“There is a war on women happening right now – this is how we can all help”

Written by Sara Bowcutt

“What’s happening in Iran should be a galvanising moment in the fight for women’s rights,” writes Women For Women International MD Sara Bowcutt. Here’s how we can take action to help women around the world.

I watch in awe of the bravery of women and girls in Iran leading protests after the death of Mahsa Amini, arrested by the ‘morality police’ in Tehran for not wearing her headscarf correctly. Almost two months since Amini’s death and the outrage only grows, the international outcry getting louder and louder too. More than 2,000 people have been charged with participating in these protests, and the first death sentence has been issued – for being found guilty of “enmity against god”. Still, women rise.

These scenes – the fierce power of women in Iran, and their courage to stand up against violence and discrimination – remind me of the bravery of women and girls the world over. We must not watch their fight in silence. Awe is not enough, and it will not move the needle on women’s rights. This should be a galvanising moment in the fight for women’s rights globally.

In Iran, women fight for their rights in the face of a deadly crackdown by the Iranian government, risking their lives for their freedoms. In Ukraine, women are fighting for their lives with hundreds of cases of rape as a weapon of war being reported – and with thousands more estimated. In the US, women rage after the overturning of Roe v Wade. In Afghanistan, women are being told to cover themselves from head to toe, how to dress, what level of education they are permitted to reach, that they can only travel certain distances accompanied by a man, what jobs they can do – the list goes on. As my colleague, Arizoo, has said, Afghan women are “surviving, not living”. Women’s freedoms are threatened; our choices taken away.

There is a war on women happening right now, and those who feel the brunt of it live in places experiencing violent conflict. There is still no end in sight to the crises in Syria, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Myanmar – too many.Women face the same traumas in those forgotten wars as they do in all the others, they’re just doing it without the same support and without having their voices heard.Just a few weeks ago, I heard about a mass rape by a militia in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – rape used deliberately as a weapon of war. Why? Because they can. Because world leaders and policymakers, largely older men, shrug their shoulders and tell us that it is just the way of the world – that nothing can be done. This is untrue, and it is dangerous.

If there is one thing I have learned through my work, it is that women’s power and resilience is undeniable. It will always find a way. So, while these stories are hard to hear, women who deal with the unimaginable can be powerful change-makers – and we must continue to support them and help raise their voices louder.

Angelique is a graduate of Women For Women International’s Stronger Women, Stronger Nations programme in DRC. This is a country where – as across most developing countries – most farmworkers are women, yet very few own the land they work on. For decades, communities we serve in the DRC have ignored the law and refused to allow women to own their own land. Men forcibly seize land from women or prevent them from buying or inheriting land or property in the first place. But through our programme, Angelique and a group of women learned about their rights to buy and own land – and decided to fight for it. Resisting scepticism and stigma, these women persuaded their husbands, families and village elders that everyone benefits when a woman becomes economically self-sufficient and that they have just as much right to own land as their husbands. Angelique is now the proud owner of a piece of land. And with it, she has secured the freedom to choose what crops to grow and who to employ. She can also pass it on to her daughters. Along with more than a hundred other women who now have land titles in their name, they are a powerful testament to what is possible when women come together in solidarity.

For the last three decades we have been supporting women to find their voices. We must say enough is enough – like Angelique in DRC. Women in Iran are doing that right now, and so must we.

Gender inequality is the foundation on which gender-based violence is allowed to go unchecked. According to the UN Women’s Gender Snapshot Report (7 September 2022), we are facing a backlash against women’s rights the world over, and funding for gender equality is not keeping pace with the increasing severity of global challenges. At the current rate of progress, it may take another 286 years to remove discriminatory laws and close prevailing gaps in legal protections for women and girls. If current trends continue, in sub–Saharan Africa, more women and girls will live in extreme poverty by 2030 than there are today. Violence against women remains high, and global health, climate and humanitarian crises have further increased the risks of violence, especially for the most vulnerable women and girls. Women feel more unsafe than they did before the pandemic. Women’s representation in positions of power and decision-making remains below parity. This cannot continue.

At a recent lunch we held for supporters in London, our ambassador, newscaster Clarissa Ward, spoke about the impact it has when people feel their stories are “heard”.

Share the stories you hear on your social channels, sign petitions and letters of support where relevant, write to MPs, find out how you can help in your communities, join marches if you can.

One woman we work with in Rwanda, Euphrasie, said about our programme: “After learning about my rights, I started caring about my rights at home and I really understood that nobody can give you rights – you have to claim them yourself.” We cannot sit back as women’s rights are restricted and our voices silenced. We must be active, we must keep fighting. We will not achieve equality without action.

Euphrasie has survived genocide, rape and the loss of two children. She has not lost hope – and neither can we. As Clarissa said in her speech: “The power of women together is fierce,” and we are in this together.

Let the bravery of Iranian protesters spur you on.

Images: Getty

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