2017: The Year the Women Stood Up

2017 has been the Year of the Women for sure. We’ve stood tall and we’ve stood strong, coming forward with our painful experiences of sexual harassment and sexual assault, be it inappropriate touches, intimidating behaviour or rape – they’re all disgusting and they’re all real scenarios women have had to face not just in 2017, but, seemingly, since time began.

2017 has been the year that women used their voices once again. It was as though we’d put the megaphone down for a while, giving ourselves a little break while we organised our education, careers, families and the rest of it. But this year we picked it back up and we started broadcasting our issues once again, perhaps most prominently on Twitter with the ‘#MeToo’ tag started by Tarana Burke in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein rape and assault claims saw thousands of women, girls, men and boys respond with their own stories about sexual assault and harassment. While it displayed immense strength and power, it showed us that there’s still a long way to go before men and women are finally equal.

2017 has been the year that women took down a man whose company is worth an estimated $150 million and has received 303 Oscar nominations. They took down Harvey Weinstein and they did so with graphic and microscopic detail. It seemed that every single day there was a new accusation. Some described how Weinstein would force them into his bathroom, some were how Weinstein would present himself naked in front of them and some described in further detail what Weinstein said to them; how he threatened to destroy any career hopes if they did not give him what they wanted. These women have been brave enough to destroy this man’s career, putting theirs on the line and, by doing so, paved the way for other Hollywood giants to be rightly destroyed too. They paved the way for men to come forward about actor Kevin Spacey, who was described in detail by young men of sexual assault and harassment too.

2017 has been the year that women changed the world. The women who came forward about Weinstein did a great job, but that wasn’t enough to change the world. It was the women in your home, your street, your village, your town and your city who spoke to others about their experiences who changed the world. They have made speaking about sexual assault almost commonplace. Their lack of shame by speaking to their families and their friends shows their bravery and shows how one person can change the world. Each time one woman stepped forward and opened her mouth to tell someone, she took down one perpetrator and lifted herself right up into the stars. It is the women who turned out to and supported the Women’s Marches earlier this year who rightfully reclaimed dignity and authority to womenkind once more. They stood up and made sure we were listened to.

2017 has been the Year of the Women, and I’m completely sure that our sisters Emmeline Pankhurst, Millicent Fawcett and Mary Wollstonecraft will be fist-pumping somewhere.