The Women’s Equality Party are calling for a UK Women’s Bill of Rights, whatever the outcome of the upcoming EU referendum.
The WE are calling for the creation of a so-called Women’s Bill of Rights in order to ‘enshrine and extend women’s equality in the UK’. The party is calling on its members to contribute to the drafting of this Bill in order to create a constitutional vision for gender equality in the UK.
Co-founder of the party, Catherine Mayer said, “Stay or leave, the interests of half the population are under represented. It is time to draw up a bill of rights that ensures the equalities guaranteed by European directives cannot be rolled back. And that such rights and protections are extended, to the benefit of everybody.”
“WE are non-partisan, but that does not mean we will stand back from this debate. The outcome will be crucial for women. In many respects, gender equality is a European achievement – great strides have been made in areas such as maternity leave, equal pay, discrimination and harassment, even if the motor for change has not always been a yen for social justice but sometimes just a desire by member nations to prevent underpaid female workers in one country undercutting the labour market in another.”
The news comes as women everywhere celebrate International Women’s Day and promote the theme of #PledgeForParity. The WE argue that if gender segregation was lowered and female employment increased, then the UK economy would receive a boost of £23 billion.
Mayer continued, “Whether or not the UK remains in the EU, we want to develop and implement a Bill of Rights that will ensure women’s full economic participation, as well as their protection as citizens.”
