Did 2018 materialise as "The Year of Women" as predicted? We've still got a way to go, but this year certainly felt like the tide has been turning 🌊♀️

As the year draws to a close we look back on five moments where we smashed it!

1. Jacinda Ardern gives birth while in office 🇳🇿

We already <3 Jacinda Ardern (check out a post from earlier this year on exactly why) and since she's had Neve Te Aroha, she's been successfully juggling motherhood and politics. It was a world first when she brought her newborn along to the UN General Assembly in New York this September. Little Neve was with her father while Jacinda gave her debut UN speech.

2. Ireland vote to legalise abortion 🇮🇪

May saw the landslide victory to reform old abortion laws after years of campaigning and sealing "the country’s transformation from bastion of religious conservatism to one of Europe’s most tolerant democracies." It proved to be the highest turnout for a social reform and 66.4% voted to repeal the ban.

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A post shared by BuzzFeed World (@world) on May 27, 2018 at 5:47am PDT

3. Female activists get the red carpet treatment at the Golden Globes 🎥

On January 1st of this year, the campaign Time's Up was launched calling for “safe, fair & dignified work for women of all kinds”. A key moment in that campaign was the presence of life-long female activists joining Hollywood A-listers on the red carpet during this year's award season, and notably in black. Celebrities like Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep and Emma Watson accompanied Tarana Burke who founded the #metoo movement; Saru Jayaraman fighting for labour standards in the food industry and Marai Larasi who fights violence against black and minority women, and many more female fighters. 

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A post shared by TIME'S UP (@timesupnow) on Jan 7, 2018 at 6:25pm PST

4. Women smash the mid-terms 🗳️

The hotly debated US mid-terms resulted in a record-breaking number of women winning seats in the crucial US elections. 113 to be precise.

5. Women speak their truth in court ⚖️

Bill Crosby is found guilty on multiple allegations of sexual assault in April this year after more than 50 women stepped forward and took to the stand. More than 150 women came forward "with harrowing testimony at the sentencing hearing for Nassar, a former doctor for USA Gymnastic". He was sentenced up to 175 years in prison in May this year and since then other officials have been charged. And of course, Dr Christine Blasey Ford stepped forward during the nomination of Brett Kavanagh as Supreme Court Judge. Her powerful testimony was heard by millions. "Although coming forward was terrifying, and caused disruption to our lives, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to fulfill my civic duty," Ford said in a statement in November.

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A post shared by caroline williamson (@element75) on Sep 27, 2018 at 1:14pm PDT

There is so much more to put in here, such as the historic female representation during the Mexican elections, female surfers awarded equal pay in championships, young activist, Emma Gonzalez' powerful viral speech following the Florida shooting, female Nobel Prize winners, Pulitzer prize for public service winners and more. So much to be proud of. What would you add?

Let's keep the momentum going well into 2019 folks! 💪💪💪