But history tells us this wasn’t simple. As with all movements for change there was division and differing views on how to win.
In the UK over a century ago, the campaign for women’s suffrage drew women to it from all walks of life. The first mass petition in 1866 was signed by women from many different social classes, including blacksmiths’ wives, dressmakers and shopkeepers. The first defining act of militancy by the suffragette movement – the interruption at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester in 1905 – was done by a young working class woman as well as a middle class one. Suffragettes took the risks of protesting and imprisonment, believing that suffrage would enable them to demand higher pay, more decent work and a better life.
Despite the central involvement of young and working class women in the campaign, the first partial victory which we are celebrating this year only gave the vote to propertied women and those over the age of 30, as well as the few at the time with a university education. One third of the female population was left out, because the government of the time did not want women to dominate the electorate and was fearful of young working class women tilting the votes away from the coalition party in power.
Turning to the more recent past, the spark that initiated the #MeToo campaign came from relatively entitled and highly visible women in Hollywood. However, the fires of protest have spread to less glamorous ones. In the last few months, women in the States who clean-up after school children and flip burgers have taken to the streets to tell perpetrators that time’s up. Female janitors marched from San Francisco to Sacramento in support of anti-harassment legislation. A week later, McDonald’s workers in 10 cities also went on strike to draw attention to pervasive sexual harassment.
Women are also speaking up around the world. Women like Tran Thi Nga, who lives in fear of the Vietnamese police because she dares to defend abused workers, especially migrants. Women like Nazma Akter, a former child garment worker from Bangladesh who, in her capacity as an activist and trade unionist, reminded people gathered at Trafalgar Square at #March4Women this year that “when clothes are cheap, women are cheap”. In an industry that we are linked to because we buy our clothes manufactured there, CARE research revealed that in just one year, 1 in 3 garment workers in Cambodia experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.
Moreover around the world, one third of countries currently have no legislation to tackle violence and harassment at work. No legislation means that there are few – if any – avenues for employees to speak out about workplace harassment and seek redress. We know that sexual harassment at work is a global problem, but it is one in which it is always the poorest, least powerful, least visible that can afford to speak up and it is also a story in which the pressure to demand accountability from employers varies considerably.
So, 100 years from now, are we going to say that as with suffrage, some people benefited from #MeToo which cleaned up certain businesses, but left others behind? Will we have to wait another 10 years for all women irrespective of economic status and age to be heard and supported?
Right now, we have a unique opportunity to not let this happen.
The world has agreed in principle to a new, legally binding, global convention if the draft is ratified at the ILO Conference in Geneva next June. The UK government and the CBI, the Confederation of British Industry, have shown initial support. On this issue, there is a chance for Esther McVey and her team at the Department for Work and Pensions to be in the global lead, building on the Conservatives’ commitment to ending modern slavery.
The Centenary Action Group, a coalition of over 100 women’s rights activists and campaigners, is calling on the government to stand firm because there has been opposition in some quarters to the current wide definitions of worker and workplace. These need to remain broad so that all, including informal workers, the self-employed and those who work in customer-facing sectors, are afforded protection. The clear message would be to all potential abusers, there would be no legal loophole to hide under.
Right now, there is a window of opportunity. The UK Government can help draw a line in the sand and make a difference for all; or it can fall short. I hope, this time, with women in key posts understanding the task ahead, they will vote for the convention and lobby in favour of protection for all workers, globally.
