2017 is the year women found their voice, but 2018 will require action

No sooner had Donald Trump taken residency in the White House, than millions of protesters took to the streets in women-led marches across the world. From Washington to Tokyo, Cape Town to Dublin, the collective turnout smashed initial predictions making it the largest inaugural protest in history and the ultimate display of girl power.
It was a day of dedication, determination and, even in a weird way, celebration. And that dogged determination hasn’t dissipated now that year is drawing to an end. In fact, if anything the desire to make a difference has merely ramped up following the success of the Women’s March.
“Now is not the time to hang up our marching shoes,” the Women’s March organisers posted on their website. “It’s time to get our friends, family and community together and make history.” [Photo: Getty]

As if we needed a reminder that the gender pay gap was still very much in existence, in July it was revealed just how much presenters and actors for the broadcaster were earning, with a clear wage discrepancy between men and women.
The figures showed that there are just two women in the top 10 highest earners, and the highest-paid star, Chris Evans, earns over £2 million – five times the amount the highest-paid woman earns.
Unsurprisingly, the salary release lead to a backlash and reignited the fight to get the pay gap reduced.
On the upside, following much campaigning from Fawcett and other groups the Government introduced the requirement for large employers (250+ employees) to report on their gender pay gap, including bonuses. This was announced this year and the first reporting needs to be completed by April 2018. This is a major step to addressing the issue of the gender pay gap in the UK. [Photo: Getty]

Back in November, contestants in the Miss Perú 2018 beauty pageant made a powerful statement about violence against women.
Instead of introducing themselves to judges by stating their names and their body measurements including bust, waist and hip measurements, this year the contestants decided to highlight much more important numbers by listing a fact about violence against women in Perú. And boy was it powerful!

Earlier this month, news hit that several well-known actresses were planning to wear black at the 2018 Golden Globes.
Female attendees at January’s star-studded awards ceremony were reportedly asking their stylists to find them black gowns in order to protest the sexual harassment that has been ongoing in the entertainment industry for decades.
The likes of Meryl Streep, Jessica Chastain and Emma Stone were believed to be participating.
But one victim, actress Rose McGowan, has said the protest will make “no real change.”
In a now deleted tweet, the 44-year-old wrote: “Actresses, like Meryl Streep, who happily worked for The Pig Monster, are wearing black @GoldenGlobes in a silent protest.” [Photo: Getty]

In a historically low-earning summer for Hollywood, Wonder Woman, the highly anticipated motion picture about the truth-telling, peacekeeping, badass Princess of the Amazons, drew massive crowds of super fans and earned more than $100 million at the box office in its opening weekend alone.
The super hero smash hit went on to take more than $821 million worldwide. Ka-pow! [Photo: Getty]

Still reeling from the Harvey Weinstein scandal, women across the globe pulled together on social media to give victims of everyday sexual harassment a platform to voice their experiences.
Actress Alyssa Milano pioneered the trend and created the #MeToo hashtag in an attempt to ‘give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem’.
It soon went viral, with women from all walks of life taking to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to share their personal experiences of sexual harassment from catcalling to groping in the workplace. [Photo: Getty]

Everyone reacts differently to being catcalled. While some are horrified and demand an apology, others prefer to ignore it and keep walking. But one woman this year adopted a completely unique approach to the men who objectified her – she took a selfie with them.
After being filmed and harassed on a train by two men, Noa Jansma, a 20-year-old student from Amsterdam embarked on a month-long project to document each incident of harassment she faced by posing for a selfie with her catcallers.
Even though her project is now finished, Jansma is keen for her powerful message about harassment to continue.
“My month of posts has ended, but that doesn’t mean that catcallers are in the past as well,” she wrote in a post on Instagram.
She will be passing on the account @dearcatcallers to other women, “to show that it’s a global phenomenon”. [Photo: Instagram]

A scandal engulfed Westminster back in October after it emerged that government ministers were named on a secret WhatsApp group of sex pest politicians by parliamentary female staff.
It was reported that female aides, secretaries and researchers used the messaging app to share horrorstories about their politician bosses.
Following the #MeToo campaign the revelations formed part of a drive to encourage people to speak out about sexual harassment they have faced. [Photo: Getty]

A 3,000 word blog post by former Uber engineer, Susan Fowler, (later named the FT’s person of the year) kickstarted an investigation into a culture of sexual harassment within the car-riding company. Later in the year, Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick resigned and 20 employees lost their jobs as part of the on-going investigation. [Photo: Susan Fowler blog]

After a New York Times exposé accusing major Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of decades of sexual harassment, women were prompted to share their own unfortunate stories of harassment in the workplace.
Men also decided to show their solidarity by taking to social media to raise awareness of everyday sexual harassment.
Writer Benjamin Law asked men on Twitter to use the hashtag, #HowIWillChange, whether it is a pledge to stand up against sexism in the workplace or a promise to call out ‘lad culture’ when with friends.
While the situation remains dire, at least social media is giving people the power to speak out and find solidarity with one another.

Earlier this month TIME magazine announced that their much lauded Person of the Year accolade was to be given to ‘The Silence Breakers’; the group of women behind several empowering movements for women – including #MeToo.
The faces of five women who have spoken out about their experiences of sexual harassment – including singer Taylor Swift and actress Ashley Judd – featured on the magazine’s 2017 Person of the Year cover.
As if breaking with years of tradition wasn’t enough of a statement (the accolade used to be called Man of the Year), the cover also included a mystery arm representing a sixth member of the photoshoot.
TIME went onto explain that the arm belongs to a hospital worker, who wishes to remain anonymous, and was chosen to represent the unheard voices. [Photo: Time]

Back in September women in Saudi Arabia were given the right to drive, thanks to a royal decree issued by the country’s King Salman. As the only Kingdom in the world where women were prohibited from driving, the ban had been the subject of extensive protests in and outside the country. So, the news was met with joy in Saudi Arabia, with men and women dancing in the streets in celebration. The lifting of the ban is planned to come into force in June 2018. [Photo: Getty]

Back in May little Alia Joy Waters made political history by becoming the first baby to be breast fed in the Australian parliament.
When Senator Larissa Waters returned to parliament after giving birth to her second daughter, she didn’t hesitate to feed her newborn when she needed to nurse, despite being in the middle of a parliament sitting.
Afterwards the mum-of-two took to Twitter to express her pride in her daughter’s historical moment.
“So proud that my daughter Alia is the first baby to be breastfed in the federal Parliament! We need more #women & parents in Parli,” she wrote. [Photo: Twitter]

She may not have become president, but Hillary Clinton still feels that women are on the up. In a kickass video statement for the 2017 Makers Conference, and her first statement since the inauguration, Clinton addressed the year’s theme (“Be Bold”), and delivered a rallying cry to women all around the world to continue the fight for gender equality.
The former Secretary of State went on to explain why girls and women everywhere have the power to do anything they set their minds to, before throwing some subtle shade at President Trump by reaffirming her support for the Women’s March.
“Despite all the challenges we face, I remain convinced that, yes, the future is female,” she said. [Photo: MAKERS]

November saw women coming out in force for Equal Pay Day – the date on which women in the UK effectively start working for free, a full 51 days before the end of the year.
According to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the gap between male and female wages currently stands at 14.1%, with no movement on that difference in the last three years.
And with the gender pay gap for women in their 20s actually widening it was time for more action.
Last equal pay day, women were encouraged to down tools early. This year women fought back by switching on their Out of Office to mark the day that they effectively stop getting paid. [Photo: Getty]