In a letter written to the new International Development Secretary, over 20 leading stars and feminists, have stated that progress towards achieving women's rights is "too slow and investment too little".
The letter, which is signed by celebrities like Keira Knightley, Vanessa Redgrave, and notable feminists Sophie Walker and Caroline Criado-Perez, has asked MP Priti Patel to invest further in grassroots organisations that support women around the world. The letter says that one in three women will face violence in their lifetime, nearly two thirds of the world's illiterate adults are women, and that fewer than 4 per cent of the world's leading corporations have female CEOs.
The women write, "We know that we cannot realise long-term change for women and girls without the work of grassroots women's rights organisations. They are the backbone of the fight for gender equality. Their struggles to achieve equality for women and girls take place in communities, school rooms, courts, parliaments, conflict zones and health centres. They campaign for and provide vital services, challenge unfair laws, fight discrimination and so much more." After a year since the historic agreement of a global goal on gender equality was announced at the UN, the women tell Priti that "we now need to see real progess".
