Free Online Book Launch: The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht
UK politicians urgently need to learn from Scotland
FiLiA is delighted to host the launch of The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht, a new collection of over 30 essays and photographs, edited by Susan Dalgety and Lucy Hunter Blackburn, being published on 30th May 2024.
The launch will be an ONLINE event on Wednesday 5th June 2024 at 6‒7.15 p.m. BST. Tickets are FREE and available to buy here.
FiLiA CEO, Lisa-Marie Taylor, said: ‘In October 2023, FiLiA came to Glasgow to hold Europe’s largest grassroots feminist conference. We were blown away by the energy and commitment of our Scottish sisters and have continued to work with grassroots groups in Scotland, as part of the FiLiA Legacy Project. So we were delighted to be asked by Susan and Lucy to host a launch event, accessible to women from across Scotland and beyond.’
Editors, Susan Dalgety and Lucy Hunter Blackburn, added: ‘The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht bears witness to an extraordinary movement, which has galvanised women from all walks of life. FiLiA, with its impressive record of grassroots feminist organising, is the perfect partner for this event.
‘In drawing this book together, we were determined that women in Scotland should be the first to tell the story, in their own words, of what happened when they stood up to a civic and political establishment hell-bent on removing the recognition that sex matters in language, policy and law – and ended up contributing – unexpectedly – to the downfall of Scotland’s first woman first minister.
‘Our story concentrates on the period leading to Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation in February 2023. But events have not stood still.
‘Just recently, since the manuscript was finished, another First Minister has resigned, provoked not least by the reaction of his coalition partners, the Scottish Greens, to the report of the Cass review.
‘The week since the book was announced has seen the landmark judgment in Roz Adams’ employment tribunal, exposing how Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre had come to prioritise beliefs “at the extreme end of gender identity theory”, in the Tribunal’s words, over the needs of its vulnerable users.
‘Nicola Sturgeon has tried, not once but twice, to reinvent herself as an advocate of “civil discourse”, while conceding for the first time that her handling of gender recognition reform contributed to her decision to resign.
‘And now a UK General Election has been announced, so with all eyes on Westminster, politicians urgently need to learn from the experience of Scotland.
‘In The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht, women from across the political spectrum and beyond, who have been on the front-line of the battle for women’s sex-based rights in Scotland, provide insights not available anywhere else that will help readers understand why these questions continue to rock politics in Scotland and further afield.
‘On 5th June, as the Scottish Parliament marks its 25th year, we look forward to being joined by some of our contributors, to reflect on how we got here and where we may be headed.’
Notes to editors
1. ‘FiLiA’ means daughter; we are the daughters of the Women who came before us and we fight so that our sisters and daughters may be free. FiLiA is a Women-led Volunteer organisation and part of the Women’s Liberation Movement. We have charitable status for our work promoting Women’s human rights. FiLiA’s vision is a world free from Patriarchy, where all Women and Girls are liberated and we run the largest annual grassroots feminist conference in Europe. We are looking forward to our 10th annual conference, #FiLiA2025, where we will host over 3000 Women across three days of events, highlighting the vast amount of work and activism being done by Women for Women locally, nationally and globally. This takes place 10th‒12th October 2025 in Southern England and is organised entirely by our international team of volunteers, many of whom are survivors of male violence.
FiLiA’s mission is to contribute to the Women’s Liberation Movement by:
Building Sisterhood and Solidarity (locally, nationally, globally)
Amplifying the Voices of Women (particularly those less often heard or purposefully silenced)
Defending Women’s Human Rights
Find out more about FiLiA here and about the FiLiA Legacy Project here
2. The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht is published by Constable on 30th May 2024.
It captures an important moment in contemporary history: how a grassroots women's movement, harking back to the suffragettes and second wave feminists of the 1970s and 1980s, took on the political establishment – and changed the course of history.
Through a collection of over thirty essays and photographs, some of the women involved tell the story of the five-year campaign to protect women's sex-based rights. Author J.K. Rowling explains why she used her global reach to stand up for women. Leading SNP MP, Joanna Cherry, writes of how she risked her political career for her beliefs. Survivors of male violence, who MSPs refused to meet, are given the voice they were denied at Holyrood. Ash Regan MSP recounts what it was like to become the first government minister to resign on a question of principle since the SNP came to power in 2007. Former prison governor, Rhona Hotchkiss, charts how changes in prison policy in Scotland led to the controversy over Isla Bryson. It will also be available as an e-book, and from 6th June on Audible: more details here: The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht by Susan Dalgety and Lucy Hunter Blackburn | Hachette UK (littlebrown.co.uk)
3. Further details about the programme for the event will be announced on 30th May.