Raquel Rosario Sánchez

Raquel Rosario Sánchez is a writer, researcher and campaigner from the Dominican Republic

Saturday

Raquel Rosario Sánchez

Farewell to Pope Francis

From our UK edition

Today, millions of people will watch the funeral of Pope Francis taking place at the Vatican. The ceremony, expected to be attended by thousands of people and world leaders including Prime Minister Keir Starmer and United States president Donald Trump, will take place outdoors, in front of the Saint Peter’s Basilica. Afterwards, the Pope’s remains will be buried in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major where he will have a simple burial, as per his wishes set out in his testament: “The tomb should be in the ground; simple, without particular ornamentation, bearing only the inscription: Franciscus.

Monday

Raquel Rosario Sánchez

How Trump won over Latino voters

From our UK edition

A huge surge of support from the Latino community helped Donald Trump to victory in the US election. I could never envision myself voting for Donald Trump. But my aunt in New York, who became a citizen many years ago did just that: last week she cast a ballot for the Republican candidate. So why did she, and so many other Latinos, turn to Trump? There has been an outpouring of racism and xenophobia from liberal circles aimed at the Latino community for choosing to back Trump. Jokes about mass deportation and accusations of how ignorant, uneducated or misogynist the community is for voting Republican are thriving. But my aunt isn't a stupid woman who doesn’t know what’s good for her: she is tough, clever and hard-working.

Tuesday

Raquel Rosario Sánchez

Labour must do more to end violence against women

From our UK edition

How serious is the Labour party about tackling male violence against women and girls? In June, while campaigning for the general election, then shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper pledged the matter would be treated as a 'national emergency'. Last week, the Home Office finally announced the development of a national initiative to use data-driven tools and algorithms that analyse police data to identify and pursue perpetrators of abuse such as domestic abuse, sexual assault and stalking. Most abusers never face accountability This would be a positive step, particularly the proposal of using technology to build risk profiles for victims and perpetrators overseen by authorities to enhance victim safety.

Thursday

Raquel Rosario Sánchez

Keir Starmer’s gender muddle is a disaster for the Labour party

From our UK edition

How committed is Keir Starmer to protecting women’s rights? Earlier this month, the Labour leader dismissed the sex and gender identity debate as trivial and irrelevant to the next election, only to backtrack following an intervention by the Prime Minister.   In an LBC interview earlier this month, Starmer stated: ‘I do sometimes just wonder why on earth we spend so much of our time discussing something which isn’t a feature of the dinner table or the kitchen table or the café table or the bar.’ The day before, a Sunday Times interview published statements he made on a train journey to Plymouth the previous Friday in which he tried to court women voters concerned about erasure of biological sex by saying: ‘For 99.

Monday

Raquel Rosario Sánchez

Why feminists like me are backing Badenoch

From our UK edition

Kemi Badenoch is the surprise candidate in the Tory leadership contest. Badenoch was, until a few weeks ago, a relatively lowly minister in Boris Johnson's government. Now she stands a credible chance of becoming the next prime minister. Her success in facing down her Conservative rivals has catapulted her into the limelight. But for feminists like me who campaign for sex-based rights her impact on the leadership contest isn't entirely unexpected. Why? Because unlike her rivals like Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, Badenoch knows the answer to a simple question: what is a woman?

Saturday

Raquel Rosario Sánchez

Female prisoners are being endangered by trans rights

From our UK edition

This week it was reported that a male convicted murderer in Scotland has not only been allowed to self-identity on the female prison estate, but had gone one step further and demanded that the guards treat them as a baby. Sophie Eastwood was initially jailed for a driving offence in 2004, but went on to kill a former cellmate with shoelaces. Eastwood received a life sentence in the Polmont prison for women. Far from settling in, Eastwood is alleged to have demanded that prison officials cater to surprising demands: from nappies and baby food, to the expectation that guards hold their hand. Instead of rejecting these demands, officials are acquiescing and have reportedly given Eastwood a dummy.

Sunday

Raquel Rosario Sánchez

How gender studies took over the world

From our UK edition

Why are so many people in such a muddle over the word 'woman'? Sadly, a share of the blame falls on women's studies and gender studies. I should know: this has been my academic field for over a decade.  As a teaching assistant, I remember repeating the phrase 'there is more difference among the sexes than between the sexes' in front of a group of students, without properly thinking it through. A sociology of gender professor taught me that, and I absorbed it like a sponge. It was only upon reflection that I realised the consequences of denying sex differences. Most of my cohort never changed their minds.