Read the article in the New Statesman here.
This Sunday is International Women’s Day and as we enter headlong into
recession we need to understand and act on the far-reaching impacts of
the economic downturn on women.
The impulse to dedicate a day in the spring to campaigning,
celebration and reflection for women can be traced back to March 8,
1857, which is thought to have been a day of protest by female textile
workers in New York against poor working conditions and meagre wages.
This year marks the centenary of the first National Women’s Day,
celebrated in the United States on February 28, 1909. International
Women’s Day was first observed in 1911 and it quickly assumed a tone of
commemoration as well as celebration, following the Triangle Shirtwaist
Factory fire in March of that year.
This disaster, at a New York factory producing garments for the
emergent female consumer class, claimed the lives of 146 of its
predominantly female, immigrant workforce. Poor safety provision and
overcrowding at the factory premises undoubtedly increased the death
toll. In subsequent decades the IWD tradition waned, but it re-emerged
with feminism in the late Sixties. In 1975, designated International
Women’s Year, it received the official sanction of the UN.
While it understandably became a point of focus for feminists, it
was, from the outset, intended to raise awareness of inequities that
affected not just women, but all who were poorly paid, poorly treated
and otherwise marginalised. The call of those early organisers of IWD
was essentially for fairness.
We know that women are facing a disproportionately high risk of
unemployment during this recession. They enter it from a position of
relative economic disadvantage: women are more likely to be in
part-time, lower-paid or temporary employment, filling the roles that
are often the first to go when employers are forced to make cuts. Those
returning to work after maternity leave will find familiar difficulties
compounded as they compete for the opportunities that do exist.
And attitudes towards women on maternity leave don’t help either.
This week, a Government survey revealed that a quarter of men and a
fifth of women feel that people on maternity leave should be first in
line for redundancy. Yet a quarter of all households are now headed by
lone parents, 90 per cent of whom are women. It’s also been found that
added barriers exist for women who seek to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance.
The TUC has recently made clear the worrying reality of this
recession for women. Parity in the British workplace has yet to be
achieved, with the gender pay gap still as wide as 36 per cent in
part-time employment. But new equality legislation, which includes
measures to address inequality, is reportedly at risk of being scrapped
to avoid further strain on business at this time.
There are wider problems for women too. Last month Superintendent
David Hartshorn, a senior Metropolitan Police officer chief, told The Guardian
that the police are expecting a “summer of rage” on the streets as a
result of the downturn. However, we must also be alert to the rage and
violence being played out behind closed doors, as financial strain on
families and relationships mounts.
The Fawcett Society has reported an increase in the number of
domestic violence referrals and Baroness Scotland, the Attorney
General, has also warned that the wider economic climate is likely to
create added pressures on women who already feel unable to leave
abusive relationships because of limited access to finance or support.
This week, the Government has gone some way to acknowledging the
risk of a rise both in employment discrimination, and in violence
against women, with the publication of an advice booklet, Real Help Now for Women.
But for women who do find themselves in such a position, the system is often woefully ill-equipped to support them. The second Map of Gaps
report, which was published last month, has highlighted the appalling
inadequacies in service provision for women who have suffered domestic
or sexual abuse.
The London Mayor, Boris Johnson, has already back-tracked on his
promise to provide funding for Rape Crisis Centres. In his manifesto,
he pledged to provide the £744,000 a year to fund the one existing
centre in London plus three new centres. But when questioned by Green
Party London Assembly Member, Jenny Jones, he stated that he wouldn’t
improve on the original £233,000 a year budget. That amounts to
providing less than a third of what was originally promised.
Specific service provision for women from black or minority ethnic
backgrounds is particularly poor. Refugee or immigrant women are
especially vulnerable, as they are more likely to be financially
insecure and thus are at greater risk of coercion into personally
dangerous or criminal behaviour. As the Government looks to make
savings, the prospect of funds being diverted to these areas at this
time looks increasingly remote.
In addition, we are not doing enough to recognise economic abuse. Refuge
has produced important research on this manifestation of domestic
abuse, whereby a partner exercises power through undermining a woman’s
financial independence, perhaps controlling or claiming wages or
benefits, withholding money allocated for family or household needs, or
manipulating her into feeling cheap and worthless. It is reasonable to
conclude that more difficult economic circumstances will exacerbate
this too.
These problems, of course, are not new, and the downturn did not cause them. But it could make them worse.
We need to increase support now to organisations working with families
and those suffering or at risk of abuse. This would be money well spent.
Our response to this recession is going to shape life in Britain for
decades to come and we must ensure that any response adequately
provides for those who may be disproportionately affected in ways that
are perhaps not immediately obvious.