Calling all feminists, the good, the bad and the guilty: The 16 Days of Activism is on
Posted on
Are you a feminist? It’s a question that can elicit mixed responses, depending on what you consider a feminist to be.
Very few of us would fail to heed Beyonce’s rallying call when she asked who runs the world (spoiler: girls). Taylor Swift is either your idea of a trailblazing feminist icon or someone who leans into feminism when it will sell records.
We also judge ourselves for not meeting the standards of what a ‘good’ feminist is, a mythical titan who defeats the patriarchy before breakfast and is always ready with an impossibly fierce feminist book recommendation. Right from Deborah Francis-White’s Guilty Feminist stance of both sharing your noble goals and the hypocrisies that undermine them, right through to Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist, in acknowledging the contradictions in feminism. But if you’ve been on the fence with whether to call yourself a feminist or not, there’s one event that’s calling your name.
It’s the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. From 25 November to 10 December, an orange wave takes over social media as part of the annual international campaign to raise awareness, influence policy change, and mobilise action to end gender-based violence. We know this is a potent problem in Canberra, with rising instances of family violence, including a 20 per cent jump in incidents attended by police from 2022 to 2023. We also benefit from the dedication of our frontline services, which provide safety and support to people in numbers that exceed reported statistics.
But just what do we consider violence? Well, it’s changing alongside our reliance on technology, which, according to the UN Secretary-General on violence against women and girls, has led to a backlash against women’s rights, including the expansion of the manosphere and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI).
That’s why the UN focused on the 16 Days of Activism this year on digital violence. Because so much of our lives now rely on technology, from checking your bank balance to see if you can treat yourself to staying in touch with friends and getting their holiday snaps in real time. That same tech can be misused against people, whether it’s controlling someone’s access to banking, monitoring a smart car’s movements, or engaging in a pile-on via social media comments. It’s hidden as violence, as we see that technology in use every single day, but the intention to control, coerce or humiliate is violence.
On the Feminist Money show on 2XX FM, we’ve been focused on the issue because we know the economic cost that violence against women has. Also available as a podcast to catch up on episodes, our coverage includes interviews with the Centre for Women’s Economic Safety, focused on ending economic abuse, and Wesnet, as the peak body for Specialist Women’s Domestic and Family Violence Services, which ensures women can access safe technology directly with safe phones and training for frontline staff.
Violence can seem like an issue too big to talk about, one best left to the experts. But it’s an underlying reason why many women experience interrupted work and study histories, why older women are retiring into poverty and are more likely to experience homelessness. And with digital violence tied to the rise of AI, its impact isn’t fading anytime soon unless we all step up to counter it. To call out the toxic men in the comments, to listen and refer the friend who discloses to support services and share advocacy so it reaches the ears of policy makers with the resources to fund change. And for all feminists, the good, the bad and guilty, to care about women today and the future of those coming behind us is the act of feminism that unites us all.
