Joining Annie Lennox’s Charity The Circle’s MakeAStandFor1in3 Campaign
🌹 🎶 In Solidarity With My Sisters
Happy International Women’s Day & Mother’s Day
Let’s kick off with some facts:
This IWD, the UN declared that gender equality is 300 years away
1:3 women globally experience violence in their lifetimes
300 million women live in extreme poverty
In 72 countries, women are forbidden from opening bank accounts or accessing credit - contributing to 1 billion women lacking access to a bank account.
28 girls per minute are married as children (before the age of 18)
A woman dies every two minutes due to pregnancy and childbirth - the probability of maternal deaths is 1:5300 in high-income countries and 1:49 in low-income countries
49 countries have no specific law against domestic violence, 45 have no legislation to address sexual harassment and 112 countries do not criminalize marital rape
Only 1.6% of all philanthropic funds go to organisations focused on women and girls.
The young man who chased me through the train, spewing rage because I dared check on a woman he was hitting on, did not, fortunately, have a weapon. What he had was entitlement - the conditioned belief that he can take what he wants from a woman and abuse her if she refuses. Together, five women on the train rallied round, stood up to him and shooed him off. We all knew it could have ended very differently. **
In Croydon last September it ended tragically for 15-year-old Elianne Andam, killed at a bus stop during the morning school run. She was trying to help a female friend reclaim her belongings from a 17-year-old ex-boyfriend. He chased Elianne down the street and stabbed her repeatedly with a kitchen knife. A week later I stood amongst hundreds of people by a bus stop flooded with flowers, our hearts burning, lights burning, voices burning.
I share these facts and stories because I hear people say that patriarchy doesn’t exist, that women have equal rights now and feminism belongs with bra burning in the 60s. Interestingly the word has much longer roots than that - the Latin femina emerged from a Proto-Indo-European word root dhei - and meant “one who suckles.’ The term feminism was first coined by French Philosopher Charles Fourier (1772-1837) who wrote that “Social progress and changes of historical period take place in proportion to the advance of women toward liberty, and social decline occurs as a result of the diminution of the liberty of women...” - The Theory of the Four Movements (1808)
As women’s rights and social progress are intimately connected it is not surprising that women have always been at the forefront of social change and revolutions. Women lit the spark that started the French Revolution in 1789 and women such as Queen Nanny of Jamaica (1686-1760) spearheaded anti-colonialist movements. When Donald Trump was inaugurated in 2017 after declaring his entitlement to “Grab ’em by the pussy,” in what he referred to as ‘locker-room banter’ the 100,000-strong Women’s March in Washington spread across 68 countries. In 2022, a huge movement of women-led protests erupted in Iran after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in custody, having been arrested by the Morality Police for not wearing her hijab correctly. According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, as of 4 April 2023, 19,200 people were detained and 537 protesters killed, including 70 children.
So the power of women survives, persists and rises, even amidst horrific oppression. Malala Yousafzai, who narrowly escaped death after being shot by the Taliban said in her Speech at the UN, July 12th, 2013:
“They shot my friends too. They thought that the bullets would silence us. But they failed and out of that silence came thousands of voices…..
The wise saying, "The pen is mightier than sword” was true. The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women. The power of the voice of women frightens them.”
So today I use my virtual pen and voice to celebrate the vast power of women. It’s not a privilege I take for granted, knowing that millions of women globally lack access to literacy, safety, housing, food, income, healthcare, privacy and freedom of expression. I’m truly blessed to live and work amongst truly courageous, creative women who daily challenge and inspire me to rise - to do and be better. I extend my heartfelt gratitude and solidarity not just to all the women I know but also to all the women I don’t know - including the women who stood in solidarity with me on a train a few weeks ago. Together we rise.
With solidarity and love this IWD2024
🌹 🎶 Katiexx
** If you experience harassment on a train call/ text British Transport Police on 61016 or ring the emergency button