Act by Erin Aniker. Courtesy of the artist.
The year just gone was marked by formidable feminist organising — 2018 saw women hone in on issues like sexual violence and bodily autonomy, as well as women’s voices gaining more attention in the media than ever. As we enter a new year, the work continues: what did we learn from women’s liberation in 2018 and what are feminism’s most crucial challenges as we move into a new year?
In 2018, sexual violence came to the fore: Tarana Burke’s #MeToo sprung up in late 2017, but gained forceful momentum in the new year, with women continuing to come forward, and award ceremony speeches from Oprah Winfrey to Viola Davis to Frances McDormand paying tribute to survivors of sexual assault within Hollywood. Weinstein went to court in December, just shy of two months after businessman Phillip Green was named the man at the centre of what was dubbed Britain’s own ‘#MeToo scandal’. July saw Dr. Christine Blasey Ford mount allegations against the then prospective Supreme Court judge, Brett Kavanaugh, resulting in a hearing watched by over 20 million viewers. Although Kavanaugh was nonetheless sworn in, the sheer volume of demonstrators, women’s activists, and indeed, viewership, cemented the event as a key moment in the public record.
In the student movement, work surrounding sexual violence also gained traction – as the Welfare and Rights Officer of Cambridge University, I also saw this first hand throughout the year. Our Women’s Campaign, headed by Women’s Officer Lola Olufemi, focused on the University’s outdated disciplinary procedure, with Olufemi also acting as a student figurehead for the University’s Breaking the Silence initiative, which allowed students to anonymously report sexual harassment and assault. Within the National Union of Students, Women’s Officer Hareem Ghani led a report alongside the 1752 group that found that more than four in ten students had experienced at least one instance of sexualised behaviour from staff. Not restricted to Hollywood, sexual violence is a long-lasting, systemic issue that pervades our institutions, and 2018 saw crucial steps to try and tackle it.
Beyond sexual violence, bodily autonomy was prominently contested. The referendum on abortion in the Republic of Ireland saw tireless activism from those wanting to repeal the Eighth Amendment (a constitutional law declaring equal rights to the mother and the unborn child, effectively banning abortion in almost all cases). In May, voters turned out in their droves with a landslide number of citizens voting in favour to repeal the law.
Upon news of the referendum, swathes of women travelled home to Ireland to vote, with the UK’s National Union of Students’ #HomeToV8te campaign funding travel bursaries for women’s journeys in order for them to have their say. Access to abortion is, of course, an issue that interacts with class, with women having to travel to England to gain access to free, safe and legal abortion, requiring a passport and tickets that can cost anything up to 2000 euros. Women — and men — came out in their thousands to support the case to repeal, with an incredible amount of international solidarity shown. Meanwhile, the effort still continues to legalise abortion in Northern Ireland with pro-choice activists looking to the Republic and Westminster for much needed support in 2019.
The year just gone also saw women taking the spotlight in the media. Culture is a mirror that reflects society, but in many ways it also influences it – so I certainly welcomed the revelation that women of colour nabbed a number of accolades. Viewers turned out and switched on for women whose stories have so often been quashed – women of colour, queer women, working class women. At the year’s close, Noname became the first woman to hold Metacritic’s highest rated album of the year, whilst Michelle Obama was the first person of colour to author Christmas’ bestselling book. Killing Eve, a cat-and-mouse spy thriller with a queer, female focus, snatched records on both sides of the Atlantic, igniting a dedicated lesbian fanbase. Beychella also struck in the heat of summer, serving us beats, basslines and looks, as well as making Beyoncé the first black woman to headline the festival. It appears that there is more demand for women’s voices and stories than ever – and alongside meaningful structural changes – this is not a bad thing.
As we reflect on last year’s successes, however, it’s imperative to think about how we’ll build upon them, and to look towards next year’s challenges. One of the greatest dangers to feminist activism, that will no doubt continue into 2019, is the rampant transphobia that surrounds conversations about trans women’s rights, which are increasingly under threat. As Trump attacked trans rights in the U.S, in 2018, journalists across some of Britain’s most reputable broadsheets perpetuated worrying narratives fuelling transphobic hate – with the primary focus almost exclusively on trans women. 2018 also saw Britain hold a consultation on the Gender Recognition Act – legislation last updated in 2004, which currently limits many trans people’s ability to have their genders recognised legally. The conversation amongst trans exclusionary feminists naturally turned towards scapegoating and fear-mongering with regard to trans women’s access to women-only spaces, a discussion that often sees the propagation of false information. In 2019, as feminists we must endeavour to make our work trans inclusive, and to amplify trans women’s voices wherever we can.
And while increased discussion in Hollywood and in politics has undoubtedly raised mainstream awareness of the structural and cultural issues facing women in 2018, it’s more important than ever that we amplify the voices of the women who are most overlooked, and who face multiple, overlapping oppressions. More often than not, the press and the public hear the stories of women with the most structural advantage – often straight, white, able-bodied, cis, middle-class women. 2018 was a year in which the word ‘intersectionality’ became a discursive mainstay, but it’s paramount to continually interrogate what that practically means. In your day to day life, that’s about asking “Who is in the room? Who is not in the room? Who are we at risk of overlooking?” and then acting on that.
It’s often the simpler thing to seek out and empathise with stories similar to our own, but there are myriad experiences that we’ve never had and may never have – and we must see that as pivotal to our organising and conversations, rather than as a hindrance. Last year, Juno Mac and Molly Smith elucidated the many structural issues that face sex workers, explaining how the rights and safety of women in the industry are inextricably linked to borders. We also find ourselves in the midst of a refugee crisis, which affects women uniquely — the number of migrants crossing the English channel in unsafe conditions increased in December. 120 women went on hunger strike in Yarl’s Wood detention centre in February, protesting their indefinite detention, and many of these women will continue to be indefinitely held in the centre with no indication of when they will be released, or what their fate will be, well into 2019. Both narratives, and policy, surrounding immigration and borders should rank high on the feminist agenda as the new year commences.
As we step foot into 2019, it’s essential that we continue to interrogate our politics, and who they are for. Our work can only be meaningful, representative and effective when it is intersectional. It should also be practical – we should endeavour to harness the energy surrounding movements like #MeToo and think about how those changes translate to policy and praxis. Entering the new year, we must think in real terms, about what we can do to better understand and empower the women who are the least represented, and the most marginalised.
Illustration by Erin Aniker.
Micha Frazer-Carroll writes for the Huffington Post UK and is Arts editor at gal-dem.