Inequality between men and women is rife in all levels of society, and radical change is required to make significant progress in closing the inequality gap. These are the findings of the Commission on Gender Inequality and Power held by LSE.
The Commission calls for radical measures to be taken across all areas and recommends that:
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Mandatory gender quotas are introduced for senior positions across all organisations in the public and private sector.
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Mandatory gender quotas for MPs for each political party are established to ensure fairer representation in decision making.
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A National Care Service is introduced to tackle the “caring deficit” and ensure better conditions for care workers.
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A Media Watchdog on Gender is established to monitor and report on sexism and unequal gender representation in the media.
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Legal aid cuts are reviewed and fees for tribunal and judicial reviews are abolished because these decisions have undermined women’s and low-paid people’s access to rights.
The report derives from a year-long Commission, draws on national and international evidence across economics, law, politics and media, and was due to be launched at a public debate at LSE on 13 October 2015.
It explores the Commission's key finding that gender discrimination is rife and despite various forms of ‘progress’ on discrimination, sexism is still the ‘norm’ and continues to be trivialised. Some of the recommendations, such as quotas, are controversial. But without radical change gender inequality will remain for the next half century.
The report focuses on the four main areas of economy, law, politics, and media/culture and four cross cutting themes of violence, work/life balance, rights, and power. It makes detailed recommendations across these areas.
More specific recommendations include:
Economy
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Gender-sensitive macroeconomic policies as evidence shows that the current austerity policies have had a greater adverse impact on women.
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Gender mainstreaming of all government policies, gender-responsive budgeting, gender auditing and impact analysis.
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Mandatory gender quotas for senior positions across all organisations in the public and private sectors, backed by legislation.
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Gender awareness training for government.
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Challenge the gender pay gap by new job evaluations which recognise the value placed on people as well as money.
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The creation of a National Care Service.
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Gender friendly working patterns - allow all jobs to be available part-time with pro-rata pay.
Politics
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Quotas - a maximum 70% of either sex at the first general election following the legislation, moving to a moving to a maximum 60% of either sex at the following one, along the lines of the recent legislation in Ireland, and political parties introduce minimum quotas for women for all internal positions.
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Gender parity in government – half of ministers should be women.
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Achieving work-life balance in political work - implementation of parental leave in line with best public sector practice, and the revision of working hours and voting mechanisms.
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Regulate political parties on gender equality to achieve a gender balance of those elected as representatives.
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Gender auditing - governments to be required to carry out serious gender audits of all the proposed policies.
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Quotas for women selected to stand for Parliament - legislation establishing a ceiling gender quota for the MPs for each political party.
Law
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Use equality legislation more effectively to improve women’s representation in employment and politics.
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Transparency and revised criteria of merit in recruitment, for example in judicial appointments.
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Gender auditing of all legislation.
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Gender analysis to be incorporated in legal and law-related academic and professional education.
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Strengthen rights of women in custody – in light of recent evidence about poor conditions and abusive treatment.
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Review legal aid cuts, abolish tribunal and judicial review fees – due to evidence that this has been particularly disadvantageous to women.
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Fully incorporate Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, ratify the Istanbul Convention
Media and Culture
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Establish a standing committee to monitor media representation of gender.
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Foster critical media literacy skills in schools.
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Training on gender to be part of professional qualifications for journalists.
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Implement the Leveson Report to allow action on third party complaints, eg from women’s groups.
The report concludes:
“Gender-based inequalities of position and power are long standing... Radical change is required to bring about progress towards a world of reduced gendered inequality, a fairer representation of women in public life and a fairer gender distribution of power.”
The Commission was launched by LSE’s Gender Institute and co-directed by Diane Perrons, Professor of Economic Geography and Gender Studies, and Nicola Lacey, School Professor of Law, Gender and Social Policy.
They commented: “It seems extraordinary, despite the fact we’ve had equality legislation in this country for 40 years, that we still have really substantial gaps in the representation of women in law, in politics, in the media, in women’s pay and in women’s labour market participation; that gender-based violence continues at a high level. What is more, means of support and redress have been reduced by recent spending cuts.
We hope that the knowledge and ideas in this report will feed into the wider public debate and contribute to the kinds of changes we would like to see that would not only improve the lives of women and men but also draw on the skills and talents of all the population to contribute to building a better society for everyone.”
The full report: http://www.lse.ac.uk/genderInstitute/research/commission/home.aspx
Notes
For any queries, please contact Joanna Bale, Senior Press Officer, LSE j.m.bale@lse.ac.uk or 07831 609679.
To interview Professor Perrons, please contact her: D.Perrons@lse.ac.uk
To interview Professor Lacey, please contact her: N.M.Lacey@lse.ac.uk
LSE’s Gender Institute was established in 1993 to address the major intellectual challenges posed by contemporary changes in gender relations. This remains a central aim of the Institute today, which is the largest research and teaching unit of its kind in Europe.
13 October 2015