herizons

Abortion is healthcare, and The A Word provides a detailed overview of its global history, highlighting both the necessity of and restrictions on providing reproductive justice and care. Told through an intersectional feminist lens,this well-researched “graphic essay” as per authors Elizabeth Casillas and Higinia Garay explores the myriad ways that cis women across the globe have sought and ensured access to safe, legal abortion, often by any means necessary.

My son shyly peers into my laptop screen at the smiling woman on the video call. Nearly a decade ago, she was the first person to lay hands on him, catching his 8-pound, 9-ounce body as he slipped into her hands from between my shaking legs. In that moment, I was grateful, but didn’t yet question the privileges that shaped my entry into motherhood: the clean blanket he was wrapped in. My healthy partner’s presence next to mine. The meal we picked up on our joyful, exhausted drive home.

Ottawa’s annual Take Back the Night protest focused on speaking out against the proposed federal cuts to WAGE (the department for women and gender equality), Sept. 18. (Photos: Lanark County Interval House/Facebook) An international movement of marches and protests that advocate for women and gender-diverse peoples’ public safety, TBTN was first organized in Vancouver by the Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter. Now, TBTN typically happens on the third Friday of September.

Stellar comedian and fat icon Debra DiGiovanni recently said in a heartfelt TikTok: “I feel so scared that people are waiting for me to get thin,” in reference to the increase of fat celebrities’ bodies shrinking due to the popular use of GLP-1s (like Ozempic) for weight loss. All fat people notice how some of our icons in the media, beloved for their talents as well as their generous curves and soft rolls, are dropping pounds quickly.

"There’s a special role for aunties that can make you feel safe and give you information that maybe you’re a little bit more open to receive.” This is how Candace Neumann describes the influence of her family on her work now as a doula—a European term that many communities don’t use, opting instead for the familial term “auntie.” As a Red River Métis doula, beadworker, student, sundancer, cedar bath conductor, and community helper from Treaty 1 territory, Neumann’s understanding of herself...

When Halifax journalist Sandra Hannebohm covered the issue of period poverty, she knew she was reporting on something that mattered. Women on income assistance, unable to afford tampons or pads, were being pushed to desperate measures. Grassroots advocates organized and lobbied politicians to draft a bill to enact meaningful changes. Her story landed on the front page of local newspaper The Coast. “It was the best and most impactful work of my life,” she recalls.

“Instead of being the doormat, get up and be the door,” is the kind of line that rewires your brain—a perfect distillation of Lillian Allen’s four decades of feminist dub poetry that has transformed Canadian literature and culture. Born in Jamaica in 1951, Allen won two Juno Awards for her groundbreaking albums “Revolutionary Tea Party” (1986) and “Conditions Critical” (1988), becoming the first dub poet to achieve mainstream recognition in Canada. But accolades tell only part of the story.

Current Issue · Volume 40, Number 1 Spring 2026 Featured on the cover and in interview is Godmother of Dub Poetry Lillian Allen on feminism, Black makership, and intergenerational mentorship. Plus: an interview with Palestinian Canadian midwife Heba Al-Nashef on her experiences in Gaza, a South African campaign against femicide, and columns on Indigenous land titles, mad liberation, and Black women’s experiences in healthcare.

Award-winning poet, critic, and essayist Canisia Lubrin has long been celebrated for work that reimagines history, language, and Black life. Code Noir is the Whitby, Ontario author’s bold and expansive collection made up of 59 linked stories, each echoing one of the 59 articles of the historical Code Noir issued by King Louis XIV in 1685. That original legal decree governed slavery in French colonial empire territories—defining who was enslaved, who was free, what was legal, and what was not.

Herizons Magazine is seeking passionate and committed individuals to join our volunteer Board of Directors. Since 1992, Herizons has been Canada’s foremost feminist magazine, publishing quarterly from Winnipeg (Treaty 1 Territory) and distributed nationwide. Our mission is to provide feminist social commentary on art, culture, and legal, political, and community affairs, with a strong focus on anti-oppression and intersectionality.