• Contact
  • About
  • Authors
DONATE
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
  • Login
East Anglia Bylines
  • HOME
  • News
    • All
    • Brexit
    • Education
    • Health
    • Welfare
    • World
    Stephen Toope, Vice Chancellor Cambridge

    Lack of access to EU funding could lead to “brain drain” – Cambridge Vice-Chancellor

    Owners of the wooden Dutch built yacht ordered to leave the UK.

    Soviet-style border force order Dutch couple to abandon sailing holiday and go home

    A&E

    Crisis looming for Southend Hospital and the Mid and South Essex NHS Trust

    Luton town hall

    Luton Deputy Mayor regrets Covid breach

    Liz Truss

    EU taking legal action against UK over Northern Ireland protocol: how did we get here?

    Rook

    Northern Ireland Protocol Bill results in Cambridge lab losing its EU funding

    17 May BPI occupation

    BP hypocrisy on climate challenged by Cambridge sit-in

    People in masks

    Eight changes the world needs to make to live with COVID

    Queen Elizabeth II Crossing

    Anxiety grows over viability of planned Lower Thames Crossing

    • Brexit
    • Health
    • Education
    • World
  • Opinion
  • Politics
    • Local government
    • Justice
    • Activism
  • Climate
    • Environment
  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Community
    • Culture
    • History
    • Humour
    Stapleford Granary concert hall

    July classical events at Stapleford Granary, Cambridge

    Suffolk SketchFest is back

    Traditional beers by the Brentwood Brewing Company.

    Brentwood’s own craft beer company

    People in masks

    Eight changes the world needs to make to live with COVID

    Norwich Floods in 1912: handing a loaf to a flooded-out cottager

    Spectre of 1953 looms as East Anglia faces flood warnings

    University of East Anglia. Photo by Michael John Button via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

    A civic university for the East

    Southend Section 60 map

    Police issue Dispersal Order in Southend

    Ukraine wins Eurovision 2022

    Sam Ryder helps Eurovision’s possible return to the UK

    Robert Walpole

    Walpole: When did the end game begin?

    • Community
    • Culture
    • History
    • Humour
    • Property
  • Business
    • All
    • Economics
    • Finance
    • Transport
    RMT Ipswich Branch

    Mick Lynch and a new wave of trade unionists

    Traditional beers by the Brentwood Brewing Company.

    Brentwood’s own craft beer company

    Sunak & Johnson

    The economics of the government’s pay disputes don’t stack

    Queen Elizabeth II Crossing

    Anxiety grows over viability of planned Lower Thames Crossing

    Rishi Sunak

    There is a solution to public sector pay disputes if the government wants to find one

    'For sale' boards.

    Housing Association “Right to Buy” proposal is ‘just wrong’ say experts

    East Anglia One windfarm

    One in three Suffolk manufacturing jobs lost since Tories came to power

    Foodbank parcels

    Hunger crisis: is it a national emergency?

    Mortgage debt.

    Sub-prime from Hollywood farce comes to UK housing

    • Economics
    • Finance
    • Transport
    • Farming
  • ANGLIA
    • All
    • Anglia
    • Bedfordshire
    • Cambridgeshire
    • Essex
    • Hertfordshire
    • Norfolk
    • Suffolk
    Hedgehog

    Crisis as falling volunteer numbers threaten Norfolk hedgehogs with potential extinction

    Stephen Toope, Vice Chancellor Cambridge

    Lack of access to EU funding could lead to “brain drain” – Cambridge Vice-Chancellor

    Fuel pumps

    Frustration at the cost of fuel sees protests returned to East Anglia

    Saffron Walden turf maze

    Essex town fighting health threat of poor air quality

    Latton Island campaigners

    Rich and poor dispute new Essex river crossing

    Owners of the wooden Dutch built yacht ordered to leave the UK.

    Soviet-style border force order Dutch couple to abandon sailing holiday and go home

    Fertiliser spreading

    Fertiliser – Where there’s muck…

    Stapleford Granary concert hall

    July classical events at Stapleford Granary, Cambridge

    A&E

    Crisis looming for Southend Hospital and the Mid and South Essex NHS Trust

    • East Anglia
    • Bedfordshire
    • Cambridgeshire
    • Essex
    • Hertfordshire
    • Norfolk
    • Suffolk
  • Series
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • News
    • All
    • Brexit
    • Education
    • Health
    • Welfare
    • World
    Stephen Toope, Vice Chancellor Cambridge

    Lack of access to EU funding could lead to “brain drain” – Cambridge Vice-Chancellor

    Owners of the wooden Dutch built yacht ordered to leave the UK.

    Soviet-style border force order Dutch couple to abandon sailing holiday and go home

    A&E

    Crisis looming for Southend Hospital and the Mid and South Essex NHS Trust

    Luton town hall

    Luton Deputy Mayor regrets Covid breach

    Liz Truss

    EU taking legal action against UK over Northern Ireland protocol: how did we get here?

    Rook

    Northern Ireland Protocol Bill results in Cambridge lab losing its EU funding

    17 May BPI occupation

    BP hypocrisy on climate challenged by Cambridge sit-in

    People in masks

    Eight changes the world needs to make to live with COVID

    Queen Elizabeth II Crossing

    Anxiety grows over viability of planned Lower Thames Crossing

    • Brexit
    • Health
    • Education
    • World
  • Opinion
  • Politics
    • Local government
    • Justice
    • Activism
  • Climate
    • Environment
  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Community
    • Culture
    • History
    • Humour
    Stapleford Granary concert hall

    July classical events at Stapleford Granary, Cambridge

    Suffolk SketchFest is back

    Traditional beers by the Brentwood Brewing Company.

    Brentwood’s own craft beer company

    People in masks

    Eight changes the world needs to make to live with COVID

    Norwich Floods in 1912: handing a loaf to a flooded-out cottager

    Spectre of 1953 looms as East Anglia faces flood warnings

    University of East Anglia. Photo by Michael John Button via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

    A civic university for the East

    Southend Section 60 map

    Police issue Dispersal Order in Southend

    Ukraine wins Eurovision 2022

    Sam Ryder helps Eurovision’s possible return to the UK

    Robert Walpole

    Walpole: When did the end game begin?

    • Community
    • Culture
    • History
    • Humour
    • Property
  • Business
    • All
    • Economics
    • Finance
    • Transport
    RMT Ipswich Branch

    Mick Lynch and a new wave of trade unionists

    Traditional beers by the Brentwood Brewing Company.

    Brentwood’s own craft beer company

    Sunak & Johnson

    The economics of the government’s pay disputes don’t stack

    Queen Elizabeth II Crossing

    Anxiety grows over viability of planned Lower Thames Crossing

    Rishi Sunak

    There is a solution to public sector pay disputes if the government wants to find one

    'For sale' boards.

    Housing Association “Right to Buy” proposal is ‘just wrong’ say experts

    East Anglia One windfarm

    One in three Suffolk manufacturing jobs lost since Tories came to power

    Foodbank parcels

    Hunger crisis: is it a national emergency?

    Mortgage debt.

    Sub-prime from Hollywood farce comes to UK housing

    • Economics
    • Finance
    • Transport
    • Farming
  • ANGLIA
    • All
    • Anglia
    • Bedfordshire
    • Cambridgeshire
    • Essex
    • Hertfordshire
    • Norfolk
    • Suffolk
    Hedgehog

    Crisis as falling volunteer numbers threaten Norfolk hedgehogs with potential extinction

    Stephen Toope, Vice Chancellor Cambridge

    Lack of access to EU funding could lead to “brain drain” – Cambridge Vice-Chancellor

    Fuel pumps

    Frustration at the cost of fuel sees protests returned to East Anglia

    Saffron Walden turf maze

    Essex town fighting health threat of poor air quality

    Latton Island campaigners

    Rich and poor dispute new Essex river crossing

    Owners of the wooden Dutch built yacht ordered to leave the UK.

    Soviet-style border force order Dutch couple to abandon sailing holiday and go home

    Fertiliser spreading

    Fertiliser – Where there’s muck…

    Stapleford Granary concert hall

    July classical events at Stapleford Granary, Cambridge

    A&E

    Crisis looming for Southend Hospital and the Mid and South Essex NHS Trust

    • East Anglia
    • Bedfordshire
    • Cambridgeshire
    • Essex
    • Hertfordshire
    • Norfolk
    • Suffolk
  • Series
No Result
View All Result
East Anglia Bylines
No Result
View All Result

Gender equality – crucial to end violence against women

Violence against women is both a cause and consequence of inequality. If they had equal representation they would be less targets for abuse.

Jenny RhodesbyJenny Rhodes
February 1, 2022
in UK, Welfare
the future is ours

"The future is ours" - young girls holding a banner at a women's march. Photo by marybettiniblank via Pixabay (CC BY 2.0)

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

At the root of violence against women lies continuing inequality, resulting in a power and control imbalance.

Violence grows out of inequality

A United Nations Committee says that violence against women and girls is rooted in ‘men’s entitlement and privilege over women, social norms regarding masculinity, and the need to assert male control or power…’

Government research concludes that ‘expectations of superiority, power and entitlement over women seemingly continue to be influential in perceptions of what it means to be a man.’

Centrally, persistent inequality lets some men think this justifies exerting power and control over women. Key to achieving equality are equal representation, pay and opportunities.

Where is male power manifested as abuse?

Examples are everywhere. Most powerful men who control and harass women believe they are protected from punishment, and often are. It is still common in politics – a recent report said nearly 20 percent of Parliamentary staff experience harassment. An ex-Tory Minister who abused his wife told her she wouldn’t ‘be believed as he was an MP’. MeToo and TimesUp have exposed assault in many circles where men have power over women.

Domestic abuse is common in the Army. In the Police, partners of officers still find it difficult to get justice due to the ‘boys’ club culture’.

The power imbalance even leads some men to confidently abuse women in public. This campaign video shows what most women will be familiar with: a man verbally harasses a woman in public, enjoying the power he feels. He then becomes abusive if she ignores him. Here, female MPs relate experiences of public sexual harassment. They all want it to be made a crime. It currently is not.

Men must take a stand too

Men do not often publicly stand alongside women. The case of the Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai shows this. She mysteriously disappeared after claiming that former Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli coerced her into sex. The Women’s Tennis Association were worried enough about her being ‘censored by the state’ to boycott a tournament in China, but at the time the men did not follow suit. Do men believe it’s a women’s battle? For real change, men must get involved.

Liz Truss, MP for South West Norfolk, is Foreign Secretary, Brexit negotiator and Equalities Minister. (That it is one of many responsibilities reveals how the government views equality.) She agrees that men must be involved: in a speech, she promised to end ‘pink bus feminism, where women are left to fix sexism…’. But how does she intend to achieve this?

Equal representation now

Women are generally under-represented in public life. In films, where boys and girls learn about gender roles, women are often portrayed as objectified ‘eye-candy’. Only two female directors have won an Oscar.

Our institutions need more women at senior levels. A third of MPs, but less than a quarter of Conservative MPs, are female. The cabinet is three-quarters male. Similar proportions are evident in most professions. The NHS workforce is 77 percent female, but only 37 percent of hospital consultants are women.

surgical team
Ipswich surgical team. Photo by Ipswich Hospital via Twitter

During the Covid pandemic, female experts have been less visible. The Fawcett Society Sex & Power Index shows that only two of 56 daily press briefings have been led by a woman. Women are only 28 percent of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) despite there being many excellent female scientists. This includes Professor Sarah Gilbert, recently made a Dame in recognition of her work creating the Oxford vaccine.

In Invisible Women, Caroline Criado Perez argues that seeing men in public positions is the ‘default’. When one does see a few women, it is noticeable, giving the impression there are many, when actually there are fewer.

Equal pay now

The Equal Pay Act became law over 50 years ago, but is still not reality. Women still earn 19 percent less per hour. Government policy over 25 years has changed nothing.

The 2010 Equality Act, driven by Labour’s Harriet Harman, introduced compulsory gender pay gap reporting. Liz Truss agrees with this initiative, saying if companies publicise pay ranges, it leads to more equal starting points.

So, here is the hourly pay rate of female employees for every £1 earned by men at some East Anglian companies:

St Edmundsbury & Ipswich Multi Academy Trust 47p

Notcutts Nurseries Woodbridge 71p

Emmanuel College Cambridge 75p

University of East Anglia 77p

Essex Police 77p

Broadland District Council 78p

Norfolk & Norwich Hospital 78p

Abellio (trains) 81p

Truckeast 81p

(Source: Government data)

There are huge disparities in many employers’ pay ranges. A small number buck the trend, so it is possible:

Ford Motors Essex 99p

St Johns College Cambridge £1.03


More from Jenny Rhodes

Protecting children from online pornography

Online pornography: Government plans to protect children from harmful exposure

February 10, 2022
the future is ours

Gender equality – crucial to end violence against women

February 1, 2022

Why the pay gap?

There are more women in low-paid roles and fewer in senior ones. Also, fewer receive bonuses, which are usually lower. Even in 2022, none of this is surprising.

Jobs with mainly female staff, like social care, command low wages. Most teachers are women, but they are less likely to gain promoted roles.  Society has evolved with traditionally ‘male jobs’ being better-paid, and senior positions held mainly by men. Inevitably, pay levels influence people’s perceptions about their value and importance. Care assistants (90 percent female) earn only around the minimum wage. It is vital work, so society must rethink what care staff are paid.

Change is very slow

The gap is closing at snail’s pace. For example, the BBC only recently moved towards pay parity for broadcasters after female staff sued them – half a century after the Equal Pay Act. Historical precedent is proving hard to chip away at.

What next?

We must challenge not only why so many women are in lower paid jobs, but also why these jobs are low-paid despite their importance to society.

Violence against women is both a cause and consequence of inequality. Prevention needs laws and policies to promote equality. If women had equal representation and pay, they would be seen less as targets for abuse. Only when we dismantle entrenched power structures, will they stop being assaulted and blamed. Only by challenging stereotypes that give men power over women, will the violence stop. It’s time.

parliament dominated by men
Parliament where laws concerning women are made, is dominated by men. Photo by UK Parliament via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

More from East Angia Bylines

Fuel pumps
Activism

Frustration at the cost of fuel sees protests returned to East Anglia

byJ.J. Jackson
July 4, 2022
Tags: EqualityVAWG
Previous Post

A barrister’s first impressions of the Sue Gray report

Next Post

Through the looking-glass: and what Sue found there

Jenny Rhodes

Jenny Rhodes

Jenny Rhodes lives in Essex and taught in London for many years, specialising in Literacy and English as an Additional Language. As well as education, she has a particular interest in gender equality and environmental issues. Jenny is a member of the EAB editorial team.

Related Posts

Johnson cabinet meeting before resignations.
Party politics

Johnson’s dominoes begin to fall: who will be the last one standing?

byPeter Thurlow
July 6, 2022
House of Commons
Politics

GrubbyGates

byMadge McClary
July 3, 2022
RMT Ipswich Branch
Activism

Mick Lynch and a new wave of trade unionists

byJessica Walsh
June 29, 2022
Liz Truss
Brexit

EU taking legal action against UK over Northern Ireland protocol: how did we get here?

byProf Nikos Skoutaris
June 26, 2022
Sunak & Johnson
Economics

The economics of the government’s pay disputes don’t stack

byProf Richard Murphy
June 24, 2022
Next Post
Sue through the looking glass

Through the looking-glass: and what Sue found there

Want to support us?

Can you help East Anglia Bylines to grow and become more sustainable with a regular donation, no matter how small?  

DONATE

Sign up to our newsletter

If you would like to receive the East Anglia Bylines regular newsletter, straight talking direct to your inbox, click the button below.

NEWSLETTER

LATEST

Hedgehog

Crisis as falling volunteer numbers threaten Norfolk hedgehogs with potential extinction

July 6, 2022
Johnson cabinet meeting before resignations.

Johnson’s dominoes begin to fall: who will be the last one standing?

July 6, 2022
Stephen Toope, Vice Chancellor Cambridge

Lack of access to EU funding could lead to “brain drain” – Cambridge Vice-Chancellor

July 5, 2022
Fuel pumps

Frustration at the cost of fuel sees protests returned to East Anglia

July 4, 2022

MOST READ

Johnson cabinet meeting before resignations.

Johnson’s dominoes begin to fall: who will be the last one standing?

July 6, 2022
Stephen Toope, Vice Chancellor Cambridge

Lack of access to EU funding could lead to “brain drain” – Cambridge Vice-Chancellor

July 5, 2022
Pylons at Aldringham, Suffolk

Shock as National Grid proposes 180km of new pylons across East Anglia

May 15, 2022
Hedgehog

Crisis as falling volunteer numbers threaten Norfolk hedgehogs with potential extinction

July 6, 2022

Tags

Activism Art Brexit Business Cambridgeshire Climate Community COP26 Culture Democracy Development Economics Economy Education Employment Energy Environment Farming Health Humour Hymns International Women's Day Justice Letters Local elections 2022 Local government National Grid NHS Norfolk Pandemic Partygate Party politics Pecksniff Poetry Politics Poverty Rivers of East Anglia Sewage Sizewell Social care Suffolk Ukraine VAWG Welfare Wildlife
East Anglia Bylines

East Anglia Bylines is a regional online newspaper that supports citizen journalism. Our aim is to publish well-written, fact-based articles and opinion pieces on subjects that are of interest to people in East Anglia and beyond.

Learn more about us

No Result
View All Result
  • About us
    • Contact us
    • Bylines Network
    • Complaints
    • Newsletter
    • Privacy Policy
    • Donate
  • UK
  • Anglia
  • About us
  • UK
  • Anglia

© 2022 East Anglia Bylines. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • News
    • Brexit
    • Health
    • Education
    • World
  • Opinion
  • Politics
    • Local government
    • Justice
    • Activism
  • Climate
    • Environment
  • Lifestyle
    • Community
    • Culture
    • History
    • Humour
    • Property
  • Business
    • Economics
    • Finance
    • Transport
    • Farming
  • ANGLIA
    • East Anglia
    • Bedfordshire
    • Cambridgeshire
    • Essex
    • Hertfordshire
    • Norfolk
    • Suffolk
  • Series

© 2022 East Anglia Bylines. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In