“THE abolition of class exploitation, sex-based oppression and racism is the precondition for women’s liberation.” That’s the cornerstone of a new women’s rights group launched last weekend.

Such was the interest in the Women’s Liberation Alliance that tickets for the event at the London Irish Centre were snapped up even before it had been advertised, and despite the heat and weekend public transport woes, sisters turned out from across Britain and beyond to listen and discuss the need for a revitalised movement.

Labour historian Prof Mary Davis explained the significance of the founding statement: “We’re a progressive coalition of women and women’s organisations, focused on building and sustaining a women’s movement, but the most important thing was our founding principle.

“It actually unites us, and it will determine what we do,” she said, adding: “We have to get the theory right in order to get the practice right.”

Charting some of the history of the struggle for women’s rights, she said: “Compared to previous centuries when women were the property of men and had no rights at all, it’s clear that women’s status has some respects improved, at least juridically, but apart from the right to vote and own property, equality for women as it now exists is based on an unseen process of co-option — really the successes of the favoured few.”

However, “for working-class and black women very little has altered.”

“So despite the fact that women now account for half the workforce in this country,” women still face “job segregation, precarious work, the gender pay gap underpinned by a miserable family wage, and compounded by lack of affordable child care; austerity policy undermines public services and this has led to the feminisation of poverty and growing violence against women and girls.

“Now, what’s the massive problem on the left within the trade unions? And this is where so many of us come from. We come from the labour movement, we are active in the trade union movement … So, what is the problem? Well, the problem is, of course, policy capture due to incorrect theory.

“We have got a huge issue, we have lost out in so many ways in the trade union movement — women’s spaces, women’s-only committees; courses and conferences. We have to make sure that these still exist, and they’ve been attacked and we all know that.”

Davis warned that “the most important challenge we face” at the moment is anti-feminism, “because anti-feminism is incorporated with an ideology … gender identity ideology [which is] anti-feminist and anti-woman, and that’s why we want to ensure that this movement is successful.”

Emphasising the need to incorporate anti-racism and global awareness into women’s struggles was Pragna Patel, former director and founding member of Southall Black Sisters and now co-director of black and ethnic minority women’s advocacy group Project Resist.

“The heartbreaking economic and political devastation that we see around us — wars, conflict and division, driven by nationalist populism, authoritarianism, religious fundamentalism, corporate greed, racism, misogyny, environmental destruction, inequality and discrimination — rage around the globe.

“The sense of urgency in building a principled politics of protest and resistance appears greater than ever, and yet attaining true freedom still eludes us,” Patel said.

“I fear that in many ways we have come to a standstill — or actually gone backwards, as inequality, violence and injustice have been normalised and even celebrated by tyrants and criminals who masquerade as world leaders.”

Yet Patel had words of caution for the left: “It’s clear that feminism as a political movement has made important strides in the struggle for female self-determination in both public and private spaces. But like much of left-wing politics, I also fear that we have allowed ourselves to be lulled into the political blind alley of identity politics.”

She added: “Identities have become even more fragmented, as each powerless group races to the bottom so that it can claim the ultimate status of victimhood. With this comes a new politics, a new kind of moralistic orthodoxy, that seeks ideological conformity in which dissent is heavily policed and the principles of democracy, including open debate and tolerance of multiple ideas, are undermined.

“I am here today — and it’s why I am part of the Women’s Liberation Alliance — as for some time now, it has become clear to me that we desperately need to stop, think and do things differently, if we are to rise to the enormity of the task before us. We have to find spaces for honest and critical self-reflection without inducing feelings of guilt, shame or recrimination.”

Discussing the law and the impact of the recent Supreme Court ruling on women’s rights and the Equality Act was Susan Smith of For Women Scotland. This group burst into the headlines in Britain — and around the world — only in April but the road they’ve travelled has been a long one.

“We took two judicial reviews. We’ve been in court five times. This has been a very long process,” said Smith.

Sizing up the situation now, two months on from the ruling, she said: “I think it’s a measure of how far down this rabbit hole some people have gone that ordinary principles are trashed in the name of gender identity.

“We have all seen this backlash. A lot of people, including lawyers, saying they won’t obey the law. Well, the rule of law only works if people obey the law. When people start deciding that they’ll just ignore any rules we don’t like, we have chaos.

“I always say you don’t get into a car generally if you don’t have a driver’s licence. There’s every chance if you’re particularly careful about your driving you won’t get found out — or maybe not for a while — but we don’t do it because we all have a civic contract.

“The difference between male and female is so obvious and the reasons we have these protected spaces for safety, dignity and privacy are so clear that it’s one of the most extraordinary rules to think you can break with impunity.”

“…I do think this is always about putting the individual and their wants ahead of society and society’s needs. And it’s an extraordinarily selfish movement. I do not know what will happen next, but I think having the Supreme Court ruling on side makes it much easier now for people to challenge unlawful and discriminatory practices, whether they be in work or from the government.”

And Kiri Tunks of the FiLiA Trade Union Network was optimistic that problems for women on the left and in unions could be overcome: “I’m hoping that we can try and rebuild the labour movement in our image, because let’s face it, women started the labour movement.”

Pointing out that today there are a million more women members than men, she said: “Women’s membership of trade unions has gone up and male membership has gone down … there are 3.7 million women trade union members and there are only 2.7 million men. I think we can take them!

“The main purpose of the FiLiA trade Union Women’s Network is to connect women. We are wanting to connect women in their own unions and professions and areas, like education or health or whatever, but also to help women in their locality.”

Encouraging sisters not to give up but to get involved, Tunks said: “This is about women that actually want to come and fight for your rights … and to make unions work for us in the way that they’re meant to.”

The spirit of collective action and collective rights, of socialism and co-operation, infused the Women’s Liberation Alliance launch and, while further discussion and thought will determine the next steps for the group, the repeated refrain of Mary Davis (and Mao Zedong) seems apt: “Dare to struggle, dare to win!”

For more information visit www.womensliberationalliance.org.uk.