Ruth Fletcher
LightNews LightNews
banner
ruthfletcher.bsky.social
Ruth Fletcher
@ruthfletcher.bsky.social
550 followers 540 following 110 posts
Legal academic and feminist interested in reproducing life otherwise at Queen Mary University of London, and elsewhere | #Repealedthe8th | Co-chair, Abortion Support Network | Branch committee, QMUCU | Leverhulme Research Fellow
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
ruthfletcher.bsky.social
Ruth Fletcher @ruthfletcher.bsky.social · Jul 27
A note from me on the significance of the recent move partially to decriminalise #abortion in England and Wales

Against a backdrop of rising prosecutions for ‘later’ pregnancy endings, #decrim in Northern Ireland through human rights mechanisms, and uneven commitment to decriminalisation as a whole
verfassungsblog.de Verfassungsblog @verfassungsblog.de · Jul 21
British MPs recently decriminalised abortion-seekers. But this success occurred in a Bill that threatens to criminalise poverty and restrict protest rights.

RUTH FLETCHER explains on what a holistic legal approach to reproductive freedom ought to look like.

verfassungsblog.de/decriminalis...
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
okwonga.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Finally, there is the suggestion from Farage that this was somehow normal 1970s banter that is being wrongly reinterpreted today to fit a contemporary narrative. The cruelty of Farage’s words transcended typical schoolkid banter even back then in the 1970s. Racist attacks are becoming normalised once again in the UK, fuelled by the rise of populism and the far right across the world, and, of course, the anti-immigration agenda. Given Reform UK’s policies, it is even more pressing that questions about Farage’s own “banter” and “misspeaking” are raised. I’d like to know why he has never shown the slightest contrition for the deep offence these allegations caused me and many others. And I’d like to know if what I view as his early racist mindset has truly changed with the passing of time. Because when I hear Mr Farage talking about rounding up and deporting hundreds of thousands of human beings, and threatening those with leave to remain or settled status, I cannot help but think of the schoolboy sidling up to me and telling me that “Hitler was right”. Peter Ettedgui is a Bafta- and Emmy-winning director and producer.
November 25, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
amnestyuk.bsky.social
Our analysis maps a web of 65 anti-rights groups operating across the UK, including anti-abortion organisations, groups promoting so-called "conversion therapy" & UK branches of powerful US organisations.

Read the analysis here 👇🏾 www.amnesty.org.uk/anti-rights
Access denied
All popular browsers allow zooming in and out by pressing the Ctrl (Cmd in OS X) and + or - keys. Or alternatively hold down the Ctrl key and scroll up or down with the mouse.
www.amnesty.org.uk
July 9, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
amnestyuk.bsky.social
Get your tickets to After Section 28: LGBTQIA+ Rights in an Age of Censorship and Backlash - a day of learning and action on 6th February 2026 👇🏾
mailchi.mp/94450cee9bbe...

8/8🧵
November 18, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
lrb.co.uk
‘By 1790, one in eight Liverpool households were dependent on the slave trade.’

John Kerrigan on Liverpool, the Atlantic slave trade and m. nourbeSe philip’s long poem 𝘡𝘰𝘯𝘨!

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
John Kerrigan · No Illusions: Syntax of Slavery
Slavery was accepted across most of the early modern world. No one wanted to be a slave, except when the alternative was...
www.lrb.co.uk
November 17, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
slsauk.bsky.social
New blogpost from the Lived Experience of Law Editorial Team with an update on their project findings - www.slsa.ac.uk/post/lived-e...
Lived Experiences of the Law: Update and Emerging Findings
This blog is an update of the series from the Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research (ICPR) at Birkbeck, University of London, guest edited by Dr Amy Kirby. This blog series reflect upon deba...
www.slsa.ac.uk
October 10, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
slsauk.bsky.social
The third post in the brilliant @gculaw.bsky.social blog series at the SLSA Blog is 'Safe Access Zones in Scotland - Narrative Tensions' by Conor Hill www.slsa.ac.uk/post/safe-ac.... Conor's blog is the most recent instalment in the ongoing series 'Gender (In)justice: Views From Scotland'
Safe Access Zones in Scotland – Narrative Tensions
This blog is the third in our series, “Gender (in)justice: Views from Scotland”, featuring pieces authored by legal academics at Glasgow Caledonian University. GCU Law has a strong socio-legal researc...
www.slsa.ac.uk
November 11, 2025 at 5:48 PM
ruthfletcher.bsky.social
On dismantling the epistemic practices that sustain gender ignorance and the trivialisation of women’s and menstruators’ pain!

Did you know that endometriosis takes an average of 8 yrs 10 months to diagnose?
November 23, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social
Policymakers, if you want to base your decisions on AI slop, generate it yourselves instead of paying Deloitte through the nose to do it. #healthpolicy

theindependent.ca/news/lji/maj...
Major N.L. healthcare report contains errors likely generated by A.I. – The Independent
$1.6 million Health Human Resources Plan from Deloitte cites research papers that don’t exist, making it the second major government policy paper called into question in as many months
theindependent.ca
November 23, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
defendourjuries.bsky.social
BREAKING: Protestors in Derry, North of Ireland, are also holding signs which say "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action".

This week, ahead of the judicial review of the ban, protests defying the unjust law have taken place in Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales.
November 22, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
freesafelegal.bsky.social
It's that time again and we have all sorts of goodies for the pro choice people in your life over in our shop.

www.abortionrightscampaign.ie/shop/
Illustration which reads "Merry Choice Mas!" in white letters, with dark pink and orange stripes behind the letters. This is against a teal background. On the left hand side there are christmas baubles in yellow and purple
November 22, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
wendylyon.bsky.social
Sitting in a pub with two Cork men and they are having a Very Serious Discussion about what forms of potato should be served with the Christmas dinner. I love this country #speirghorm
November 21, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
eliothiggins.bsky.social
The deeper problem isn’t just misinformation, its the collapse of shared verification environments and the rise of influencer-led moral-epistemic systems that feel more authentic than institutions.
November 22, 2025 at 11:59 AM
ruthfletcher.bsky.social
chireviewofbooks.com/2025/11/12/i...

On the communal life-keepers who attend serialised Black death, and work a little magic.

‘Witches make the best detectives’
Investigator-Necromancers: The Women Who Won’t Let Chicago’s Black Deaths Remain Invisible - Chicago Review of Books
Witches make the best detectives. For the last ten years I’ve been trying to solve a murder. Well, several thousand actually. It all began in the spring of 2015, sitting in the passenger seat of a goo...
chireviewofbooks.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
ceilteachomn.bsky.social
Bígí linn | Join us for the next Early Irish & Celtic Studies research seminar. Thursday 27 November at 17:00, Room 2.31 IONTAS.

*Three Women, Three Pregnancies, Three Punishments*
Dr Riona Doolan (Maynooth University)

Fáilte roimh chách!
*Three Women, Three Pregnancies, Three Punishments* Dr Riona Doolan - 17:00 Thursday 27 November 2025, 2.31 Iontas Maynooth University
November 18, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
gautambhatia88.bsky.social
Finally out into the world, the labour of many months. My long essay in the inaugural edition of the Alter Magazine on the pasts, presents, and futures of Indian science fiction.

“The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction” —

altermag.com/articles/the...
The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction.
Before Asimov, there was Rokeya.
altermag.com
November 22, 2025 at 6:11 AM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
psglshtm.bsky.social
Up next in the London Universities Population Seminar Series:

On 25 November at 12:45, Dr Isadora Cruxên (QMUL) will present “Co-creating feminist technology to confront gender-based violence and feminicide.”

Join us in G08 (Keppel Street) or online: www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/e...
Co-creating feminist technology to confront gender-based violence and feminicide
How can technology support social justice struggles against gender-based violence and feminicide? This talk explores this question through the work of “Data Against Feminicide”, a collaborative
www.lshtm.ac.uk
November 17, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
lshtm-crises.bsky.social
Check out the programme for our upcoming Annual Event, a #humanitarian research showcase ✨

🗓️ Tue 25 Nov, 17.30-19.00 GMT
📍 LSHTM & online

Featuring @gordonneve.bsky.social, @thegargiulian.bsky.social & many more ⬇️

www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/e...
November 13, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
defendourjuries.bsky.social
Over 2,200 people have been arrested across the UK for silently and peacefully protesting the addition of Palestine Action to the list of proscribed terrorist organisations

The group accuses the Government of complicity in the genocide being perpetrated in Gaza.

www.pressenza.com/2025/11/over...
Over 2,000 People Already Detained for Denouncing UK Government's Complicity in Genocide in Palestine
Thousands of people are demanding that the ban on Palestine Action be lifted in a campaign unfolding across the country. Approximately 2,000 activists UK uses Terrorism Act 2000 to arrest peaceful pro...
www.pressenza.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social
“Refugeehood is not supposed to be like this. The ideal envisaged by the Refugee Convention is that refugee status should be a kind of substitute citizenship for people whose bond of citizenship with their country of origin has been broken by the threat of persecution.“
Christopher Bertram | ‘Core Protection’
Refugeehood is not supposed to be like this. The ideal envisaged by the Refugee Convention is that refugee status should...
www.lrb.co.uk
November 20, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
reproaction.bsky.social
🏳️‍⚧️ Access to gender-affirming care and access to abortion care are both worth fighting for. Read more: reproaction.org/anti-trans-a...
States “Trans liberation is reproductive justice.” Graphic is on a gradient pink white and blue background with a trans ribbon and Reproaction logo. States "At the core of anti-trans and anti-abortion ideology is a concerted effort to limit bodily autonomy." Graphic is on a gradient pink white and blue background with a trans ribbon and Reproaction logo.
November 19, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
zoejardiniere.bsky.social
Most asylum seekers arrive with their valuables long lost in bombed or abandoned homes, stolen, or sold to afford the dangerous clandestine passage to safety

The real thing of value to be snatched from refugees under these proposals is far more painful: their families & futures

Me, for @zeteo.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
britishacademy.bsky.social
Indigenous peoples make up just 5% of the world’s population - but protect over 80% of its biodiversity.

British Academy-supported research from the NUWAO project explores how Indigenous-led, nature-based solutions can shape fairer climate action across Oceania.

Read more:
https://bit.ly/4nyr9Yv
Alt Text: Promotional image for "Indigenous approaches to climate justice" by the NUWAO research project, featuring an aerial view of a vivid turquoise sea meeting a sandy shoreline.
November 4, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
'“There is a generation of young scholars who are finding themselves stuck in what feels like a period of protracted adolescence,” wrote one young academic earlier this year, in a series of blogs on the early career researcher experience published by the Society for the Study of French History.' 1/3
resprofnews.bsky.social Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 14d
Early career researchers feel sharp end of jobs crisis.

As universities shed jobs, those setting out in academia are feeling pain of diminished prospects.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
November 12, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
sandraduffy.bsky.social
This is really very scary for any number of reasons, but mostly because fundamental human rights should be fundamental - they should not be subject to removal at the whim of a government. Article 3 is non-derogable (you are not able to deviate from it for any reason). It should not be up for debate!
sheg7.bsky.social She Guevara @sheg7.bsky.social · 10d
If you currently rely on the European Court of Human Rights for your minority group to *not* be targeted, you're in trouble...
She will also announce reforms to the application of key elements of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), including article 8, the right to a family life. She is expected to raise the need for international reform of article 3, covering torture and inhuman and degrading treatment. Both have been blamed for hindering Britain’s ability to remove illegal migrants and failed asylum seekers.
November 16, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Reposted by Ruth Fletcher
betaburns.bsky.social
Alice Wong has died, a devastating loss to all who knew her, loved her or were influenced by her. From disability visibility to Palestine, her words always created actions. There aren't words sufficient to mark her passing, so of course she wrote her own. A giantess of justice.
November 15, 2025 at 11:01 AM