The Social Ideas Podcast: International Women’s Day 2019

https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/faculty-research/centres/social-innovation/

The Fourth Wave of Feminism: a digital revolution

For millennia the collective female voice has gathered strength clamouring to be heard over its oppression. In 1908 thousands of women took to the streets of New York protesting the inequality they dealt with in every aspect of their lives. A year later the first official International Women’s Day was declared an annual event.

Dr Lilia Giugni, a Research Associate at Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation, and 
co-founder and the CEO of the think tank consultancy of GenPol.

Dr Lilia Giugni is a scholar and activist who uses her academic research to affect change and policy. Through her roles as a Research Associate with the Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation, and a co-founder and the CEO of the think tank consultancy of GenPol, Lilia is an advocate for the mainstreaming of gender equality concerns, the prevention of gender-based violence, and the strategies of Southern Italian anti-mafia activists.

Since 1909 International Women’s Day is an occasion for events across the world to celebrate the achievements of women of every creed, colour and culture. The power of the day encompasses the collective strength and determination to overcome the barriers women continue to face. Over the last few years the emergence of the #MeToo movement, the use of terms such as Gender Pay Gap, and the assault on Reproductive Rights proves there is still much to be done.

Like a claxon heard through the darkness, the feminist movement of the 21st century heralds a fourth wave; a younger generation of feminists are harnessing the incisive power of the now ever present social media to carve their way to reach a gender balanced society. But like any public space that encourages spirited debate there is the inevitable and harmful backlash. Women in the public sphere deal with what is now being termed as digital violence.

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