26/06/2026
Great Women Against the Far Right launch meeting at the Alphabetti Theatre in Newcastle last night. The theatre was packed to capacity with over 80, overwhelmingly women who had come together to make it clear that they reject the lies of the racist bigots of the far right who claim they want to protect women from violence and sexual assault. The meeting was chaired by Newcastle City UNISON’s Women’s Officer Lucy Edache, panel speakers were Darlington National Education Union Black Member’s Officer Mina Kaur, former North Tyneside UNISON Branch Secretary and UNISON National Executive Committee member Jenny Black, Mehru Nisa Shah of Newcastle Unites and Sofia Beech Women Against the Far Right national officer.
Panelists and speakers from the floor rejected the claims made by the far right that refugees and asylum seekers pose a threat to women’s safety, pointing out that 97% of all violent and sexual assaults against women are perpetrated by someone related or known to them, that 41% of those on the far right arrested following the 2024 far right pogroms were found to have previous convictions for domestic abuse/sexual assault or violence against women and that since the 2024 riots 50% of these had been convicted again!
Everyone agreed that the real threat to the safety of women comes overwhelmingly from the far right. One speaker highlighted the specific threat posed by the far right to trans women and said she believed that Keir Starmer’s anti-trans policies had made this much worse. There was an overwhelming feeling in the room that a central aspect of the WAFR campaign must be to reject anti-trans bigotry and that trans women are women! We can look forwards to much more great work to stop the rise of the far right from North East Women Against the Far Right. See less
