It is inspiring in this centenary year to hear about the formidable work of the Suffragette and Suffragist movements, securing for women the right to vote and stand for election – it’s part of the basic history of our “island story” that is seldom told.
Much has been achieved as a result of this change but the evidence shows full equality for women is still not a reality. The basic democratic deficit that women faced in 1918 may have been addressed in law but inequality for women still blights Britain. This centenary year of celebration is a time to look forward and to consider how we continue to fight for women’s equality in the next 100 years.
It’s important to acknowledge that Britain does have some of the best equality laws in the world; women are achieving better than men at every level of education; more women than men achieve the best degrees from our best universities and have done for two decades; and there are record numbers of women in work.
Yet, for too many women that positive change has not translated into real life equality – far from it: women are disproportionately more likely to be in low pay, low skilled work with little or no prospect of progression; they are increasingly likely to experience unlawful discrimination or even lose their job because they are pregnant; and the gender pay gap for women over 35 is more entrenched than ever.
Source: Independent, Retrieved 11 February 2018, http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/women-suffrage-right-vote-suffragettes-sexism-gender-pay-gap-men-a8195676.html