5m votes for change

LAST weekend approximately 4.8million women across the globe marched in solidarity for women’s rights and to protest against the growing threat posed to those rights. Women, rich and poor, of varied colours, races and religions, stood side-by-side to represent their gender, their values and their united goal to be seen and heard. We live in a world so advanced, humanity has begun to explore space and conquer disease, and we can connect with those on the other side of the world at the touch of a button. But progress on women’s rights is still painstakingly slow. The statistics that lay bare the lives led by women in the 21st Century are truly shocking. Around 120million girls worldwide have experienced sexual violence at some point. That’s one in ten. (UNICEF, 2014)

In most countries women earn on average 60 to 75 per cent of the wages paid to men. (World Bank Gender Data Portal, 2015)

Out of 585 peace agreements from 1990 to 2010, only 92 contained any reference to women. (International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 2010)

So whatever President Trump and his supporters would have you believe, feminism is not a dirty word. He’s made a big mistake if he thinks all women are pu ssycats – because we won’t stop roaring until there’s change.

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