Sian Norris

2 weeks ago | l8r.it | Sian Norris

At least one woman at risk of self-harm, suicide and violence was restrained using ‘anti-rip’ clothing in English prisons for every day of 2024, an investigation by openDemocracy can reveal. Anti-rip clothing is made from thick material and has reinforced seams that prevent it from being torn and used as a ligature. It’s intended as a “last resort” when women in mental health crises are at real risk of harming themselves.

3 weeks ago | newhumanist.org.uk | Sian Norris |Dominique Palmer |Andrew Copson |Lois Lee

Our world is experiencing seismic change with the rise of power-mad leaders, spiralling conflicts and climate chaos. At such times, the big questions of life are brought into sharp relief. And so amid this turmoil, religious leaders are hoping for a return to faith, while ideologues of all stripes are seeking to exploit anxiety by offering purpose and certainty. How should we navigate questions of meaning in our increasingly secular society, and how might a humanist approach serve as a guide?

1 month ago | l8r.it | Sian Norris

The British military has paid out just under £20m to victims of sexual misconduct, abuse and harassment over the past ten years, openDemocracy can reveal. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) spent £11.9m of taxpayer money compensating victims and survivors of sexual misconduct and a further £8.4m on their legal costs between 2014 and 2024, according to data obtained through Freedom of Information requests.

2 months ago | sianushka.substack.com | Sian Norris

It was September 2023, and I was sitting in the Georgian restaurant in the heart of Kharkiv’s Shevchenko Gardens, reading Virginia Cowles’ memoir Looking for Trouble. She was describing life in Madrid during the Spains’s civil war, and her first experience of shelling.

Mar 26, 2025 | l8r.it | Sian Norris

Levana Coker had recently moved to Dorset, on England’s south coast, when she first saw the advert in her local Job Centre. It was for a housekeeper at a large-scale accommodation site, she said, £11.50 an hour for the first month, rising to £12 per hour after that. Levana was training to become a dog groomer but needed a job to stay afloat until she qualified. She applied, and was duly accepted. It was the summer of 2023.