A Review of the East Midlands Regional Women’s Meeting

I wasn’t sure what to expect as I sat in a room full of women at the Socialist Party’s East Midlands Regional Women’s meeting. It was being held in Leicester, my home branch, on the first Saturday of December and I was there more out of solidarity with my fellow branch members than any pressing need to discuss women’s issues. I was just hoping it would not turn into a day of anti-men rants, hand-holding and commiseration over what a hard life it is to be a woman in a man’s world. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Being in my mid-20s, of fairly liberal upbringing and having attended university I am fortunate enough never to have encountered any overt gender discrimination. What I learnt is that just because I have been lucky so far doesn’t mean that these problems aren’t a reality for millions of other women every day, and if the cuts continue I might not be lucky for much longer.

The session kicked off with a discussion on how the cuts are affecting women, and the thing is; women, on the whole, suffer more as a result of the cuts than men. Not only are the lowest paid jobs those with the highest percentage of female workers – the four C’s: Caring, Cleaning, Catering and Cash registers – but now jobs in education and the NHS, roles traditionally filled by women, are facing the brunt of the attacks from the Con-Dem government.

This is forcing many women either completely out of work or into part-time/unstable employment, losing the economic independence previous generations fought so hard to gain. With financial responsibility now returning increasingly to the shoulders of men women are at an ever higher risk of being trapped by domestic violence, with no access to an income they themselves control, and public funding of women’s refuges and other vital support services being axed, women are under serious threat of being forced back into conditions not seen since before World War II.

The second discussion revolved around abortion, an issue resurfacing recently in light of the horrific case of Savita Halappanavar in Ireland, as well as the outrageous comments made by Tory Health minister Jeremy Hunt, proposing the reduction of the 24 week limit on abortions to just 12 weeks. A fantastic lead-off given by Holly Donovan of the Northampton branch opened up into what I can only describe as the most comprehensive and wide-ranging discussion on abortion I have ever had the privilege to be a part of.

Comrades shared intensely personal stories of their own experiences, not in an attempt to curry sympathy, but in order to expose and highlight the reality of the control of women’s bodies, and consequently their lives, by this corrupt capitalist system. Is it a ‘woman’s right to choose’ if the choice is made for her, whether by the two doctors who must legally give their consent, or by her economic circumstances i.e. not being in a financial position to raise a child?

If the limit were to be reduced to 12 weeks, as Jeremy Hunt so desires, how will women who have been forced into having children they cannot afford take care of themselves and their families when the government is making cuts to childcare benefits as well?! Situations such as this would see more and more women pushed into poverty, if not worse, risking death out of desperation with back-alley abortions.

It wasn’t all talk, however, as the meeting wrapped up with two workshops; one on action being taken within the Leicester branch to encourage and support its females members, and the other on how to write for the Socialist (which clearly helped!) and ensure that as female comrades we do not allow the under-confidence bred into us by capitalist society to prevent us from representing ourselves as socialists.

All in all, this meeting was about raising awareness, and at the end of the day that is what we as socialists are about – trying to raise the awareness of others in the working class. Well women are workers too, and we’re trying to raise awareness. One of the most striking points of the day, for me at least, came from a fellow Leicester comrade, who said “The majority of men in the Socialist Party wouldn’t think twice about bringing someone up on a racist comment, but could you say the same for a sexist one?”.

There certainly seems to be a tendency for meetings such as this one to be viewed by some comrades almost as a token gesture, as a way of ‘allowing’ women a forum to discuss their ‘issues’ among themselves, just so long as they keep their periods from interfering with the serious business of the party. Well it’s important that these discussions don’t just remain between women. We need to take them into our branches. What we cannot forget is that female workers are doubly oppressed by capitalism; not just because of their class but also because of their gender, and as such our right to militancy must be taken seriously.

When I went into that room I was as ignorant of the issues affecting women as any man, and it is important to remember that just because you’re female doesn’t mean you automatically represent womankind – just look at Margaret Thatcher, the most powerful woman in British history, whose savage attacks on the working class only served to subjugate women further. At the end of the meeting I looked around and realised that I was not in a room full of women. I was in a room full of comrades.

And I, for one, am now proud to call myself militant!