A Muslim woman protesting for Palestine in January (Picture: Guy Smallman)
The vile stench of sexism rose from the establishment this week, with more evidence of the deeply embedded misogyny within the police force coming to light.
Cops who ignore, dismiss, abuse and murder women aren’t just bad apples, as those in power would like to say — they are part of an entirely rotten barrel.
And it’s not just the police that is riddled with sexism. The whole system is dripping in misogyny. It permeates almost every aspect of women’s lives, from low pay to disproportionate rates of poverty to attacks on abortion rights.
As the state ramps up its attacks and more of its sexism is revealed, ordinary people must go on the offensive.
The response to the murder of Sarah Everard by a cop and the state’s attempts to ban protests was defiance. That same defiance is needed today.
Women have been a leading force in almost every section of struggle in the last few years, from the climate fight to strikes. And the fight for Palestine is being led by those most targeted by state racism and misogyny— Muslim women.
In Egypt women textile strikers have given new hope of change and a vision of wider freedom.
International Women’s Day was scheduled for Friday this week. It should be a day of rage and struggle against our rulers and the sexist capitalist system they maintain.
