Volunteer Inayah reflects on FiLiA Conference

Last year one of our volunteers, Inayah Ahmed, from UCL Risk and Disaster Reduction, attended the final day of he FiLiA Conference with us. Here she reflects on what she experienced and learned, what her takeaways from the day were:

“A Day of True Feminism and Sisterhood”, An Experience of the 2025 FiLiA Conference

 As part of my volunteer internship with Hague Explained CIC, I had the opportunity to attend the 2025 FiLiA Conference (Europe's largest annual grassroots feminist conference). It was a day marked by true feminism and sisterhood, sharing women’s experiences from across the globe.  

Hague Explained had an opportunity to run a workshop, opening up discussions around the 1980

Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (The Hague Abduction Convention).  Speaking on a panel that was chaired by Pragna Patel, Co-Director of Project Resist and founder of Southall Black Sisters, with Amanda McCormick, Sharon Holland and Davina James-Hanman. 

Reflecting on the session, co-founder Anita Gera said:  

“I spoke about the realities of mothers losing life with their children following Hague Abduction Convention cases, supported by some of the research from my master’s dissertation. This had a powerful impact, several women in the audience were in tears, and many stopped to speak to me afterwards to say that they had no idea this international law existed and were horrified to hear of how the mother-child dyad was destroyed in too many cases. I later also spoke about misomatery, the hatred of mothers, that I believe is behind much of the abuse that mothers suffer.”  

Across the day, I heard speakers challenge global inequalities. From testimonies of women’s advocacy in Iran to discussions on feminist resistance to the porn industry, these conversations were greatly needed in times such as these, where systems of power continue to shape so many women’s lives.  

A session that particularly resonated with me was a panel discussion on The State as a Perpetrator of

Violence Against Women by speakers Bronwyn Winter, Clarice Saadi, Maryam Aldossari, Li Wen, Reem Alsalem, Atena Daemi, Frohar Poya and Nonotchka Rosca. The speakers examined the government's role in destabilising communities, with violence against women described as a ‘global phenomenon’. I found the testimony of Atena Daemi incredibly moving. Daemi spoke with such courage, detailing her imprisonment for seven years following her peaceful advocacy. These stories were a powerful reminder of how women’s struggles are continually minimised by the state. 

Another panel discussed Feminist Resistance to the Porn Industry by Tonia Antoniazzi, Gail Dines, Gemma Aitchison and Rakel Naevdai. I recall speakers describing what felt to them as a moral imperative to act against porn as a tool of ‘non-state torture’, which I found incredibly powerful. The session highlighted how vulnerable women are often coerced into the industry, raising serious questions for me around whether our systems are doing enough to protect women. Their call for social action truly inspired me, highlighting how challenging this industry is our shared responsibility. 

These stories made me think about the steps needed to advance women’s rights. For organisations like Hague Explained, these conversations reinforce the importance of examining how laws and institutions can, perhaps unintentionally, harm vulnerable groups. Overall, attending the 2025 FiLiA conference reminded me of the value of opening up discussions around women’s experiences to work towards justice for women across the globe. I am so grateful for the opportunity to attend, as I left feeling truly inspired.