The sad and unexpected death of Labour MP Jo Cox in June shocked us all and highlighted the level of violence and threats facing women in politics every day, both online and less commonly, in real life.
Cox was a proud, passionate feminist and campaigned for the equality of women internationally. Now, a mentoring scheme has been launched in her honour in a fitting tribute to her life.
The scheme, a joint venture between the Labour Party and the Labour Women's Network, aims to get more women into politics, reported the BBC.
It will help more than 600 enter politics in the next five years through training and mentoring. The aim is to encourage more women to put themselves forward to become MPs, councillors and fill other roles within the Labour Party.
Gender equality is a tricky topic for the party at the moment. More than 40 female Labour MPs wrote to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in July calling on him to tackle abuse towards MPs, particularly women.
Owen Smith, who unsuccessfully challenged Corbyn to become Labour leader, also criticised him for not doing enough to tackle "intolerance and misogyny" within the party.
The Conservative Party recently got its second female leader in the form of Prime Minister Theresa May and the SNP, DUP, Plaid Cymru, UKIP and the Green Party are all currently headed by women. Labour, by contrast, has never been led by a woman.
Referring to the new mentoring scheme, Labour MP Rachel Reeves, a friend of Cox, said: "There were many causes that Jo was passionate about and one of them was about women in leadership and women in politics. She was the first chair of the Labour women's network," the BBC reported.
Reeves compared being supported by Cox to "having one arm wrapped around your shoulder and the other one pushing you forward".
"She encouraged other women to go for parliamentary selections and put themselves forward," she added.
Reeves acknowledged it had been "a difficult year" for women MPs in the party but said the scheme will help "change what politics looks like", and ultimately how it is conducted.
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