WOMEN trade unionists kicked off the TUC women’s conference today with a panel on how the movement would tackle increasing misogyny, sexism and the far right.

TUC director of equalities Kudsia Batool, who chaired the panel, highlighted that the conference was taking place at a time when misogyny is “not only resurfacing, but being organised and amplified.” 

She said: “We’re clear that misogyny, sexism and the rise of the far right are not separate issues. They are deeply connected.

“Unions are one of the last democratic spaces where working-class people can find community, can find solidarity, can find purpose.

“And if we don’t provide that there are others who will, with messages that are damaging, threatening and problematic.”

Anki Deo, of Hope Not Hate, noted how social media algorithms exacerbate divisive content, telling the conference: “Women’s rights, particularly around sexual freedom and relationships between men and women, are entry points for people to find more rabbit holes on the far-right.

“We definitely see people who get interested in that kind of content end up funnelled down into Islamophobic, anti-migrant, xenophobic content as well.”

She highlighted the pitting of women against migrant and ethnic minority communities, saying that there was a “breakdown in solidarity that I believe is all of our tasks to try and rebuild.

“And I think that wedge of division is where the far right are really growing in power right now,” she said.

“They drive a wedge between ordinary working people and migrants. They drive a wedge between people who receive welfare and migrants. They drive a wedge between women and migrants.”

Ms Deo added that the upcoming Representation of the People Bill is a “really important opportunity to ensure that money and that influence doesn’t affect our politics.”

Dr Olivia Brown, from Bath University, working with the TUC on how the “manosphere” promotes misogyny, addressed the scale of the challenge.

And Vicky Thomson of Unite and the Scottish TUC’s women’s committee highlighted concerning trends in schools. 

“I work in a secondary school and have seen worrying trends of behaviour becoming more obvious amongst our young people,” she said. 

“The fight against the far right is universal and regardless of profession, we are all vulnerable if they get a foothold in the corridors of power and the court of public opinion.”