Against all the odds, Southall Black Sisters, a poorly funded, radical Asian women's group, has become synonymous with black British feminism and activism. Active in Southall near London since early 1979, the Black Sisters have developed both a national and an international reputation. They have not merely offered welfare advice, but spearheaded many high profile campaigns on domestic violence, abused women who kill--such as the celebrated case of Kiranjit Ahluwalia--immigration rights, and the dangers posed to women by the rise of religious fundamentalism. This important anthology makes the connections between race, gender and class and ensures that a neglected area of current feminist debate is not lost to history through a failure to record insights gained in the heat of activism. A provocatively argued book, it is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the dynamics of the relationship between the disempowered margins of society and the state and the power balance between men and women.

Born in a priviledged family in India, the author came to England in 1979 to be married to a man she hardly knew. The next 10 years were to be a nightmare, on a daily basis of physical, mental and sexual abuse. This book is her story, and how a group of women got together to petition against the sentence, and ultimately succeeded in helping her.