Donald Trump is the next President of the USA. When will women matter?

This article references rape and sexual abuse.

No, this is not a bad dream: Donald Trump will be President of the USA, again. Am I surprised? Vaguely. In the run-up to election day, many men in my life shared their predictions of a Trump win with me. They weren’t gleeful about it; they were matter-of-fact. Unlike me, they didn’t have hope; they didn’t need it. They don’t have skin in the game.

On my commute this morning, I saw two men talking and laughing with each other. They looked like they were talking about work. I thought, ‘How dare they?’ I looked around me. Most women in the carriage were silent – except for two having a short conversation in a low, assertive tone. I caught sight of my reflection in the grainy window. I look like I’ve been up all night, but I haven’t. Hope had lulled me to sleep. Hope – that thing that women can never shake – had failed us once again.

I know that Kamala Harris is far from the perfect candidate; the ramifications of Biden-Harris’s policies in the Middle East are proof enough. But I foolishly thought that if she was elected president, American women could lobby Harris to do better. Trump, on the other hand, famously does not listen to anyone – least of all women.

I’m aware that Trump has won fair and square through a democratic process in which many women voted for him. But surely his presidential hopes should have been over when a video emerged in 2016 of him bragging about the perks of being famous: “They let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy.”

His plans for a second stint in the White House should have gone up in smoke last year when a New York civil court found him guilty of sexually abusing E Jean Carroll in a department store changing room 28 years ago.

Or what about when Trump selected JD Vance – who decries women without children as “childless cat ladies” – as his running mate for the 2024 election?

If we lived in a society that genuinely cared about women, Trump’s presidential bid would have ended the moment he first uttered his plan out loud. But we don’t, so it didn’t.

There are too many examples of Trump’s misogny and biogotry to list. It hurts to keep reeling them off, knowing it doesn’t make a difference – knowing it’s part of the reason why he won so many American votes.

Over the past five or so years, Trump’s return to power has been enabled by macho bootlickers with puffed-out chests and violent ideologies. These men (and the women who want to impress them) chase proximity to power through the overt domination of women and minorities. Donald Trump is the common thread that runs throughout the recent surge of ‘trad wives’, Andrew Tate’s fanboys, and pro-lifers – all of whom believe in the necessity of laws to enshrine women’s inherent inferiority.

America has voted to keep women down on their knees, whether they’re dying at the border or in childbirth, whether they’re suffocated by shame or silence as their abusers climb the ranks of power, whether they’re kicking and screaming or pretending to admire the view.

For every man who is upset about the result, there are ten more who inform me that a Trump presidency was inevitable. I want to scream, ‘Don’t we matter to you? Don’t women matter?’ But, as I’ve written before, I’m tired of begging people to care about the ongoing destruction of women’s rights and livelihoods across the world. I’m tired of asking you to give a damn.

For women and marginalised people (including people of colour, the LGBT+ community, and migrants), this isn’t just a news story we can scroll past. It’s our lives. And yes, they matter.

For more information about reporting and recovering from rape and sexual abuse, you can contact Rape Crisis on 0808 500 2222.

If you have been sexually assaulted, you can find your nearest Sexual Assault Referral Centre here. You can also find support at your local GP, voluntary organisations such as Rape Crisis, Women’s Aid, and Victim Support, and you can report it to the police (if you choose) here.

For more from Glamour UK’s Lucy Morgan, follow her on Instagram @lucyalexxandra.