Why women marched against a Conservative MP as well as Donald Trump

More than 1,000 people turned out to protest against the new President, and the local MP Philip Davies, in Shipley

Over a thousand people gathered in Shipley in solidarity with others marching against Donald Trump (Siobhan Clibbens)

Women across the UK are joining in a global protest against Donald Trump as he is sworn in as the new US President.

With major protests in London, Edinburgh and Cardiff thousands of women in the UK’s cities are expected to join the call to demonstrate against the former reality star’s anti-women policies.

But in the small West Yorkshire town of Shipley, near Bradford, a contingent of self-described “Feminist Zealots” are marching in solidarity with their American sisters past the constituency office of their local MP – the Trump supporting, feminist bete noir Philip Davies.

Around 400 people initially said they would be attending on Facebook but over 1,000 people reportedly turned out for the march when it began at 12pm, according to the local organisers Shipley Feminist Zealots.

One of the group – which is connected to other groups organising protests around the world under the umbrella of Sister Marches – Jenny Wilson told The Independent it feels like “our little march in Shipley” was part of a much bigger movement.

She said: “There will be tens of thousands in London but there will only be hundreds in Shipley and [people will ask] does that matter?

“Well it does matter because it is part of a global movement of people saying that equality, unity, peace and standing up for people who don’t have the opportunity to stand up for themselves matters. I feel that is terribly important.”

Women gathered in the small town centre to march on the route that went past Tory MP Philip Davies' office (Hawarun Hussain)

She dismissed claims from people who say protesters should shut up and respect the election result saying that “is not how democracy works”. Nor is the march just for women on the left.

Referring to an open letter to the group from Mr Davies which accused them of using “feminism to disguise their socialism”, Ms Wilson said the march was not partisan and claims that they were pushing a party political agenda were ridiculous.

She said: “He accuses us of hiding our socialism behind our feminism when I know that we are not all socialists. I’m not party political at all personally, and it is the rights of women that we are marching for.

“It’s not about party politics. It’s not about Philip Davies even – he’s just given us a reason to march in Shipley.”

She said Conservative supporters were more than welcome at the event and suggested that the party should be concerned about some of the positions Mr Davies took.

On the Facebook event for the march, participants were asked to wear traditional UK suffragettes’ colours – green, white and purple – to mark the sacrifices which modern day campaigners believe are under threat.

Though Ms Wilson said it would be “crazy” to think women’s right to vote itself is under threat, other freedoms like the right to have an abortion or for help to leave an abusive relationship which face new restrictions.

The group was formed last summer in response to comments made by Mr Davies at the conference of the men’s rights party Justice for Men and Boys where he suggested “feminist zealots wanted to have their cake and eat it”.

He said the justice system was skewed towards women at the expense of men and believed that there was “no issue between men and women” – arguing that gender inequality against women had been stirred up by militant feminists.

The Tory later became one of the only MPs to endorse Mr Trump for President, saying he would vote for the former reality star “in a heartbeat”.

In the week he was appointed to the House of Commons’ Women and Equalities Select Committee he also tried to filibuster a bill which would ratify the Istanbul convention on tackling and preventing violence against women – saying laws should protect men and women equally.

Conservative MP Philip Davies endorsed Mr Trump and has spoken against measures to help women in the past

But Ms Wilson stressed the group was committed to gender equality the money it raised from cake sales was donated equally to Bradford Women’s Aid and men’s mental health charity Calm.

Aisha Ali-Khan, another member of the Feminist Zealots group from neighbouring Keighley, told The Independent that she felt it was particularly important for her to protest as a Pakistani Muslim woman.

She said: "I have been concerned about his rhetoric around us for a long long time. Even before he said they should ban Muslims from entering the US. I know that if I was ever to go to America this would affect me, having him in the White House.

“I can understand why people initially said ‘oh he’s a maverick, oh he’s sticking it to the establishment’ but do we really want that at the cost of world peace?”

She said all the rights modern women took for granted were now under threat and this was the start of a global movement to secure them.

A banner advertising the march organised by Shipley Feminist Zealots in the town centre (Siobhan Clibbens)

“There is a momentum growing. We have to stand up now, we are losing the privileges that so many women before us have fought so hard to get”, she explained “We are moving backwards. If we’ve got people like this in the White House giving legitimacy to these kinds of views and you’ve got people all over the world looking to America to set the example.”

According to Sister Marches, more than two million people are expected to turn out to protests in more than 30 different countries, in everywhere from Iceland to Antarctica.

The group stressed it was not just about opposing Mr Trump’s inauguration – it was more about being “proactive about women’s rights”.