Where does all the time go? It's fair to say that the last 12 months have been a rollercoaster for women in the UK. Political shake-ups, from the new Labour government to Trump's return across the pond, have exposed the fragility of women's hard-fought freedoms – and cast a light on the work that still needs to be done.
Every day, we have been reminded that womanhood is a journey, an ever-fluctuating, tumultuous, messy, and somehow still joyful journey. The news cycle is replete with stories of what women should be afraid of, from escalating male violence against women and girls to the global attack on our reproductive rights. But, to paraphrase the great Arundhati Roy, a better world is not only possible, she's on her way.
At GLAMOUR, we're proud to be part of the global women's movement for change. In 2024, we launched our campaign to lobby the UK government to introduce a comprehensive Image-Based Abuse Law, in partnership with Jodie Campaigns, the End Violence Against Women Coalition, Not Your Porn, and Professor Clare McGlynn. And a whopping 67,000 of you have already signed our petition. Psst, it's not too late; you can sign here.
Will you sign our petition?
If this year has taught us anything, it's that women must keep fighting for one another. Solidarity is everything. With that in mind, we've rounded up five of the most significant moments for UK women's rights in 2024…
1) Labour promises to halve male violence against women and girls within a decade…
The Labour Party stormed to victory in the general election earlier this year, promising “change” and a bold pledge to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) within a decade. In the last five months, the government has yet to identify how it will set, measure, and achieve this ambitious target.
However, there have been several positive steps in the right direction, including proposals for stalking victims to be told the identity of their abusers: the introduction of two new aggravating factors for sentencing in murder trials, which means judges will have to consider tougher jail terms for murders involving strangulation or when the killing is connected to the end of a relationship; and a new scheme in which domestic abuse specialists will be embedded in 999 control rooms.
There is still plenty of work to be done. Starting with urgent reforms to the family courts. In August last year, ten-year-old Sara Sharif was tortured and murdered by her father, Urfan Sharif and stepmother, Beinash Batool, after a family court judge placed her in their care – despite Sharif's well-documented violent past.
Many in the VAWG sector are also concerned about government funding for lifesaving specialist services. The government has yet to confirm if it will renew the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund in March 2025, meaning many Rape Crisis centres are at risk of closure – even though their services are already hugely oversubscribed.
While the government is taking some positive steps to tackle male violence against women and girls, marginalised women – especially transgender and migrant women – are bearing the brunt of reactionary policies that appear to be designed to appease voters who are leaning toward Nigel Farage's Reform Party. In case you needed reminding, Farage recently defended Reform MP James McMurdock over his past conviction for assaulting his former partner. Labour would do well to remember that pandering to the extreme right only endangers women and girls in the long run.
“For too long, it has felt that a death toll of women is just something that we have got used to.”
2) Progress is made against online harms…
The Online Safety Act (OSA), which is supposed to make the internet safer, received royal assent last year. Since then, Ofcom, the UK's independent regulator for the communications industry, has been developing codes and guidance for online platforms to adhere to the OSA.
Earlier this week, Ofcom published the first codes of practice for platforms to tackle illegal harms, such as terror, hate, fraud, child sexual abuse and assisting or encouraging suicide. This means tech firms have three months to make their platforms compliant and, hopefully, safer. Ofcom will publish draft guidance on protecting women and girls online in February 2025.
2024 has also been a pivotal year in the fight against image-based abuse [IBA]. While the previous Conservative government outlined plans to criminalise the creation of so-called ‘deepfake pornography’, this promise was lost ahead of the general election. Labour has confirmed it will tackle this form of abuse in the new year, but many campaigners are concerned that the government may not take a consent-based approach to the law, which would make it harder for perpetrators to be convicted.
Regardless of any incoming legislation around deepfake abuse, the government must be brave and introduce a dedicated, comprehensive Image-Based Abuse Law, as campaigned for by GLAMOUR, Jodie Campaigns, the End Violence Against Women Coalition, Not Your Porn, and Professor Clare McGlynn. This, as a starting point, would strengthen criminal and civil laws around IBA, fund specialist services that provide support to victims and survivors of IBA, and create an Online Abuse Commission to hold tech companies accountable for hosting and profiting from IBA.
3) Safe zones are finally implemented outside abortion clinics in England and Wales…
Yes, the right to have a safe, legal abortion seems under constant pressure, but this year, we had a major victory. Safe zones have finally been enforced around abortion clinics in England and Wales – a mere 500 days after the original legislation was passed – which means that anyone ‘protesting’ within a 150-metre radius around abortion services will be arrested and face an unlimited fine. It's a significant milestone towards reproductive justice in the UK, but let's not get complacent.
Abortion is still technically illegal in England and Wales. If you want an abortion, you must qualify for an exemption under the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990). This usually means a pregnant person can only have an abortion for up to 24 weeks, providing that two doctors agree it would be risky for their mental or physical health.
After Roe v. Wade, a court ruling that protected American citizens' right to have abortions, was overturned back in 2022, the spectre of US politics has cast a shadow over reproductive rights in the UK. Over the past year, five women have appeared in court charged with having illegal abortions. Nigel Farage, notable pal of US President-elect Donald Trump, has also suggested that parliament should debate lowering the threshold to 22 weeks. In 2025, the government must reform our abortion laws – and end the policing of pregnancies once and for all.
Take your ‘silent prayer’ elsewhere.
4) The USA chooses a sex offender over a woman for President…
On the 6th of November, Donald Trump was elected President of the USA over Democrat nominee Kamala Harris. It's the second time he's been elected as leader of the free world – and the second time he's pipped a majorly over-qualified woman to the post. America's first female President will have to wait… again. Make no mistake, this result has ramifications for women worldwide, including those of us here in the UK.
Trump's history of chauvinism is well-documented. And since the election, he's handed out senior government roles to the likes of Elon Musk, a billionaire whose takeover of X/Twitter has seen hate speech proliferate on the platform, and has recently backed the Reform Party in the UK; Robert F Kennedy Jr, a vocal critic of vaccinations, who can “do what he wants” when it comes to women's healthcare according to Trump, and of course, his running mate, J.D. Vance, who has consistently opposed rape exemptions for abortion care, access to IVF, and transgender people's rights.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy have committed to finding common ground with the incoming President-elect, but where some collaboration is clearly necessary, they must also challenge the dangerous sexism that threatens to take root in the UK's political system. It bears repeating: pandering to the right only emboldens the right – especially their attitudes toward women.
5) Marginalised women continue to bear the brunt of social inequality…
When we talk about women's rights, we're talking about all women's rights.
In November, 24-year-old Harshita Brella was found dead in the boot of an abandoned car. Just months earlier, she'd reported being a victim of domestic abuse to the police and was granted a Domestic Violence Protection Order. In a statement about her death, Southall Black Sisters said, "Black, minoritised and migrant victim-survivors face heightened disbelief from statutory agencies, eroding their trust in the state system and discouraging them from seeking assistance.
“Even when they do report abuse as Harshita did, their engagement is often cut short by statutory agencies’ inadequate understanding of their unique experiences of abuse and failure to provide culturally appropriate support.”
Earlier in the year, it emerged that Samaria Ayanle, a 19-year-old woman studying Japanese and History of Art, was reported missing by her university two weeks after her body was found. Why did it take so long to connect the dots? When will missing Black women be treated with the same urgency as white women?
The state is also letting transgender people down. Just this month, Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced an incoming ban on puberty blockers – not for cisgender kids, just the transgender ones. As former GLAMOUR Woman of the Year Munroe Bergdorf powerfully wrote on Instagram, “The attacks on [transgender] human rights, bodily autonomy and presence within society have become scarily normalised.”
Marginalised women are being let down at every corner, which is only exacerbated by the government and media's preoccupation with so-called ‘culture wars’. In 2025, let's put an end to this nonsense. A better world for women is a better world for everyone.
For more from Glamour UK's Lucy Morgan, follow her on Instagram @lucyalexxandra.
A better world is possible.
