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Best Moments Women 2017: Let's Say The Future Is Female To 2018

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STP Team
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2017 has been a year of reckoning for women. One that surged, empowered and impacted women like never before. The women's movement got a new lease of life and a new direction. Protests - pink to black, silent and noisy - grabbed global attention. Women raised their voices, and were heard. Campaigns spread like wild fire, they highlighted incest, harassment, rape. When women and girls came together to question injustice, and resist fear and hate - that was 2017. A year when feminism became the word of the year. It's time to celebrate Best Moments Women 2017.

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  1. Weinstein Muck

The unravelling of the Harvey Weinstein story has been a nemesis in the history of feminism. It's revelations, the coming out of women and standing up for themselves has been a phenomenal step. The speak-ups through the #MeToo campaign are testimony to not just the filth women face but more the guts they can and are willing to display.

2. Feminism became Merriam Webster's word of the year.

"The centrality that the word took in people's minds and their debate is a pointer to where conversations went in the year 2017. It wasn't about Googling the word, but accepting it, and understanding it. Even for those who stood for contesting feminism, just the movements of the last few years could only leave them better informed, " said MW.

The definition of feminism came under scrutiny this year, when at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Kellyanne Conway announced: “It’s difficult for me to call myself a feminist in the classic sense because it seems to be very anti-male and it certainly seems to be very pro-abortion. I’m neither anti-male or pro-abortion,” she asserted. As you can imagine, this got not just viral but fire up people to react across the world.

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3. The Women's March Becomes The Largest Single-Day Protest in History.

The planned protest, on Jan 21, 2017 was in Washington, D.C., and is known as the Women's March on Washington. According to organizers it was meant to "send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world that women's rights are human rights.

This and many other marches and protests followed to advocate legislation and policies regarding human rights and other issues, including women's rights, immigration reform, healthcare reform, reproductive rights, the natural environment, LGBTQ rights, racial equality, freedom of religion, and workers' rights.

4. India gets its first female defence minister

She is the first ever Defence Minister of India to work full-time. It is for the first time in more than 30 years, that the very important defence ministry seat has been declared to a woman minister.

4. End of Triple Talaq

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In August, the Supreme Court of India passed an order proclaiming instant triple talaq as illegal, which was seen as a long-awaited victory for women fighting to end the practice. Leading this was main petitioner Shayara Bano. She is a 36-year-old whose husband of 15 years gave her instant divorce by pronouncing triple talaq. Bano has been battling multiple ailments following several abortions, received a talaqnama (divorce) by post while she was staying with her parents in Kashipur, Uttarakhand.

5. Fearless Girl arrives in New York

She was a selfie honour for people who stepped on to Wall Street. The Fearless Girl statue was put on the money-lane as a symbol of gender and pay gap discrimination women face. It was placed right in front of the Financial District's charging bull sculpture as a message to corporations to appoint more women to their boards and be more inclusive towards women at work. Meant to be for a month, luckily the girl aint moving any where. She has became a landmark of hope and conviction for women and young girls looking to find their rightful place in the world.

6. She's a Wonder Woman

The movie, starring Gal Gadot, has earned more than $800 million worldwide to date. She has laid to rest conversations that women cannot break monetary barriers.

In one of the interviews with SheThePeople.TV, Karan Johar said the men alone getting top dollar was nothing but the math. We are delighted that Wonder Woman has won that equation. And in style. Hopefully Indian women will follow soon. It's not a matter of if but when.

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7.Beauty, Brains and The Beast

Haven't we all heard the same mundane questions about 'people who inspired you' and 'what would you do for your country' etc on all beauty pageants? Miss Peru was a pageant with a different. In November this year when contestants were asked about their 'vital stats', they chose to share some real stats. Instead of giving out their body measurements, they shared scary numbers on gender violence in their country. Not sure how the jury reacted but the world certainly stood up and took notice.

8. Saudi Women get behind the wheel

In September this year, Saudi Arabia announced that it would now allow women to drive. (The rule takes effect from July 2018, so they’ll have to wait a few more months.) Living in India we cannot even imagine what this could mean - forbidding women from driving. This brought cheer to thousands of women in the Arab country.

10. The Silence Breakers on Time Magazine

Following the viral campaign #Metoo, now the TIME magazine has taken these conversations, global. The cover has Ashley Judd, Susan Fowler, Adama Iwu, Taylor Swift and Isabel Pascual on its cover as the collective TIME Person of the Year. It’s tragic that we are yet discussing harassment being commonplace, embedded in power, sitting in corner offices, and even in our face at home. It’s important that a magazine of the stature of TIME chose to put it on the front page. Hopefully this isn’t the end of the year, but the beginning of a movement that will multiply in the new year and many other years to come.

11. Easier Divorce



The Supreme Court made it easier for couples to mutually call off their marriage. As per the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, the divorce procedure earlier expected a couple to live separately at least for a year. This lengthened the process and often make it complicated.

Now the minimum cooling period of six months for granting divorce could be waived by a trial court if there was no possibility of reconciliation or chance of the estranged couple staying together.

12. Indian Women's Cricketers In World Cup

Indian women’s cricket team made it to the World Cup finals. They won fans, and hearts. Mitali Raj took on body shamers and trolls and said, she just shuts them up.

13. The Maternity Bill

The Parliament passed The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill. Women now get 26 paid maternity leave. This puts India to the third position in terms of the number of weeks for maternity leave after Canada and Norway where it is 50 weeks and 44 weeks, respectively. It grab headlines for good reason. But some contested the idea with solid arguments.

Not only can we thank 2017 to putting women on the front of the newspapers, we can hope 2018 will lead this to newer heights. For when women get together, they not only empower each other, they are stronger and impactful in bringing sustainable change.

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