October 29 2026 - 7:00am
I’ll be honest: £15 million doesn’t sound that much to me. In most situations, it would be an incredible amount of money, but as a fund to “stamp out” misogyny? When one considers the magnitude of the problem, it sounds like nothing at all. Then again, if you’re not committed to getting to the heart of the issue — if it’s more of a gesture than a serious plan — £15 million is an enormous amount to waste.
This week’s Government announcement of “specific national cash to address misogyny” therefore made my heart sink. While misogyny should of course be addressed, the fund seems to be, at best, a highly expensive posturing exercise. At worst, it’s a way of controlling the narrative on what misogyny is, excluding any forms that are novel, “progressive” or politically inconvenient.
Take, for instance, Women and Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson’s announcement of the fund’s purpose. “Day to day misogyny — from sexist slurs and harassment to workplace discrimination — quite simply has no place in modern Britain,” she said. “The time for talk has long passed, which is why this government is putting its money where its mouth is.” She went on: “Government is leading from the front, but we all have a role to play. This funding is a critical step as we work to confine misogyny to the history books, where it belongs.”
The language sounds like a variation on The Onion’s famous headline “Man Finally Put In Charge of Struggling Feminist Movement”: Government minister finally put in charge of tackling misogyny and identifies where all those grassroots campaigners have been going wrong. It’s not that you need a serious analysis of sex and gender, one that recognizes how and why woman-hating reinvents itself for each new era. You just need to make everyone feel as if it’s a bit cringe and out of date. This may come as a surprise to the feminists who’ve been told that supporting women’s rights puts them on the wrong side of history, but presumably they are now expected to pipe down and allow the Government to “lead from the front”.
Labour’s fund will function by allowing organizations to bid for a share in order to pay for services such as mentoring, workplace training and awareness campaigns. Business and philanthropists will also be invited to match funding. One wonders how the “anti-misogynist” credentials of such groups will be assessed, and how one might avoid the lion’s share of funding going to those with the least “problematic” views. Those who promise to do the anti-misogynist busywork of hating on the manosphere would, it appears, be considered far more favorably than those who draw links between the manosphere and more fashionable forms of sexism.
That victims of misogyny — female humans — are even recognized in law is not down to the work of politicians, businesses and professional feminist organizations. It’s due to grassroots, crowd-funded campaigns, the type of which would surely never see a share of that £15 million. Seeking to deny women sex-based rights in the workplace and public spaces is a profound act of misogyny, but it would be considered far too “political” — if not hateful — for organizations such as For Women Scotland or Sex Matters to get a piece of the pie. And as for “philanthropists” growing “the amount of cash available”, I can think of one woman who’s donated vast amounts to protect women’s rights who wouldn’t be welcome at all.
The Government wishes to tackle misogyny without addressing the politics of sex and gender. To invest millions in “educating” boys and grown men — as though sexism is some mere misconception — seems an absolute waste. Why not spend the money on women’s refuges or support for care work? Or how about reinforcing rights for women so they don’t have to spend their own money defending those rights? If the Government wants to “lead from the front” in tackling misogyny, it could start by taking lessons from the women who’ve been doing it for years.
