A tough week for women

What started as a week of IWD celebration quickly turned in to a week I don't think many women will forget. It was by no means the celebration of women we planned.

In my 13 years of working in the gender sector, I have never seen or felt such emotion, unrest and heartbreak. The events of last week touched all of us and will doubt linger for months, if not years to come. I personally shed tears and felt the frustrations of our community, friends and even my own daughters. Sometimes, it feels like no matter how hard we all try, we seem to take one step forward and ten steps back.

On Monday, social media channels and the internet were full of celebrations, coupled with messages of why and what we need to challenge in order to achieve gender equality. At WeAreTheCity, we also had our own campaign sharing 100 voices of women and their various challenges. Pulling that campaign together and listening to all of those messages of challenge also drew home the huge mountain we have to climb to remove the many different challenges women face every day. Our campaign covered everything from violence against women and girls, race, women in the workplace, the treatment of women by the media, ageism, sexism, I could go on. In total there were over 85 different challenges, and that is just the voices of 100 women. As much as the celebrations continued, there was also the stark reality of the huge issue’s women face in society every single day.

What followed in the coming days can only be described as an onslaught of misogyny, tragedy and pure shock. From the Meghan Markle interview about her mental health and treatment by the royals, to the on-going press onslaught and questioning of a woman who chose to speak out. Reeling from those events, we then saw the tragic murder of Sarah Everard, and the subsequent treatment of women this weekend as they tried to protest peacefully about the safety of women on our streets.

It has been blow after blow and has left more questions than it has answers. How in modern day society are women like Sarah murdered and why the perpetrators of other murders such as Blessing Olusegun have not been brought to justice? Why have so many 18-24 year olds already experienced some form of sexual harassment? What is being done to break down institutional misogyny, and how do we rebuild trust with the very institutions that are supposed to protect us? 

The bottom line is that we need action, and we need it now! I alongside many others are looking to the government and asking, what are you going to do to ensure that ALL women and girls are protected from violence and abuse, be it physical or online? We also look to police to address their own failings. We look to our male allies and ask them to question what they can do to help. We also look at all those that shape young people’s lives to ensure that we raise young kids and adults to understand that any form of violence and abuse is not acceptable in any form. It all starts with that education. We have a huge task ahead if we are to see the society we all wish to live in, and we all have a part to play in that, regardless how small.

Personally, as much I am going into this week with a heavy heart, I am also more determined than ever to play whatever part is needed to support the many organisations and individuals out on the front line driving change. I am sure you are with me.

If you want to donate to the reclaim the streets campaign, the link is here https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/reclaimthesestreets

WeAreTheCity's #Choosetochallenge100 campaign can be found here https://wearethecity.com/choosetochallenge100-wearethecity/