Women MPs in the House of Commons, like their counterparts globally, continue to face barriers to gender equality. Last month the Women and Equalities Committee held an open call for evidence as part of their new inquiry to assess recent progress and make recommendations to create a more ‘gender-sensitive’ Parliament.
We have submitted evidence as part of this call, drawing on our campaigning work, and the research we have carried out as part of our ‘Data Drives Diversity: A simple step to more transparent politics’ and our ‘Remotely Representative Parliament: Lesson Learning from the Hybrid Parliament reports.
Among some of the key issues we highlighted were the lack of clear baby leave for MPs and their staff, the need for Section 106 of the Equality Act 2010 to be enacted, the need for the reinstatement of the Access to Elected Office Fund for disabled candidates, and the need to tackle online and in person abuse against women in politics and public life.
You can read the full text of our submission here.