FINDING POLICY SOLUTIONS TO INCREASE WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT IN THE UK
FINDING POLICY SOLUTIONS TO INCREASE WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT IN THE UK
Hon. Dawn Butler, MP was
first elected to the UK Parliament as the Member of Parliament for Brent South in 2005 and became the first elected AfricanCaribbean woman to become a Government Minister in the UK. She was later elected for Brent Central in 2015. Dawn is currently the Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities and continues to commit her time in the UK Parliament to representing groups and people in society that are often underrepresented.
Unbeknown to me I was always political. I would fight for my rights and the rights of others just because it was, in my very strong opinion, the right thing to do. My father was very influential in my life as the de facto shop steward on the railways, I would sit on the living room floor listening to stories of battles won and lost at work. It was no wonder then that I became a trade union official and joined the Labour Party, the political party that made my parents feel welcome when they arrived from Jamaica. The values that I hold dear like fairness, equality and justice are the DNA of the Labour Party and that is why I am proud to serve as the Member of Parliament for Brent Central. When I became the first black female MP to ever be appointed as a Minister in the UK Government and the first black female MP to speak from the despatch box in 2009, it was a momentous and proud occasion. But it was tainted by the fact that I felt the horror and disgust from some of the MPs opposite. So much so that an opposition Conservative MP tried to disparage me and criticise and question my grasp of English. He rose to his feet on the floor of the House and said “Will the Minister very kindly stop this assault on the English language? Can we drop these awful terms such as ‘upskilling’ and ‘third sector’.” Ten years later much has changed, for a start upskilling and third sector are now commonly used terms, but the battle to be
recognised and not ridiculed as a black woman is still a constant battle. Much more needs to be done to accomplish the change that is really needed. In my roles as Member of Parliament for Brent Central and Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, I am determined to make those changes and accelerate the progress of change and help tackle the structural barriers that still exist in society that prevent progress for so many people. Gender equality is an incredibly important goal which I work towards every single day. To build a fairer society we must tackle all injustices. A fairer society should be judged on the basis that we measure success by the obstacles we overcome. One such example from the UK includes the most recent data from the Office of National Statistics’ Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, which showed that the median gender pay gap for all employees was 17.9%. A very high differential when in 2018 we celebrated the passing of the Parliament Qualification Act, which laid the foundation for the first women being able to stand for Parliament – a suffrage landmark. We also marked the 90th anniversary of the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928, which gave women over the age of 21 equal voting rights to men. It took another 10 years before equal franchise was achieved where women and men at the age of 18 could vote. What struck me about the many
celebrations in 2018 was that it was almost overlooked that all men received the voting rights but only some women, this was to ensure that men always had the majority say. Therefore when it comes to equality we have to be forever vigilant, we need to reflect on how far we’ve come but also be mindful of how far we still need to go to achieve full equality. We need to strive for greater inclusive progress. The Sustainable Development Goals are an important part of this through SDG Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. This goal rightly says that gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. Together, all around the world, we must continue making progress towards this important aim. I am pleased to have worked internationally with the Commonwealth Parliamentary
“To build a fairer society we must tackle all injustices. A fairer society should be judged on the basis that we measure success by the obstacles we overcome.”
The Parliamentarian | 2019: Issue One | 100th year of publishing | 47