Being Bold For Change? Let’s Do It.

If it were possible to celebrate International Women’s day all month, I would.

I love the energy that comes from having a common positive purpose.  It’s powerful and it makes me feel as though we are uniting our voices and being heard and seen by the world.

As a woman, I was ready to celebrate (and be celebrated) on the occasion that I like to think of as ‘International Women’s week’. The title this year said a lot about where we are as a global female community in 2017 as International Women’s Day announced their campaign theme as #BeBoldForChange. Now is the time to foster a bold culture both within ourselves and the next generation. Boldness to me is about having the courage to be you as a complex, authentic and unapologetic woman at a time when we are frankly under attack. A quick read over my Huffington articles for the past year just about say it all, and it’s safe to say that as women we haven’t had an easy time.

I was thrilled to be invited to the brilliantly named event ‘Disrupting The Future: passion, purpose and change’. So I headed over to University Square Stratford, on a sunny International Women’s Day, to join a panel of ground-breaking influencers, change-makers and trailblazers. We discussed our unique journeys and what it takes to create change for tomorrow. I was so inspired to learn from, listen to and share with the incredible Afua Hirsh – Education Social Affairs Editor Sky News and Courtenay Griffiths QC- Barrister (Damilola Taylor case, Charles Taylor ‘Blood Diamonds Case)  as we discussed everything from social change and justice, transforming communities from within, starting a movement, feminism and Brexit to the power of this generation to take charge and transform the future and more. I was asked about how we re-define gender roles and I explained to the excellent audience there that for me, there are some gender roles that in all honesty I don’t have an issue with. I don’t think every single role needs to be re-assigned or re-defined. I think the emphasis has to be on opportunity and equality. I agree that stereotypes must be shattered, but I think gender-roles are adaptable.

I believe that differences can be celebrated.

For example, men are naturally stronger than women, because we have (on average) less total muscle mass. Men also have denser, stronger bones, tendons, and ligaments. But! As women, we produce more antibodies and at a quicker rate than men AND we have more white blood cells. This means we develop fewer infectious diseases and we are ill for shorter periods (sorry ladies but man-flu is not a myth!).  These are biological differences that fascinate me. Look at the Olympics, we don’t have ‘one race’, we have the Men’s races and the women’s races. This doesn’t mean that women do not excel in sports, far from it. So, if my daughter tells me she wants to be a weight-lifter, I know she absolutely can be and should be. But, she can excel at that without trying to be stronger than a man or even ever competing with a man. I think the bottom-line is there has to be an equal playing field in which everyone can be what they choose to be.

Next stop was Southampton. I will always have a soft spot for universities. I love chatting to the dynamic and bold young people who head unions, and create events and are filled with passion about world issues. Spending a day with them, drinking lemon and ginger tea and discussing the harsh realities of domestic abuse and connecting was an absolute privilege. I discussed my concerns about the newly discovered ‘Flaw in The Law’ that has meant many groomers who meet up with their victims avoiding punishment. Yes, adults cannot currently be arrested or prosecuted for sending sexual messages to children, and although anti-grooming legislation was created two years ago, it is yet to be put into force.

I also explained why and how I believe that self-esteem is crucial to combating the Domestic Abuse plague.  Even if we cannot (yet) change the world; we can change how we respond to it. We can change how we perceive what is around us, how we respond emotionally and mentally. We can fight for our own self-esteem and self-belief so that we can hand it on like a baton to the next generation.  We may never jail every single perpetrator, we may rally against the justice system for a few more decades (although I hope not). By actively working on our own standards for ourselves and creating a generation of empowered women: we will make an impact.

Yes, I know that now the party is over we have to get back to work (as I write this I am on my way to the Houses of Parliament to do just that) and I know we have a long way to go. We probably have more work to do and further to go that we’d like to admit but this year I felt bold. Despite all the issues going on in the world around us and in our own personal lives, I looked into the eyes of the young students at Southampton university who are literally grafting the make the world better; and pioneers like Mariah Idrissi the courageous Muslim model who boldly stands up at a time of Islamophobia and says ‘this is me’ and I saw something important. Hope.

I’m going to take that hope and use it to fuel the fire of change that I’m working on not just for my daughters but for all of us. If we all do the same and take the same positivity away with us, I honestly believe that we will achieve more and more greatness.

So, here’s to boldness and here’s to 2017.