What can the case of Sarah Everard tell us about gender inequality and the low representation of women in politics?
The government does not protect women.
The recent murder of Sarah Everard has brought women’s safety to the forefront of discussion but this not a new revelation at all. Women, including myself, are constantly in fear of men and this materialises itself in small ways like keeping your location on at all times and saying ‘message me when you get home’ to your friends. Sarah Everard’s story tells us that a lot more needs to be done by the government to ensure the safety of women but how can this be achieved when only 5 ministers in the cabinet are women (House of Commons Library, 2021).
Representation is very important because it adds legitimacy to democracy and allows a fairer approach to policy-making inclusive to minority groups. If there were more women in Parliament, there would be a push for the legalisation of paper spray or more scrutiny placed upon why misogyny was only officially classed as a hate crime this month. Consequently, Sarah Everard’s death brought more attention towards a new piece of legislation being rushed through parliament titled the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The bill will give more power to police by allowing them to digitally strip search survivors of gendered violence and have undercover officers in bars and clubs. Unsurprisingly, in the second reading, 80% of Ayes were by men (Votes in Parliament, 2021). These actions are more harmful than helpful towards women and highlight the lack of awareness at the hands of a male-dominated political body. It is clear that the government has no true regard for the rights of women and the lack of female representation in politics needs to be challenged if we are to strive for gender inequality.
Silent (social distanced) vigil in Sheffield prompted by the abduction and murder of Sarah Everard in London by a serving police officer. (Dennell, 2021)
Gender quotas do help but for the wrong reasons.
Gender inequality advocates demand women’s political presence for normative reasons: in terms of justice, for symbolic representation and in terms of substantive arguments (Childs, 2004). Gender quotas are a possible solution and their implementation to increase female representation in politics has been described as an important tool for giving women access to leading political positions (European Commision, 2000, cited in Squires, 2004). Gender quotas in the UK take form in voluntary All-women shortlists (AWS) which allow only women to stand in certain constituencies. The Labour and Liberal Democrat Party use AWS which is reflected positively in them both having a female majority and the former having more female MPs than any other party standing at 103 (MPs and Lords, 2021). It is argued that the presence of greater numbers of women has led to the greater integration of women’s concerns with the government’s agenda (Lovenduski, 2005): for example, childcare, domestic violence and extended maternity and paid parental leave (Campbell and Lovenduski, 2005; Childs, 2004). It is imperative that we proposition other political parties to follow suit if we are some semblance of fair representation and better engage in significant issues that concern women such as gendered violence.
(Kavanagh and Cowley, The British General Election of 2017 & previous editions, House of Commons Library, 2018 cited in House of Commons Library 2020)
Gender quotas provide a positive function in the representation of women in politics, but this is a broad description that does not examine the type of women who benefits which leads to the discussion of intersectionality. Quotas priorititse equal opportunities over equal results, the representation of ideas over the representation of identities, and the connection between ‘gender’ and other social identities (Squires, 2009).
Include intersectionality in your conversation.
The important conversation to have in relation to gender inequality is the concept of intersectionality which acknowledges those ‘other social identities’. Intersectionality is the relationship between social factors like gender, race, social class, and how they interact with one another. In principle, one cannot exist without the other because they exist in frameworks of numerous, interacting forms of oppression and privilege. Therefore, when evaluating the success of gender quotas we must ask ourselves if they benefit all women. Black feminists argue that it’s problematic to conceptualise women as a group: focusing attention of the inequalities and differences between men and women tended to marginalise the inequalities and differences among women (Collins, 1990, Mohanty 1991, Spellman 1998 cited in Squires, 2004). Furthermore, poststructuralist critique argues that taking women as a category prevents intersectionality and fails to recognise the fluidity and mutability of social identities. For example, while the AWS promotes female political representation it fails to tackle underlying issues and so the AWS recipients are majority white and middle-classed which clearly does not represent ALL women. Furthermore, the End Violence Against Women Coalition protests that the government hasn’t done enough to protect women and girls amid the pandemic and this highlighted by the increase in female domestic homicides; shown below.
(Railings and Thrasher, British Electoral Facts, 1832-2006, House of Commons Library, CBP7186 General Election 2015, British Future, 2017 and 2019 cited in House of Commons Library 2020)
(Violence Against Women: COVID-19 Response, 2021)
(Domestic abuse during Coronavirus, 2020)
Gender mainstreaming is the solution we need.
Gender mainstream policy aims to integrate a gender perspective into all policy-making. Mainstreaming requires that the various values, interests and life experiences of different groups of women be taken into account when mechanisms for political participation are devised and practiced. Gender mainstreaming seeks to dismantle the institutions which hinder women and so unlike gender quotas create an environment where both women and men can participate equally. The diagram below highlights what is being considered by the European Union called the ‘equality stool’:
- Guarantee women the same rights and the same opportunities as men in the public sphere, through statutory and mandatory legal instruments.
- Inspire initiatives that recognise women as a disadvantaged group in society, who deserve and require particular treatment and specialist provision in order to rectify their past experience of discrimination, which has become institutionalized.
- Promote actions that aim to transform the organisation of society to a fairer distribution of human responsibilities by acknowledging the differences between women and men (Booth and Bennett, 2002).
The ‘Equality Stool’
Final thoughts
If we are to achieve gender equality in the UK, we need to have more women in politics and this can only happen if we recognise that the problem is multifaceted and aim to gradually adopt the three-part ‘equality stool’. The implementation of such a process would help us have more women in power who can address our concerns and avoid future cases like Sarah Everard; formally recognise the disparities between women rather than the inaccurate assumption that there is only conflict against men.
Bibliography
Channel 4 News (2021) Why women feel unsafe on Britain’s streets. 11 March. Available at: https:/youtube.com/watch?v=DtrqkseiTSA
House of Commons Library (2021) Women in Politics and Public Life. Available at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01250/ (Accessed: 23 March 2021).
Votes in Parliament (2021) Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Second Reading. Available at: https://votes.parliament.uk/Votes/Commons/Division/981?byMember=False#ayes (Accessed: 23 March 2021).
Dennell, T. (2021) Vigil for Sarah Everard in Sheffield. Available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/shefftim/51033478096 (Accessed: 23 March 2021).
Childs, S. (2004) New Labour Women MPs. London: Routledge.
Squires, J. (2004) Gender Quotas in Britain: A Fast Track to Equality?, Working Paper Series, 1.
MPs and Lords (2021) Find MPs. Available at: https://members.parliament.uk/members/Commons?SearchText=&PartyId=&Gender=Female&ForParliament=0&ShowAdvanced=true (Accessed: 23 March 2021).
Lovenduski, J. (2005) Feminising Politics. Cambridge: Polity Press.
House of Commons Library (2020) Social background of MPs 1979-2019 (CBP 7483). UK Parliament: United Kingdom. [Tables].
Fat Beehive (2021) COVID-19 Response. Violence Against Women: United Kingdom. [Table].
Kent Surrey & Sussex (2020) Domestic abuse during Coronavirus. United Kingdom: Seetec Justice.
Squires, J (2009) Gender Quotas and Models of Political Citizenship, British Journal of Political Science, 39(4), pp. 781-803.
Booth, C. and Bennett, C. (2002) ‘Gender Mainstreaming in the European Union: Towards a New Conception and Practice of Equal Opportunities?’, European Journal of Women’s Studies, 9(4), pp. 430–446.
Squires, J. (2004) Gender Quotas in Britain: A Fast Track to Equality?, Working Paper Series, 1. [Diagram].
Hey! I have loved your blog post and thought it was a very good analysis of the lack of women in politics. I completely agree that we are severely underrepresented. Specifically, your use of Sarah Everard made it very easy to understand and contextualise.why we need more women in politics! how can anyone understand womens’ needs more than women? I had also heard about the new act being introduced but didn’t know that 80% of votes for the act were men! this is astonishing! Do you think that the introduction of more citizenship teachings at a younger age and specifically targeted towards girls would help to encourage women to get more involved in politics or do you believe that these issues are much wider and women face larger barriers when entering the world of politics? I very much enjoyed your section about the need for those in power to discuss intersectionality and the ways that social factors such as race and class can limit women within politics and agree that it is crucial in achieving gender equality within politics. Overall, I found your blog very empowering! Thank you for letting me be a part of your conversation!
Thank you very much, Talia! I do believe that there should be an emphasis placed upon citizenship education taught in schools when tackling the lack of young people and young girls alike who are politically engaged but the underrepresentation of women in politics requires a much bigger solution as you stated. The larger barriers women face when entering the world of politics concern the omnipresence of patriarchy which cannot easily be removed. The most extreme solution would be conforming to political lesbianism as presented by radical feminist text however this is not an immediate resolution and there is evidently still work to be done when concerning the lack of women in politics largely to do with systematic reform. Furthermore, such answers must advocate for intersectionality if we are to achieve a semblance of gender equality.
Thank you once again:)