Restrictions on the rights to abortion: A global shift

In this episode, we're focusing on the LGBTQI+ community and the limits on their right to protest around the world. 

Jo Glanville speaks to Rita Nketiah, a queer feminist activist in Ghana, about the tabling of a draconian private member’s bill which will introduce a five-year sentence for anyone identifying as LGBTQI+, and imposes a duty for all Ghanaians to denounce members of the community, which also carries a five-year sentence.

Nicola Kelly speaks to Marko Mihailović, a leading LGBTQI+ activist based in Belgrade who successfully ran the city's campaign to host the pan-European EuroPride in 2022. He describes the atmosphere in the lead-up to the event and crackdowns on the community from far-right groups, religious groups and other opponents, which initially led to the cancellation of the march.

In the third episode of a special series on the right to protest, we discuss the monarchy and limits on our freedom to speak out against them, looking at two very different contexts: the UK and Saudi Arabia.

Jo Glanville speaks to Laura Clancy, lecturer in media at Lancaster University and author of Running the Family Firm, about the changing role of the monarchy in the UK. They discuss the arrests that took place following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last year and the chilling effect the police response has had on freedom of expression.

Nicola Kelly talks to Lina al-Hathloul, sister to prominent Saudi activist Loujain, who faced a number of horrific human rights abuses for speaking out against the ban on women drivers in Saudi Arabia. She paints a bleak picture of life under an absolute monarchy, where questioning the status quo can result in imprisonment and even death. 

Presented and produced by Jo Glanville and Nicola Kelly at Bison Studios, London.

In the second episode of our series on the right to protest, we focus on women taking to the streets to protect their rights, in both Iran and Poland. 

Over the past two years, there has been an alarming retreat from the defence of women’s reproductive rights. Poland introduced a near total ban on abortion in 2020. In the US, the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs Wade last summer, ending the constitutional right to abortion after nearly 50 years. 

But this sea change has triggered remarkable protest movements. In Poland, the Polish Women’s Strike was at the vanguard. Nationwide, hundreds of thousands came out to defend their rights in the largest protests since the fall of communism. 

In Iran, the death of Mahsa Amini in September sparked unprecedented demonstrations across the Islamic Republic, after she was arrested by the morality police for not following the obligatory dress code. ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ is the slogan of the protest movement. But this uprising has also become a call for wider radical change, as the government cracks down on the demonstrations. 

We hear from Maziar Bahari, founder of IranWire - the first outlet to break the story of Mahsa Amini’s death. We also speak to Marta Lempart, founder of the Polish Women’s Strike.

Presented and produced by Jo Glanville

Reported and produced by Nicola Kelly

Mixed at Bison Studios, London

In the first episode of a special series on the right to protest, Jo Glanville and Nicola Kelly speak to activists about the risks they face fighting to protect the planet, in the lead up to the United Nations conference on climate change in Egypt, COP27. 

We hear from Mona Seif, sister of the British-Egyptian political prisoner Alaa Abd el-Fattah about the decision to host COP 27 in Egypt and what protesters can expect if they call for change. 

In Kenya, we speak to environmental activist Raya Famau Ahmed who led a ground-breaking campaign, Save Lamu, that managed to stop the building of a coal-fired power plant in Lamu, a UNESCO World Heritage site on the south-east coast. We also hear from Eva Maria Anyango Okoth, a senior programme officer for Natural Justice in Kenya, working with local marginalised communities to protect their environmental and human rights. 

Produced and presented by Jo Glanville and Nicola Kelly. 

Recorded and mixed at Bison Studios in London.  

Restrictions on the rights to abortion: A global shift?

What are the implications for freedom of expression following the US Supreme Court decision to end the constitutional right to abortion? Does it mark a social and cultural shift beyond the United States? 

In this podcast, the second in a two-part series looking at the reversal of Roe v Wade in June, Jo Glanville talks to Venny Ala-Siurua, executive director at Women on Web, a pioneering international website that helps women access safe abortion services and contraception, Lana Dimitrijevic, lawyer and founder of the Women’s Rights Foundation in Malta, and Judy Taing, head of gender and sexuality at ARTICLE 19.

How are women’s rights to freedom of expression and access to information faring on a global level? What role does disinformation play in disrupting these rights, and how can tech companies help? In the current climate, the challenges and obstacles to protecting reproductive rights are huge — and yet the achievements of these leading activists and advocates give a reason for hope.

This podcast is part of the Boundaries of Expression series. 

The United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on 24 June 2022, and with it, the right to abortion as a constitutional right. A number of states took immediate action: in South Carolina, moves are underway to make it illegal to provide information about abortion; in Texas, people are being encouraged to spy and report on anyone who offers assistance to people getting an abortion. 

Jo Glanville talks to Quinn McKew, Executive Director for ARTICLE 19, First Amendment expert, lawyer and ARTICLE 19 trustee Bob Latham, and Alexandra Reeve Givens, CEO at the Center for Democracy and Technology, about the attack on reproductive rights, but also on people’s right to access information and to freely express themselves.

Jo Glanville speaks to Ronald Deibert, Director of Citizen Lab, on Pegasus spyware and how targeted surveillance has become the biggest threat to freedom of expression.

Guests: 

Ron Deibert, Director, Citizen Lab

This podcast was recorded on 21 June, before Apple announced it was introducing new protections against spyware and also donating towards funding research.

Jo Glanville speaks to three experts about the government's plans to reform the Human Rights Act, asking how freedom of expression may be affected.

Guests: 
Quinn McKew, Executive Director, ARTICLE 19
Jun Pang, Policy and Campaigns Officer, Liberty
Lizzie Greene, Group Legal Advisor, Associated Newspapers 

In the second podcast in ARTICLE 19's series 'Boundaries of Expression', journalist and editor Jo Glanville talks to Patricia Meléndez, head of civic space at ARTICLE 19, Gully Bujak, action planner at Extinction Rebellion, and Glacier Kwong, a political activist from Hong Kong about the threats to protest and how to protect a fundamental democratic right. 

The podcast was recorded in London on 20 January 2022.

In the first of ARTICLE 19’s podcasts exploring the limits and challenges to freedom of expression, journalist and writer Jo Glanville talks to María De Vecchi Gerli, right to truth and accountability co-ordinator for ARTICLE 19 Mexico and Central America, Satko Mujagić, a survivor of Omarska concentration camp, currently working at the European Commission,  and Sandra Peake, Chief Executive of WAVE Trauma Centre in Northern Ireland, about why the truth matters and what it takes to fight against impunity.