I recently went to The WOW Show as part of the Women of the World Festival North East (https://thewowfoundation.com), and it hit me in all the places I needed it to.
It’s one of those events that makes you laugh out loud, nod furiously, maybe even cry — not because it’s overly dramatic, but because its honesty cuts through.
The WOW Show is all about real stories: ageing, housing, money, sex, raising boys… the stuff you don’t always see on “women’s issues” panels, but which frame what it means to be female in 2025. It’s hilarious, it’s serious, it’s both. It doesn’t sugar-coat but doesn’t let despair win either.
Why What We Talked About Isn’t Optional
We’ve come a long way. But we are not “there.” Not by a long stretch. Here are some of the hardest facts:
- In the UK, 1.6 million women aged 16+ experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2024. That’s over 9 % of women.
- Since the age of 16, about 30.3 % of women have experienced domestic abuse at some point.
- Every year, 108 domestic homicides are recorded (England & Wales), and of those, 83 were women killed in domestic abuse situations.
- In the past 15 years, more than 170 mothers have been killed by their own sons. That’s nearly one in ten women killed by men in this country. Many of those cases involved mental health issues.
These are not relics of history; they are everyday tragedies. They show how deep inequality, violence, and neglect are woven into the fabric of many lives. And most painfully, many of the tools we think should protect people either miss warning signs or aren’t made easily accessible until too late.
Mothers of Sons: The Leverage We Have & the Responsibility
We can demand institutional change till we’re blue in the face (and we must). But there’s also something powerful, direct, intimate that happens at home — especially if you’re raising boys or interacting with them. Because boys grow into men who shape the world ahead. If we change what boys see, what they believe, what they accept, we shift the culture.
Here are things we can and should do:
- Model respect and equality in everyday life. Let sons share emotional labour. Let them cook. Let them get upset. Let them help without being asked.
- Speak clearly about what’s acceptable behaviour. Don’t normalise “boys will be boys,” “she asked for it,” or “that’s just how men are.” Challenge those quietly but persistently.
- Teach empathy: help boys imagine female experiences — being unsafe in public, being harassed, being ignored. Use stories, media, conversations.
- Hold them accountable: when things go wrong, point it out. If they say something hurtful, call it out. If they act in a way that isn’t kind or fair, show them another way.
- Create space for their emotional lives. Many violent or abusive outcomes stem from having no outlet, no recognition, no instruction for feelings. If boys learn early that expressing fear, sadness, confusion is okay, that matters.
Final Thoughts
Leaving The WOW Show, I felt a kind of fuel, but more: determination. We are not just spectators in this fight.
We are makers of culture, mothers or mentors, speakers, challengers. The trouble is big. The gaps are wide.
But change starts where we live.
References:
ITVX+2InView.org.uk • Independent News+2
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