Grazia

welcome to the issue

ONE OF THE MOST moving things about last week’s World Mental Health Awareness Day was watching social media flood with people opening up about their experiences – evidence, perhaps, that the taboo is ending. And about time. Research shows that there’s been an increase in the number of women worried about their mental health; with more than half of those aged 18-30 citing concern – up from 38% in 2016. That’s why we’re committed to our Where’s Your Head At campaign; lobbying the Government to change the law so employers treat physical and mental health with parity. Go to wheresyourheadat.org to sign our petition. @hattie_brett / feedback@graziamagazine.co.uk…

over to you...

STRONGER TOGETHER I couldn’t help the tears running down my cheeks as I read ‘We need to end the stigma around mental health’ (7 Oct) and I know I’m going to be one of the first to buy Scarlett’s book It’s Not OK To Feel Blue (And Other Lies). I’m 31 and I’ve spent most of my life hiding behind a smile and fighting my own head. It’s not until recently that I’ve realised people do understand when you tell them you’re struggling with anxiety or depression. By sharing our story, our thoughts and our feelings with others, we become stronger because we realise we’re not on our own any more. I urge every single person out there who is struggling to just talk to someone, anyone... Amy EVERY LITTLE HELPS I have…

let’s talk periods

Totally behind Emma Barnett (Women’s issues ARE the issues, 14 Oct). We talk about women’s fight for equality, but the very taboo subject of periods amounts to a deafening silence. No woman has ever been able to talk about it freely, amusingly or even honestly. We should not be silenced about this fundamental bodily process. And menstruation products should be free for everybody – some of us pay for these products for 40 years. Smoking, shaving and contraceptives are all personal choices, having a uterus isn’t. So unfair.…

grazia uk

EDITOR HATTIE BRETT PA/Editorial assistant MELISSA HENRY Acting PA/Editorial assistant ISABELLA D’EMILIO 020 3879 2294 Deputy editor ROSAMUND DEAN Assistant editor CHARLOTTE WILLIAMSON Acting assistant editor EMMA ROWLEY Production director LISA HOWARD Features director EMILY PHILLIPS Acting features director ALI PANTONY Celebrity director GUY PEWSEY Creative director CAROLYN ROBERTS Fashion director KENYA HUNT Picture director NATHAN HIGHAM-GRADY Beauty & health director JOELY WALKER Managing editor DANIELLE O’CONNELL Acting managing editor SOPHIE PRICE Copy Production editor JENNY CROALL Chief sub editor MARIA O’CONNOR Features Commissioning and special projects editor RHIANNON EVANS Deputy features editor ANNA SILVERMAN News & Entertainment Junior news editor HARRIET KEAN EDITOR-AT-LARGE POLLY VERNON EDITOR-AT-LARGE (CELEBRITY) EMILY MADDICK CONTRIBUTING EDITOR (INVESTIGATIONS) STACEY DOOLEY Lifestyle Lifestyle editor RACHEL LOOS Website Digital director REBECCA HOLMAN Acting digital director LYNN ENRIGHT Digital editor REBECCA REID Fashion and beauty editor HANNAH BANKS-WALKER Social media editor PHOEBE PARKE Digital writer GEORGIA ASPINALL Digital showbusiness and culture writer BONNIE McLAREN Commercial content editor…

grazia view

Don’t forget what Extinction Rebellion are fighting for “For two weeks, the capital has felt the full force of environmental campaign group Extinction Rebellion, who have been peacefully occupying areas of Central London. Their protests have been met with praise, eye rolls and criticism, as they’ve glued themselves to buildings and blocked roads to raise awareness. But let’s remember what they’re fighting for. They want the UK to drastically reduce carbon emissions so the Earth’s temperature doesn’t keep rising. Even if you’re a climate change naysayer, you can’t deny they’re acting for altruistic reasons. So let’s stand in solidarity with them. They’re doing this for the planet and all our futures.”…

northern ireland gets abortion rights: but i’m not happy

STORMONT, THE NORTHERN IRISH Assembly, collapsed in January 2017 following a scandal involving a renewable energy incentive scheme (what else?). Given that it’s failed to get back on its feet ever since, it seems unlikely it’ll resume business before next Monday, 21 October, when, in accordance with an amendment voted through Westminster this July, abortion will be decriminalised in Northern Ireland. Currently, NI is subject to some of the most stringent abortion laws in Europe: laws so restrictive that, two weeks ago, they were found to breach UK human rights commitments. Sarah Ewart brought the case that resulted in this judgement to Belfast’s High Court; six years earlier, she had been forced to travel from her home in Northern Ireland to a London clinic for a termination, after a scan showed…