Women and the Russian Revolution: profile on a key female figure during the Russian Revolution, the protest on International Women’s Day, and how the Bolsheviks changed the lives of women, by Alexandra Baynes

The extraordinary lives of women in Russia get somewhat buried by the histories of men. Icons such as Valentina Tereshkova and Anna Pavlova are overshadowed by dominating figures like Lenin, Stalin and Putin. Women made enormous contributions to the complex history of Russia; in fact, women directly influenced the course it took, as illustrated by the fact that the demonstration of women workers asking for bread was the stimulus for the Russian Revolution of 1917. It’s time that Russian women get their fair share of the limelight.

Women During the Algerian War of Independence, by Keziah Taylor

Why are women always excluded from the retelling of historical events? This overlooked segment of the population plays a far greater role in rebellions and the resistance than we are led to believe. In the Algerian revolution women proved indispensable, holding greater importance to the resistance than their male counterparts. This article aims to rectify male-centric history by focusing on the historical impact of Algerian women.

La Sección Femenina, by Gianna Stanley

For almost 40 years, throughout the Franco dictatorship, the Sección Femenina was the organisation in charge of controlling Spanish women. Every aspect of women’s lives were politicised in order to promote ideal femininity centred around motherhood and domesticity. This article will explore to what extent the Sección Femenina contributed to the creation of these gendered ideals, and to what extent these ideals were disempowering.

19th Century Feminism and the Fight for the Rights of Sex Workers, by Eva Sheehan Woolaston

Without any parliamentary notice, the disgusting ‘Contagious Diseases Act’ was suddenly passed in 1864. Effectively ‘legalising’ prostitution and placing it under police control, it allowed the stop and search of any woman suspected of being a prostitute. Such a ‘search’ included a bodily examination, totally violating and humiliating anyone forced to participate.