Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

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Appendix: 37) on women in Jersey which is a UK Crown Dependency; and from the UK National
Human Rights Institutions, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, 9 Equality Commission
Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. We will link to these
submissions in this report and the appendices to avoid duplication, although the reports aim to
complement each other and some similar issues may be reinforced with further information.
Since the last UK examination the CEDAW Committee has adopted three new General
Recommendations 10 on women migrant workers, older women, and core obligations of
signatory states under CEDAW. However, the UK Government has hardly mentioned these in
their report and have not addressed their obligations under these.
The UK Government’s 7th Periodic Report comprises descriptive policy narrative but the report
includes little specific data on the impact of policies and initiatives on women’s substantive
equality. Also, the report ends on 31st May 2011 but there have been many changes further
rolling back women’s rights in the UK since then. A considerable amount of the report is devoted
to the Government’s work promoting gender equality in other countries and therefore is not
relevant to its compliance with its domestic obligations under CEDAW. For example, the role of
the International Violence Against Women Champion is only focussed on addressing violence
against women and girls (VAWG) overseas when this is also an urgent area of work in the UK. The
CEDAW Committee’s 2008 recommendations are not adequately addressed in the report and
many of the concluding observations are yet to have any action taken.
The Government did give further information in their response in February 2013 to the first list
of issues and questions from the CEDAW Committee. 11 However, this still neglected to provide
detailed information on all the questions asked and the information did not give the full picture
of the current situation for women in the UK as this report will explain.
Impact of the economic crisis on women’s equality
This report has been produced at a time of severe economic pressure. It is important that
the Committee is aware of, and takes into consideration, the context of economic downturn
and austerity measures in the UK and the way in which these are negatively impacting on
women’s rights. In many respects the full impact of these is not known as policies are just being
implemented. However, as evidenced in this report, predictions of impact suggest that women
will bear the brunt of public spending and welfare reform cuts. Since May 2010, the Coalition
Government has introduced ‘Reform of Welfare Provisions’, a large-scale comprehensive
spending review which has resulted in an unprecedented austerity package of cuts to public
spending in order to tackle a national deficit of over £120bn. Within a context of global and acute
European financial crisis, many people in the UK are facing unemployment, cuts to benefits,
and financial hardship. Areas of the UK that were previously struggling, such as the North East,
have fallen further into poverty and deprivation. The media is increasingly reporting news of a
9. Equality and Human Rights Commission, UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women http://www.
equalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/our-human-rights-work/international-framework/un-convention-on-the-elimination-ofdiscrimination-against-women/
10. CEDAW General Recommendation No. 26 Women Migrant Workers (forty-second session, 2008) http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/
cedaw/docs/GR_26_on_women_migrant_workers_en.pdf ; CEDAW General Recommendation No. 27 Older women and protection
of their human rights (forty-seventh session, 2010) http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G10/472/53/PDF/G1047253.
pdf?OpenElement; CEDAW General Recommendation No. 28 The Core Obligations of States Parties under Article 2 of CEDAW (fortyseventh
session, 2010) http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G10/472/60/PDF/G1047260.pdf?OpenElement
11. 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
20 Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013