#SheVotes open letter

#SheVotes24 Coalition letter

We, the undersigned, demand that women and girls are put at the heart of the General Election. We represent over 120 organisations and taken together, our organisations have over 10.5 million women and girls as members, supporters and service users. We are the largest ever coalition of organisations representing the interests of women and girls, coming together to raise our voices. But more importantly, we represent over half of the population who can often feel their voices are not heard, their quality of life not prioritised, and their experiences dismissed. So far, in this election campaign, we have heard very little about the issues that affect the real lives of women and how the changes proposed will benefit them.

As 51% of the population women’s votes will be critical in deciding the General Election outcome. A significant number of women voters have yet to make their minds up. We are coming together as #SheVotes24 to amplify the voices of women and support their inclusion in the political process. We firmly believe that fixing the country for women will improve things for everyone.

Women and girls are a diverse group – we come from all races and ethnicities, social classes, religions, and sexualities, and our experiences vary according to our health and disabilities, caring responsibilities, immigration status and age. Whilst no single set of policies will address our every concern, we believe that parties must answer the questions set out below to demonstrate their commitment to improving our lives in the UK. In answering these questions, we urge you to reflect on the diversity of women’s experiences and ensure that those facing the greatest barriers to support and protection are prioritised.

We also call on the media to ensure that these questions are given adequate prominence in the election campaign.

Key Questions: 

Women’s representation in politics and public life 

• Are you committed to making this a misogyny free election, and what action will you take against candidates who express misogyny, including racialised misogyny?

• How will you ensure that women’s voices are listened to and that policy and legislation truly reflect the needs of women, and that research addresses gaps in data and evidence?

• Will you commit to 50% female representation in your post-election spokespeople and wider leadership teams?

• How will you address barriers to women participating in political life, including specific barriers for women of colour, those with caring responsibilities and disabled candidates?

Ending Violence Against Women and Girls 

• Will you prioritise prevention of violence against women and girls, and will you take a ‘whole society approach’ which looks beyond the criminal justice system? What will you do to tackle misogyny and sexism in schools, on the streets and online?

• How will you ensure that all children and young people have access to high-quality, inclusive and age appropriate Relationships, Sex and Health education, that challenges gender stereotypes and addresses all types of misogyny?

• How will you tackle the chronic underfunding of Violence Against Women and Girls specialist support services, particularly ‘by and for’ organisations which support Black and minoritised women, deaf and disabled women and LGBTQ+ survivors?

• What will you do to implement a whole-society response to domestic abuse (including using levers in health, economic and family courts) to ensure that all women are able to access support and escape and recover from abuse? What steps will you take to ensure that migrant women are not excluded from protection and that disabled women can access appropriate support?

Women and girls’ economic equality 

• How will you close the gender pay gap?

• How will you ensure that no women live in poverty, regardless of caring responsibilities, disabilities, immigration status or their perpetrators actions?

• What steps will you take to ensure that all parents can combine raising children with fulfilling careers, if they choose to do so?

• What are your plans for investment in vital social infrastructure, including childcare, and adult social care, education and health? How will you act to raise wages and improve working conditions for those working in these caring professions?

Women’s and girls’ health

• What are your plans to address the historic lack of funding and prioritisation of women’s healthcare, and reduce health inequalities particularly for Black and minoritised communities?

• What action will you take to address the crisis in girls and women’s mental health?

• How will you support family and reproductive health choices for all including access to contraception and other reproductive healthcare options?

• How will you ensure all girls have safe, equal access to the outdoors and nature?

Foreign Policy

• As conflict rises around the world, what will you do to ensure women and girls are part of the prevention and resolution of conflict, especially as their participation in peace processes secures longer-lasting peace?

• The UK’s fulfilment of its international obligations is critical for women and girls abroad and at home. How will you ensure this is the foundation for foreign, development, humanitarian, trade, defence, climate and migration policies?

• What will you do to increase the quantity and quality of funding going directly to women’s rights organisations eg those leading climate and humanitarian response in their communities?

Key Facts:

Women’s Representation in politics and public life

• Women are 51% of the population but only 35% of MPs in the last Parliament. Disabled people are over 20% of the population but after the last election there were only 5 MPs who identified as disabled. A truly representative Parliament would have 130 disabled MPs.

• Research found BAME women MPs received 41% of abusive tweets, despite there being nearly eight times as many white MPs in the study.

• Only 37% of women MPs believe that the culture in Parliament is inclusive for them, compared to 55% of men.

• Research shows that in 2021, a total of £4.1 billion worth of grants was awarded to charities, but the women and girls sector, which seeks to empower and support women to have a voice, received just 1.8% of these.

Ending Violence Against Women And Girls

• 1 in 4 women have experienced rape or sexual assault as an adult.

• Specialist services for victims/survivors of VAWG are underfunded leading to over 61% of referrals to women’s refuges in England in 2022-23 being declined.

• Migrant women with no recourse to public funds face higher risks of remaining with violent perpetrators, destitution, or deportation if they cannot access vital services.

• 69% of girls reported boys making ‘toxic’ comments about girls and women at school.

• Across five major social media platforms, 1 in 5 posts about women are highly toxic, with Black women receiving the brunt of the most toxic messages.
• One in four women in England and Wales have experienced domestic abuse in their lifetime.
• In the last year alone, 5.5 million UK women had their money and resources controlled by a current or ex-partner with Black, Asian and minoritised women nearly twice as likely than White women to experience economic abuse.

Women and Girls Economic Equality

• The mean Gender pay gap for all workers is 13.2%. In 2023, women earned £574 less than men per month  on average. Disabled women face the highest pay gap at 35% compared to non-disabled men. Unequal pay contributes to a gender pension gap of 37.9%.

• 28% of women cite a ‘cost of living increase’ as their main reason for debt in 2023 –substantially higher than the proportion of men citing this reason.

• 40% of women who aren’t currently working said that access to flexible work would mean they could take on more paid work. 77% of all women agreed that they would be more likely to apply for a job that advertises flexible working options.

• Analysis found mothers earn £4.44 less per hour in weekly earnings than fathers. Mothers with two children take home 26% less income than women without children, whilst fathers see a bonus – men with at least two children are paid 22% more than those without. 61% of parents with children under age 5 said that they or their partner have reduced the number of hours they work due to lack of availability or high childcare costs, increasing to 67% for Asian parents and 75% for parents of disabled children.

Women and Girls Health

• Nearly 600,000 women across the UK are waiting for Gynaecology treatment, with gynaecology waiting lists growing the most in percentage terms of all elective specialties since the pandemic.

• Maternal mortality for Black women is currently almost four times higher than for White women. Significant disparities also exist for women of Asian and mixed ethnicity.

• Abortion and vasectomy rates are rising at unprecedented levels, driven by the cost of living crisis making children unaffordable, a lack of access to contraception,  and cuts to spending on sexual health services.

• 89% of girls and young women (aged 7-21) feel generally anxious or worried. Those more likely to feel this way include those who are neurodiverse disabled or those who identify as LGBTQ+.

Foreign Policy: 

• From 1992 to 2019, women averaged only 13% of negotiators, 6% of mediators, and 6% of signatories in major global peace processes.
• Including women in peace processes makes peace agreements 35% more likely to last at least 15 years.

• In 2022 less than 1% of UK bilateral climate finance targeted gender equality specifically and less than 0.2% reached the hands of women’s rights organisations.

Signed

Jemima Olchawski, CEO, The Fawcett Society
Professor Helen Pankhurst CBE, Convener, Centenary Action
Sarah Ronan, Director, Early Education and Childcare Coalition
Mia Hasenson-Gross, Executive Director, René Cassin
Bee Rowlatt, Chair, Wollstonecraft Society
BuyToBenefit
Jennifer Nadel, Co-Director, Compassion in Politics
Laura Sercombe, CEO GFS (Girls Friendly Society)
Margaret Owen, President, Widows for Peace through Democracy (WPD)
Kate Metcalf, Co-Director, Wen (Women’s Environmental Network)
Sophie Marple, Director, Mothers Climate Action Network
Annette Lawson, Ambassador, NAWO
Professor Anna Birch , Artistic Director, Fragments & Monuments performance and film company
Cat Sutherland, Secretary, Graduate Women Scotland (GWS)
Eva Tabbasam, Director, Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS)
Ghadah Alnasseri, Co-Executive Director, Imkaan
Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, Director, Women’s Budget Group
Joanne Jopling, CEO, Young Womens Outreach Project
Corinne Devine, CEO, Women’s Health in South Tyneside (WHiST)
Su Moore, CEO, The Jo Cox Foundation
Samantha Jones, DCEO, Rape Crisis Tyneside & Northumberland
Business and Professional Women UK
Widows Rights International Trustees
Neelam Rose, Advocacy Officer, Muslim Women’s Network UK
Joanne Armstrong, Member Support, Marketing and Communications Officer, Represent Women
Elaine Slater, Chief Executive Officer, Tyneside Women’s Health
Cullagh Warnock, member, One Million Women and Girls campaign
Rose Caldwell, CEO, Plan International UK
Lyanne Nicholl, CEO, 50:50 Parliament
Andrea Simon, Director, End Violence Against Women Coalition
Dinah Musindarwezo, Womankind Worldwide, Director of Policy and Communications
Melissa Keveren, Founder, Girls Who Talk Politics
Rhoda Morrow, Mental Health Development Worker
Vanessa Vallely OBE, WeAreTheCity
Claire Reindorp, CEO, Young Women’s Trust
Andrea Vukovic, Deputy Director, Women for Refugee Women
Professor Miranda Horvath, University of Suffolk
Violence Against Women and Girls Research Network
Vivienne Hayes, CEO, Women’s Resource Centre
Mollin Delve, CEO, PHOEBE
Khedijah Mohammed-Nur, Co-Founder, Network of Eritrean Women-UK
Vandna Gohil, CEO, Nottingham Women’s Centre
Professor Aisha K. GILL, Professor of Criminology
Dr Marsha Scott, CEO, Scottish Women’s Aid
Sam Smethers, Interim CEO, Surviving Economic Abuse
Alison Boydell, Co-founder Jurors Understanding Rape is Essential Standard (JURIES)
Gabriela de Oliveira, Head of Policy, Research and Campaigns, Glitch
Priya Sahni-Nicholas & Jo Wittams, Co-Executive Directors, The Equality Trust
Sahdaish Pall – CEO – Sikh Women’s Aid
Susie McDonald, CEO, Tender Education and Arts
Justine Roberts, CEO, Mumsnet
Emily Chalke and Minke van Til, Co-Directors, Ella’s
Rasheda Malcolm, CEO, The WILDE Foundation
Dianne Greyson, Founder #EthnicityPayGap Campaign
Surwat Sohail, CEO, Roshni Birmingham
Tabitha Morton, CEO, UN Women UK
Helen McEachern, CEO, CARE International UK
Diana Nammi, CEO, IKWRO – Women’s Rights Organisation
Victoria Vasey, Director, Women’s Equality Network Wales
Jilly Rogers, President, National Council of Women GB
Joeli Brearley, CEO, Pregnant Then Screwed
Sam Clifford, CEO, Jewish Women’s AId
Akeela Ahmed MBE, Founder, She Speaks We Hear
Rachel Grocott, CEO, Bloody Good Period
Sarbjit Ganger, Asian Women’s Resource Centre
Ellen Miller, CEO, SafeLives
Natalie Collins, CEO, Own My Life
Louise McCudden, UK Head of External Affairs, MSI Reproductive Choices
Jasmine Mohammad, Director, Safety4Sisters
Ros McNeil, Assistant General Secretary, National Education Union
Elaine Crory, Women’s Sector Lobbyist, Women’s Resource & Development Agency
Bekah Legg, CEO, Restored
Estelle du Boulay, Director, Rights of Women
Dr Ranee Thakar, President, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Melissa Green, Chief Executive, The Women’s Institute
Samsunear Ali, Acting Chief Executive, Bawso
Angie Airlie, CEO, Stay Safe East
Lynne Griffiths, Founder and CEO, AG Communications Ltd
Frank Mullane MBE, CEO, Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse (AAFDA)
Tracy Doig, Head of Advocacy and Campaigns, The Circle
James Robertson, Director of Campaigns, Sortition Foundation
Stacy Smith CEO Her Centre
Selma Taha, Executive Director, Southall Black Sisters
Girlguiding
Catherine Murphy, Executive Director, Engender
Yasmin Rehman, CEO, Juno Women’s Aid
Farah Nazeer, CEO, Women’s Aid
Laura Marks CBE, co-Chair, Alliance of Jewish Women
Police Spies Out Of Lives
Dr Alexandra Meakin, Lecturer in British Politics, University of Leeds
Susan Banducci, Professor, University of Exeter
Jennie Walker Kernow Soroptimists (SI Kernow) Team Leader
Joy Doal, CEO, Anawin
Aisha Ali-Khan, Campaigner
Fazilet Hadi, Head of Policy, Disability Rights UK
Kirsty Kitchen, Head of Policy, Birth Companions
Gail Heath, CEO, Pankhurst Trust (incorporating Manchester Women’s Aid)
Paul Carbury, Chief Executive,Smallwood Trust
Timi Okuwa, CEO, Black Equity Organisation
Melissa Keveren, Founder, Girls Who Talk Politics
Alice Coren, CEO, Remade Wigan
Hollie Venn, CEO, Sheffield Women’s Aid
Anna Ritchie Allan, Executive Director, Close the Gap
Indy Cross, Chief Executive, Agenda Alliance
Nadia Ali – Stockport Women and Girls Network Lead
Jessica Brannan, CEO, POW Nottingham
Samantha Fisher, CEO, Trafford Domestic Abuse Services
Bev Jullien, CEO, Mothers’ Union
Bianca Pitt, Co-founder Slow Grown Farm
Anna Whitehouse, founder Mother Pukka
The Women’s Centre Cornwall
Dr. Jess Fagin (University of Exeter)
Hannah Stevens, CEO, Elect Her
Gabriela Quevedo – Advocacy, Community and Learning Director – Latin American Women’s Aid (LAWA)
Lisa Dando. Director, Brighton Women’s Centre
Novlet Holness, CEO, Nottinghamshire Sexual Violence Support Services
Revd Dr Carrie Ford, Director, Genderwise.Net
Laura Bates, Founder, The Everyday Sexism Project.
Dr Sarabajaya Kumar, Founder, The Disabled Women in Politics Network
Aoife Clements, Founder, 50:50NI
Professor Rosie Campbell, Director, King’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership
Evelyn James, Diverse5050 Campaign Manager – WEN Wales
Hannah Coban, Kairos, Head of Service Delivery
Dr Janet Barter, President, The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare
Annie Lennox
Ruth Healey, President, Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland