9 global wins for women a year on from the women’s march

On January 21 last year, millions of women took to the streets in cities all over the world for the women’s march.

These marches were held the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States to protest against his administration.

In London, an incredible 100,000 people marched from London’s Grosvenor’s Square to rally in Trafalgar Square while close to 400,000 people marched through the streets of Washington D.C.

This year, the people who organised the London Women’s March are encouraging people to gather this Sunday (January 21) for another rally. The Time’s Up anniversary rally will start opposite Downing Street on Sunday at 11am.

But what has happened for women’s rights in the year since the inaugural women’s march? We’ve highlighted some of the major movements below.

1. The #MeToo movement

In October, the New York Times published an exposé on Hollywood heavyweight, Harvey Weinstein. In the piece, actresses like Ashley Judd came forward to say they had been sexually harassed by Weinstein. This article acted as a catalyst and soon many actresses spoke out to claim similar experiences with both Weinstein and other men in Hollywood. Since then, a number of actors have been accused of sexual assault and harassment.

This lead to the Twitter movement #MeToo, where women – no matter what industry they were in – shared stories of times they had been sexually harassed in the workplace using the hashtag #MeToo.

2. The Time’s Up movement

Inspired by the #MeToo movement, Time’s Up is an initiative started by over 300 actresses to help fund legal fees for women who have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace and are taking action.

This initiative was particularly prominent at the 2018 Golden Globes where the attendee’s wore black in support and Oprah gave her now-iconic speech.

3. Irish women have continued to fight their battle to make abortions legal

In Ireland, it is illegal to have an abortion. The Eighth Amendment equates the right to life of a pregnant woman with that of an embryo or foetus. In doing so it criminalises abortion in all cases except where to continue a pregnancy would result in death. This has led to over 154,000 Irish women travelling overseas to have an abortion since 1980 - often making the journey alone which can be a dangerous and frightening time for any woman.

Irish women have been campaigning to ‘Repeal the Eighth’ for many years now and in 2017 they kept gaining traction by never letting it leave the public conversation and holding a number of protests.

4. The Lebanese parliament repealed a law that allowed men to get away with rape if they married their victim

The law stated that men accused of rape were allowed to be exonerated and escape punishment if they married the individual they raped. Both Jordan and Tunisia also scrapped similar laws last year.

This change came after Abaad, a women’s rights group in Lebanon, hung blood-stained wedding dresses in Beirut’s main promenade and put up billboards around the capital with a caption that read “A white dress doesn’t cover up rape”.

5. Chile made some forms of abortion legal

At the end of August, Chile’s Constitutional Tribunal voted to ease the ban on women having abortions. Before the ruling, abortion was not allowed under any circumstances but now there are three circumstances in which you can have an abortion: when a woman’s life is in danger; when the foetus is not viable; or when the pregnancy is the result of rape.

While abortion being legal and women having power over their bodies is the ultimate goal, this is still a big step for women’s rights in Chile.

6. South African women protested the development of a new coal mine

Female activists in South Africa lead a movement to stop the development of a new coal mine in Limpopo, South Africa – and won. The company who had decided to fund the mine backed out which was a major win for both women’s rights and climate change.

7. The march to end period poverty for young women took place in London

Organised by 18-year-old Amika George, the #FreePeriods march took place in London on December 20 to protest period poverty in the UK. The aim behind the rally was to get the UK government to make sanitary products free to all young women who receive free school meals.

The protest was a huge success with celebrities like Daisy Lowe, Tanya Burr and Awoah Aboah speaking and attending.

8. Iceland made it illegal to pay men more than women for doing the same job

The decree, which came into effect at the beginning of this year, requires companies with more than 25 employees to "obtain government certification of their equal-pay policies." Which means Icelandic companies need to present proof of wage equality to the government immediately. Failure to do so runs the risk of being fined and charged with criminal misconduct.

9. New Zealand elected its third female Prime Minister, who just announced that she is pregnant

On January 19, New Zealand’s newly elected Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced she was expecting her first child. This makes her just the second world leader to be pregnant while in power after Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto had a baby in 1990. This is a great inspiration for working mothers everywhere.