ENOUGH
THE YEAR WOMEN SAID: ENOUGH IS
IT STARTED W WITH the inauguration of a sexual harasser to the White House. A man who bragged about ‘grabbing women by the pussy’ without waiting for consent. Then, as 2017 rolled on, it emerged men had been abusing positions of power to sexually harass and assault across every major industry: entertainment, fashion, politics, media and sport.
But did women retreat in despair? Did we complain about feeling weaker than ever? Or claim decades of progress seemed to be in reverse? No. With every sordid revelation, we grew stronger. Every allegation and confession ignited a fire in us. This has been the year women rose up and said: enough is enough.
Until now, powerful perpetrators have sailed through life unencumbered, exploiting a culture that relied on a victim’s silence. But this year we’ve seen the dam start to shatter and break. The first cracks appeared at the Women’s March, held the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration in January. Sure, we had wept when the results came in – a man who dismissed sexual assault as ‘locker room talk’ had been given the ultimate political endorsement – but the election triggered something exhilarating too.
It inspired a wave of action and galvanised us in our millions to mobilise with placards and pink pussy hats. It fired up women who’d never identified as feminist before. With almost 700 marches
around the world and almost five million marchers, it quickly became the biggest human rights demonstration in history, sending a bold message that we were furious, ready to fight and unwilling to back down.
Then, on 5 October, The New York Times published a story detailing decades of allegations of sexual harassment against the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Actors Rose Mcgowan and Ashley Judd became the first of more than 50 high-profile women to accuse him of harassment or assault. ( Weinstein has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex.)
Suddenly, women everywhere felt emboldened to publicise their own experiences. The Weinstein effect had taken hold and sparked a global debate. It sent shockwaves, first through showbusiness and then around the world. Next came the chillingly honest hashtag filling every social media feed with stories of #Metoo.
Millions of women shared their experiences of sexual harassment and abuse, highlighting an endemic problem in society. It took serious guts, but the movement picked up a momentum of its own. Now, unlike before, victims were blaming the perpetrators instead of themselves. Women were taking control of the narrative and declaring they weren’t going to take it any more.
The tsunami of allegations has brought down everyone from the actor Kevin Spacey and comedian Louis CK to British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon. It has brought about progress: men who confessed to abusing their power fell from grace. Others saw the movement as a wake-up call and vowed to change, or call out misogynistic behaviour in future.
There has been a global shift in attitudes within organisations, too. At the beginning of the year, Casey Affleck was awarded an Oscar despite being sued by two women for sexual harassment. By November, the BBC was shelving its Christmas drama until rape allegations against its star, Ed Westwick (which he’s denied), were investigated and matters resolved.
As actor and comedian Sarah Silverman pointed out in a recent interview, ‘ The past few weeks have been the best ever for women in Hollywood. It’s better than the silence of the past. I mean, it’s finally exposing it. The enabled fucking monsters are gonna think twice now. And that’s what it’s all about – be scared,’ she said.
So no, let’s not think of 2017 as a depressing year for the progress of women or the year we had to stop watching our favourite films because they were produced by a serial abuser. Instead, let’s celebrate this new era of resistance. The floodgates have opened and there’s no turning back now.
i think the older you get, the more you witness that special breed of human: the angry white man who doesn’t know what he’s angry about or why – never mind being able to use real stats or logic to explain himself. I was 18 when I had the unfortunate experience of meeting such a man in Birmingham. His name was Ian Crossland, regional organiser of the EDL, and he confronted me as I stepped in to protect another woman his group were shouting at. Our picture went viral soon after. It depicted me, a young woman of colour from a Muslim family, as a symbol of everyday resistance. The picture became a perfect representation of what it is to be British. What it is to fight intolerance. What it is to protect the most quintessential British value – freedom, whether that means wearing a headscarf or being LGBTQ or supporting our immigrants.
Since that moment, I’ve had amazing experiences I could only dream of before. I’ve worked with Labour and met Jeremy Corbyn. I signed to the special bookings section of Elite Model Management London and have appeared at Fashion Week for Dilara Findikoglu in a custom outfit called ‘Justice Lady’ (right). I also now work as a photographer, and tackle concepts like class in my projects. Since facing down that man, my life has changed a lot – but I can’t say the same for me. I’ll never back down.