Why we’re using poetry to fight violence against women

With government ministers receiving lots of petitions every day, we wanted to do something a bit different to help our Fearless campaign stand out. We knew we needed to make a powerful statement that shows the huge support for tackling violence against women.

Inspired by the long tradition of some of the world’s most marginalised groups using the spoken word to stand up for their rights, we’re asking people to contribute a line to a worldwide poem of hope for the women of tomorrow. We’ll present the poem to the government to remind them of their commitments on ending violence against women.

This World Poetry Day, I wanted to pay tribute to the fearless women whose poetry inspired us by telling you some of their stories.

The second-wave feminists who used poetry to show solidarity

In the seventies, poetry was a big part of the women’s movement in countries like the United States – a way for women to raise their voices together, speak out about the sexism they were facing and show other women that they weren’t alone. Some of the era’s most famous poets, like Audre Lorde, used poetry to share their own experiences of gender, race and sexuality. This is an extract from her poem 'A Woman Speaks':

I have been woman
for a long time
beware my smile
I am treacherous with old magic
and the noon’s new fury
with all your wide futures
promised
I am
Woman
and not white.1

Feminist poet Jan Clausen, writing in the early eighties, said that poets had become “some of feminism’s most influential activists, theorists, and spokeswomen; at the same time, poetry has become a favourite means of self-expression”.2

The 21st century women using poetry to speak out for gender equality

Though a lot’s changed since the seventies, women today are still using poetry to speak out about gender equality, from street harassment to restrictive beauty standards. At ActionAid, we’ve been lucky enough to have poet and activist Kate Menear support our campaign to end violence against women, and perform her poem 'Reclaim the Night' at some of our events last year:

So until we have claimed our equal rights
it is imperative that we continue to fight,
to fight from each platform, each hashtag, each street,
to fight with your voices and vote with your feet,
fight for your short skirts, your lipstick and high heels,
your sisters, your mothers, and others’ ordeals.
Alone we are mighty but together we're stronger,
let's reclaim the night and we'll stand this no longer.3

Like countless generations of women before them, Kate and many other young poets are performing poetry out loud, rather than writing it down, passing on their experiences of homophobia, violence against women or racism via the spoken word.

Ending violence against women this World Poetry Day

We’re inspired by poets like these, but we’ve been absolutely overwhelmed by the lines of poetry written by supporters and campaigners from around the world to back our call to end violence against women. Here are just some of the moving lines people have sent in:

I hope that one day giving birth to a daughter is a blessing from God. – Rusan, Nepal

I hope that we stop asking, ‘what did you do to provoke this?’ – Judith, UK

I hope women can be treated better than they are. – Bankole, Zambia

I hope the women of tomorrow have the freedom to smile. – Sharon, UK