new year. To make it more special, we welcomed Sheila […]

Give a Present for Peace this Christmas

Tonight we marked the end of 16 Days against Violence against Women, with a reminder that Women’s Rights are Human Rights, two days after the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.    

Against Violence against Women: Human Rights Day

Every £ spent on the military is one £ less to spend on things we need: NHS, pensions, social care. Women in Black said No to NATO, an aggressive and costly military pact.

Women in Black say No to NATO

Women in Black with white poppies
This week marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the first world war. For the past three weeks, Women in Black London, have been displaying and selling the white poppy, which symbolises the desire for an end to all armed conflict, and the remembrance of all victims of war.

Remembrance…….

Women in Black London are amongst more than 50 organisations around the world who have signed up to a statement on the UN Day for Protection of the Environment in Armed Conflict. You can read the statement Human security requires environmental security here

UN Day for Protection of the Environment in Armed Conflict

This is international week for countering the militarisation of youth – including the recruitment of young people under the age of 18 into the military (as in the UK).  The UK government spends more than £45 million a year promoting a “military ethos” in schools, encouraging children as young as 12 to support the military, […]

Countering the militarisation of youth