International Women’s Day

Question

15:01:00

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to mark International Women’s Day on 8 March.

On International Women’s Day, and in fact on every day of the year, this Government are accelerating action under our Plan for Change to put more money in the pockets of working women and create more opportunity in the workplace and to ensure that women are safe on our streets and in their communities. We will be calling on employers to take action to help tackle the barriers that still prevent too many women from succeeding in the workplace. All government departments have a key role to play in delivering our key mission for equality.

I thank my noble friend for that Answer. The House will know that it is now 50 years since the Equal Pay Act was implemented, but recent figures from the PwC index of OECD countries show that the UK has the lowest ranking for a decade and on that trend it will take another 50 years to achieve equality. Does the Minister agree that one of the most important ways to promote economic growth is to accelerate action to close the gender pay gap?

I thank my noble friend for all the work that she has done in this area over many years. This Government are committed to strengthening equal pay and ending pay discrimination. We will make the right to equal pay effective by putting in place measures to ensure that outsourcing of services can no longer be used by employers to avoid paying equal pay, and we will implement a regulatory and enforcement unit for equal pay. My noble friend is right about the importance of closing the gender pay gap, which is why, as part of the Employment Rights Bill, we are taking the first steps towards requiring large employers to produce action plans covering steps they are taking on the gender pay gap and menopause support.

My Lords, I declare that I am the co-chair of the APPG on Global Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. Women and girls are all too often at the front line of conflict and humanitarian crisis, and approximately 800 women die every day of preventable causes relating to pregnancy and childbirth. In Afghanistan, a woman dies every two hours due to sexual violence and attacks and the restricting of access to sexual and reproductive healthcare. With the proposed reduction in these vital services due to the proposed ODA cuts, will the Government emphasise their commitment to prioritising and ring-fencing these programmes for women and girls as a hallmark of commemorating this International Women’s Day.

I thank the noble Baroness for her question. She raises an incredibly important area. As the House knows, we have already debated and discussed—and I am sure we will come back again on—that decision; it is unfortunate in the international circumstances that we now face. With particular reference to the point she makes, I want to reassure her that we will still take part in international conferences such as the Commission on the Status of Women, which is taking place very soon. My noble friend Lord Collins will be going to represent us and Minister Malhotra as well. We commit to discussing these issues as we go forward, deciding how the cut is going to be implemented.

My Lords, the Minister refers to the Commission on the Status of Women, and it is great to hear that there will be representation from Ministers there. Can I ask the noble Baroness what the aims and objectives are for the Government for that meeting? It comes at a time when we are seeing a deeply concerning rollback of women’s rights around the world.

I thank the noble Baroness for her question. Of course, the normal issues will be covered by my noble friend Lord Collins in this House and by Minister Malhotra in the other House. One of the important aspects of the commission is that, as well as the high-level ministerial input, there will be a large civil society presence, which I believe is the way forward, demonstrating just how gender equality fits into the UK’s modernised approach to development, broadening partnerships with the global South to counter the rollback of rights, as she quite rightly highlights, and building the effectiveness of international delivery on the Government’s mission. Ensuring a gender lens will be crucial to our leadership in this space, and the commission will give us the opportunity to meet with other participants and discuss how we move forward in this very difficult global time.

My Lords, I will bring the Question back to its original point about equal pay. Under the last Labour Government, we had a very successful co-operative association with employers across many sectors, where it was agreed—and, indeed, it happened—that many women were reskilled and upskilled to bring them into a position of being able to earn more money and go up the ladder. Have the Government got any plans to take positive action in that way? Without positive action, nothing is going to happen.

My noble friend raises a very important point. I do not have the exact details in front of me on the issue she raised and where it is going to go next. I know that she will be critical as we take the Employment Rights Bill forward, and she will make sure that the concerns she has are absolutely front and centre of the work that we do.

My Lords, religion still plays an important part in many lives. Religious texts written centuries ago often denigrate women. Most people learn to skip over those bits, but the extremists latch on to them. Is it not time to ask religious leaders to interpret those texts in the context of today’s times for guidance to their followers? That is the only forward, to get away from the kind of situation we find in Afghanistan.

The noble Lord raises an important point, though I am not sure I am fully qualified to answer the points he raises. However, I am always intrigued by translations of religious texts and how certain aspects have been accepted. There is a lot more debate to be had on this. I am proud particularly of the city where I come from, where our religious leaders work tirelessly together to come forward with common understanding and means to move forward and to achieve equality for all.

My Lords, does the Minister agree that my noble friends Lady Owen of Alderley Edge and Lady Bertin have been leading the way with their campaigns and reports on deepfake images and pornography? Will the noble Baroness—and, indeed, the whole House—join me in congratulating them on their important work, and will she advise us when the Government will respond to the review of pornography?

I thank the noble Baroness for that timely question. We are struggling to see each other over the Dispatch Boxes—we have some equality issues that we need to address. But seriously, this has been such an important piece of work, and I absolutely commend all of those who have put so much time and energy in. The independent review is a very wide-ranging piece of work and we are looking forward to a Written Ministerial Statement. There will be a joint letter going out, and I honestly believe there needs to be a significant amount of time for assessing how we take this crucial piece of work forward.

My Lords, does the Minister agree that one way to change the attitude towards girls and women would be to educate boys? That would be particularly important in a country such as Afghanistan, where girls are forbidden to have an education, at least at secondary school level. Educating boys, which might be permissible, could help to change their attitude towards their future partners and wives.

The noble Baroness raises a point very dear to my heart. We have to think really seriously about how we take this work forward. She raises it in an international context, obviously, but one of the most empowering pieces of work that I have been involved in is about involving young men, when their partner becomes pregnant, for example, to help them understand the stresses and difficulties that they will both face as they go forward. There is so much scope in this area. We need to do more in our schools, and we are committed to taking this forward.