Selma Taha
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selmataha8.bsky.social
Selma Taha
@selmataha8.bsky.social
330 followers 51 following 18 posts
Fighting for racial justice, sex-based rights, and migrant women’s rights| Centering Black women’s voices against oppression | Feminist, anti-racist, and unapologetic | All views my own. 🇸🇩🇵🇸
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selmataha8.bsky.social
Selma Taha @selmataha8.bsky.social · Nov 17
New space, same mission! 🖤
selmataha8.bsky.social
Domestic abuse reached crisis levels during the pandemic. Migrant victim-survivors with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) were trapped in a triple bind of Covid-19, domestic abuse, and the threat of deportation and destitution. 1/5
November 21, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Reposted by Selma Taha
sbsisters.bsky.social
Today, we remember Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered in a racist attack in 1993.

We honour his legacy by highlighting institutional racism and the urgent need for change. The Met police's acceptance of the findings of the Casey Review is a key first step.

Rest in power, Stephen.
Image depicting Stephen Lawrence in a B&W striped t-shirt against a background with leaves. Image credited to The Guardian.
April 22, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Reposted by Selma Taha
sbsisters.bsky.social
Michelle Sparman tragically died by suicide amid concerns of coercive control.

An inquest into her death and any failure by agencies to act opens on Mon, 27 Jan for 3-4 days.

Join us at Inner West London Coroner's Court to demand answers.

Details 👇🏾
southallblacksisters.org.uk/news/inquest...
Inquest into the death of Michelle Sparman opens on Monday, 27th January 2025.
January 25, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by Selma Taha
sbsisters.bsky.social
The inquest into Michelle's death is open.

Michelle died by suicide in 2021. Her family has raised concerns of coercive control from Michelle's ex-partner.

Noting these, MyLondon reports on Michelle's ex-partner's admission about the 'flood' of texts. 1/3

www.mylondon.news/news/south-l...
Mum who took her own life 'bombarded with texts and bullied into relationship'
Michelle Sparman's former partner Roger Stephens agreed he sent too many texts but insists his behaviour was borne out of the grief of losing his relationship and that he 'absolutely' loved her
www.mylondon.news
January 28, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Reposted by Selma Taha
sbsisters.bsky.social
✊🏾 Sisters' resistance

Last week, over 40 of us came together in Ilford to commemorate Harshita's life.

The vigil marked a unified call for Harshita's perpetrator and the institutions that routinely fail migrant women like her to be held to account.

Video credit @channel4news.bsky.social.
January 28, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Reposted by Selma Taha
sbsisters.bsky.social
Over 40 of us gathered in Ilford today to honour Harshita's life and to demand justice for her murder.

We called on the government to ensure accountability for Harshita's perpetrator and to provide life-saving support for migrant victim-survivors. 1/2

southallblacksisters.org.uk/news/southal...
January 24, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Reposted by Selma Taha
millionwomenrise.bsky.social
Join the Million Women Rise SATURDAY 8TH MARCH on INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY

Central London
12pm

metro.co.uk/2024/11/25/i...
January 16, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Reposted by Selma Taha
sbsisters.bsky.social
Harshita’s life was tragically cut short by abuse.

Her murder underscores the scourge of VAWG and highlights statutory services’ repeated failures to safeguard Black, minoritised and migrant women.

Join us on Friday, 24th January to commemorate Harshita and to demand justice for her murder. 1/2
Join us for a vigil in memory of Harshita Brella to honour her life and demand justice for her murder. Friday, 24th January 2025. Location and time to be confirmed. Details to follow.
January 10, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Reposted by Selma Taha
sbsisters.bsky.social
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, please call our helpline on 020 8571 0800 or email info@southallblacksisters.co.uk.

We provide free and confidential advice to support women and girls to live free of violence and fear.

southallblacksisters.org.uk
Home - Southall Black Sisters
Originally set up in 1979, Southall Black Sisters (SBS) has established itself as an iconic organisation based in West London, but with a national reach and reputation for its landmark legal intervent...
southallblacksisters.org.uk
January 7, 2025 at 10:33 AM
selmataha8.bsky.social
We, the signatories, stand with Kongra Star in demanding that women's rights be upheld and that DAANES be protected. To do their part, the UK govt must ensure that the Rojava model is allowed to flourish, including through suspension of the arms trade with Turkey.

See our statement below 👇🏾👇🏾
sbsisters.bsky.social sbsisters.bsky.social @sbsisters.bsky.social · Jan 3
Joint statement from SBS, @filiacharity.bsky.social, One Law For All, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, Bread & Roses TV, SIAWI, and Freedom From Religion Foundation, in solidarity with Kongra Star in defence of the women’s revolution in NE Syria - 1/🧵

southallblacksisters.org.uk/news/joint-s...
Defend the Women’s Revolution in NE Syria Coverage of recent events in Syria – the rout of President Bashar al-Assad by the Islamist group, HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) – makes little mention of the women’s revolution that is taking place in DAANES (also known as Rojava) in NE Syria since 2012, a grassroots democracy committed to multi-ethnic inclusivity and an economic model based on ecological sustainability and cooperatives. As Western media rushes to legitimise HTS and its leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and Western governments are considering the removal of HTS from the list of proscribed terrorist organisations, we need to bear in mind their governance of Idlib which was authoritarian, anti-woman and based on sharia laws. At the same time, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) led by Abdullah Öcalan who developed the blueprint for the Rojava model of democratic confederalism is proscribed by Western governments at the behest of Turkey, a NATO ally. HTS is an informal ally of Turkey which is intent on crushing the Kurdish women’s revolution in a bid to prevent its own Kurdish population, along the border with Syria, from implementing a similar model of participatory democracy. Turkey has invaded and occupied parts of Rojava and has been bombing vital energy and water infrastructure in Rojava and killing activists, journalists and civilians. While the world is preoccupied with HTS, Turkey is redoubling its efforts under cover. We, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with Kongra Star, the umbrella group of women’s organisations, in Rojava. We demand that women’s rights be protected and that DAANES, which has shown the world what true equality and democracy looks like, be protected. It has become an inspirational beacon for women around the world. If the UK government is truly committed to women’s rights, we ask it to use its influence on the global stage to ensure that the Rojava model is allowed to flourish without interference from Turkey or HTS. This includes a suspension of the arms trade with Turkey.
January 3, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Reposted by Selma Taha
sbsisters.bsky.social
Earlier this year, we launched the #InvestingInSafety model resources that estimate that ‘by and for’ services yield net savings of over £127 million nationally over 3-years. 1/3

southallblacksisters.org.uk/submissions-...
December 27, 2024 at 11:36 AM
Reposted by Selma Taha
maryamaldossari.bsky.social
Israeli forces arrest Gaza hospital chief after ‘burning doctors and patients alive’. Troops beat Hussam Abu Safiya and kidnapped him alongside other doctors, leaving northern Gaza without any health services.
www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli...
Israeli forces arrest Gaza hospital chief after ‘burning doctors and patients alive’
Troops beat Hussam Abu Safiya and kidnapped him alongside other doctors, leaving northern Gaza without any health services
www.middleeasteye.net
December 29, 2024 at 9:40 AM
Reposted by Selma Taha
maryamaldossari.bsky.social
Israeli forces ‘sexually assaulted, beat and insulted women’ during Gaza hospital raid. The violence against women included stripping off their clothes, touching them under the threat of violence, beating them and hurling sexual insults at them. www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli...
Israeli forces ‘sexually assaulted, beat and insulted women’ during Gaza hospital raid
Eyewitnesses describe violence against women, girls and patients in new report
www.middleeasteye.net
December 29, 2024 at 11:08 AM
Reposted by Selma Taha
kiritunks.bsky.social
And thanks to @labwomendec.bsky.social for inviting me to speak about women in the labour movement at their Labour Party fringe this year. @filiacharity.bsky.social is building a union network for women. Get in touch! www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUle...
Kiri Tunks (Filia) - Unions & Labour Movement for Women, Conference 2024.
YouTube video by Labour Women's Declaration
www.youtube.com
November 28, 2024 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Selma Taha
maryamaldossari.bsky.social
UN committee condemns Israel’s disregard for international orders. Nearly 44,500 Palestinians killed, 105,000 injured, and essential infrastructure—homes, hospitals, schools—devastated in Gaza, fueling an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...
Gaza: UN committee alarmed by Israel’s blatant disregard for binding international orders
GENEVA – The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) today expressed its alarm about Israel’s flagrant disregard for its international legal obligations and International Court...
www.ohchr.org
December 13, 2024 at 12:31 PM
selmataha8.bsky.social
📢Tune in to Newsnight tonight! Our Campaign & Policy Manager will discuss Harshita Brella's case, the crisis of VAWG, and how Black, minoritised, and migrant women are repeatedly failed by the system. Join the call for justice and change. #Newsnight #EndVAWG
December 12, 2024 at 10:21 PM
Reposted by Selma Taha
sisterssalon.bsky.social
UPDATE: A man has handed himself in to the police & been arrested.

Our thoughts are with his victim.
#StopRape #16Days #Hastings
December 8, 2024 at 8:42 AM
Reposted by Selma Taha
sisterssalon.bsky.social
Do you know this man?

New CCTV footage has been released in an appeal to find a man who forced his way into a woman’s Hastings home and raped her.

#Hastings #SistersSalon #StopRape

www.theargus.co.uk/news/2477884...
New CCTV footage released of man linked to rape incident
New CCTV footage has been released in an appeal to find a man who forced his way into a woman’s home and raped her.
www.theargus.co.uk
December 7, 2024 at 10:13 AM
Reposted by Selma Taha
purnasen.bsky.social
#Cambridge #University urged to apologise over jailing of thousands of ‘evil’ #women without evidence or trial
A 1561 charter granted powers to imprison young #working-class women found walking with undergraduates after dark

www.theguardian.com/society/2024...
The photo is an extract of text from this article: Corporal punishments were also used, Biggs discovered. In 1748, the vice-chancellor paid the town crier 10 shillings to whip “10 unruly women”, Spinning House accounts show. Prison inspectors frequently condemned the jail, which the social historian Henry Mayhew called an “abomination” in 1851, noting the keeper pulled the girls’ hair if they didn’t keep quiet and threw them into solitary confinement. “The prison was notoriously cold and damp, and the food was just bread and sometimes gruel,” Biggs said. In December 1846, the 17-year-old Elizabeth Howe died after spending a night in a Spinning House cell with a broken window and a damp bed.
December 7, 2024 at 10:18 PM
Reposted by Selma Taha
sisterssalon.bsky.social
A 1561 charter granted powers to imprison young working-class women found walking with undergraduates after dark.
More than 5,000 were arrested in the 19th century alone.

Cambridge did not grant degrees to women until 1940- the last Uni to do so.

www.theguardian.com/society/2024...
Cambridge University urged to apologise over jailing of thousands of ‘evil’ women without evidence or trial
A 1561 charter granted powers to imprison young working-class women found walking with undergraduates after dark
www.theguardian.com
December 8, 2024 at 9:02 AM
Reposted by Selma Taha
sbsisters.bsky.social
J’s account underscores the additional barriers to support migrant victim-survivors with insecure immigration status encounter. It demonstrates the life-saving importance of ‘by and for’ service intervention & the vitality of the combined MVDAC-DVILR model in ensuring safety. #16CaseStudiesFor16Days
J, a migrant woman, endured abuse throughout marriage, which escalated after her pregnancy. She was subjected to physical, economic, emotional, and sexual abuse, including rape and coercive control by her husband. J met the perpetrator while on holiday in the UK, and their relationship continued long-distance before they married on her home island. After moving to the UK, J was coerced into selling her house, and her husband spent the proceeds, leaving her financially dependent. Following threats to kill from her husband, J fled with her three-month-old son and contacted the police. Social services intervened, and J and her son were placed in safe accommodation. As a migrant woman, J faced additional challenges due to her insecure immigration status. With the completion of her Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession (MVDAC) application, she gained the right to claim benefits and apply for housing. Although J was relocated to another area for her safety, welfare calls and referrals ensured she could access support in her new location. An application for her indefinite leave to remain (ILR) was successfully submitted, and she has now been granted permanent residency. J is beginning to rebuild her life in safety, free from violence and control, with the necessary support to secure stability for herself and her child.
December 7, 2024 at 12:31 PM
selmataha8.bsky.social
Enduring the horrific racist attack followed by the sustained threat of criminal sanction perpetrated by an institutionally racist justice system has left us with scars for life.

However, we refuse to simply accept these disparate outcomes. 1/2
sbsisters.bsky.social sbsisters.bsky.social @sbsisters.bsky.social · Dec 3
This #16DaysOfActivism, join us in our #FightForChange by supporting the #KingsCross3 in calling for a public apology and answers from the Met police, BTP, and the CPS in relation to the racist charges imposed on them for resisting and calling out racist abuse. 1/3
In September 2023, Selma Taha, Executive Director of Southall Black Sisters (SBS), and her two friends Divina Riggon and Danae Thomas, were subjected to a horrific verbal and physical racist assault while travelling on the London Underground. The assailant, a white woman, made monkey sounds, and hurled vile racist slurs, including “Black bitches” and “slaves”, at them. The verbal abuse escalated into physical abuse, with the assailant pulling out clumps of Selma and Danae’s hair, and biting Selma so viciously it necessitated tetanus and hepatitis shots and a bout of antibiotics. An off-duty Met police officer was present in the tube carriage the entire time, but failed to intervene to de-escalate the incident. Even after the train arrived at King’s Cross station, Selma, Divina, and Danae – the #KingsCross3 – had to challenge the inactivity and apathy of the off-duty officer to treat the matter seriously and arrest the assailant. A few months on, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) made the shocking decision to charge the #KingsCross3. All three were charged with common assault by beating. Divina and Danae were additionally charged with public order offences, including one for racial aggravation, in relation to alleged conduct towards a white British Transport Police (BTP) officer on the platform at King’s Cross after disembarking from the tube. In contrast, the white assailant merely received and has accepted a caution for one instance of racially aggravated conduct. No action is to be taken against her for the assault or the other instances of racist abuse. The trial, and the threat of irreparable damage to their livelihoods and reputations, hung over the #KingsCross3’s heads for almost a year. In the interim, the CPS also made unusual applications for special measures for screens and reporting restrictions for the anonymity of the police officers involved. The CPS finally dropped the public order offence charges a week before the trial, and the charge of common assault by beating on the first day. It cited the lack of evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction as the sole reason. Though the charges against the #KingsCross3 being dropped is surely a victory, it is far from justice. The criminalisation of three Black women for merely resisting and calling out racist abuse indicates the deeply pervasive institutional racism and misogyny in the criminal justice system, and reinforces our persistent call for structural reform. The #KingsCross3 are now demanding a public apology from the Met police, BTP, and the CPS, and answers as to why the racist charges were brought against them in the first place. They are also contemplating civil legal action. Join us in calling on the Met Police, BTP, and the CPS to: Issue a public apology to the #KingsCross3 and provide them with answers as to why the racist charges were brought against them in the first place.
December 3, 2024 at 5:59 PM
selmataha8.bsky.social
As Harshita is laid to rest, we hold her family, friends, and loved ones in our thoughts during this immense time of loss.

Her life, full of promise and light, was taken far too soon-a devastating reminder of the state’s ongoing failures to protect migrant women and deliver justice.
sbsisters.bsky.social sbsisters.bsky.social @sbsisters.bsky.social · Dec 3
As Harshita Brella is laid to rest in New Delhi today, we stand with her family in honouring her life and grieving the lost possibilities of the years ahead.

Our commemoration -
Today, as Harshita Brella is laid to rest by her family in New Delhi, we join them in mourning her untimely loss and in celebrating the remarkable person her loved ones knew her to be. Through conversations with her family, we have learnt Harshita to be a kind and thoughtful soul with big dreams for the full and happy life she had hoped to lead. This is the life Harshita was unduly cheated out of by her husband, who subjected her to domestic abuse, and who is believed to have allegedly killed her before subsequently fleeing the UK. Harshita, a migrant woman with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) and recognised by statutory authorities as a victim of domestic abuse, tragically lost her life. Her case is a devastating reminder of the structural barriers to support, and the recurrent state failures faced by Black, minoritised and migrant victims, often with fatal consequences. We stand with Harshita’s family in this deeply painful time to mark the day in Harshita’s memory. We remember her not just as a victim of violence against women and girls, but as the vibrant individual her loved ones knew her to be. We remember her for the indelible mark she left on the countless lives she touched. We honour the life she lived, and grieve the lost possibilities of the years ahead. In the days to come, we will continue to support Harshita’s family as they strive for answers and pursue justice and truth. The burden of responsibility rests on statutory authorities in the UK, to ensure perpetrator and state accountability for Harshita’s loss and to prevent similarly calamitous outcomes for other Black, minoritised and migrant victim-survivors.
December 3, 2024 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Selma Taha
sisterssalon.bsky.social
Sign & Share
#Action7 #16Days #16DaysOfActivism
I stand by the women & girls of Afghanistan & Iran and demand that we expand the legal definition of apartheid under international laws.
Join me

#EndGenderApartheid #16Days #SistersSalon #RespectWomen

endgenderapartheid.today/index.php
End Gender Apartheid
Join the Global action to end gender apartheid in Iran and Afghanistan today
endgenderapartheid.today
December 1, 2024 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by Selma Taha
kiritunks.bsky.social
Women (including several of a certain age) meeting up, having thoughts and saying them out loud. A wonderful afternoon with wonderful sisters.
December 1, 2024 at 6:50 PM