Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

16.23
16.24
16.25
16.26
Faith based organisations and legal arbitration
Under the Arbitration Act 1996, 34 bodies outside the justice system can offer arbitration in
relation to certain types of civil dispute. Several organisations are using the Act to adjudicate on
family and marital disputes in line with religion.
There is evidence that bodies involved in applying religious law in the UK are discriminating
against women in marriage and divorce. By forcing women to meet with their abusers and
encouraging them to return to violent or forced marriages, they are also putting women at risk
of further abuse, and are denying them access to justice. By allowing these bodies to operate in
the UK, the Government is in breach of its obligations under CEDAW Article 16. (See Appendix:
31 for further information)
Recommendation:
All bodies involved in private arbitration around family law must be subject to the
CEDAW principles and to key UK legislation protecting women’s rights, including the
Sex Discrimination Act 35 and the Human Rights Act 36
Shared parental leave
We welcome the Government’s announcement in November 2012 on shared parental leave and
other support for working parents. However, this is a modest step towards greater sharing of
caring responsibilities as there is likely to be limited take-up by fathers as the Government chose
not to proceed with the four week extension of paternity leave originally included in their plans.
The model of transferable leave adopted by the Government is a significant improvement on
the earlier version outlined in the Government’s Modern Workplaces consultation 37 following
significant campaigning from the voluntary sector and others. 38 (See Article 11 and Appendix: 15
for more information)
Child maintenance/support
The UK Government is set to introduce charges for parents with care (PWC) using the child
maintenance system to require non-resident parents to provide financially for their children.
We consider that the proposal to charge PWCs 7% to use the statutory system raises serious
concerns under gender equality provisions of the Equality Act 2010 39 and CEDAW and will
result in outcomes that are not in the best interests of the children. It is important to note that
charging to use the child maintenance system will impact disproportionately on PWCs, 95-
97% of whom are women. This is reflected in the Department of Work and Pensions qualitative
study published in 2006 which concluded that “[o]verall, non-resident parents appear to wield
a disproportionate amount of power over establishing financial arrangements following a
separation, regardless of the type of arrangements adopted”. 40
34. Arbitration Act 1996 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/23
35. Sex Discrimination Act 1975 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1975/65
36. Human Rights Act 1998 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/contents
37. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (2011) Consultation on Modern Workplaces http://www.bis.gov.uk/Consultations/modernworkplaces
38. Valuing Maternity (2012) Maternity and Parental Leave that Promotes Real Equality. Maternity Action: London http://valuingmaternity.org/
wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Maternity-and-Parental-Leave-Intro.pdf
39. Equality Act 2010 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents
40. Bell, A., Kazimirski, A., and La Valle, I. (2006) An investigation of CSA Maintenance Direct Payments: Qualitative Study. London: Department
for Work and Pensions, Research Report No. 327 http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2005-2006/rrep327.pdf p41. This conclusion
was met with the caveat that “all the parents in this study had eventually involved the CSA in their negotiations (or become involved
through the parent with care going onto benefits)”.
168 Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013