Rani Reads August 2025

Honour, Heroines & Equality Day: August’s Feminist Reckonings

August has been a month of reckoning, resistance, and resilience. From government reforms to raw personal storytelling, feminist voices have been shaping the conversation in powerful ways. And with Women’s Equality Day falling on the 26th, this month has reminded us that the fight for justice is as urgent now as it’s ever been.

The UK government has finally clarified the legal definition of “honour”-based abuse, a move that campaigners have demanded for years. Too many women and girls have faced coercion, shame, and violence in the name of so-called “honour,” often slipping through the cracks of existing protections. The human cost of this abuse is heartbreakingly clear - Yasmin Javed, for example, holds a photo of her daughter Fawziyah, who was killed by her husband in Edinburgh (Photograph: Sam Tabahriti/Reuters). This change gives frontline workers better tools to identify and respond to abuse, and it shines a spotlight on the patriarchal systems that try to disguise control as tradition. It’s a long-overdue win and a reminder that persistence pays off. Progress doesn’t just happen; it’s pushed forward by women who refuse to stay silent.

Another voice pushing forward this month comes from Keeley Hazell. Her memoir: ‘Everyone’s Seen My Tits’ hit shelves on 26 August and is already stirring debate. Once reduced to a tabloid stereotype, Hazell now reclaims her story on her own terms. She writes candidly about revenge porn, class prejudice, and the relentless misogyny she endured. It’s not a polished narrative of empowerment, it’s messy, vulnerable, and defiant. And that’s what makes it powerful. Hazell calls herself an “unlikely feminist,” but really, her story is a reminder that feminism belongs to every woman who refuses to let patriarchy have the last word.

Women’s Equality Day also landed on 26 August, marking the anniversary of US women winning the right to vote. It’s a moment to celebrate but not a finish line. Nearly a century later, the fight continues: for reproductive freedom, equal pay, safety from violence, and so much more. Equality Day isn’t just a date in the diary. It’s a checkpoint, a call to keep pushing, and a reminder that justice is always unfinished work.

So whether it’s in parliament, on the page, or in the streets, August has shown us that feminism is alive and driving change. Policies are shifting, stories are being reclaimed, and history is being remembered not as a victory of the past, but as fuel for the battles still ahead. Change doesn’t arrive quietly - it’s demanded, spoken, written, and fought for. And together, we keep it moving.