Lyanne Nicholl
CEO of 50:50 ParliamentPerceptions of Progress: Assessing Public Attitudes Towards Women
“Women’s rights have gone too far” – this is according to 47 per cent of people surveyed for King’s College London last month. 56 per cent of men and 39 per cent of women felt that “women’s equality had gone far enough in Britain”.
As the CEO of an organisation that fights for women’s equality – in our case, for women’s equal representation in elected bodies – this is a tough pill to swallow. From where I am standing, we are still a long way off equality, with only 35 per cent of elected representatives – including in Parliament – being female; a gender pay gap and a motherhood penalty that results in women earning and saving significantly less than men; male violence against women and girls continuing at an alarming rate; and research and funding for women’s health conditions being woeful – I could go on. And you can bet your bottom dollar that when something is bad, it’s worse for Black and ethnically minoritised women.
The Reality of Gender Disparities
So, if we are not there yet, and we most certainly are not, then what is it that is leading a significant proportion of the public to think we have gone far enough, or even too far? Is it that we keep banging that drum and the public are simply sick of that tune? Is it that everywhere we look now, there are women – achieving, succeeding, empowering others – and that visibility is giving a false perception that we have all been afforded the opportunities to climb ladders and grab megaphones? Spoiler alert, we haven’t.
Men still outnumber women 2:1 on elected bodies throughout the UK; a recent by-election saw 11 male names on the ballot (can you imagine the fuss if there was a female-only list of that size?!); only 10 per cent of CEOs in the FTSE 100 are women; and women still shoulder the lion’s share of unpaid labour. It has been over 100 years since women were given the opportunity to stand for parliament. In that time, there have been over 5,000 MPs and fewer than 600 of these were women. Gone too far? We’re barely off the starting blocks.
Lessons from International Gender Parity Efforts:
We are meant to be the ‘Mother of Parliaments’ in the UK. However, with a ruling class who seem fixated on being ‘world beaters’ across different fields, we seem to be rather sanguine at bringing up the rear when it comes to gender balance. We could definitely learn from other countries that are already streets ahead of us. The UK lags at a sad 48th place in the table on global gender parity in parliaments, behind Rwanda, Mexico, France, and Germany. Indeed, Rwanda, which takes up many column inches these days, is leading the way on gender representation, with over 60 per cent female representation. Rwanda is not without its problems, notably, persisting high rates of sexual violence against women, but with more women in a position to influence and determine policy, they are heading in the right direction.
The Nordic Countries have long been held up as a beacon of gender equality, with high levels of female representation in governance. And although Finland recently lost its young female leader, Sanna Marin, both Iceland and Denmark have female Prime Ministers. Iceland’s leader, Karin Jakobsdottir, who is also the Chair of the Council of Women Leaders, says, “Within the global context […] We are witnessing a return to aggressive nationalism and social regression and a systematic undermining of universal human rights, where women and minorities are usually the first in the firing line.”
Being privileged to be a delegate at the UN Women UK 68th Commission on the status of women this year, it is clear that globally, as well as nationally, we still have a long way to go to create safer and more equal lives for women and girls. Not a single country in the world has achieved gender equality, and forecasts suggest it will take an unthinkable timeline – like 300 years – to reach gender equality globally. Amidst awful statistics on global poverty (where women are disproportionately affected); violence by strangers and family; and child marriage; and then also the roll-back of progress on access to education (looking at you, Afghanistan) and reproductive rights (Hi, USA!), the picture looks bleak, and it is hard not to get disheartened. But, know this, we will not let up.
At 50:50 Parliament, we believe that representation shapes policy and policy shapes lives. When women have a seat at the table, and an equal say in policy and legislation, both in the UK and beyond, then hopefully together, we can more ably address some of these huge challenges that scar or limit the lives of so many. The public might very well be getting agitated by seeing more women in traditionally male-dominated fields and positions, but I would politely suggest they get used to it. We are half of the population; our voices deserve to be heard. Join us in the fight for equality at: www.5050parliament.co.uk.
This is just one of the articles that will be appearing under the ‘Foreign Policy’ section in the sixth edition of Chamber’s Journal, centered around the theme of ‘Inspiring Inclusion.’ To read more, sign up to our newsletter here.
