On a June day in 2015, I stood outside the Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre near Bedford, listening to the voices of women singing from within. The walls were marked with graffiti reading, “Set her free” and “Shut it down.” Having frequently visited the centre to hear the harrowing stories of those detained, that particular day felt imbued with a sense of hope rather than the usual despair. It was a moment of collective resistance that felt emblematic of the era.
When I founded the organisation Women for Refugee Women, my work was anchored in a profound belief in solidarity. The organisation was designed to support women seeking asylum in Britain, providing a platform for them to share their stories and advocate for justice and safety. For years, I witnessed this faith in action as women consistently showed up for one another, bridging gaps in background and experience to support shared goals.
Marchu Belete, a colleague from my time at Women for Refugee Women and current director of Migration Exchange, reflects on that period with nostalgia. “Back then, women were so open, enthusiastic and creative about campaigning with migrant women,” she says. “We didn’t realise how incredible that time was. It was amazing.” This sense of confidence among UK feminists to demand a better world was part of a broader global phenomenon during the 2010s, a decade marked by women forging new, powerful connections across borders, from abortion rights protests in Ireland to campaigns for the right to drive in Saudi Arabia.
While I do not wish to romanticize those years, there was an undeniable optimism regarding the changes we could achieve through collective action. Today, however, that landscape has shifted, and division appears to be the defining characteristic of many women’s movements. While historical tensions have always existed—between suffragists and suffragettes, across class lines, or regarding differing views on pornography—the current climate of polarization feels uniquely pervasive.
I am frequently struck by how women who identify as feminists now casually dismiss the struggles of those who do not share their specific experiences or political outlooks. This dismissal is not confined to one side of the ideological spectrum; it is a recurring feature of our polarized debates. If one is on the left, there is often a failure to empathize with women like Ann Widdecombe facing an attacker; if one is on the right, there is often a disregard for the systemic challenges faced by marginalized groups. This lack of empathy is exacerbated by social media, where algorithms reward anger and intransigence with clicks and followers, turning complex debates—such as the place of transgender women in feminism—into destructive, wounding conflicts.
Despite the toxicity found online, women are still building alliances offline, brick by brick. These efforts may be less visible to the public eye, but they are growing quietly. Jessie Brinton, a former journalist and founder of the project Mothership, is facilitating this resurgence through in-person “kitchen table conversations” across Britain. She notes a profound hunger among women to reconnect, stating, “We’ve lost the ‘village’. Women are lonely. That’s what we’ve heard over and over again. We need to rebuild the spaces in which women find each other.”
Brinton’s work in places like Wigan has highlighted the importance of local, frontline organizing. Gill Wright, co-founder of Northern Heart and Soul, echoes this sentiment, emphasizing that supporting one another at the community level is the most vital work for feminists today. Wright’s organization, which grew out of a mutual aid group during the pandemic, focuses on the idea that “what works for women works for everyone.” By prioritizing local needs, these groups are shifting the focus from national-level political gridlock to tangible, community-based solutions.
One Black woman in her 60s, who co-founded an organization for migrant female survivors of violence, recently offered a sobering assessment of the movement in Britain: “We’ve lost our way. We aren’t putting our energy into changing the system. We are focusing our energy on building alternatives.” This perspective is shared by many who see the current political climate as an opportunity to ensure women’s voices are integrated into new governance structures, such as the North East Mayoral Combined Authority established in 2024.
During the recent “racist pogroms” in Belfast, women—both migrant and white—led the way in bringing communities together, proving that care can be a powerful antidote to hate. We face a choice: we can lean into the division, building walls and focusing solely on the individual or the nation, or we can choose to insist that connection is stronger than the heat of the moment. Women are choosing the latter every day, weaving the connections that will eventually bridge the divides we currently face. The report also notes that she and other women in her network saw an opportunity to ensure, with the establishment of the North East Mayoral Combined Authority – which gave greater powers to local councils and the mayor of the north-east – in 2024. The report also notes that as hundreds of women – refugees, campaigners, lawyers, members of parliament, actors, writers – gathered around the centre to demand freedom for the women locked up, but that day felt hopeful rather than despairing. The report also notes that for the right to drive in Saudi Arabia, against digital sex crimes in South Korea, and against sexual violence and femicide in India, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Turkey, everywhere, women protested over abortion rights in Ireland. The report also notes that it wasn’t just about personal advancement or separate communities. The report also notes that i don’t know if that still exists.”. The report also notes that can you open your heart to Palestinian women and Israeli women who are targeted by armed men. The report also notes that can you take seriously the experience of girls abused by grooming gangs and women beaten by the men who protest outside asylum hotels. The report also notes that social media takes so much of the blame for these widening divisions.
