If Emma Martin was alive now, how might she reflect on the achievements of women’s rights campaigners, both in the UK & worldwide, and on women’s resulting changed role in society, in political, civic and reproductive areas. As well as access to education and employment. There are areas where progress has been limited, or where it is going backwards, particularly linked with the rise of the far right. How is this affecting women, in the areas of employment & leadership, sexual rights, reproductive rights and male violence? All are areas in which humanists have campaigned.

Looking forward, what are the most important issues we should campaign on? Where do our greatest hopes for progress lie?

Sian Norris
is a Bristolian author and investigative journalist, specialising in women's reproductive rights and violence against women. Her recent book Bodies Under Siege is about the international rise of the far right and its impact on women's reproductive rights. She has also visited and reported from Ukraine on the Russian invasion. Her journalism has included investigations into sexual harassment in the NHS and violence in prisons. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, The Times, New Statesman and The I, amongst many others, and she has reported from numerous countries, including Kenya, Romania & Bangladesh . She was the founder of the Bristol Women's Literature Festival and is Senior Investigative Reporter at openDemocracy.

"When it comes to the critical issues shaping our society, there are journalists who try to observe and analyse from on high – and then there are journalists like Sian Norris, who throw themselves headfirst into the messy tangle of people, places and politics that matter, and do so with passion and bite. .... she’s a fighter for a better world and her work might just help us win one." Jack Schenker, author 'Now We Have Your Attention'

“A vital and sobering book. Sian Norris's reporting on reproductive rights has long been prescient, dogged, and courageous -- and in this book (Bodies Under Siege) she gives us an unflinching portrait of quite how much women stand to lose." Katherine Angel

Emma Martin
was Bristol's most important freethinker, humanist, feminist and human rights campaigner. In her short life (1812-1851), she went from committed Christian to outspoken atheist/freethinker, working for the Owenites, speaking to thousands and publishing pamphlets on the role of the church and on women's rights. Later on she trained as a midwife and campaigned on reproductive rights. She has a blue plaque dedicated to her in Bridewell Street, and annually we celebrate her life with this special talk.

Heron Books will be providing a bookstall