International Women�s Day

Tulip Siddiq Excerpts

Thursday 6th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dawn Butler]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. I am sure he will be forgiven for missing half of a debate today.

Women are being killed�that is a fact. We have got too used to talking about the statistics without thinking about who is at the end of it, and that we are losing a woman every three days to murder. It starts somewhere. At the end of the day, the way that women are demonised and attacked, and the way that we attack trans women�it starts somewhere. It is a deliberate act and action.

I also want to thank organisations such as the Fawcett Society, Centenary Action�whose all-party parliamentary group I co-chair with the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield (Mims Davies)�and the Asian Women's Resource Centre in Brent. It is important that we start to celebrate women, as the Mayor did in renaming the Overground lines. The line that I get on was renamed the Lioness line. At first, I was a little confused�I thought, �Am I on the right train?� Now, though, I smile, because I know that when people ask why it is called the Lioness line, the response will always be, �Because a really great female football team brought the cup home.� Those are the little things that we can do that will make a big difference. Many men feel insecure about that, so we need to tell them not to worry and to just chill.

There are men who say that we should not talk about firsts�women who are first to do this, or first to do that. I say that we should celebrate those women, because they show that we have made a bit of progress. For example, we have the first female Deputy Speaker of colour in the Chair�congratulations on that, Madam Deputy Speaker. [Hon. Members: �Hear, hear!�] We have the first female metro mayor, Tracy Brabin and the first registered blind MP for Battersea, my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Marsha De Cordova). I could spend my whole time talking about all those firsts, but we do still have a way to go.

There are more good people in the world than bad. I see men in power saying, �Don�t celebrate women. Don�t talk about women.� Some even say, �Erase women�, which is really quite scary. They are literally trying to erase women and our achievements, but I know that there are men who can and must speak out. The reality is that we have some aggressive, white supremacist males who are saying that women should not exist, or that we belong in the kitchen and that is it. We cannot go backwards. We have come too far, so that just ain�t going to happen.

If I were to ban steps�I ask Members to bear with me for a moment�and replace them with a slope, would that stop people from getting to their destination? No, it would not, but would it help people who have problems with walking or who are in a wheelchair to get to their destinations? Yes, it would. This is not necessarily about taking something away. It can be about changing something to help other people also get to their destination. To all those boys and men who feel that they have to turn to the far right or to become incels, I say, �Is it time to change? Is it time for you to change how you talk, how you act, and the attitude that you take? Would you like your mother, your sister, your girlfriend or your partner to be talked about or treated in the way that you treat women?�

[Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Highgate) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech. I am sure that all those young women in Brent and north London who are watching her will be very proud.

One topic that often comes up in our local mothers� WhatsApp chats is social media. My hon. Friend is talking a lot about change. Statistics show that, after spending time online and on social media, 40% of young women and girls feel lonely and depressed because of all the online abuse. Does she think that social media platforms need to take some responsibility for the content that is amplified through their platforms?

[Dawn Butler]

Social media platforms have a vital role to play. They understand that negativity spreads faster than positivity. In the old days of legacy media, it was often said, �If it bleeds, it leads�. Those platforms are absolutely aware of the damage that they do. They will not voluntarily make the changes that they need to make and, as a Government, we need to legislate for those changes to be made.

When I watched the story of the Women�s Army Corps unit of colour, which stars Kerry Washington as Captain Charity Adams, I actually cried. The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion contributed to the war effort in a unique way. They sorted through 17 million pieces of mail and delivered it to American soldiers on the frontline. Those 855 black women improved morale and brought hope to the frontline, yet after going through all of that, they were discriminated against and history tried to erase them. We have to wonder why that is. Why do people continually try to erase women and people of colour from history?