Women in the U.K.

Civil, Political, and Economic Rights

C i v i l r i g h t s

Violence against women

honor killingsforced marriage

rape, sexual violencetrafficking

female genital mutilationphysical abuse and others

Steps that the U.K. has taken

• Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act in November 2004– Prime Minister announced a 24-hour help line and Internet database of refugees•with £2 million from the government •as well as an additional £7 million to develop new refuges in partnership with local authorities

Statistics

• 25% of women in the U.K. and 30% of women in the U.S. will be victims of domestic violence

• 1 woman in 9 in the U.K. and 2 to 4 million women in the U.S. are severely beaten by their male partners each year

• 1 woman in the U.K. and 12 women in the U.S. are killed every 3 days by a current or former partner

• 167 women in the U.K. and 240 women in the U.S. are raped every day

Reproductive rights

AbortionEmergency Contraception

Abortin’Abortion Act of 1967

»allows two medical practitioners to authorize an abortion during the first 24 weeks of a pregnancy IF

- It is a risk to her physical or

mental health»the Abortion Act gives medical practitioners the power to decide

Emergency contraception

• available to women over the age of 16

• no prescription required• the U.K. has recently adopted measures to making EC available to adolescents under 16

P o l i t i c a l r i g h t s

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Steps that the U.K. has taken

• The Sex Discrimination Act 2002 – allows political parties to reduce inequality in elected officials

• Government led a national campaign to encourage women to run for office– goal is to have women in 45-50 % of public offices by 2005

Women in government - UK

• Women make up about 19.7% of MPs– UK ranked 14th in the EU and 45th out of 184 countries listed by the Inter-Parliamentary Union in terms of the percentage of women holding office in the lower or single house of the national Parliamentary body

Group Percentage of Women

Europe - European Parliament UK members 24.4House of Commons 19.7House of Lords 18.2

Women in government - comparative

Percentage of Member State Women MPs

Sweden 45.3Finland 37.5Denmark 36.9Netherlands 36.7Spain 34.7

E c o n o m i c r i g h t s

Steps that the U.K. has taken

• Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 and the Equal Pay Act of 1970– Prevent discrimination in:

• employment•education•other fields

– In October 2007, a new Commission for Equality and Human Rights will be set up

Rights of working mothers

• part-time nursery education for 3 and 4 year olds

• Since 2003, employees with children under 6 can receive flexible work hours

• Since 2003, paid maternity leave has been extended to 26 weeks

• 6 months of unpaid leave available to women

Economic statistics

• 70% of all working-age women are employed compared to 79% of all working-age men

• Women hold less than 25% of executive positions

• Women’s hourly earnings are less than men’s (£9.02 and £11.44 per hour respectively)

• The U.K. has the highest female employment rate of the major EU countries

Pensions

• the Government introduced pension-sharing arrangements in divorce

• 1 in 5 single women pensioners risk poverty in retirement– Black and ethnic minority women are at an even greater risk

Pay gap

• Gap in income between men and childless women: – Unequal pay:

• full-time gender pay gap is 17.2%• 70% of low-paid workers are women

– Unequal hours:• Women have more difficulty finding full-time jobs

• National Minimum Wage has contributed to a 2% drop in the gap

Credits

• Amnesty International• Center for Reproductive Rights• Equal Opportunities Commission• Women and Equality Unit• U.K. Watch• National Institute of Health• National Organization of Women

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Jokes (Typos)

• We done gone abortin’• Steps the U.K. has taken: SEX• Pensioners:Can’t wait to get that free T.V. License when I’m over 75!!! (you have to live a little longer than 70)

• Victorian Women’s Rights Game:– http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/society_culture/women/launch_gms_victorian_women.shtml

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