Equality

  • Equality

    A happy International Women’s Day surprise: Government commits to signing Istanbul Convention on violence against women

    8th March 2012 — Filed under: Equality

    Scarlet Harris Scarlet Harris

    I got a nice International Women’s Day surprise when I woke this morning to the news that Nick Clegg had announced in a speech in the Hague last night that:

    “On the eve of International Women’s Day, I’d like to express the UK’s support for the principles in the Council of Europe’s Convention on Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence. A landmark agreement aimed at lifting the standards of protection for women across Europe. We are getting ourselves in a position to sign later this year”

    This is undeniably, unequivocally good news.

    Continue Reading →

  • Equality

    More barriers to justice for those fighting for equality

    18th January 2012 — Filed under: Equality

    Sally Brett Sally Brett

    Tomorrow the TUC will be hosting our annual discrimination law conference with Equal Opportunities Review. Since 1995 the conference has provided a valuable opportunity for trade unionists, advice workers and NGOs who assist victims of discrimination to share strategies and to hear from leading barristers and experts in field.

    When we first ran the conference 18 years ago, we had no idea how discrimination law was going to expand. At that time all we had in place were sex and race discrimination laws dating back to the 1970s, with legislation to protect disabled people from discrimination in the workplace due to take effect later that year. Since then, we’ve seen discrimination based on a wider range of protected characteristics become unlawful (gender reassignment, sexual orientation, religion or belief and age) and the new bans on discrimination extend from just covering employment to apply to a much wider range of activities (though we still await the extension for age).

    Continue Reading →

  • Equality

    World AIDS Day: Working with HIV

    1st December 2011 — Filed under: Equality

    Eleanor Briggs Eleanor Briggs

    World AIDS Day30 years on from the first officially reported cases, HIV remains a serious concern in the UK. Next year we expect the numbers of people living with HIV in the UK to reach 100,000.

    Health Protection Agency UK statistics show that 1 in 20 gay and bisexual men and approaching 1 in 20 black Africans are living with HIV. These are communities that already face discrimination and barriers to accessing services, but will also feel the impact of the current economic and political climate.   

    Continue Reading →

  • Equality

    CAHVIO: UK shouldn’t be missing from key convention on violence against women

    25th November 2011 — Filed under: Equality

    Scarlet Harris Scarlet Harris

    Unite to end violence against women

    25 Nov: UN Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

    Today, 25th November, is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and it seems a fitting moment to ask the government to reaffirm its commitment to eradicating violence against women with a very tangible, and rather overdue, step. We’ve chosen today to start a petition urging the government to sign up to the Council of Europe convention on combating and preventing violence against women and domestic violence (the convention is known as CAHVIO).

    Now, the UK has a comparatively good track record on initiatives to end violence against women and girls (VAWG) – leaving aside recent retrograde steps such as cuts to local authority funding of refuges and other VAWG services and the disastrous Legal Aid reforms which will leave women fleeing domestic violence with no access to justice unless they can afford to pay. Compared to many parts of the world where violence against women is tolerated or even sanctioned by the state, the UK has taken many steps over the years to attempt to eradicate violence against women and girls.

    Continue Reading →

  • Equality

    The Equality Deficit

    15th November 2011 — Filed under: Equality

    Scarlet Harris Scarlet Harris

    Tomorrow (Wednesday 16th November) the TUC will be holding a one day conference called The Equality Deficit. The conference, which is free and open to all, provides an opportunity for trade unionists, voluntary sector workers, campaigners and community organisers to explore the equality impact of the cuts.

    Importantly, the conference aims to build alliances between the voluntary sector and trade unions. This isn’t about listing the many (and they really are many) ways in which the government’s swingeing cuts programme has disproportionately affected different equality groups. It’s about sharing knowledge, expertise, and experience and identifying campaigning and organising strategies.

    Continue Reading →

  • Equality

    Struggling to hear women’s voices

    4th November 2011 — Filed under: Equality

    Sally Brett Sally Brett

    Conservatives are reported to be alarmed at their growing unpopularity among women voters. It’s not difficult to imagine why women might be increasingly critical of this Government’s record: spending cuts that disproportionately impact on women; record high levels of unemployment and economic inactivity among women; and policy advisers suggesting maternity rights could be scrapped or that plans to improve family-friendly rights be abandoned.

    Today, the Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equality, Theresa May, in a speech on ‘Women and the Economy’ launched two new initiatives to boost women’s role in the economy: the creation of 5,000 volunteer mentors to help budding women entrepreneurs and the establishment of a Women’s Business Council.

    Continue Reading →

  • Equality

    Beecroft’s ‘scrap unfair dismissal’ proposals: A Licence for ageist employers?

    26th October 2011 — Filed under: Equality

    Chris Ball Chris Ball

    How odd that the Government should ask a venture capitalist to advise on employment law and how intemperate and ill advised a response Adrian Beecroft appears to have offered in his report, a draft of which is leaked in the Daily Telegraph today.

    I know nothing of Mr Beecroft’s background but I wonder how much he really understands the daily practices of people managers. It seems he wants to get rid of the right to bring a claim for unfair dismissal, introducing instead a basic no fault dismissal law in which individuals dismissed through lack of performance would receive the equivalent of a redundancy payment.

    Continue Reading →

  • Equality

    What women want

    14th September 2011 — Filed under: Equality

    Scarlet Harris Scarlet Harris

    Leaked government documents this week exposed the coalition’s fear that they are losing the support of women voters. They’re right to be concerned. Gavin Kelly’s excellent analysis in the New Statesman shows that government policy is indeed alienating women voters, particularly working class women.

    So far, so good. Acknowledging that government policies may not be going down well with women is a good starting point. Where the author of the leaked memo starts to go wrong though is when possible remedies are suggested.

    Continue Reading →

  • Equality

    Violence Against Women services are “not a luxury”

    2nd August 2011 — Filed under: Equality, Society & Welfare

    Scarlet Harris Scarlet Harris

    Trawling through the 2,200 charities and voluntary organisations facing Local Authority funding cuts listed on the False Economy website and widely reported in the press today, makes for extremely bleak reading.

    After school clubs for kids, Christmas lunches for old people, wheelchair loan services, sexual health advisory services, meals on wheels, support services for disabled children, all axed. Welcome to the Big Society.

    I was particularly taken aback by the number of women’s sector organisations and violence against women and girls (VAWG) services that have faced cuts.

    Continue Reading →

  • Equality

    How to reduce inequality

    19th May 2011 — Filed under: Equality, Politics, Society & Welfare

    Richard Exell Richard Exell

    What works at cutting inequality? New figures show that we already do a great deal – and suggest how we could do even more.

    There’s sometimes a terrible fatalism about inequality – most people agree that Britain is unequal and that this is a problem, but many believe that  this  is inevitable. This sense that nothing can be done about inequality is encouraged by Ministers who like to emphasise the large sums spent by the last government, and then add “but it didn’t do any good.”

    Continue Reading →