The Fawcett Society, the largest women’s equality coalition for decades asks politicians What About Women? as a new poll shows action on women will win votes.
As all parties chase women’s votes a coalition of over 40 organisations, led by the Fawcett Society, will challenge all political parties to answer the question ‘What About Women?’.
Their powerful coalition, including Gingerbread, Carers UK, End Violence Against Women, the Hansard Society, the Equality Trust and many more, want political parties to take women more seriously on the major election issues such as the economy, crime, and renewing political trust.
They say women voters, particularly in marginal seats, will decide the outcome of this election. But a charm offensive without substance is just not good enough. Women voters deserve to know how policies on the major debates will affect them and what the parties will do on issues that affect women’s equality like equal pay, domestic violence and the number of women MPs.
The Fawcett Society and the other ‘What About Women?’ campaign partners are concerned that parties’ policies are treating women as an afterthought. The parties fail to consider how policies may impact differently on women and men, and they don’t view tackling women’s inequality as priority.
Fawcett’s Chief Executive, Ceri Goddard, said: ‘Taking the number one issue for all voters, the economy, many of the tax and spend measures being proposed could disadvantage women more. Cuts to public services will be particularly hard on women unless handled appropriately. Over 65 per cent of public sector employees are women and they are heavier users of frontline services.
‘But politicians are simply not considering or acknowledging how their proposals could impact differently on women and men. If they are going to talk about options such as greater family responsibility for caring then let’s be explicit – that would mean more work for women who make up 89 per cent of carers.’
She continued ‘the majority of both women and men are also more likely to vote for parties who would tackle particular barriers to women’s equality such as violence against women, media sexualisation and women’s under representation in politics but they continue to treat these as fringe issues when they should be part of the main debates on crime, culture and democracy’.
Fawcett’s view is backed by new polling commissioned for the campaign which shows:
- The vast of majority of both women (77 per cent) and men (68 per cent) agree that the next government should ensure women are not unequally affected when making decisions on public spending cuts.
- Large numbers of women and men voters saying they would be more or much more likely to vote for parties that that would increase women’s political representation (33 per cent) and tackle media sexualisation (42 per cent).
- 55 per cent of women and 46 per cent of men would be more likely to vote for party with a clear strategy to improve women’s equality.
- However the polling also showed that nearly half of women (49 per cent) did not think politicians considered women’s views enough in developing their policies the key election issues of tax and spending.
This will concern all parties who have been vying for the all important women’s vote, especially in the marginal seats.
The Fawcett Society and their partners are challenging the political parties to properly explain their policies by answering a series of questions on how they affect women. They will be publishing the parties’ responses on their website – allowing members of the public to comment and discuss them. They will also be using the policy promises to hold those that form the government after the election to account.
Join the Fawcett Society’s Facebook group for the ‘What About Women?’ campaign: click here.
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