Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

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15.24 15.25 15.26 15.27 When this issue was raised at the UPR examination in 2012 39 the Government said that they have responded to concerns raised by NGOs and Parliament and have amended the legislation and that public funding for the most vulnerable groups has been preserved but the impact would remain under review. We hope that this is the case but have not yet seen this in practice. (See Appendix: 28 for further information) Recommendations: • The Government must ensure that women who have experienced violence have access to legal advice for a wide range of issues, including many of the areas of law that are proposed to be removed from the scope of legal aid. Women who have experienced violence must have access to face-to-face legal advice from qualified legal professionals • Temporary Special Measures should be introduced under CEDAW Article 4 to ensure availability of legal aid to victims to prevent further abuse Judicial review Judicial review is a vital part of our legal system, enabling individuals and organisations to seek legal accountability and justice by ensuring that decisions made by the Government and public bodies are lawful, fair, and accountable. Judicial review has been used by a number of women and women’s organisations to challenge decisions that were discriminatory. For example BME women’s organisation Southall Black Sisters used judicial review to challenge a decision to cut their funding based on the fact they didn’t provide services to all women. 40 As part of the ‘Red Tape Challenge’ 41 the Government has proposed a number of changes to the judicial review process, including reducing the time period for bringing a judicial review case and introducing fees for certain parts of the process. These changes will reduce access to justice for women and women’s organisations seeking to challenge poor decision making by the Government and public bodies. Recommendation: Ensure that women whose rights are at risk have access to judicial review to seek redress Increasing the diversity of judicial appointments Women continue to be underrepresented in the senior judiciary. There remains only one woman out of 12 on the Supreme Court (a position unchanged for the past eight years), four women out of 43 on the Court of Appeal, and 17 out of 111 (15.3%) on the High Court. 42 Although the Judicial Appointments Commission has achieved some success in increasing diversity at lower levels of the judiciary (tribunal members, district judges and part-time, fee-paid appointments), 43 it 39. Ministry of Justice, Universal Periodic Review http://www.justice.gov.uk/human-rights/universal-periodic-review Accessed: 21/04/13 40. Southall Black Sisters, Southall Black Sisters’ victory against Ealing Council http://www.southallblacksisters.org.uk/campaigns/save-sbscampaign-2008/ Accessed: 18/04/13 41. Red Tape Challenge http://www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/home/index/ Accessed: 18/04/13 42. See Senior Judiciary website: http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/about-the-judiciary/judges-magistrates-and-tribunal-judges/list-of-membersof-the-judiciary/senior-judiciary-list#headingAnchor1 Accessed 14/04/13 43. Judicial Appointments Commission and Ministry of Justice (2010)Statistical digest of judicial appointments of women and BME candidates from 1998/99 to 2008/09 http://jac.judiciary.gov.uk/static/documents/Statistical_digest_of_judicial_appointments_of_ women_and_BME_candidates_from_1998_to_2009_report.pdf 158 Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013
15.28 15.29 15.30 15.31 has not proved fit for the purpose of achieving greater diversity among the senior judiciary. 44 As a consequence, women do not see themselves equally represented at senior levels, there are insufficient role models and mentors for women law students, lawyers and lower level judges, and the law does not adequately incorporate women’s experiences and viewpoints. Recommendations have been made and accepted by the Government for improving diversity in the judiciary 45 but progress on implementing them has stalled. 46 Best practice is shown by the Feminist Judgements Project 47 in which a group of academics and lawyers wrote alternative judgments in key cases in English law from a feminist perspective. The alternative judgments give different accounts of the facts of cases, paying close attention to the people involved and often giving a voice to women who have been silenced or sidelined in other judgments. They also contextualise the law, challenge gender bias in judicial doctrine and legal reasoning, and resist essentialist categories and classifications. They demonstrate powerfully that even at the time they were originally heard, and operating within all the constraints binding appellate judges, cases could have been reasoned and decided differently if the bench had incorporated a wider range of life experiences and judicial perspectives. The Equal Justices Initiative 48 also promotes the equal participation of women and men in the judiciary, and monitors and disseminates official data and research on the issue of judicial diversity. These projects should be supported and emulated. Over 45% of solicitors are now women 49 however changes to legal aid (see above) will impact disproportionately on female solicitors as the majority of those working on civil cases are women. The majority of those who act as sole traders are also women, the hardest hit by changes in the tendering process for Legal Services contracts to provide legal services through legal aid. A survey has suggested that four in ten women police officers have also considered leaving the force because of low morale. Female officers cited reasons including lack of flexible working and issues surrounding childcare. 50 Recommendation: The Government and the Judicial Appointments Commission should set targets for the representation of women (including BME women) in the senior judiciary, based on their representation in the qualified legal community (those with 15 or more years’ experience) Women and offending Despite its national and international commitments and CEDAW’s previous Concluding 44. The House of Lords Constitution Committee held an inquiry into the judicial appointments process which discussed the issue of judicial diversity. Information about the inquiry can be found at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select/ constitution-committee/inquiries/judicial-appointments-process/. Of particular interest is the evidence given by Baroness Hale and Baroness Neuberger on 2 November 2011 on judicial diversity. Information about their appearance is available at: http://www.parliament. uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select/constitution-committee/news/jap-evidence-session-2-nov/, and the uncorrected transcript of their evidence is at: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/lords-committees/constitution/JAP/corrCNST021111ev7.pdf. 45. The Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/publications-and-reports/reports/diversity/advisory-panelrecommendations Accessed: 14/04/13 46. Ministry of Justice (2011) Improving Judicial Diversity: Progress towards the delivery of the ‘Report of the Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity 2010’ http://www.law.qmul.ac.uk/eji/docs/58393.pdf 47. Feminist Judgements Project http://www.kent.ac.uk/law/fjp/index.html Accessed: 14/04/13 48. Queen Mary University of London, School of Law, Equal Justices Initiative http://www.law.qmul.ac.uk/eji/index.html Accessed: 14/04/13 49. Cole, B., Fletcher, N., Chittenden, T. and Cox, J. (2010) Trends in Solicitor’s Profession: Annual Statistical Report 2009. The Law Society: London http://tinyurl.com/clammz6 50. BBC News (2012) ‘Women police officers think about quitting – survey’, BBC News UK, 15th July 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk- 18851715 Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013 159
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Women’s equality in the UK - A he
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Women’s equality in the UK - A he
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Appendices (online only) Appendix 1
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• the continued discrimination ag
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• Develop a common model of analy
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Article 9 - Nationality: One third
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investment in social infrastructure
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and increase the marginalisation of
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have been no prosecutions in Englan
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1 2 3 4 5 Introduction This is a Un
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10 11 12 13 housing crisis, a ‘lo
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1.1 1.2 1.3 Article 1 - Overarching
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1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 Women’
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1.17 1.18 1.19 Young women We are a
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2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 consult to “remov
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2.12 2.13 discrimination”. Howeve
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2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 worsen gen
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2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 CEDAW and the l
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3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 would “increase
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3.15 3.16 3.17 and accountable EHRC
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3.22 3.23 3.24 report is was partic
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classes, migrants, and Gypsy, Trave
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the institutional discrimination an
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5.5 5.6 5.7 Case study: 8 Sandra li
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5.12 5.13 5.14 issue. A more approp
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6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Article 6 - Exploit
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6.9 6.10 6.11 to the protection and
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6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 Office’s own
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6.24 6.25 6.26 women and increase t
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6.31 6.32 6.33 6.34 infrequent lap
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7.1 7.2 Article 7 - Political and p
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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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