Portside

We should not live in a country where bodily autonomy can be granted or taken away by nine political appointees, most of whom are men and cannot become pregnant. Any civil right contingent upon political whims is not actually a civil right.

The plan does not seek to reinstate a status quo riddled with inequality. Instead it recognizes the current crisis as the “moment to build a system that is capable of delivering gender equality.”

Huerta’s approach to activism is to take it day by day, victory by victory. Building a movement is the work of a lifetime; it takes time, commitment and hope.

All five parties comprising the Finish governing coalition are women and there is near gender parity in parliament. Yet Finland is not a utopia for equality. There is still a wage gap, job segregation and the reality of domestic violence.

Virginia has voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Although obstacles still exist, it bolsters activism for gender equality. And it marks a profound change in Virginia, a state that in the past had often been on the wrong side of history.

Sunday, 11 February, is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. To mark the day female scientists from around the world were asked to reflect on their experiences and offer their advice.

For the #MeToo moment to become a meaningful movement, it has to focus on actual gender equality. Lewd stories about this or that man's behavior might make compelling reading, but they sidetrack the real crisis... Until we effectively challenge the ideological underpinnings beneath social policies that hem women in at every turn in this country, we won't get at the root cause of the harassment.

Today’s International Women's Day mobilisations echo back to the civil rights movement, the anti-Vietnam war protests, the uprisings against colonial powers, and the more recent uprisings across Africa’s north and the Middle East. Often missing from the history books, women were also in the forefront of these movements.