The writer and activist finds galvanising energy in grassroots initiatives in the face of inequality and the climate crisis‘Throughout the world confidence in progress has shattered,” notes Natasha Walter. “The certainty – even the hope – that human rights equality might be within everyone’s reach has disintegrated … Everywhere in the world, from west to east, south to north, women are struggling to win and to protect their rights, and to live in safety. They keep coming up against misogynistic violence that never disappears.”In Feminism for a World on Fire, Walter, an activist and academic, paints a dire picture of 21st-century womanhood. Where the last century saw women making strides towards equality, today much of that progress has been halted or gone into reverse. Social media, previously a place where women were able to come together and organise, now bubbles with hatred and misogyny. The impact of environmental catastrophe on the female population is stark: women are more likely to die from extreme weather events than men because they are more likely to be caring for children and elderly relatives. Meanwhile, male violence against women is rising and divisions in society, particularly over lightning-rod topics such as migration, are deepening. Continue reading...