Platform 51

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Categories: equality
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
FEM11

Discussing the future of women's equality

Platform 51 spent last Saturday in London and participating in the exciting FEM11 conference, organised by UK Feminista. The venue was jam-packed with approximately 1,000 feminists. There was a buzz and excitement in the air at the start of the event that this was going to be something special and the event definitely lived up to expectations .

The day began with inspirational talks from the director of UK Feminista, Kat Banyard who emphasised the necessity of new ideas and bravery in the feminist movement as women's equality appears to be taking steps backwards. The next speaker was the acclaimed writer and broadcaster, Sandi Toksvig, who called upon women to stand up for what they believe in, she gave examples of years of female belittlement in literature and in education and asked: "What are we going to do?" The event showed there IS something we can all do, together and independently.

Platform 51's involvement in the day started with our director of policy, campaigns and communications, Rebecca Gill, giving a speech at the Fawcett Society session: Don't turn back time! Protesting against cuts that will harm women's equality.  Rebecca spoke about how young mothers and young carers at Platform 51 are finding the current climate increasingly hard. Rebecca echoed Sandi Toksvig, repeating that women are "bearing the brunt" of the government's cuts.

In the afternoon Platform 51 hosted an interactive session: A Different perspective: teenage mums and feminism. The turnout was amazing - there were so many people, some had to stand outside the door. Three brave women from our centres - Kealy, Katie and Lindsey - each talked about their own experience of being a teenage mother. Each talked about the ups and downs and the help they received from Platform 51. Platform 51 has supported them to do internships, pursue education and get involved in campaigns. The aim of the session was to offer participants facts about teenage pregnancy as a contrast to how it is widely portrayed.

It was also a great opportunity for Platform 51 to hear the views from those attending the session. Other teenage mothers shared their stories and experiences about what difficulties they faced and still face today. The general consensus was that teenage mothers are not supported by the government: education is very rarely tailored to fit a parent or carer and childcare is difficult to obtain. Lindsey drew attention to this by saying: "The reality of receiving benefits and housing as a young mum is far from as easy as the media make it sound." Likewise, Katie said: "Without the massive support network I have around me, I don't know how I would've coped." There is an undeniable lack of support for teenage mothers - politicians go as far as saying that teen pregnancy is as bad for society as gun crime and knife crime. But getting pregnant is in no way a crime. A strong sense of maturity was proven by our young women: as Kealy states, that raising children is not about "the age of the mother, it's the mind-set."

The afternoon had everyone at Fem '11 sat eagerly listening to questions posed to Shami Chakrabrti, Bea Campbell, Zoe Williams, Carlene Firmin and Matt McCormack Evans - all known for their on-going celebration and endorsement of feminism. The conversation was mainly driven around the sex industry, women's portrayal in the media and a lack of acclaimed feminist role models in the press.

The day ended with the candidates for Mayor of London answering questions on how they would tackle women's inequality. Unfortunately, there was no Conservative representative but the session was still interesting and gave some insight in to what exactly is at the forefront of each party's campaign and how women fit in to it.

The inspirational day provided hope for women and we went home with the words of Sandi Toksvig's ringing in our ears: "Be bold when you declare: I am a feminist."