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Women, Justice and Gender Equality

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Solihull (Lorely Burt). I pay tribute to the obvious research that has gone into her presentation today. She has shown commitment to bringing forward the issues that face women today on international women’s day, and I thank her for the high level of her contribution. In this House, we need women to set an example, so that there can be no suggestion that women come into this Chamber ill-prepared and unable to argue on behalf of their constituents and on behalf of their sex. I recognise her performance and her contribution. The United Nations has designated this international women’s day as a day when one should look at, in particular, violence against women. I do not want to look at the failures of the past; I want to look at how we can move forward and address the problems that we face. This morning, I stood in front of the statue of Mrs. Pankhurst as we laid flowers and paid tribute to her contribution in raising the status of women and obtaining the right to participate in democracy for women. The right to participate in democracy has allowed women in this Chamber, in local authority council chambers and across the world to fight for justice and equality for women. Mrs. Pankhurst set the stone that allowed women to move forward in society. However, Mrs. Pankhurst and her women faced the great consequence of stepping forward, which so many women face across the world. They faced male dominance, male opposition and imprisonment. I want to discuss women as an exemplar of best practice, but Britain is falling behind as an exemplar of best practice. I joined my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton, South (Ms Taylor) on the recent visit of women parliamentarians to Pakistan, and I saw how a country that we would often regard as falling behind in the democracy stakes has moved forward on several issues. As she noted, 33 per cent. of the seats in its legislature—the National Assembly and the Senate—have been allocated to women. I hope that when we further consider the reform of our upper House, appropriate steps will be taken to ensure that a good percentage of women are there as of right.