As the RISE team prepares to mark International Women’s Day, I am reflecting, again, on the progress that has been made for women, and the work left to do.
Rights and justice can be seen as two parts of the way forward for women. We need our rights to be enshrined in law, and we need the justice system - all of it - to ensure that those rights are upheld. There are changes to make in both parts of this equation.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 7 states that “All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.” And while I know that women’s rights have come a long way, and that even as recently as November last year, strides were made by this government to change legislation in this arena, we still have a sex-based pay gap, we still have vastly unequal reports of harassment, rape and sexual violence, and migrant and minoritised women still face mountains to climb.
Every day at RISE, we meet women whose economic, emotional and physical safety and wellbeing have been fractured, shaped — or blocked — by both perpetrators and the systems around them when they try to seek justice.
Justice isn’t abstract. It’s the difference between a survivor feeling invisible and feeling supported. It’s being able to trust that the systems — police, courts, health, housing — will understand trauma and respond with care. We hear over and again about structural failures in the Family Courts. We hear about police officers and public officials using their position to influence outcomes or frighten survivors. We hear about women and girls being harassed, exploited, belittled - and feeling unable to seek help, anywhere. Our rights are not recognised. Justice is not - currently - being delivered.
For over 30 years, we’ve walked with women, girls and stood firm against abuse. We start with not just rights but what is right, for each survivor who comes to us.
I am not a big fan of performative gestures that sometimes accompany special days in the calendar but I cannot let today pass without celebrating all the women of RISE – past and present – we have laughed, cried, and campaigned together. Every worker, volunteer, supporter and survivor - your perseverance supports survivors even when systems don’t.
Together, we are building a world free from the fear of violence and abuse. Thank you for everything you do to create that future.
Wishing you joy and justice on International Women’s Day.
