Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

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or mental health problems which has impacted on women as primary carers. 39 (P84 para 10.2) Many of the cuts to Further and Higher Education have had a disproportionate impact on women, preventing particularly ethnic minority women, those who have children, are from poorer backgrounds and/or are mature students, from gaining educational qualifications. 40 (P91 para 10.31 and P94 para 10.43) These women may see their earning potential and job prospects reduced as a result. Cuts to English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes also have a large impact on women. 41 (P95 para 10.47) Recommendation: Take measures to mitigate the disproportionate effect of education cuts on women and to mainstream gender equality curricula across all levels of education Article 11 – Employment and economic rights: The Government claims that there are “historically high numbers of women in employment”, 42 however, this must be taken in the context of more women of ‘working age’ in the UK than ever before – due to increasing population and an increase in State pension age for women. Furthermore, evidence shows that women’s unemployment is at a 25 year high 43 and public sector cuts are seeing women out of work in their thousands. (P99 para 11.8) Barriers to work are increasing for women as childcare costs are among the highest in the European Union and welfare payments are reduced creating a working poor. 44 (P108 para 11.39) There are still high rates of pregnancy discrimination which leave many women without access to maternity leave and pay, and render laws designed to protect the health and wellbeing of pregnant workers ineffective. 45 (P105 para 11.32) Changes to employment rights are also reducing women’s access to redress. 46 (P106 para 11.36) The gender pay gap remains significantly larger in the private sector than in the public sector. The percentage of women in business management positions has also remained unchanged and marginal. 47 (P65 para 7.13) The Government has limited itself to voluntary agreements with private industry which are clearly ineffective. Recommendations: • Introduce measures to promote women’s equal opportunities in employment and pay in the provision of physical infrastructure (roads, rail and digital) including 39. BBC News (2011) ‘Special needs support promises more parent power’, BBC News Education and Family, 10th March 2011 http://www.bbc. co.uk/news/education-12677259 40. Stephenson, M. (2011) TUC Women and the Cuts Toolkit: How to carry out a human rights and equality impact assessment of the spending cuts on women. TUC: London http://www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-20286-f0.cfm 41. Moore, K. (2011) ‘’Women affected most’ by English language funding cuts’, BBC News London, 18th May 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ uk-england-london-13412811 42. CEDAW 55th session (2013) List of issues and questions with regard to the consideration of periodic reports: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Addendum: Replies of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the list of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of its seventh periodic report, 5th February 2013 http://www2.ohchr.org/English/bodies/cedaw/docs/ CEDAW.C.GBR.Q.7.Add.1.pdf 43. Saner, E. (2012) ‘Female unemployment crisis’, The Guardian, 20th February 2012 http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/feb/20/femaleunemployment-crisis-women 44. O’Connell, J. (2012) ‘Soaring childcare costs see parents working for nothing’, The Guardian, 1st September 2012 http://www.guardian. co.uk/money/2012/sep/01/soaring-childcare-costs-work-nothing 45. Ward, R. (2011) Health and equality impacts of well paid parental leave. Women’s Health and Equality Consortium and Maternity Action: London http://www.whec.org.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2011/10/ HealthandEqualityImpactsofWellPaidParentalLeave20111.pdf 46. XpertHR, Settlement provisions and employment tribunal system to be reformed http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/107972/employmenttribunal-system-to-be-reformed.aspx?mid=35,35 Accessed: 16/04/13 47. Sealy, R. and Vinnicombe, S. (2013) The Female FTSE Board Report 2013: False dawn of progress for women on boards? Cranfield International Centre for Women Leaders http://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/dinamic-content/media/Research/Research%20Centres/ CICWL/FTSEReport2013.pdf 12 Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013
investment in social infrastructure (education, care and health services) as this generates jobs for women • Introduce mandatory equal pay audits for all employers and measures to guarantee a living wage • Explore investing in a national system of universal childcare to create jobs (in a sector in which women are over-represented), which would help to make employment financially worthwhile for second earners and single parents (both more likely to be women). This would also address in-work poverty and ensure that women are not discouraged from entering employment because of the high cost of childcare Article 12 – Healthcare and family planning: Women’s health issues are still not adequately addressed. 48 Issues such as mental health and VAWG 49 are not understood and the long-term impacts of these are not dealt with. The changes to the National Health Service (NHS) will have a significant impact on women who rely on these services most, for example the cuts in maternity and care services. 50 (P124 para 12.54) The health issues affecting certain groups of women because of their immigration status, 51 (P114 para 12.18) ethnicity, 52 (P113) women in prison 53 (P126 para 12.59) or those living in poverty, 54 are acute and cannot be ignored. How will the Government address the current inadequacies of provision and support for women in healthcare and ensure that women have access to rights-based, patient-centred and quality healthcare when changes are made to the NHS? Recommendations: • For the Government to effectively tackle the health issues women and girls face, it must consider the diverse experiences of women’s lives, including poverty, sexual violence and abuse, reproduction etc. and understand how these experiences impact on women’s health and wellbeing. This must include a cross-government approach which gathers and analyses data on women from different equalities groups • VAWG needs to be a Department of Health strategic priority, integrated into strategies such as the national Sexual Health Programme 55 • Women’s health and social care needs must form an integral part of the Department of Health’s strategic framework through statutory guidance to Clinical Commissioning Groups on how to proactively fund and commission from the women’s voluntary sector 48. Women’s Health and Equality Consortium (2011) Why women’s health? WHEC: London http://www.whec.org.uk/wordpress/wp-content/ uploads/downloads/2011/11/WhyWomensHealth11.pdf 49. Women’s National Commission (2010) A Bitter Pill To Swallow: Report from WNC Focus Groups to inform the Department of Health Taskforce on the Health Aspects of Violence Against Women and Girls. WNC: London http://wnc.equalities.gov.uk/work-of-the-wnc/ violence-against-women/news-and-updates/309-a-bitter-pill-to-swallow-report-from-the-wnc-focus-groups.html 50. Bragg, R. (2012) ‘How cuts to maternity services are threatening health and care’ False Economy, 20th July 2012 http://falseeconomy.org. uk/blog/how-cuts-to-maternity-services-are-threatening-care 51. Maternity Action (2012) Guidance for Commissioning Health Services for Vulnerable Migrant Women. WHEC: London http://www. maternityaction.org.uk/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/guidancecommissioninghealthservvulnmigrantwomen2012.pdf 52. Southall Black Sisters (2011) Safe and Sane: A Model of Intervention on Domestic Violence and Mental Health, Suicide and Self-harm Amongst Black and Minority Ethnic Women. SBS: London http://www.southallblacksisters.org.uk/reports/safe-and-sane-report/ and Vale, S. (2012) ‘Gypsy and Traveller women in the UK – Ethnic minority women’, The Women’s Resource blog, 8th December 2012 http:// thewomensresource.tumblr.com/post/37466483604/gypsy-and-traveller-women-in-the-uk-ethnic-minority 53. Prison Reform Trust (2011) Bromley Briefing Prison Factfile, December 2011. PRT: London http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/ Documents/Bromley%20Briefing%20December%202011.pdf 54. UCL Institute of Health Equity (2010) Fair Society, Healthy Lives: Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England Post-2010 (The Marmot Review). UCL: London http://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/projects/fair-society-healthy-lives-the-marmot-review 55. Public Health England, Sexual Health Programme http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAweb&Page&HPAwebAutoListName/ Page/1201094614842 Accessed: 16/04/13 Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013 13
Page 1 and 2: Women’s equality in the UK - A he
Page 3 and 4: Women’s equality in the UK - A he
Page 5 and 6: Appendices (online only) Appendix 1
Page 7 and 8: • the continued discrimination ag
Page 9 and 10: • Develop a common model of analy
Page 11: Article 9 - Nationality: One third
Page 15 and 16: and increase the marginalisation of
Page 17 and 18: have been no prosecutions in Englan
Page 19 and 20: 1 2 3 4 5 Introduction This is a Un
Page 21 and 22: 10 11 12 13 housing crisis, a ‘lo
Page 23 and 24: 1.1 1.2 1.3 Article 1 - Overarching
Page 25 and 26: 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 Women’
Page 27 and 28: 1.17 1.18 1.19 Young women We are a
Page 29 and 30: 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 consult to “remov
Page 31 and 32: 2.12 2.13 discrimination”. Howeve
Page 33 and 34: 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 worsen gen
Page 35 and 36: 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 CEDAW and the l
Page 37 and 38: 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 would “increase
Page 39 and 40: 3.15 3.16 3.17 and accountable EHRC
Page 41 and 42: 3.22 3.23 3.24 report is was partic
Page 43 and 44: classes, migrants, and Gypsy, Trave
Page 45 and 46: the institutional discrimination an
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Page 49 and 50: 5.12 5.13 5.14 issue. A more approp
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7.7 7.8 7.9 7.10 The House of Lords
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7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17 Recommenda
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7.21 7.22 7.23 Political representa
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9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 Article
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9.9 9.10 Mainstreaming gender in th
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9.15 9.16 9.17 biased views towards
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9.21 9.22 9.23 9.24 women. 47 (See
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9.28 9.29 9.30 9.31 New family migr
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9.35 9.36 UKBA, where men and women
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9.39 9.40 9.41 9.42 • Do not redu
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9.46 Research on immigration case m
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10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 The Educat
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10.13 10.14 10.15 10.16 boys and on
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10.22 10.23 allow speakers to promo
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10.29 10.30 10.31 10.32 Case study:
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10.37 10.38 10.39 10.40 • Many wo
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10.46 10.47 10.48 applications (fig
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11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Article 11 - Em
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11.8 11.9 are 754,000 women working
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11.14 11.15 11.16 11.17 11.18 The g
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11.24 11.25 11.26 per week or they
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11.31 11.32 11.33 Introducing more
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11.37 11.38 Case study: 83 Jasmine
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11.42 11.43 11.44 11.45 At the 2012
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12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 of women and en
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12.12 12.13 12.14 12.15 Translators
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12.19 12.20 12.21 12.22 Barriers to
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12.25 12.26 12.27 12.28 Gypsy and T
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12.34 12.35 12.36 12.37 Older women
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12.41 12.42 Recommendations: • Th
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12.47 12.48 12.49 12.50 they are at
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12.55 12.56 12.57 Case studies: 128
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12.60 12.61 12.62 12.63 12.64 hospi
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13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 Article 13
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13.11 13.12 13.13 13.14 children ne
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13.17 13.18 13.19 13.20 Welfare ref
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13.25 13.26 13.27 13.28 because in
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13.32 13.33 Case study: 57 “As a
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13.36 13.37 allocation of resources
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13.41 13.42 Homelessness, including
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13.47 13.48 BME women would be left
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13.52 13.53 13.54 13.55 with some l
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13.60 13.61 13.62 effect to their p
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14.6 14.7 14.8 disabled and lesbian
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14.14 Gypsy and Traveller women suf
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15.6 15.7 15.8 15.9 15.10 15.11 The
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15.14 15.15 15.16 purport to be vic
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15.21 15.22 15.23 Case study: 35
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15.28 15.29 15.30 15.31 has not pro
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15.35 15.36 behaviour by male priso
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16.5 16.6 people being forced into
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16.10 16.11 16.12 16.13 16.14 16.15
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16.21 16.22 frequently women’s ac
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Recommendations: • Parents with c
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19.6 19.7 19.8 as well as for our c
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19.13 19.14 19.15 19.16 The Governm
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19.22 19.23 19.24 19.25 VAWG is a c
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19.30 19.31 19.32 19.33 DV is still
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19.38 19.39 19.40 perpetrators thro
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19.43 19.44 19.45 Support for victi
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19.49 19.50 19.51 19.52 Recommendat
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19.57 19.58 19.59 19.60 BMER VAWG p
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19.62 19.63 19.64 19.65 VAWG in hea
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19.70 19.71 19.72 Invisibility of s
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19.77 19.78 19.79 A number of repor
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19.85 19.86 means more provision. T
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Annex 1: The Devolved Administratio
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to 41.8% of rural men. 16 Rural are
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Annex 2: The UK’s relationship wi
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Annex 3: UK reservations and declar
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ESA - Employment and Support Allowa
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Annex 5: Acknowledgements Many than
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Women’s Resource Centre is suppor
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