International Women's Day: 8 March 2018

Resist the Tory war on women

International Women's Day 2018 (Click to enlarge)

Defend women's and domestic violence services

Get. Them. Out. The Tories have got to go. What other response can there be to the Tories' annihilation of the services needed by women fleeing domestic violence? This equates to murder by political decisions.

598 women were killed by men identified as current or former partners in England and Wales between 2009 and 2015.

An estimated 1.3 million women in Britain have experienced domestic abuse in the last year.

Women's Aid estimates that the move to Universal Credit, along with changes to funding formulas, will contribute to four in ten women's refuges closing.

They say that 17% of specialist women's refuges were already forced to close between 2010 and 2014. More than 1,000 women and children have been turned away from shelters in the past six months.

The Socialist Party opposes all cuts to the specialist services needed by women and anyone fleeing domestic violence.

For one thing, there isn't a lack of money. The Panama and Paradise Papers proved that.

Fund all services

We also say that Labour councils could fund these services and all public services by using their reserves and borrowing powers and by fighting to replace the Tories with a Jeremy Corbyn-led, anti-austerity government.

We will also need to build a movement to resist the attacks on such a government from the capitalists.

In Yorkshire, Socialist Party members are involved in the Save South Yorkshire Women's Aid campaign. The Labour council has £91 million in reserves but has refused to spend the thousands that are needed to keep this vital service open.

In Derby, Socialist Party members are involved in the campaign to defend the women's centre there.

We fight for a world free of inequality and sexism. A united working class-led struggle of all genders can fight the cuts, get the Tories out and transfer the power and wealth into the hands of the millions not the millionaires.

The Socialist Party fights for:

No to all cuts and privatisation of jobs, public services and benefits. Defend our pensions
No to funding changes for women's refuges. Fully fund refuges and run them with democratic committees that include service workers and users
Build council homes and introduce rent control. No to Universal Credit
End discrimination on grounds of gender, race, disability, sexuality, age and all other forms of prejudice
Defend abortion rights. For a woman's right to choose when and whether to have children
Fight for a socialist world to end poverty, inequality and exploitation

Sarah Sachs-Eldridge

The print version of this article on the back page of Socialist issue 984 can be used for selfies and photos to celebrate International Women's Day on 8 March - use #SocialistWomen and tag us on Twitter (@Socialist_party), Facebook (/CWISocialistParty) and Instagram (socialistpartycwi)
See next week's issue of the Socialist for the Committee for a Workers' International statement for International Women's Day

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Finance appeal

The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.

The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.

The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.