THE 57th congress of the Communist Party of  Britain (CPB) in November is calling for a united front, lifting the battle of ideas to a new level and the sharpening struggle to radically change society. For working-class women, unity in action is a necessity.

Living in a culture which sanctions deeply sexist and misogynist behaviour, women in Britain have to build unity among themselves, our communities and in our class organisations to protect ourselves, defend our rights and be ready for the struggles ahead.  

Our daily lives are blighted by oppression because we are women. Poverty, sexual harassment, physical violence, inequality and marginalisation are the lot of many of us.

Black and Asian sisters face racism, rooted in slavery and colonial history, and today perpetuated by discrimination, bringing disproportionate disadvantage in housing, healthcare, education and employment. 

Women with disabilities are at higher risk of sex-based violence and abuse than those without. Many girls experience sexual harassment from a very young age and are fearful of going out onto the streets.

We can have no expectation that the capitalist system will provide for our personal safety.  

Women are the main unpaid carers in raising families and looking after parents as they age.

We have to try and cope with rising living costs, bearing the brunt of cutbacks to public services and welfare for us and our families — cuts in childcare provision, fewer resources for our health needs and frozen social security benefits.

All this, in many cases, while trying to hold down paid jobs. To be a working-class woman in Britain today can be a crushing experience. Yet we have always fought back.

The struggle towards true women’s liberation in Britain is a record of great achievements and we are proud of the role our Marxist party has played in it.

From the social and industrial battles, women have fought collectively to get the vote, to improve terrible working conditions and low pay, to get the childcare we need to enable us to work, and for abortion rights to give us control over our own reproductive bodies.

Our triumphs are many but these hard-won advances towards equality are now under extreme threat as the crisis of capitalism deepens. On top of this, levels of sex-based violence are rising rapidly.

We in the CPB support the National Assembly of Women (NAW) and its programme, the Charter for Women, which has been taken up by many trade unions.

The campaigns detailed in the charter address our issues and set out key demands for action within society, in work and the labour movement. Promotion and adoption of the charter by many more organisations would take us forward.

Through the NAW’s affiliation to the Women’s International Democratic Federation, we are linked to progressive women’s organisations worldwide, whose members are fighting for women’s rights, peace and against fascism, many risking their lives and liberty in countries with repressive, authoritarian regimes. We stand with them.

UN Women’s 2023 Gender Snapshot report paints a bleak picture of closing the gender gap globally and warns that its target to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment across its 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 will be missed without a huge input of extra funding.

It says: “If current trends continue, over 340 million women and girls — an estimated 8 per cent of the world’s female population — will live in extreme poverty by 2030.”

This is feminisation of poverty on a world scale and the effects of climate change will make things worse.  

The conditions for progressive advance are growing more difficult everywhere. The British ruling class will seek to sow disunity as it attempts to clamp down on political and civil rights.

That the origin and nature of women’s oppression are rooted in class exploitation is well understood by the CPB. Women must play a key part in the fight to end the system that perpetuates it and the patriarchy that underpins it.  

We must go on the offensive, and work together to develop a unified women’s movement to fight for the aims of the Charter for Women.

We must educate our male comrades so that they understand women’s rights are not an add-on but an intrinsic part of the wider class struggle and urge them to fight with us for a socialist society to the benefit of all.

Communist women stand for true women’s liberation, internationalism, peace and socialism.

Carol Stavris is women’s organiser for the CPB (CommunistParty.org.uk).