Winning equality for women in London

3 SEPTEMBER 2010

POLICY: WOMEN

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I want men and women to enjoy the same life chances, and that makes me a proud feminist. Gender equality benefits all our lives, our families and our communities. But too many women lack basic rights due to their gender, and these inequalities are worst in London. The situation will deteriorate sharply as the Tory and LibDem Government cuts hit women hardest. This document sets out my plans to vigorously expose, reject and prevent women’s inequality in the capital.

Economic inequality

The Coalition Government’s emergency budget will raid women’s incomes to cut the deficit. It is estimated that 70% of the revenue raised from the emergency budget will come from women taxpayers1. At the same time, the Government proposes to scrap the need for public bodies to strive for gender equality.

The next Mayor must champion gender equality in London. That means recognising that women are at higher risk of poverty than men. The UK has one of Europe’s largest gaps between male and female pay rates, with women earning on average just 79% of men2. This not only disadvantages women, but hurts their families.

Women’s income inequality is a major contributing factor to child poverty, as 40% of children in poverty live in single-mother households3. London has higher rates of child poverty than any other part of the UK once housing costs are included4.

The Mayor must tackle pay inequality, increase affordable housing, and help families at risk of breakdown receive the

support they need. From a business perspective, reduced gender inequality results in clear economic benefits. Research shows that companies with the highest numbers of women at board level do better than those with the least5.

Violence against women

Women are more likely to be victims of violence in London than anywhere else in the UK6 and less likely to see their attackers successfully prosecuted7. Many forms of violence are not adequately understood or taken seriously enough, including street harassment and violence. This is unacceptable: women should not have to live with the sense that they cannot be safe on London’s streets or in their homes.

The impact of gender violence can hit the whole community: violence against women can isolate neighbours and weaken community ties. There are also reports of a worrying increase in gender-based violence among teenage gangs. But protection under the law and better enforcement isn’t the only issue. Huge cultural change is needed. Currently, more people say they would call the police if they witnessed someone mistreating their dog than their partner8. It also costs the city billions every year to pick up the pieces9.

As Mayor I will implement a twenty-one point plan to reduce gender inequality in London.

I will:

Put gender equality back at the heart of London •governance by reinstating an advisory post to ensure that inequality is understood, scrutinised and targeted

CONTEXT

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throughout the GLAIntroduce a Mayor of London’s kitemark scheme for •London businesses who demonstrate their commitment to gender pay equality and carry out and publish voluntary equal pay auditsStrengthen GLA procurement policy to promote gender •equality, for example through the introduction of a Living Wage, and an expansion of flexible working Use the Equality Act framework to ensure pay •transparency in London’s public and private sectorsCommission Police reports across the capital about the •extent of street harassment, and include it within anti-social behaviour programmesClosely monitor Met police detection and prosecution •rates of rape and other violent crime against women and use my position as active chair of the Metropolitan Police to demand action in response to the statisticsPromote cultural change: using the agency of the •Mayoralty to empower the public to challenge violence within their communities, and develop new ways for reporting incidents.Prevent an increase in sexual exploitation (prostitution •and trafficking) in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics by making it a police priority and developing a voluntary media code of conductOffer a centrally-pooled affordable childcare scheme for •parents eligible for childcare tax credits, as the current system doesn’t reflect the high cost of London childcare; widen access to affordable childcare for all 3 and 4 year oldsSupport the development of community hubs in the •most disadvantaged areas, offering integrated services to families, children and those with unmet needs. Encourage local councils, other statutory agencies and

the voluntary and community sector to work together with the Mayor’s convening power, with the aim of cutting costs and improving service deliveryimprove access to relationship counselling and family •support services through GPs and Children’s Centres, where necessary encouraging London boroughs to provide joint services, reducing the rate of family breakdownChampion investment in Sure Start and childcare •services so that families are supported, and parents wherever possible are able to go out and work - the best guarantee of all against child povertyPromote alternatives to custody of non-violent women, •where possible, through Community Payback schemesCreate a pan-London commission to tackle teenage •pregnancy in LondonPromote a London-wide Mayoral campaign to get fathers •to take their paternity leave entitlementIncrease transport safety for women at night•Undertake a personal mission to increase women’s •representation in London politics – among Assembly Members, MPs, and Councillors.Implement a gender impact assessment on the GLA •budget Help older women living alone to maintain •independence, for example through the introduction of a GLA scheme to assist owner occupiers refurbish dilapidated accommodationWork with trades unions to reduce work place •harassmentEnsure jobs training is directed towards women as well •as men, and give women-run businesses a fair chance to bid for the remaining Olympic legacy contracts.

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London’s response to women’s inequality has been piecemeal at best since the Women’s Adviser position was axed in 2008. The current Mayor’s scheme for tackling inequality, for example, lacks any mention of such key issues such as sex trafficking in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics, London’s unacceptably high levels of teenage pregnancy, or the specific needs of women and families in planning policy.

The Mayor should ensure a sound understanding of all gender equality issues runs through all the GLA’s work, and this can only happen with real leadership at the very top of City Hall. A Gender Equality Adviser would ensure that all policies are assessed for their impact on gender equality; this should be done and made public even if this were to be no longer a legal requirement.

The adviser’s remit must be clear and specific, and not simply a token. The need for the role is about the real inequalities that women still face and the effect that these have on the whole of London. The adviser must therefore be a champion for a transparent, evidence-based approach that brings the whole of London on board.

Violence against women is now thankfully taken more seriously by central and local government than ever before, but we still need to do more to find out what makes some men violent in the first place.

This is especially urgent now, as it is thought that gender-based violence is rising because of the economic situation10.

There is a wealth of expertise among academics and in the health and voluntary sectors about how violence can be prevented; the Mayor should reach out to tap this knowledge by setting up a working group to pool all the available research and start developing strategies that work.

This would signal a much-needed change of approach from

making the right noises to actually getting the right answers. It would be deliverable immediately as part of the next Mayoral term and could be producing life-changing results within months.

Gender-based violence is not only unacceptably frequent but under-reported. According to the British Crime Survey, only one fifth of incidents that might be classified as rapes are made known to the police11.

The police have made steady improvements in the way they respond to alleged cases of sexual and domestic violence, and this work needs to continue and be monitored more closely by the Mayor.

But there must also be a more concerted effort to empower all Londoners to recognise and challenge the harmful attitudes that stop victims from coming forward. Unfortunately, harmful attitudes excusing or ignoring violence persist, such as the famous Amnesty International survey showing that nearly a third of the public believe that a woman is partially responsible for being raped if she wears revealing clothing12. 27% of people also say that domestic violence is acceptable if a partner nags13.

The Mayor is in a position to work with police on producing a systematic public awareness campaign empowering Londoners to recognise and challenge violence against women as unacceptable. This has obvious benefits not only for women but for whole neighbourhoods where fear and embarrassment in the face of violence divides neighbour from neighbour.

This must go hand-in-hand with a new sensitivity in safety warnings aimed at helping people to avoid danger: messages that seem to blame victims reinforce the dangerous idea that violence is inevitable, and the Mayor should make a public commitment to screening all police and TfL initiatives to ensure that this does not happen.

The Mayor should also help to scope new ways for the public to report sexual or domestic violence directly and in confidence, for example through a centralised hotline, to maximise people’s ability to challenge violence on their doorsteps.

PuTTINg gENdER EquaLITY aT ThE hEaRT Of LONdON gOvERNaNCE

EMPOWERINg LONdONERS TO ChaLLENgE vIOLENCE IN ThEIR COMMuNITIES

EMPhaSISINg PREvENTION aNd fINdINg STRaTEgIES ThaT WORk

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Street harassment is a regular occurrence for women in London, but is barely mentioned in government policy in the past. It is completely unacceptable that women should be expected to put up with casual intimidation, from unwanted sexual comments to being followed or even groped, simply as a result of going out in public. It is also likely that this behaviour acts as a gateway to more serious forms of violence, and so we simply cannot afford to let it go unchallenged.

The Mayor should promote a culture in which street harassment is recognised as unacceptable, and women do not have to suffer it in silence. Working with police, boroughs and Transport for London, effective action should include:

Ensuring that local authorities recognise sexual •harassment as a from of violence against women, and incorporate it into their training and policiesIdentifying London’s “harassment hotspots” and putting •more police and community support officers where they are neededCoordinating a poster campaign to challenge this form of •behaviour and encourage women to report itEstablishing best practice in police responses, including •consistent monitoring and enforcement where there is evidence of persistent harassmentWorking with local councils and community groups •to ensure consensus on the unacceptability of street harassment

It is now illegal in the UK to pay for sex with someone who is subject to exploitation, for example through force, threats or deception. The first three arrests for breaching the new laws, on the day they came into force, were made at a brothel in East London.

The market for exploited women has been built up over

centuries and will not disappear overnight. A sharp increase in demand for sexual services is also expected to coincide with the London 2012 Olympic Games. Local authorities are crying out for London-wide police prioritisation, which the Mayor should be taking steps now to ensure.

But the answer again lies in prevention as well as policing, and so pro-active moves are needed to address the high number of adverts for sexual services that are found in local newspapers.

A voluntary code of conduct in which local newspapers agree both to publicise the UK’s new laws and to stop advertising sexual services would allow London’s local media to set the standard for responsible conduct and respect for the basic human right not to be sexually exploited. The Mayoral candidate should be liaising with local newspapers to begin work on this immediately, with the Olympics beginning just weeks after the beginning of the next Mayoral term.

Good support services are essential in a civilised society, even at a time of economic difficulty. Victims of serious gender-based violence still face a particular postcode lottery in accessing expert help, with plans to deliver more Rape Crisis Centres for London developing very slowly.

Similarly, family intervention programmes are patchily provided and difficult to access, despite the enormous benefits they can bring in preventing family breakdown, which takes a disproportionate toll on women.

The Mayor should coordinate a pan-London exercise in which local boroughs map the services that exist for London’s vulnerable men, women and families. This must take into account the need for smaller, specialist providers working with particular communities or excluded groups: the Mayor should be an advocate for the best way for local authorities to engage with service providers of all kinds.

Where gaps are identified, the Mayor should take responsibility for helping local authorities and the voluntary sector find sustainable ways to fill them; short-term solutions are not a sufficient answer to our pressing social problems, and the Mayor should be an advocate to central government for funding improvements that last.

TakINg STREET haRaSSMENT SERIOuSLY

WORkINg TO PREvENT SEXuaL EXPLOITaTION

SECuRINg ThE BEST POSSIBLE SuPPORT SERvICES fOR vuLNERaBLE PEOPLE aNd faMILIES

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Some forms of women’s inequality remain more hidden and difficult to combat than others, including certain types of gender-based violence.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), or cutting, has been illegal for 25 years, but there has never been a single prosecution. The scale of domestic violence is unlikely to be affected by ethnic identity, but with unemployment rates four times higher for Pakistani women than white women14, it is likely that women from some communities face more challenges than others in leaving abusive homes.

It is also not clear why unemployment rates for women of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin remain so low, when a majority want to work15 and, with over half their families currently living in poverty, the economic benefits of this are clear.

It is essential that the Mayor of London, a proudly multi-cultural city, should be prepared to engage with the question of ethnic minority women’s inequality.

Working with local boroughs and community groups, the Mayor should commission wide-ranging research into the barriers that prevent women in ethnic minority communities from reporting violence, accessing services and entering employment. London is uniquely placed to blaze a trail for other cities in overcoming the double bind of gender and racial inequality, and reaping the economic benefits.

Teenage pregnancy rates are higher than the national average in 18 London boroughs (London Assembly, August 2009), with wide variation between boroughs. More than one in four boroughs has failed to reduce their rate since 1998, particularly in outer London. Reasons for this are wide-

ranging and include damaging images of sex and gender roles in the media (London Assembly report, August 2009), and so tackling the problem cannot simply be a question of working with PCTs and re-prioritising existing budgets.

This problem has obvious consequences for gender inequality, as 70% of young mothers are not in education, employment or training16 and thus have poor prospects of future economic independence.

A pan-London commission to reduce teenage pregnancy would be tasked with bringing together experts from government and the voluntary sector, including faith groups and women’s organisations, to develop new solutions to all these problems and to reach out to young people before their sexual health is compromised.

Forty years after the Equal Pay Act was passed, it is a scandal that women in the UK still are not paid equally to men.

The Mayor can do more to make equal pay a reality, by promoting an equal pay kitemark and encouraging London’s business community to sign up as a demonstration of their wider corporate social responsibility agendas.

Leading London employers, especially in the City, should also be encouraged to undertake voluntary pay audits in order to make equality a positive goal, and to help develop strategies for overcoming any unjust pay differentials they find.

ENCOuRagINg BuSINESSES TO vaLuE EquaL PaY

INvESTIgaTINg ThE WaY gENdER INEquaLITY ShOWS uP IN dIffERENT COMMuNITIES IN LONdON

fINdINg ThE ROOT CauSE Of OuR TEENagE PREgNaNCY RaTES

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MY PhILOSOPhYMy approach as Mayor will rest on three fundamental principles::

Prevention is better than cureas Mayor, I will prioritise investing in the future. I want to rebalance spending, so instead of all our money being spent on the cure (e.g. young people processed through magistrates courts), we spend more on prevention (e.g. young people given support to prevent re-offending).

human relationships should be at the heart of service delivery

as Mayor, I will put relationships at the heart of public policy - these networks are the glue that binds communities together, building social capital. It’s the quality of the relationship between the teacher and the pupil, police officer and resident, youth worker and gang member, Job Centre advisor and unemployed Londoner that has the greatest impact on positive outcomes.

Participation is not an optional extraas Mayor, I will work to ensure that people have a voice in the decisions that affect their lives, putting people first in GLA decision-making. On the left we’ve always understood the value of redistributing wealth. We’ve been slower to embrace the value of redistributing influence, which in itself can reduce inequalities.

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REFERENCES

[1] Gender Audit of Budget, House of Commons Library (July 2010) [2] Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) (2008) [3] Fawcett Society, http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=658 (2008) [4] London Child Poverty Commission, http://www.londonchildpoverty.org.uk/facts/ (2008) [5] The Bottom Line: Cor-porate Performance and Women’s Representation on Boards, Catalyst (2007) [6] British Crime Survey 2004-08, Home Office, http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds [7] Violence Against Women Crime Report 2008-2009, Crown Prosecution Service, p.70 (2009) [8] Hitting Home BBC Domestic Violence Survey, ICM (2003) [9] Hard Knock Life, New Philanthropy Capital (2008) [10] Real Help Now for Women, Government Equalities Office, www.equalities.gov.uk (2009) [11] British Crime Survey, as above. [12] Sexual Assault Research, Amnesty International, http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=16618 (2005) [13] Hitting Home BBC Domestic Violence Survey, as above. [14] Moving on up? Ethnic minority women and work, EOC (2007) [15] Immigrant, Muslim, Female: Triple Paralysis,? Quilliam Foundation, www.quilliamfounda-tion.org, (2009) [16] Department of Work and Pensions (2008).

© Oona 4 Mayor campaign 2010

Reproduced from the website www.oona4mayor.com. Promoted by Matt Cooke on behalf of Oona king, both at 6 heron quays, London E14 4JB.