Rahila Gupta

Author and Activist

Rahila Gupta

The hijab or the bikini: the shaping of young girls’ sexuality

Where the line will be drawn between childrens' rights and parents’ rights will always be heavily contested. Issues from the veiling of young girls to the manufacture of padded bras for seven year olds, may best be dealt with by upholding the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Lush – cosmetic or real?

The EU is on the point of turning its back on the Schengen agreement. Welcome to the World Passport: 'this document confirms that its bearer is a human being, and not an alien'. Rahila Gupta reports on the campaign for open borders

Feminism and the soul of secularism

Secularism, as a concept, appears to be in danger from both the left and the right. Among feminists, it tends to be only some minority women scrambling for the soul of secularism. It is time for all feminists to muck in, says Rahila Gupta

The religious lobby and women’s rights

None of the main political party manifestos tackle the encroachment of religion on our society. As more and more public spaces are devoured by religious interests creating particular problems for women, Rahila Gupta argues that it is time to end state funding of religion and faith based organisations as service providers.

Unsafe havens

The Government is planning tougher penalties for men who use trafficked prostitutes. But who is helping the women themselves?