Why is society STILL FAILING WOMEN?

Louise Court looks at the inequalities that affect us and how we can level the playing field

- LOUISE COURT

Like many w&h readers, I was born in the 1960s and grew up in the 1970s, coming of age on the crest of the Women's Liberation movement. We no longer wanted to be valued or judged primarily on the way we looked - we were going to forge a better society.

We demanded equality, including fair pay and the ability to make choices about our own bodies. We had the pill, didn't need to be married to start a family or ask a man's permission for a mortgage. There was less stigma attached to divorce, and women were starting to speak up and get help with domestic violence. We truly believed the world was there for the taking. But things didn't turn out how we had planned.

Today, in 2024, women face many of the same battles. The challenges - of equal pay; balancing motherhood, home and career; abuse, misogyny and personal safety - have not gone away.

The threat of male violence

When 33-year-old Sarah Everard was raped and killed in 2021, we were reminded, tragically, that walking home at night is risky for women. Compounding the shock that the crime was committed by a serving police officer, two women were later arrested and handcuffed at one of the vigils, and Scotland Yard had to apologise and pay damages for its heavy handling of the incident.

Later that year, two police officers guarding a murder scene were sentenced for sharing dehumanising pictures on WhatsApp of sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, who had been brutally stabbed in a park in 2020. In December, a man was jailed for raping a 20-year-old woman on a Tube train in front of other passengers. The list is, sadly, endless.