A campaign launched in April by the Fawcett Society aims to
stamp out sexism in the workplace. And key to the demands
put forward in their Sexism and the City Manifesto is a right to
flexible working for all.
The campaign aims to bring together the various strands of
discrimination against women in the workplace, ranging from low
pay to lack of representation in the boardroom to companies
using lap dancing clubs to entertain business clients.
The Fawcett Society, which has campaigned for women's
equality since 1866, says that 40 years after sex discrimination
was outlawed in the UK, there is still a marked lack of equality
in the workplace. Evidence of this includes the headline
facts:
- Only 11% of FTSE 100 company directors
are women
- 30,000 women lose their jobs every year
in the UK simply for being pregnant
- Two thirds of low paid workers are women
- Women working full-time are paid on
average 17% less than men
- Women make up just 20% of MPs
- Only 26% of Civil Service top management
are women.
The lack of flexible work opportunities at senior level means
that women, who are still the main carers at home, tend to be
forced into lower paid part-time work below their skill level -
as the recent report from the
Equalities Commission also highlighted.
It's also a problem that that UK full-time workers work the
longest hours in Europe. 'This means women, as the primary
carers, can't compete compete in the workplace where performance
is judged by the hours put in, not quality of the work
produced,' says the Manifesto.
Perhaps controversially, the Manifesto also links these
aspects of discrimination against women with the rise of lap
dancing club culture, which it sees as a regressive trend that
'normalises the sexual objectification of women and [runs]
counter to efforts to promote gender equality'.
The Manifesto calls for action from both government and
business. These include:
- Government should extend the right to work flexibly to
all
- Government should end the opt out of the EU Working Time
Directive
- Business should play all employees a living wage
- Business should implement and promote flexible working
at every level, and
- Business should challenge cultures that discriminate
against and stereotype women.
Commenting on the campaign, Dr Katherine Rake,
Director of the Fawcett Society, said:
“Behind the conspicuous wealth of the City
lies a hidden story of disadvantage and discrimination
affecting women at every level of business - from the
bathroom to the boardroom. For the first time Fawcett is
exposing the links between these experiences. That link is
sexism.
"Women have the right to dignity and respect
in their workplaces and in their daily lives. It is time for
women and men to stand up against the sexist culture of
objectifying women that has gripped our society.
"The Sexism and the City campaign is calling
upon Government, businesses and individual employees to take
urgent action. Everyone pays the price for sexism, so
everyone has a role to play in stamping it out.”
|
