2014 was described as a watershed year for women's rights, by newspapers such as The Guardian. It was described as a year in which women's voices acquired greater legitimacy and authority.Rebecca Solnit, "Listen up, women are telling their story now", The Guardian, 30 December 2014.Marlene Leung, "2014: The year women joined forces online and the Internet listened", CTV News, 24 December 2014.Margaret Shkimba, "Outrage prompts new era for women", The Hamilton Spectator, 31 December 2014. Time magazine said 2014 "may have been the best year for women since the dawn of time".Charlotte Alter, "This May Have Been the Best Year for Women Since the Dawn of Time", Time magazine, 23 December 2014. However, The Huffington Post called it "a bad year for women, but a good year for feminism".Emily Tess Katz, "2014 Was A Bad Year For Women, But A Good Year For Feminism", The Huffington Post, 24 December 2014. San Francisco writer Rebecca Solnit argued that it was "a year of feminist insurrection against male violence" and a "lurch forward" in the history of feminism,Rebecca Solnit, "Why #Yesallwomen Matters", Mother Jones, 3 June 2014. and The Guardian said the "globalisation of protest" at violence against women was "groundbreaking", and that social media had enabled a "new version of feminist solidarity"."The Guardian view on a year in feminism: 2014 was a watershed", The Guardian, 31 December 2014.
Denise Balkissoon, writing in The Globe and Mail, disagreed with and criticized the view that 2014 marked a "watershed" moment and that "some collective 'we' has finally had enough", citing her ongoing concerns regarding a "broken system" with respect to violence against women.Balkissoon, Denise. "Sorry, we haven’t reached a 'watershed' on violence against women", The Globe and Mail, 5 November 2014. United Nations' Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Rashida Manjoo, said that violence against women "is acknowledged as a pervasive and widespread human rights violation" and that as of 2014, "no single country can claim that there is progressive elimination occurring".Rashida Manjoo, Hearing Submission: Jessica Lenahan (Gonzales) v. United States, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 27 October 2014. Pages 3, 5, 9–10. Accessed: 11 January 2015.
Issues
Street harassment, assault
Marlene Leung of CTV News described 2014 as "the year women joined forces online and the Internet listened". The Twitter campaign #YesAllWomen, offering examples of sexism and harassment, attracted over one million tweets within four days in May. The hashtag was created after the Isla Vista killings in California, a killing spree in which the killer's misogyny was cited as a factor.Sasha Weiss, "The Power Of #YesAllWomen", The New Yorker, 26 May 2014.
The street harassment of women was highlighted when actor Shoshana Roberts was hired by Hollaback! to walk through the streets of New York City. Their two-minute video, 10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman, filmed over a period of ten hours, showed 108 instances described as harassment, including comments from men regarding Roberts' appearance. She received online threats after the video aired.Gail Sullivan, "Video: Woman harassed 108 times as she walks around New York", The Washington Post, 29 October 2014.Bethonie Butler, "The story behind that '10 hours of walking in NYC' viral street harassment video", The Washington Post, 29 October 2014. In June, the Egyptian government criminalized sexual harassment, though campaigners questioned whether the law would be enforced.Patrick Kingsley, "Egypt criminalises sexual harassment for first time", The Guardian, 6 June 2014.
Responding to the heightened awareness of rape in India after the 2012 Delhi gang rape and the 2014 Badaun gang rape allegations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised parents, during his Independence Day speech in August, not only to ask where their daughters are going, but to check on their sons, because "a rapist is also somebody's son".Rebecca Solnit, "A Watershed Year For Feminism", Outlook, 19 November 2014.Kaveree Bamzai, "Narendra Modi, the first feminist", India Today, 15 August 2014. Another Indian politician, Mulayam Singh Yadav, opposing the introduction of the death penalty for rape, said in April "boys will be boys ... they commit mistakes", gaining considerable notoriety,Mohd Faisal Fareed, "Mulayam’s shocker: Boys will be boys, they make mistakes ... Will you hang them for rape?", Indian Express, 11 April 2014. while in June politician and former actor Tapas Paul said he would send his "boys" to rape women from an opposing party."Will ask my boys to go and rape CPM women: TMC MP Tapas Pal openly threatens opponents", Times of India, 30 June 2014.
Krishna Majumdar of the National Federation of Indian Women wrote in July that the Delhi and Badaun attacks were "nothing less than landmarks for women in India – landmarks in their consciousness of what men do, and can do, to them", and that "the machismo of the male, sexual assault or the fear of it, will not let women be truly free". The comic book Priya's Shakti (December 2014) featured a female Indian rape survivor as its hero; Priya is banished when her family learns about the rape, but with the help of the Hindu goddess Parvati, she rides back on a tiger and is victorious.Geeta Pandey, "India's new comic 'super hero': Priya, the rape survivor", BBC News, 7 December 2014.
First Lady Michelle Obama delivered the weekly presidential address in May to highlight the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping in Nigeria, in which around 270 schoolgirls were kidnapped by an Islamist group. She argued that it was not an isolated incident: "It's a story we see every day as girls around the world risk their lives to pursue their ambitions."Tracy McVeigh, "Michelle Obama raises pressure over kidnapped schoolgirls", The Guardian, 11 May 2014.
Women's allegations of assault or harassment at the hands of prominent men – including Bill Cosby in the United States and Jian Ghomeshi in Canada – added to the debate about the abuse of women by men in power, and the difficulty of reporting it and being believed.Charlie Gillis, "Is this a watershed in battle against sexual harassment?", Maclean's, 13 November 2014.Anna Maria Tremonti, "Sexism and violence against women may be getting attention, but some say the watershed moment is still to come", The Current, CBC Radio One, 6 November 2014, from 02:08 mins.Aaron Wherry, "Two Liberal MPs suspended over allegations of personal misconduct", Maclean's, 5 November 2014. Scotland Yard's Operation Yewtree in the UK, an investigation triggered by the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal, led to convictions for the sexual assault of women or girls against Max Clifford, Rolf Harris and Dave Lee Travis, all well-known men in the media and entertainment industry.Anni Donaldson, "Time to finish off Page 3 – and tackle #everydaysexism – by handing out a few 'prizes'", The Conversation, 10 December 2014.Josh Halliday, "Max Clifford sentenced to eight years for his crimes and contempt of women", The Guardian, 2 May 2014.Peter Walker, "Rolf Harris jailed for five years nine months for indecently assaulting girls", The Guardian, 4 July 2014.Paul Gallagher, Paul Peachey, "Dave Lee Travis is found guilty of indecent assault", The Independent, 23 September 2014.
American football player Ray Rice was suspended by the NFL (later reversed) after video surfaced of him punching his female partner, and there were protests in the UK against soccer player Ched Evans being hired by another club after serving a jail sentence for rape. Australia, the UK and Singapore barred US-based dating coach Julien Blanc, after complaints that his aggressive techniques amounted to abuse of women.Gail Sullivan, "‘Dating coach’ Julien Blanc kicked out of Australia for crude ‘pick-up’ schtick", The Washington Post, 10 November 2014."Julien Blanc: UK denies visa to 'pick-up artist'", BBC News, 19 November 2014."Pick-up artist Julien Blanc blocked from entering Singapore" , Channel NewsAsia, 26 November 2014.
Campus rape In college campuses in the US, the idea of affirmative consent to sex was promoted, referred to as "yes means yes". In January, President Barack Obama launched the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault,"Fact Sheet: Not Alone – Protecting Students from Sexual Assault", White House, 29 April 2014. and in September, California Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 967, legislation requiring colleges to adopt affirmative-consent policies.Emanuella Grinberg, "Schools preach 'enthusiastic' yes in sex consent education", CNN, 29 September 2014. The new law defined consent to sex as an "affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity"; lack of protest and silence would not constitute consent."Senate Bill No. 967", California Legislative Information. Affirmative consent was criticized by Cathy Young who said government involvement in sexual activity was a "terrible idea" and that she did not believe this would protect against sexual assault.
In September at Columbia University in New York, art student Emma Sulkowicz began carrying a mattress with her on campus, in what she called Mattress Performance: Carry That Weight, in protest to the university's alleged mishandling of a rape complaint she had filed, where the student she accused was found "not responsible".Vanessa Grigoriadis, "Meet the College Women Who Are Starting a Revolution Against Campus Sexual Assault", New York Magazine, 21 September 2014. The following month students at several universities in the US and Europe joined her protest against campus sexual assault, carrying mattresses on their campuses.Alexandra Svokos, "Students Bring Out Mattresses In Huge 'Carry That Weight' Protest Against Sexual Assault", The Huffington Post, 29 October 2014.Amanda Hess, "Emma Sulkowicz Inspired Students Across the Country to Carry Their Mattresses. Now What?", Slate, 30 October 2014."Carry that Weight", carryingtheweighttogether.com.
Online threats
Online threats of violence against women were highlighted during Gamergate, a controversy about the treatment of women in video gaming. American video-game developers Zoë Quinn and Brianna Wu were forced to leave their homes after threats, as was media critic Anita Sarkeesian, who researches sexism in video games; Sarkeesian cancelled a lecture at Utah State University because, for legal reasons, it could not screen attendees for concealed weapons despite the threat of a school shooting if she spoke there.Soraya Nadia McDonald, "Anita Sarkeesian cancels Utah lecture after threat", The Washington Post, 15 October 2014.
Iran and Saudi Arabia On Facebook, women in Iran posted images of themselves without veils in a movement known as My Stealthy Freedom.Julia Carpenter, "Iranian women shed hijabs for 'Stealthy Freedoms' Facebook page", The Washington Post, 16 May 2014. In Saudi Arabia in December, two women involved in the #womentodrive movement were arrested."Saudi terrorism court 'to try women drivers'", BBC News, 25 December 2014.
Laws