Grateful for the Women in our Lives, Past and Present

Many of the people I work with experiencing homelessness don't have a family, not one they can rely on anyway, and our relationships with our mums can be tricky. Not having my mum anymore is something I feel a chronic sense of loss about - we lost her to cancer when I was 19. For many of us there's no-one quite like mum. 

Which is interesting when you consider that many mums feel pretty exhausted most of the time. We are grateful for them but as a society we don't design a world in which mum, or women generally, can live happy, healthy, financial secure lives without exhaustion and compromise. My See Her campaign has been shining a light on the invisibility of women in how we design our policies, work places, services - the world in general. The data and information being used is male bias and fails to apply a gender-lens that would enable us to See women. 

It's been a busy few months for the campaign. We've taken it to events in Scotland, Manchester and Liverpool, on-line and in print, spoken to allies about it on the If I had One WISH podcast, and even written to the Regulator and Ombudsman to boldly ask for change. It has been great to see all your support for the See Her campaign across social media, and to hear all the stories you've been sharing around your own experiences of feeling knackered, and invisible. 

I love that many of you feel the campaign has given you a voice and framing around which to talk about not being seen. And that you know that it is ok to feel fed up and angry about feeling invisible. For me the series 'Riot Women' on the BBC encompasses the feeling I know many women in the sector experience when Beth (one of the main characters) talks about their rock band... 'We sing songs about being middle-aged and menopausal and more or less invisible. And you thought The Clash were angry'. 

Angry? Perhaps. Fed-up? A bit. But grateful - absolutely. For all the amazing women out there. May you be seen, heard, understood, and appreciated.

Crystal Hicks, WISH President