I have spent 35 years working in global public health in so-called ‘developing’ countries, long enough to know that the health and well-being of both sexes cannot be achieved without addressing the social, economic, political and individual inequalities that impact women in all countries, especially gender-based violence. Yet who are we development workers to preach when in our own country 51% of the population continues to be treated as second class citizens? In my teens and 20s I had hoped that the Labour Party would be able to push the interests of women but it has proved to be just as bad as other political parties. It is high time for a breath of political fresh air which gives women – and men - real alternatives, and will help to shape a world that our children can be proud of and where are all treated equally, regardless of their sex.