Despite years of equality legislation and the declared will of many policy-makers, women continue to be subject to economic, health, safety and power inequality in the UK. These inequalities are experienced strongly in England where women’s inequality is increasing under current public policies. In recent years we have seen attacks on legislation intended to promote greater equality, existing legislation not being implemented adequately and a regression in public attitudes to the principles of equality and social progress.
The recent Queen's speech and Government Programme address only some of these issues and only in part. The SW Women's Manifesto calls for action are now even more important.
We call on The Minister and all Government and Opposition MPs to pledge support to our ‘calls to action’.
We have identified a number of positive, achievable actions that would make a significant difference to women’s lives, making women:
• safer;
• healthier;
• more financially secure;
• a greater presence in public policy making
We believe these policies would improve the lives of children, vulnerable adults and the elderly, irrespective of gender. We are particularly concerned that women from BME communities continue to be more disadvantaged, even more than other women, and that the position of women is becoming worse relative to that of men. The discussions are moving more towards ‘families’ and women as individuals are disappearing from the agenda.
See:
http://www.fairplaysouthwest.org.uk/manifesto
