House of Lords
International Women’s Day
(1 day, 10 hours ago)
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Baroness Lloyd of Effra
That this House takes note of International Women’s Day.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business and Trade and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Baroness Lloyd of Effra) (Lab)
My Lords, it is a pleasure to open today’s International Women’s Day debate on behalf of the Government. As noble Lords will know, the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is “Give to gain”. This day is about celebrating the power of solidarity and camaraderie; it is about adhering to the words proclaimed by Millicent Fawcett—the same words inscribed on her statue in Parliament Square just a stone’s throw away from here:
“Courage calls to courage everywhere”.
This day is about recognising that when women thrive, we all rise. I believe that is true of this place. Both Chambers are of very different composition to the ones I knew in the 1990s when I first started working in Westminster. Back then, around 10% of the seats in the other place were held by women; last year, that figure stood at roughly 40%. We have seen a similarly positive trend in this House: female membership has steadily risen from below 10% in the early 1990s to over 30% today. I am looking forward to hearing the maiden speeches today from my noble friends Lady Linforth, Lady MacLeod of Camusdarach, Lady Martin of Brockley, Lady Nargund and Lady Paul of Shepherd’s Bush. I am proud to serve in a Government where the positions of Chancellor, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary are all occupied by brilliant women, as are the Secretaries of State for Wales, science and culture. Our representation has changed for the better.
Our economy has changed for the better, too. Top British companies are leading the way for gender equality in boardrooms. Women occupied over 43% of roles on FTSE 350 executive boards as of last year. Our society has also changed for the better. The UK ranks fourth in the global gender gap index. That is all cause for celebration and optimism, but noble Lords will know that there is still more to do.
That extends to the places where economic power lies today and the industries that are at the forefront of tomorrow’s economy. We have much more to do to further women’s rights and opportunities in the UK and around the world, which is why this Government are working to prioritise women’s health by working with the women’s health ambassador to deliver our 10-year health plan. At work, we are putting in stronger protections for pregnant women and new mothers and tackling maternity inequality. We are also improving the system of parental leave, and making flexible working more easily available through our plan to make work pay. Through the Employment Rights Act we are taking the first steps towards requiring employers to publish an action plan alongside their gender pay gap reporting. We are tackling violence against women and girls, with a focus on education and prevention, pursuing perpetrators and supporting victims through our landmark strategy.
I would like to take a moment to reflect on the achievements of Jill Saward as we mark 40 years since her harrowing attack in 1986. I pay tribute to a woman whose courage shifted the national conversation surrounding sexual violence. She transformed the horrific trauma she endured into a catalyst for systemic change. She became a pioneering voice, helping to dismantle the long-standing taboos around sexual violence that silenced countless victims, and she campaigned for essential reforms to our justice system that were so desperately required. We owe her, and the many who continue her vital work, a debt of profound gratitude, and our commitment is to continue to tackle violence against women and girls.
However, if noble Lords permit, I will use my remaining time to speak about some of the initiatives my ministerial portfolio covers: initiatives to strengthen the roles of women in the workplace, in our economy and in our society. I will start with digital inclusion and the tech sector. We know that the UK’s tech sector is a massive growth driver. We are one of only three countries in the world to have had a tech sector valued at over $1 trillion. But it is not working for all; not everyone can access its opportunities. Only 29% of UK tech employees are women.
One of the groups I work closely with in my role is the cyber security industry, which has a workforce of 143,000 people and only 17% are women. Worse still, every year we lose an estimated £2 billion to £3.5 billion in economic activity because women leave the tech sector or change jobs due to barriers that should not exist. We have our work cut out for us because, at the current pace, it will take 283 years before women make up an equal share of the tech workforce. We want to right this wrong, and our ambition is clear: we want to unlock the full potential of Britain’s tech sector. Why? Because diverse teams do not just create more equitable workplaces; they deliver better outcomes. Different perspectives drive breakthrough solutions and help technology serve all communities, not just some.
To deliver on our ambitions, we are backing initiatives such as Code First Girls and CAPSLOCK, which specialise in helping women to access cyber and tech roles. We also have the TechFirst programme, with £187 million of investment to strengthen our domestic tech skills pipeline. This is about recruiting and supporting high-potential individuals from across the UK, starting in schools through to university, then research and employment. At its core, TechFirst is about giving people access to brilliant tech jobs—the jobs of the future—with the programme acting as a significant driver to support women and girls.
We are keen to play our part with industry. This is not about government going it alone; it is about businesses stepping up, which is why I am glad that IBM took over from the Government on delivering the annual CyberFirst Girls Competition. Last year’s competition reached more than 10,000 girls between the ages of 12 and 13 across 500 secondary schools in the UK. It is a fantastic example of industry leading from the front.
We have set up the new Women in Tech Taskforce. Its mission is to dismantle barriers to education, training and career progression. It will deliver practical solutions for government and industry to implement together, shaping policy that levels the playing field, and it will help us to reverse those economic losses I mentioned a moment ago, which stem from women leaving the tech sector due to barriers that should not exist.
We are also taking action to fix the finance gap for women-led businesses. One of the ways we are doing this at DBT is through the Invest in Women Taskforce. This is about backing women-led businesses, ensuring they are front and centre of this Government’s growth mission. The Invest in Women Taskforce funding pool is the largest of any kind in the world, at an impressive £635 million of institutional capital, all grown since this Government came into office. This Government are putting our money where our mouths are, with £130 million invested by the British Business Bank.
This is not the only way we are supporting female entrepreneurship. The British Business Bank, which backs the taskforce, also runs a number of its own empowering initiatives. The bank’s £400 million Investor Pathways Capital programme is an example. It is reducing barriers to entry for new and emerging fund managers. We know that women are twice as likely to back women-led businesses than men, which is why 50% of this capital is ring-fenced for female fund managers. The bank’s diverse angel syndicate initiative also encourages a wide group of investors to back early-stage businesses. The figures from the programme’s pilot were impressive: 185 new angel investors were engaged, and 176 of them were female. This is a strong example of the British Business Bank channelling investment to women-led small businesses with big ambitions.
When those founders succeed, our economy and our country succeed, which is why the Government are shining a bright light on successful female founders at every possible opportunity. The Department for Business and Trade’s Venture Capital Unit runs an annual initiative, Wave, which does exactly that. It spotlights 10 innovative female-led businesses from across the UK and runs a programme of pitch days and workshops with them.
In sum, it is right that on this International Women’s Day we look back on what has been achieved, and that we acknowledge how attitudes have changed. In Britain we have the most gender-balanced Government in our nation’s history. But with that honour comes a responsibility; the onus is on us to drive further progress. I am looking forward to the debate that will follow. I have one final ask of this House: please help us champion the initiatives I have spoken about today. Help us inspire more women and girls to go as far in life as their talent and ambitions will take them. Let us give so all can gain.
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)
My Lords, it is a great honour to open this debate on International Women’s Day on behalf of His Majesty’s loyal Opposition. It is an opportunity both to celebrate the countless contributions of women and to reflect on the work that still lies ahead, here at home, obviously in Wales, and across the world. We will no doubt hear stories from across the House of women who have shaped us in our own lives and who contribute every day to our society. With the indulgence of the House, I shall speak too about some Welsh women who have shaped our history.
In particular, I pay tribute to my noble friends Lady Owen of Alderley Edge and Lady Bertin for their tireless work on the Crime and Policing Bill to strengthen protections for women, particularly in the online space. Some of the material we have confronted has been deeply disturbing and should give us all pause for thought. These harms not only affect women and girls but shape attitudes and relationships more broadly, distorting how men and boys understand intimacy and respect. Women are not commodities nor targets for abuse; they are equal in worth and dignity, and they must be treated as such in every corner of our society. We are so grateful for the dedication of our female Peers across the House to this legislation.
The Conservative Party launched the international women and girls strategy, focusing on educating girls, empowering women and ending gender-based violence. Under that strategy, 80% of the FCDO’s bilateral aid programmes are required to focus on gender equality by 2030. We are proud of this record, and we are pleased that the current Government continue to commit to this target.
We must also take a long, hard look to what is happening in our own patch. We have come a long way in this country, and we owe so much to those who came before us. Coincidentally, it was on this day in 1806 that the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born. Her own success as a women inspired others, such as Emily Dickinson, and she used her talent to advocate not only for women but for other causes, such as the abolition of slavery in the United States.
I pay tribute to the female entrepreneurs of this country who continue to innovate, employ and lead, often while navigating different barriers from their male counterparts. Yet the economic picture gives us cause for concern. According to PwC’s 2026 Women in Work Index, which assesses women’s labour market outcomes, the UK has moved up one place but largely due to declines in other countries’ performance. Female unemployment has risen from 3.5% to 4.2%, while youth female unemployment has increased from 9.5% to 11.8%, and that trend should concern us all.
It is not good enough to turn a blind eye; we must do more to ensure that all women and girls in this country enjoy the same hard-fought freedoms, opportunities and standards that we across this House enjoy. What is needed is a new cultural and integration commission, which will provide an interim report later this year. We are doing the serious work to propose real solutions, not for political point-scoring but because it is the right thing to do.
No speech of mine would be complete without reference to Wales. Mae Cymru yn genedl o adroddwyr straeon—Wales is a nation of storytellers. I would like to reflect on the lives of some remarkable Welsh women whose courage, ingenuity and service have shaped not only Wales but our wider national story.
Let us start with the women of Fishguard, who repelled the last invasion of Britain in 1797—I bet not many noble Lords knew that. Dressed in traditional Welsh costume—dark dresses; tall, black, steeple-crowned hats; and red shawls—they formed a conspicuous line along the cliffs, which, in poor light and at a distance, the French mistook for ranks of red-coated soldiers. Facing what they believed to be overwhelming British reinforcements, the invaders lost heart and soon agreed to surrender.
If we go back to the 12th century, Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd, Princess of Deheubarth, is remembered for her leadership. In 1136, as her husband fought elsewhere, she led an army against the Norman invaders. She fell in battle, but her name endured as a rallying cry: “Dial Achos Gwenllian”, or, “Revenge for Gwenllian”. In an age when women’s voices were rarely recorded, her example of courage, sacrifice and resistance still speaks to us today about the cost of defending a nation’s identity.
Fast forward four centuries, and we find another woman whose influence ran not through arms but through kinship and land: Katheryn of Berain. A 16th century noblewoman in north Wales, Katheryn married extremely well four times, and through these alliances linked together many of the most powerful families of the region. She has sometimes been called “Mam Cymru”—“Mother of Wales”—because so many later Welsh gentry and political figures trace their descent through her. She reminds us that power is not only exercised in Parliaments or on battlefields but woven quietly through households, estates and communities, and that the women who manage those networks were architects of Welsh society in their own right.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Welsh women helped to propel the Industrial Revolution. Lucy Thomas, the mother of the Welsh steam coal trade, was a businesswoman from the heart of the coalfield. After her husband’s death, she took charge of the coal business, drove the development of markets for Welsh steam and helped to prove to sceptical buyers the superiority of Welsh coal, a resource that would power ships, railways and industry across the world.
From the grime of the coalfield to the horror of the battlefield hospital: in the Crimean War, the name Betsi Cadwaladr deserves to stand alongside that of Florence Nightingale. Born near Bala, Betsi volunteered as a nurse in the Crimea. She insisted on practical sanitation, decent food and humane care for ordinary soldiers. Her methods and determination saved lives and transformed conditions for Welsh and English soldiers alike. Today, the largest health board in Wales bears her name—a fitting tribute to this woman.
In the 20th century, Welsh women stepped decisively into political and public leadership. Margaret Haig Thomas, Lady Rhondda, was a suffragette, business leader and tireless campaigner for women’s rights. Imprisoned for militancy, she survived the sinking of the “Lusitania” and then rebuilt her life by taking a leading role in Welsh industry and journalism. She became one of the most prominent advocates for allowing women to sit in the House of Lords. Although that cause would not be realised in her lifetime, it is to pioneers like Lady Rhondda that today’s women Peers owe a profound debt.
Megan Lloyd George, the daughter of the then Prime Minister, built her own formidable political career. In 1929, she became Wales’s first female Member of Parliament, representing Anglesey. She was an eloquent advocate for Welsh culture, rural communities, social justice and a stronger recognition of Wales within the United Kingdom. In Megan Lloyd George, we see a template for principled Welsh parliamentarians, who are passionate about their nation yet deeply engaged in the wider challenges facing Britain and the world.
The Davies sisters, inheritance of great wealth, chose to invest in assembling one of the finest collections of impressionist art in Europe, most of which they gifted to the National Museum of Wales. Their philanthropy ensured that a miner’s child in Cardiff could stand before a Monet or a Renoir and know that world-class art belonged not just to London or Paris but to Wales.
Finally, I turn to a voice known across the globe, Dame Shirley Bassey. Born in Tiger Bay, the daughter of a Nigerian father and an English mother, she rose from a dockland community to become one of the most recognisable singers of the 20th century and a great philanthropist too.
These women span nine centuries. They came from palaces and farmsteads, ironworks and coalfields, chapels and tenements. Welsh history is not solely a tale of kings, princes and industrial magnates; it is enriched by these women too. They show that giving women access to power, whether economic, political, educational or cultural, enlarges the common good. When women could own and manage property, they built networks that held communities together. When they could train as doctors and nurses, they transformed public health. When they could vote, stand for Parliament and sit in this House, they broadened the range of voices shaping our laws.
The story of these Welsh women is, in truth, a story about the benefits of equality. In honouring them, we also affirm a simple truth: the story of Wales, like the story of Britain, is at its best when the talents of all its people—women as well as men—are recognised, encouraged and allowed to flourish. I commend their legacy to the House. I thank the Minister for bringing forward this debate and look forward to hearing the rest of noble Lords’ contributions.
Baroness D’Souza (CB)
My Lords, I begin by acknowledging this Government’s and the previous Government’s significant commitment to women and girls around the world and, in particular, to their education. That said, programmes to prevent violence against women and to promote women’s rights and freedoms remain in a sorry state and are likely to deteriorate further with the new ODA funding cuts. This arises due to the continuing and shocking attacks on women, together with a global reduction in overseas aid for programmes of prevention.
Gender equality remains elusive. Women’s rights are the hardest fought and the first to go, and nowhere is that truer than in Afghanistan. I return again and again—without any apology—to the plight of women and girls in Afghanistan, because it is the only country in the world that strictly forbids secondary and tertiary education for girls and excludes women from the workforce. It is firmly established that the education of girls and women is a magic bullet of development. Development on many fronts inevitably follows a focus on educating girls, and that has been proven the world over. However, the current statistics for Afghanistan are dismal: about 2.2 million girls are banned from secondary school and 93% of all children fail to achieve basic reading proficiency by the end of primary school. Recent research shows that those schools that have a higher proportion of teachers with a university education fare significantly better on good student outcomes, especially in language learning.
Afghanistan still has one of the largest workforce gender gaps in the world: only 24% of women participate in the labour force compared with 89% of men. Almost 80% of young Afghan women are not in education, employment or training. The longer-term impact of this cruel deprivation is that a dearth of trained women in midwifery and healthcare means that there will be no female practitioners as surgeons, midwives, nurses and primary health carers for the foreseeable future, thereby affecting all Afghan women, who cannot accept healthcare delivered by males.
Women are not only excluded but punished for any transgressions of the Taliban codes. In addition, many girls now face the choice of an unwelcome early marriage, developing mental health issues caused by confinement within the family home, or, in some tragic instances, suicide. The financial divide is equally stark, with women precluded from having a bank account or access to mobile money services. There are no women in the de facto Cabinet or in local offices.
It is difficult to assess conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan as a whole. The degree to which the Taliban codes are implemented varies from one region to another. Many modest initiatives are run by NGO partners of the major multilateral and bilateral donors and by the private sector, but these programmes are vulnerable and often subject to the whims of local Taliban commanders or carried out under clandestine conditions. We know that many thousands of Afghan families are being repatriated from Pakistan, many of which are female-headed groups lacking any resources at all. We know that climate change has caused severe drought for the past six years, as well as severe flooding, leading to other disasters such as landslides—and now Afghanistan faces war with Pakistan.
It is clear that Afghanistan suffers from chronic economic, political, climate, environmental—it is the second most mined country in the world—food and gender stresses. It is estimated that 36% of the population—17.7 million—face crisis levels of food insecurity. The country’s isolation means, among many other issues, a lack of accurate and timely information about who is in most need, where they are and what channels remain open to provide assistance.
The future looks bleak. Immediately, however, the plea is that the Government continue and even increase their investment in girls’ education, no matter the scarcity of funding. Given the uncertainty of Taliban interference, a focus on improving—in some cases radically—the teaching in primary schools will pay dividends. There is good evidence to show that younger children are key in educating other family members, including their parents. There is too, in some regions of Afghanistan, a growth in so-called secret as well as online secondary and even tertiary education, and these initiatives deserve investment. Above all, we have to keep in mind that education is the one sure way a country and its citizens can achieve a future for themselves. We can and must do this.
The Lord Bishop of Derby
My Lords, it is an honour to speak today, and I particularly look forward to hearing so many maiden speeches. I have been reflecting on the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, “Give to gain”. A seat in your Lordships’ House is a powerful platform, but whatever voice or influence we may have, it is not for ourselves; it is to be used to secure gains for others.
Noble Lords will be aware that these Benches have made some progress in recent years toward gender parity. There are currently eight women on our Benches, soon to be nine—the highest number to date—and two former Lords spiritual. As the Church of England’s first female Bishop, I know that opening a door is both a powerful and a humbling act, particularly as we rejoice in the appointment and forthcoming installation of my noble friend, the most reverend Primate, our first female Archbishop of Canterbury.
I was raised in the diocese that it is now my privilege to serve as Bishop. I am fortunate to have been shaped by and now be surrounded by exceptional women. Women in Derby and Derbyshire are leaders in education, public service, health, business, agriculture and community action across so many sectors—wonderful women all, who give to gain, particularly to change opportunity, access and investment in girls, to change their futures, and therefore all our futures, for good.
Derby City has adopted the theme “city of pioneers” to reflect its prominent place in our nation’s industrial heritage, but the region has also been pioneering in other ways, not least in the place and influence of women. Our own House of Lords Library has estimated that it will take roughly 100 years to achieve gender parity in managerial and senior leadership roles. I am pleased that Derby and Derbyshire seem ahead of the curve.
My faith has inspired and enabled me to open doors for others, and it is a profoundly positive influence in my life, but I recognise that many women who give of themselves to support other women do so in profoundly painful circumstances. I thank the Minister for today naming the legacy of Jill Saward, as we mark the 40th anniversary of that heinous attack. Jill was the daughter of a parish priest in Ealing. She was raped during a violent burglary of the vicarage—her family home. We are very conscious of the risk and responsibility that our clergy—women and men—take as they give of themselves and their households to serve their local communities. Jill was the first women to waive her right to anonymity, and she testified in court. Because of her, as we have heard, the national debate that the subsequent trial sparked has paved the way for a monumental shift in the following four decades toward the survivors of sexual violence and influenced changes in the law, which, we hear, continue to be worked on today. I spoke to her former husband, Gavin, ahead of today’s debate.
There is much more we must do to end violence against women and girls. I currently serve on your Lordships’ Domestic Abuse Act 2021 Committee and note that many of my fellow committee members are here in their places today. I hope we can make strides toward a safer world in the recommendations we make to government.
Just over half the world’s population is currently observing either Ramadan or Lent, so it seems appropriate in this holy season of repentance and prayer to recognise how much further we have to go. Women have always been involved in struggle, embroiled in geopolitical events, at the centre of transformation domestically, locally, nationally and internationally, whether on the front line or in leading efforts in reconciliation and healing. This Lent, the Gospel of John reminds us that Mary of Magdala was the first on the scene, as witness to the resurrection. Amid and despite unimaginable trauma and suffering, she found herself responsible for the act of bearing witness. She summoned the strength to spread the word, share her testimony and pay the gift of good news forward. I trust that the many words spoken here today will translate into action for good as we give to gain.
Baroness Nargund (Lab) (Maiden Speech)
My Lords, it is a profound honour to address noble Lords and Baronesses across this House for the first time. I begin with gratitude to Black Rod, Garter, the Clerk of the Parliaments, the security teams and all those who serve this great institution. I thank them for their kindness, patience and guidance. I have a special word for the doorkeepers, who have gently rescued me more than once in these magnificent but bewildering corridors.
I extend my heartfelt thanks to my sponsors, my noble friend Lord Kinnock and my noble and learned friend Lady Harman. They are dear friends, whom I deeply respect. They embody conviction politics and a lifetime of principled public service. I also pay tribute to the Leader of the House, my noble friend Lady Smith, and the Chief Whip, my noble friend Lord Kennedy, for their generous support and formidable leadership. I thank noble Lords and Baronesses across this House for their warm welcome. It is a privilege to sit in this House among such experience and wisdom.
My journey to this Chamber began far from Westminster, in the small village of Satti in Karnataka, in south-west India. I was raised in a family rooted in Gandhian principles. My mother’s family stood against caste discrimination and superstition, and my father’s family joined the non-violent struggle for India’s freedom. Justice, equality and service were not aspirations; they were expectations.
My mother Rukmini still remains my greatest influence. When I was born, she sent sweets to the entire village. In those days, that celebration was reserved for sons. With that simple act, she made a quiet declaration: daughters deserve equal celebration. That belief in equality has guided my life.
Over 40 years ago, my husband Vinod and I came to Britain as junior doctors to work in the National Health Service—Labour’s birth child and Britain’s greatest institution. For nearly three decades, I served as a lead consultant in reproductive medicine at St George’s Hospital in Tooting. Tooting, the community I was privileged to serve, and Wimbledon, my home for many years and where I joined the Labour Party, will always remain close to my heart.
Late nights, unpredictable, summoned at any time— I am not describing my years delivering babies on the labour ward but my first weeks here, delivering votes. I bring over 40 years of front-line medical and academic experience and an understanding of how our health system works across sectors and how it can be made more efficient and equitable.
As vice-chair of the British Red Cross, I worked to tackle health inequalities at home and supported humanitarian efforts internationally. As a trustee of the London Emergencies Trust, I helped families affected by the Grenfell tragedy. Those experiences reinforced a simple truth: compassion must be matched by competence. Institutions must not only care; they must deliver.
Throughout my career, I have worked to improve women’s reproductive choices and justice by developing safer and more affordable treatments and innovative technology to increase global access. Innovation matters only when it reaches those in greatest need. The best healthcare must not be a privilege for the few but a right for all, and it should be free.
In this debate for International Women’s Day, it is especially poignant for me to make my maiden speech. Around the world—sometimes closer to home than we would wish—women’s rights remain fragile, as we have just heard. Women’s health remains persistently underprioritised. Closing the gender health gap is both a moral duty and an economic necessity. I am determined to play my part in advancing that cause.
That a girl born in a small Indian village could serve as a senior leader across all sectors, lead a global movement increasing accessibility and women’s safety in reproductive care, and now sit in this House, speaks to the very best of Britain: its tolerance, fairness and decency, and its capacity to embrace those who come to serve here. That is the Britain I believe in, not a nation diminished by division or hatred but one strengthened by diversity and shared purpose.
I would not be here today without the support of my husband Vinod and my son Praful, who are watching from the Gallery. Praful has been my constant adviser. I am proud of his unwavering commitment to social mobility and his tireless work ethic. I also remember with deep affection the late Baroness Margaret McDonagh, a remarkable woman who inspired and mentored so many, and whom I dearly miss.
I have long been guided by a simple principle: be the change you wish to see. I will bring that spirit to my work in this House, to reduce health inequalities, to champion women’s causes, and to uphold the values of fairness, compassion and service that define this country at its very best.
Baroness Goudie (Lab)
My Lords, it gives me great pleasure to congratulate my great friend Geeta Nargund—my noble friend Lady Nargund—on her maiden speech and on joining this House. We were brought together by one great friend of all of ours in this House, Margaret McDonagh, and every day we are very sad that she is not here with us to tell us what we should be doing. We miss her greatly. We were also brought together by my daughter in law, Vanessa Elliott, who is a consultant at Saint George’s; both she and my noble friend worked with Margaret when she was not well. Both of them were fantastic to her, and I think everybody in this House should know that.
Among other things, my noble friend is a great campaigner. She not only campaigned for better vaccinations in this country, but—for those who do not know—she campaigned during Covid to ensure that people had the right vaccinations not only for Covid. Her work with universities is enormous, as pro-chancellor of Portsmouth University, and on women’s health at City St George’s, University of London.
However, my noble friend’s main work, which she is really well known for, is her research on IVF. The IVF treatment that she has founded and worked on is helping people not just in this country but in African and other countries who never had such a choice, or who thought that it would be available. Through Geeta’s great work, this has been made available and she continues with that work. She will continue to give us hassle on this issue in this House, among other things. I thank her for being here with us—it is great.
Today, as we know, is International Women’s Day. I would like to thank everybody for having this debate and for our leadership on what we are doing for women. I declare my interest as a founder of, and an adviser and ambassador to, the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. As we know, there are more women than ever today suffering the trials of war, and it is women who bear the brunt of war as we sit here today. We think of what they are going through and what they are having to do to look after their families in this situation.
The UN’s theme for International Women’s Day this year is “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL women and girls”, and it is a theme I welcome as a strong reminder that rights do not maintain themselves; they depend on services, enforcement and political choices, and on us standing up for women and girls around the planet whose inherent rights are unfulfilled every single day.
I wanted to take time today to reflect on developments for women and girls over the last year. To me, three developments stand out. First, there is the squeeze on global sexual and reproductive health programmes. The United States Government have historically been the largest donor Government for family planning, but the drastic pivot from USAID that froze and then cancelled most global family planning projects in 2025 is still seeking to eliminate that funding for 2026.
We have already seen the consequences of that decision. A review led by the Clinton Health Access Initiative found that after USAID ended its reproductive health work in early 2025, partner countries faced funding and supply chain disruption, and women and girls found that their preferred contraceptive methods were sometimes unavailable. One family planning provider in West Africa told the initiative:
“It is heartbreaking to turn women away when I know they came from far distances just for this service”.
The UNFPA reported that in 2025, funding cuts forced more than 1,000 UNFPA-supported clinics and mobile health teams to shut down or come close to closure, and more than 250 safe spaces for women and girls to close. As the UNFPA stated, the impact is clear as these services are the front line of maternal care, providing midwives, post-rape treatment, supplies of pain relief, and emergency delivery kits.
Secondly, I must draw our attention back to Afghanistan, as one of our colleagues has already done this morning. Afghanistan remains the only country where secondary and higher education is forbidden to girls and women, and UNESCO and UNICEF estimate that 2.2 million adolescent girls are banned from secondary education. UNICEF has warned that in a context where women and girls can often be medically treated only by women, denying girls education today means denying women healthcare tomorrow. The GDP of Afghanistan, when it is eventually able to get going again, will be devastated without women being educated. The 2025-26 Women, Peace and Security Index—produced by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, and partners—ranks 181 countries. It finds that global progress is stalling and ranks Afghanistan last. I urge the Government to make use of this valuable document, which is produced annually.
Thirdly, I want to point out that international co-operation is still possible. In October 2025, France hosted the Fourth Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policies, bringing together participants from 55 countries. It concluded with a joint declaration signed by 31 states, reaffirming commitments to gender equality, and the United Kingdom joined the Feminist Foreign Policy Group alongside countries such as Morocco, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Turning to the United Kingdom, I welcome the decision to remove the universal credit two-child benefit cap limit from April 2026. Government analysis suggests that this could mean 450,000 fewer children living on relatively low incomes by 2030. We all know that child poverty is not gender-neutral and that it lands first on mothers and carers, especially single mothers.
I also welcome the renewal of the women’s health strategy and the decision to include menopause questions in national health checks, which are expected to benefit nearly 5 million women. I welcome menopause action plans becoming part of employment policy by being mandatory from 2027; this is a huge move forward for all women and their families.
Finally, we must confront the fastest-growing threat to women’s equality: technology-facilitated abuse. Ofcom reports that 98%—as we heard the other night, it is even more—of intimate images reported to the Revenge Porn Helpline are of women and that 99% of deepfake intimate image abuse depicts women. The National Police Chiefs’ Council has warned that sexual abuse and deepfakes are thought to have increased in prevalence by nearly 2,000% between 2019 and 2024. The Government have brought into force the offence of creating or requesting non-consensual intimate images and are treating it as a priority offence online, but we need enforcement, victim support and platform accountability.
International Women’s Day is, of course, a celebration of the achievements of women every day, but it is also a reminder that rights require services, justice requires access and action requires political will. In reality, this takes place in government, in budgets, in diplomacy and in how we choose to keep women and girls safe.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, I thank the Minister, the noble Baroness, Lady Lloyd of Effra, for tabling this important debate.
I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Nargund, on her excellent maiden speech. May I add my own Wimbledon Wombles welcome to the noble Baroness? I look forward to working with her on all matters Wimbledon—and, indeed, Tooting St George’s, which is a hospital that I know well. I also look forward to the other four maiden speeches.
Talking of speeches, I am proud to be in a minority today. Around 15% of today’s list of speakers are men. I am proud of that, but we need more. Advocacy on strengthening the rights of women both in the UK and, more importantly, internationally is not for women alone. It needs the voices of men—not just symbolically or through words but through actions.
The need for such advocacy and change is most apparent when we look at the human conflict seizing the world today. We heard from the noble Baroness, Lady D’Souza, about Afghanistan, where women are absent in conflict resolution, negotiating and peacebuilding. Yet, as we have already heard, women and girls are, tragically, the first victims of war.
Nowhere is this stark reality clearer today than in relation to conflict-related sexual violence. Women and girls represent 95% of the victims of these abhorrent crimes. They are targeted with slavery, rape, forced pregnancy and forced marriage. When I took on the role of Minister of State at the FCDO, I was also honoured to be appointed as the Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict—an initiative first started by my noble friend and dear friend Lord Hague. I realised that the challenges are far more complex than any Minister may imagine and that the real learning and real leadership in this fight come not from Ministers and bureaucrats but from the extraordinary survivors whose courage, through the horrors inflicted on victims, humbles us all.
I wish to share with noble Lords the story of an innocent four year-old I met in the DRC. She was raped not once, not twice, but half a dozen times, and her shrill, fearful cries echo in my ears even today. Yet, through the amazing work of the Panzi Hospital and the inspiration and devotion of the Nobel laureate Dr Denis Mukwege, she was given a glimmer of hope—that light beyond the horrors of war.
As we mark International Women’s Day, while we rightly recognise and celebrate the achievements of women from across the world, we must also confront one of the most brutal realities of the crimes that persist in modern conflict. The use of sexual violence, particularly against women and girls, is real. It is not an unfortunate by-product of conflict; it is a tactic; it is deliberate. It is designed to terrorise communities, fracture societies and leave scars that last for generations.
I saw this directly during my time as a Minister. I met women in Iraq who endured unspeakable horrors and brutality at the hands of Daesh terrorists. I listened to women survivors from Bosnia who, decades after the war, still carry the trauma of crimes. I met Yazidi women who had been enslaved, traded, abused and dehumanised in so many unspeakable ways; they said to me that their worth and value were less than that of an ant. Yet what struck me was not just these women’s testimony after their suffering but their strength in confronting stigma and rejection by their own communities and in demanding justice for not just themselves but others.
Many survivors become powerful advocates. I was honoured to work with the likes of Nadia Murad on developing and delivering the Murad code. I recognise the tireless work of people such as Amal Clooney in the international courts and that of Nadine Tunasi, a survivor whom I appointed and who helped me develop strategy on this issue. I also pay tribute to the convening power of Her Royal Highness Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, whose compassion and determination have ensured that the voices of survivors are heard.
The United Kingdom has always sought not simply to raise awareness but to lead on this agenda. I ask the Minister directly to protect the budget when it comes to PSVI and to continue to show leadership. We established the International Alliance on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, which is a coalition of countries. I ask the Minister for an update on the alliance to ensure that the priorities it set—supporting the training of investigators, strengthening documentation mechanisms and ensuring that we stand as a strong voice—continue.
Today, in conflicts from Ukraine to Sudan and from the Middle East to parts of Africa, women and girls continue to face the same brutality that survivors described to me over those seven years. Justice for survivors is not simply a moral obligation—it is essential to lasting peace. The survivors I met asked for sympathy, for justice, for dignity and, above all, for the world never to look away.
Baroness Gale (Lab)
My Peers, I am very pleased to take part in this debate; I thank the Minister for ensuring that we have such a debate. I congratulate my noble friend on her excellent maiden speech and look forward to the maiden speeches of other Peers later.
The United Nations’ theme for International Women’s Day is “Rights. Justice. Action.” for all women and girls, but what does this mean and how can it be achieved? The Women’s Equality Network Wales has published research on women’s experiences of their political journey in Wales, but the findings could equally apply to all parts of the United Kingdom. The research found that women face additional barriers, including greater exposure to online abuse, higher personal financial costs and limited access to networks. It recognised that these inequalities mean that the pathway to becoming a candidate is not the same for everyone.
The report showed that women remain underrepresented across the political system in Wales. To address this underrepresentation of women MPs, in 1997, Labour took action to have all-women shortlists, which increased the number of women MPs following the 1997 general election. Labour took similar action in the first election to the Welsh Assembly in 1999, which ensured that Labour fielded an equal number of women and men candidates. What followed was that other political parties took action to ensure that women in their parties were given an opportunity to be selected. Although each party had its own method, it made a difference in getting women elected.
The success of these measures was clear. In the 2024 general election, a record 263 women were elected to the House of Commons, making up 40% of all MPs. This milestone represented the highest percentage of women elected in UK parliamentary history. But we must now look at how we get elected institutions to look like the people they represent. This can be achieved if Section 106 of the Equality Act 2010 is implemented. I hope that, when I ask my Oral Question on 10 May, this time the Minister will give me a positive answer. I have asked this question so many times, both to the Conservative Government and to my own.
As well as taking measures to have more women elected to political institutions, there are other barriers that women and girls experience, including domestic violence, sexual violence and online abuse. I am pleased that the Government are now working on their 2024 manifesto commitment of halving violence against women and girls within a decade. Can the Minister say how this policy is progressing? Are domestic abuse experts being introduced in 999 control rooms? What progress is being made on having specialist rape and sexual offence teams in every police force and fast-tracking rape cases, with specialist courts in every Crown Court in England and Wales?
Are things getting better for girls and young women? I read an article in the Guardian last week, written by a 15 year-old girl, about her experience. These are her words:
“I can’t speak for every girl my age, but I frequently feel objectified, dehumanised and disgusted by the hate towards women I see online, and I can say with certainty that most of my friends would agree with me. A social media ban for under-16s might prevent young boys seeing endless content that treats women with contempt and hate. Boys at this age are very susceptible to the cool and funny framing of what is … relentless misogyny. A ban might not fix the problem, but it would help. If society can’t stop it, it can show it disapproves”.
That is the experience of a 15 year-old girl in 2026. I find that shocking.
So I really hope that the United Nations theme of “rights, justice and action” will be taken seriously and made a reality. Although much progress has been made for women and girls, I think we would all agree that there is still much to do.
Baroness Gohir (CB)
My Lords, I congratulate all noble Baronesses on their maiden speeches. I declare an interest as a Muslim woman and CEO of the Muslim Women’s Network, because my contribution for International Women’s Day will be focused on Muslim women.
I start with a question: who gets to decide the identity of Muslim women? Too often, it is not Muslim women. For too long, others have defined who Muslim women are. Muslim women are seen as oppressed, dangerous and othered: oppressed especially if they wear a headscarf and more so if they wear the face veil. Some women may well be coerced into wearing a face veil. This can be addressed through domestic abuse legislation, but many Muslim women choose to wear it. It is hard to believe, but their choice must be respected. Their different motivations are never considered.
The clothing of Muslim women is framed as a threat to both security and British culture. It is really about not liking the look of it. No one explains how a couple of thousand women who wear the face veil, out of 2 million Muslim women, will disrupt British culture. Most of the public are unlikely ever to cross paths with them. Muslim women’s freedom to choose how they dress is often supported only when it aligns with existing biases. When Governments claim to protect Muslim women, their focus is narrow: on forced marriage, honour-based abuse or FGM. These issues matter, of course, but why is there no urgency when Muslim women and girls face hate crimes, domestic abuse, grooming and sexual exploitation? Only abuses linked to culture are taken seriously. Why is that?
A15 year-old, Shamima Begum, was not viewed through a lens of grooming or trafficking; she was viewed through a lens of terrorism. In domestic abuse cases, the explanation often defaults to culture: controlling in-laws or parents, language barriers or honour-based abuse. But abuse is not always about culture. It can be about just misogyny and male violence. Framing women’s suffering only through culture exposes an unconscious bias.
Muslim women, like all women, deserve protection from all forms of harm, not just the ones that fit stereotypes. Instead of deciding the priorities for Muslim women, listen to them. Instead of speaking for them, create space for their voices. Right now, Muslim women are deeply worried about their safety in public, online, in the workplace and when accessing services. The hostility towards Muslim women has become so normalised that it has emboldened perpetrators. One woman took her children to the park and was abused by teenagers. She went home but was frightened because she was followed. In another case, we moved a domestic abuse victim to a safe place. Her neighbours started to abuse her, so she had to be moved again by police for her own safety. In another recent case, a man signalled to a woman that she could cross the road then tried to run her over and said, “I’ll get you next time”. There are many other frightening stories.
The freedom-restricting harassment of Muslim women and girls, and the constant fear of it, forces many to self-censor, alter their behaviour and withdraw from public life. This damages individual well-being, undermines equality of opportunity and corrodes community cohesion. Research and police data show that the majority of perpetrators are white men. However, hate crime towards Muslim women is not considered by the Government as gender-based violence. The recent report published by the Women and Equalities Committee on the abuse and harassment of Muslim women confirms that Muslim women are disproportionately targeted in ways that are deeply gendered and racialised in all areas of life, resulting in lost opportunities and poor outcomes.
The Government have pledged £40 million for mosques. While I acknowledge that their security absolutely needs strengthening, not a single pound has been ring-fenced for Muslim women. This is a sexist approach. Perhaps the Government too believe the stereotype that Muslim women have no agency. Stereotypes of the oppressed Muslim woman strip away individuality. Far too little attention has been paid to Muslim women who are thriving as lawyers, doctors, pharmacists, dentists, nurses, teachers, police officers, academics, accountants, engineers, charity workers, artists, entrepreneurs, social media influencers and of course politicians, all of whom are experiencing unprecedented levels of hostility. Muslim women need your solidarity, not just when it comes to abuse linked to culture or for Muslim women abroad.
I want to end on a celebratory note. A year ago, I launched Muslim Heritage Month, to be marked every March, to tell the positive stories of Muslims in Britain and challenge the misinformation about us. I am proud to wear my Muslim Heritage Month badge and dedicate this year’s Muslim Heritage Month to Muslim women.
Baroness Linforth (Lab) (Maiden Speech)
My Lords —and I add “My Ladies” too in this International Women’s Day debate—I feel very humble standing in this Chamber speaking for the first time.
In my 47 years working for the Labour Party, including organising Conference and events, I have visited and worked with thousands of different venues and their staff across our land, from small community centres, big conference venues, hospitals, schools, sports stadiums and more. But none was so grand and intimidating as arriving at the House of Lords. I was introduced on 2 February and since then have felt incapable of putting one foot in front of the other without asking for help and guidance.
My friends and family who joined me on that day have said that everyone was so kind and could not have been more helpful. So I take this opportunity to thank all the staff, including the doorkeepers, the caterers, the security staff, all House authorities, Black Rod and the Clerk of Parliaments for being so generous with their time, advice and patience. I thank my supporters, my noble friends Lord Reid of Cardowan and Lady Rebuck, both of whom are inspirations to me and have supported me during my career in the Labour Party. As the longest-serving member of Labour Party staff, I wonder how a girl from Redland in the city of Bristol, educated at St Bede’s comprehensive in Lawrence Weston and then Filton technical college got here.
I started my working career at the Bristol regional office as a clerk typist. My first instruction there was that I was to make the tea at 10 am, 11 am and 3 pm. As well as being my first instruction from my bosses at work, it was my first experience of stopping errant nonsense driven by men within the Labour Party. The tea routine soon stopped.
I have spent my whole life working for the Labour Party, and most of the teams I have managed have been predominantly of women—brilliant women, hard-working women and ambitious women. I have lost count of the number of people who have passed through my teams and gone on to do the most amazing things. I acknowledge those women in all parties who work tirelessly behind the scenes, ensuring that their parties get elected and remain in power. Politics is a very unforgiving profession and I take my hat off to all of them.
I pay tribute to my dear departed friend Margaret McDonagh—Baroness McDonagh—who had such an influence on me and many other Labour women. As our first female general secretary, she had to be tough, assertive and straightforward, but she was always supportive of everyone, especially women, working to make Labour electable once again. She absolutely dragged me out of my comfort zone and made me do things I never imagined I could do.
That was rather like my own feisty French mother, who left her rural village in the south of France and came to this country in 1957 to learn to speak English. She worked as a psychiatric nurse in the mother and baby care unit in Bristol, where she met my father. They lived in Redland, where I was brought up. They even managed an entente cordiale during that period.
We are just two years away from 2028 and the 100th anniversary of all women receiving the vote, when their voting age became 21—the same as for men at the time. The year 2028 also marks the 70th anniversary of women being allowed to become Peers and sit in the House of Lords. The equal franchise Act of 1928 enabled 15 million women to be able to vote for the first time in our democracy. Many of these were working-class women. Sadly, like so many women today, they were time-poor, working in low-paid jobs, and balancing that with caring for their families in the home.
In the 1979 general election, the first after I started work, there were just 19 women MPs elected—11 of them were Labour. Happily, all of that has changed thanks to the talent and determination of many people I have worked with and others. As the noble Baroness said, the 2024 general election returned the highest number and proportion of female MPs ever recorded, at 263, or 40% of all MPs elected. It is worth repeating again. Two more women have been elected at by-elections since then. I am proud that 190 of those women MPs are Labour. Despite this progress, I encourage all parties to ensure that we have 50:50 parity in Parliament by the next election. It is very important that we ensure our Parliament is representative of the people we seek to serve.
Unfortunately, still not enough has changed. Women still carry out the lion’s share of childcare and the vast majority of unpaid care. We have all seen at first hand women juggling multiple roles, and looking after their children and elderly parents too. It means that for many talented, clever, hard-working women, choices are constrained. They end up working part-time, often in low-paid jobs and below their skills level, hence we still have a persistent gender pay gap and are wasting these fantastic women’s talents. Even when both parents work full-time, women spend 40% more time caring for children.
The recent TUC report said that the gender pay gap remains at 12.8% and that, on average, women are missing out on £2,548 per year. This makes women the poorest pensioners too. It has a massive long-term detrimental impact on women’s lives. We need to see a culture change in the workplace and in politics, enabling more women to participate on an equal footing with men. I look forward to the Employment Rights Act changes, which will introduce mandatory gender pay and menopause action plans, enhance flexible working regulations, and strengthen protections against dismissal for pregnant workers and those returning from maternity leave.
On this celebration of International Women’s Day, I acknowledge that progress has been made, but there is still so much to do. As Sylvia Pankhurst said:
“Great is the work that remains to be accomplished”.
Baroness Hunter of Auchenreoch (Lab)
My Lords and my Ladies—a phrase I have never used before here either—I am delighted to follow my noble friend, to congratulate her on her wonderful maiden speech. As she said, she is another alumna of the Margaret McDonagh school of politics, which had at its core discipline, professionalism, steeliness and fierce camaraderie. She would join the rank of what I proudly call the “backroom girls”—headsets, clipboards, pagers and all. We know who we are, on all sides of the House, who kept our respective bosses in line and our shows on the road.
When asked if such and such could be done, my noble friend never replied, “I’m not sure” or “I don’t know” but rather, “By when?” I relied on her enormously, as have many others. She invented what became known as the “game face”—the ability to behave utterly professionally, however ludicrous the thing you have been asked to do. At this she was the mistress of the art, quietly burying the madder requests without letting her guard slip.
My noble friend is the consummate professional—ruthlessly efficient, undramatic, unassuming, committed to the values of the Labour Party and rising to be its COO. She will, though, be for ever remembered as the one who was on the stage in a trice at the party conference when our Prime Minister was attacked with glitter, calmly removing his jacket and undoubtedly whispering something encouraging. She is the kind of person you want by your side when the going gets tough.
My noble friend will find many fellow travellers and strong female friendship in this House on the causes and issues she wishes to advocate for—though, for her sake, I hope not for a further 47 years. I am also delighted to be in the House to hear the maiden speeches of my other noble friends. We all warmly welcome our new female noble Lords.
I return now to one of my pet issues: namely, women in engineering. Last year in this debate, I talked about Fei-Fei Li, the first female winner of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, which is the engineering world’s Noble Prize. I declare my interest as a board member. This year’s winners, just announced, include two more brilliant women. Ingeborg Hoffmeyer is the co-inventor of the world’s first microelectronic cochlear implant, transforming the lives of millions of people with hearing loss worldwide. Jocelyne Bloch’s team developed electronic spinal stimulation technology—in other words, people with spinal cord injuries can regain the use of their limbs.
These women represent a new frontier where medicine and engineering converge to restore capabilities thought lost. I salute them on this International Women’s Day. They are at the top of the female engineering tree and there are many brilliant female engineers on its branches: Eleanor Stride, a bioengineer inserting drugs into bubbles that can be targeted on, say, a tumour; Yewande Akinola at Laing O’Rourke and Jo da Silva at Arup, construction engineers addressing climate, biodiversity and equity issues in their designs; Dame Sue Ion, in nuclear engineering; Judith Hackitt, in chemical engineering, who led the post-Grenfell panel on fire safety and building regulations; and Muffy Calder, in Glasgow, a computer engineer working in national security. All are formidable women and brilliant role models.
I thank my noble friend the Minister for spelling out the Government’s initiatives to support women in tech, which I know command support across the House. Women still make up just 16% of the engineering workforce, put off by the male-dominated culture in engineering, inequitable promotion and pay and inflexible working conditions. Some 57% of female engineers leave the sector in their 30s and 40s. The Women in Tech Taskforce’s stated aim is to dismantle those barriers for female engineers via public and private industry collaboration, as the Minister outlined, concentrating on tested, best practice solutions that work. This is an imperative. The Royal Academy of Engineering recently reported a huge shortfall of engineers, with the expected growth in jobs in clean energy, defence, digital and housebuilding over the next five years amounting to 834,000 additional jobs. One in four job adverts in the UK now relates to engineering in some form. I look forward to continuing updates of the taskforce’s progress from my noble friends Lady Lloyd and Lady Smith of Malvern, two more great women I salute today.
Baroness Sugg (Con)
My Lords, I am pleased to speak in this debate and to congratulate the noble Baronesses opposite on their excellent maiden speeches. It is good to hear that they will be joining noble Lords from across this place to champion women and girls. I say that as a former backroom girl.
I will start with a focus on women’s health in the UK. Sadly, too many women are still waiting too long for healthcare, still not being listened to and still facing barriers that should have been removed years ago. I was grateful to the Minister for mentioning the women’s health strategy in her opening remarks and to hear the maiden speech from the noble Baroness, Lady Nargund. I look forward to her bringing her significant expertise on women’s health to this place.
Across England more than 570,000 women are waiting for gynaecology care, one of the highest waiting lists anywhere in the NHS. As the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has pointed out, if every woman waiting stood shoulder to shoulder, the queue would stretch for 191 miles. Behind that concerning vision are women living with endometriosis, fibroids, heavy menstrual bleeding and chronic pelvic pain, conditions that really can be life altering. Yet diagnosis time for endometriosis now averages more than nine years, during which far too many women have been told that their symptoms are normal or in their head. These delays are not only deeply damaging to women’s lives; they come at a significant economic cost of around £11 billion per year in lost productivity.
We also know that investment in women’s health pays dividends. For every £1 invested in obstetrics and gynaecology services, the return is elevenfold. Supporting women’s health is not an optional extra. It is essential to our country’s well-being and economic strength. There have been positive developments. Women’s health hubs are beginning to show what can be achieved when services are designed around women’s needs, bringing care closer to home, improving access and reducing pressure on hospitals, but provision remains inconsistent. What steps will the Government take to reduce gynaecology waiting lists? Will the Government commit to protecting and expanding women’s health hubs across every integrated care hub? Will the new strategy ensure that there are women’s health champions in place across the country?
I turn to the international. Around the world, progress on women’s rights, hard won over decades, is under increasing pressure. In many places the rollback is deliberate, well funded and strategic. This was starkly underlined in an evidence session I attended earlier this week, hosted by the APPG on International Law, Justice and Accountability and the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute. We heard from women on the situation in Afghanistan, Sudan, Syria, Iran and North Korea who gave powerful testimony about the current realities. We have heard many noble Lords mention this today, including a powerful speech from my noble friend and previous ministerial colleague Lord Ahmad. Extreme anti-gender movements are gaining influence. Funding for just three global anti-rights actors is twice that of more than 1,000 surveyed women’s rights organisations combined. At the same time, 90% of women’s rights organisations report being affected by the global aid reductions, with nearly half fearing closure. In the very context where conflict, climate shocks and poverty are intensifying, the space for women and girls to speak, organise and lead is shrinking. Progress for women and girls has been fought for, funded and defended over decades, but it can also be undone quietly, gradually and faster than many expect.
The UK has long been a respected and principled voice on gender and equality, but leadership is not something we inherited. It is something that we must choose to exercise, and we have three powerful levers: money, power and influence. How we use them now will determine whether progress is protected or allowed to erode. How will the Government ensure that key priorities, including women, peace and security, ending violence against women, PSVI, girls’ education and, importantly, sexual and reproductive health and rights, will remain supported despite the wider aid reductions? If the answer to that is mainstreaming, how will that differ from previous attempts that have not been effective?
I am pleased to hear that the Minister who will be responding will attend the Commission on the Status of Women, as well as our excellent envoy for women and girls. What diplomatic steps are being taken to counter the global rollback on women’s and girls’ rights? How will the UK use its upcoming G20 presidency to ensure that gender equality is embedded at the heart of global decision-making? The choices made now will shape whether progress continues or the world moves backwards at precisely the moment it can least afford to.
International Women’s Day is a moment to celebrate progress, but it is also a moment to recognise how fragile that progress can be. The UK has the resources, voice and global standing to make a real difference. The question is whether we choose to use them both at home and abroad to ensure that women and girls are genuinely prioritised in policy and in practice. International Women’s Day should not only celebrate progress; it is a moment to ask what it will take to sustain it.
Baroness O’Grady of Upper Holloway (Lab)
My Lords, ladies, sisters and brothers, I congratulate everyone who has chosen to give their maiden speech on International Women’s Day. I have to admit that I struggled with how to begin my contribution today— I hope I am not the only one—at a time when partial publication of the Epstein files, thanks only to the persistence of survivors, has exposed a transnational network of wealthy men steeped in greed, exploitation and rape; when major powers are dominated by self-styled strongmen who glorify machismo, so-called tradwives, ethnonationalism, state violence and war, with the lives of women and children dismissed as collateral damage; and when the Middle East is on fire. The best antidote to despair is hope, so on International Women’s Day I send solidarity to the courageous women around the world calling for peace, justice and equality, especially those in Palestine, Israel and Iran.
There is hope at home too, and noble Lords will not be surprised by what I am going to talk about. Whatever different views there may be on the Employment Rights Act, no one can deny that women workers stand to gain most. For years the UK has been blighted by a two-tier workforce, with women much more likely to be stuck at the bottom on low pay and insecure contracts. As a trade unionist friend once said to me, “Never mind the glass ceiling; working-class women are still trying to smash through the glass skirting board”. I am proud that Labour’s Employment Rights Act will make working life so much better. From this April, everyone will get sick pay from day one and 1.7 million low-paid workers will become entitled to statutory sick pay for the first time, the vast majority of them women. Soon, workers will have the right to guaranteed hours for the first time, reliable hours and a reliable income so that they can plan family finances and childcare. Young people, Black and ethnic-minority workers and women will disproportionately benefit. Social care workers who looked after our loved ones during Covid, even when they lacked proper PPE, will get their first-ever fair pay agreement, and eight in 10 of them are women.
There is so much more to celebrate. Women from across this House worked with Labour Ministers and the wonderful Zelda Perkins to tackle non-disclosure agreements. Thanks to the Employment Rights Act, NDAs designed to silence women who have suffered sexual harassment or any worker who has reported discrimination will no longer be enforceable—no more impunity for powerful harassers.
I hope that this is just the beginning—I am a trade unionist, forgive me. I want to see more. I want to see a better deal for new parents. I want young dads to know that, as a society, we are on their side too and that we can do better than a paltry two weeks’ paid paternity leave, so that they get proper paid time to bond with their babies and support their partners. The TUC has calculated that, at the current rate of change, it will take another 30 years to close the gender pay gap. We can turbocharge progress by boosting support for young families who want to share care more equally but, currently, simply cannot afford to do so.
Finally, for International Women’s Day, I make a plea to the Minister for overseas workers here in the UK. We must not replace one form of two-tierism with another. New rights will mean nothing if workers do not feel that they have the power to enforce them, and the evidence is that workers, including women in social care who are waiting for settled status, are less likely to report sexism, racism or any other form of labour abuse for fear that it will jeopardise their chances. Everyone—men and women, Black and white, whatever our background—deserves a fair rate for the job and the right to dignity and a voice at work.
Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (PC)
My Lords, I congratulate all noble Baronesses on their maiden speeches today. As the youngest Member of this House, I feel a particular responsibility to bring the voices of young women and girls into our debates, to defend and extend our rights, to prioritise our safety and to ensure that we are heard.
We should not have merely to hope for a fairer, safer future. We should expect it, and we have every right to expect those in power to act in our interests at home and abroad. This is what motivates me to speak today, and it is an absolute privilege to contribute to this debate marking International Women’s Day.
The “Give to gain” theme is not the official theme. It comes from a private marketing agency in London. International Women’s Day has roots in labour movements and women’s rights activism. It was never meant to be a corporate slogan generator. This year’s theme from the United Nations—
“Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls”—
is a call to action.
However deeply rooted sexism and misogyny are, and however divisive the politics of the far right become, we will stand our ground. If we are serious about justice, we must confront all forms of violence against women and girls, everywhere. This means offline and online, especially given the rise of deepfake technology, which is devastating the lives of women and girls. It also means confronting head-on what is so often hidden in plain sight.
Today, I want to highlight one of the fastest-growing and least visible forms of abuse: livestreamed child sexual abuse, and the role that the UK has played in driving it. I am grateful to the International Justice Mission for its campaigning and for shining a light on this crisis. The UK is among the top three global consumers of livestreamed child sexual abuse. This sickening abuse is ordered, paid for and directed in real time, often for as little as £15. It overwhelmingly targets girls, often in low-income countries such as the Philippines, Brazil and Colombia. In the Philippines alone, nearly half a million children were trafficked to produce material in 2022. That is one in every 100 Filipino children. This is a gendered global injustice. It is perpetrated digitally, but its impact is lifelong, and it is happening on everyday apps and platforms, streamed through smartphones, tablets and laptops here in the UK.
Our current online safety legislation does not go far enough. The Online Safety Act focuses on platforms and search engines, but much livestreamed abuse is produced and viewed through private video calls on devices where tech companies use no tools at all to detect the ongoing abuse. This is why a growing coalition is calling for on-device safeguards: technology built directly into operating systems that detects abuse in real time without breaking encryption and without sharing personal data. It would prevent illegal child sexual abuse material being created or viewed in the first place. We know that this is possible. Companies already use similar technology to detect nudity on children’s accounts entirely on-device across Apple, Meta and Google products.
If we can stop children seeing harmful content we can also stop children being abused on camera. The issue is not technical feasibility; it is incentive. Without legislation, the tech industry will not build safety for all children in all devices. So today, for International Women’s Day, I ask the Minister to consider three practical interventions: first, extend regulation to device manufacturers and operating system developers, so that safeguarding becomes a basic requirement on every device sold in the UK; secondly, set a global standard for technology that is safe by design and prevents abuse upstream, not after it is shared but before it is ever captured; and finally, deliver on the UK’s pledge at the global ministerial conference to lead the global fight against online child sexual exploitation. If the UK is among the top consumers of this abuse then the UK has a responsibility to lead the way in ending it.
I visit many schools and colleges, and I hear far too often from girls and young women that the digital world is stacked against them, and that when politicians make decisions about their lives they feel invisible: spoken about, yes, but never offered more than empty promises and soundbites. It does not have to be this way. On International Women’s Day, we have both the opportunity and the responsibility to drive real, urgent change. Let us show that this Parliament does not simply debate injustice but is working to dismantle it for every woman and girl.
Baroness MacLeod of Camusdarach (Lab) (Maiden Speech)
My Lords and Ladies—I reckon that, if my noble friends Lady Linforth, Lady Hunter and Lady O’Grady can talk about Lords and Ladies, I can do so too—it is a great privilege to make my maiden speech on International Women’s Day, to stand among so many women who have championed women’s rights in and out of Parliament, and to join my esteemed colleagues making their maiden speeches too. I do not know if they have found it as daunting as me.
Before I go further, I would like to thank Garter, and Black Rod and his staff, who have helped and supported me since I arrived in this bewildering place. They are especially kind and helpful, and nothing seems to be too much trouble. My noble friend Lady Linforth put it well—it seems to be very difficult to go anywhere without asking for help—but I must say that my colleagues on both sides of the House have been incredibly helpful. The noble Baroness, Lady Goldie, actually took me by the hand to take me to a meeting in the House of Commons. I also thank my noble friends Lord Robertson of Port Ellen and Lady Liddell of Coatdyke, who supported my introduction to the Lords. They are both very fine public servants and I am indebted to them.
I was a journalist for many years and spent 15 years in the parliamentary lobby. I am the first chair of the lobby to reach the House of Lords, and I shall be pleased to champion the rights and needs of journalists in and out of Parliament. We need good journalism, we need to ward against fake news, and we need to protect public service broadcasting.
In 2007, I was privileged to join Chancellor Alistair Darling as a special adviser in the Treasury. Alistair was a serious politician, a man of great integrity who showed us all how politics could be practised with dignity and respect.
I was born in Glencoe. My mother, a teacher, was from Kinlochleven in Argyll and my father, a police officer, had hailed from Achiltibuie on the Coigach peninsula in Wester Ross. I called myself Baroness MacLeod of Camusdarach—its English translation is “the bay of oaks”—because Camusdarach in Lochaber is a place dear to my heart and very close to where I grew up, looking out to the south end of Skye and to Eigg and Rùm.
I spent the first 10 years of my life in Mallaig, and I was lucky to be brought up in a community where hard work and intelligence were highly respected. There were clever teachers, doctors, ministers and priests, clever fishermen who knew how to find fish, ships’ captains who daily ploughed the Minch, fish salesmen, train drivers, tradesmen, crofters, storytellers, musicians and community stalwarts. Most of them had never seen the inside of a London club or any of the hallowed corridors of power. It is a pity that the two worlds were so divided; as ever, the policymakers could learn a lot from people on the ground.
Women in these communities played a pivotal role. Often, their partners were at sea and times were tough, but they brought up their children and coped with the daily challenges of worrying about bad weather and the uncertainty of boats landing safely. Often, they had jobs outside the home, gutting fish or working in hotels. All were striving to put food on the table. Despite the hardships, their spirits remained mostly undiminished and they enriched the fabric of our lives. These people are the forebears of the people who are still keeping the Highlands alive against the odds. The Highlands have huge potential, but their development is hindered by neglect and a growing lack of investment. If they are going to prosper, and they could lead the renewables revolution in the United Kingdom, that needs to change.
So too does the establishment’s attitude to the Gaelic language, still surviving against the odds. I should declare an interest because I am on the development trust of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the National Centre for the Gaelic Language and Culture, on Skye. I want to acknowledge the contribution made by our Lord Speaker when he was in another place; he was one of the few UK politicians to understand the need for investment in Gaelic. To survive, it still desperately needs help. It has always struck me as odd that in London we can be exercised about losing famous paintings and other memorabilia but sit back while the UK’s oldest spoken language withers on the vine and, with it, its traditions, music and poetry.
One of the great cultural successes in the Highlands is a recent musical revival. Musicians travel all over the world, proudly sharing their tremendous ability and their cultural inheritance in English and Gaelic. Since Brexit, travelling in Europe is more difficult for them. We must try to make it easier.
Women are pivotal to keeping the language and culture alive. Today, as we celebrate International Women’s Day, a momentous celebration of women is taking place, almost as I speak, in Achiltibuie, the place in which my father was born and brought up. A magnificent work of public art, Lorg na Còigich, or the Footprint of Coigach, created by award-winning Will Maclean and Marian Leven, is being erected to commemorate the women who played leading roles against the evictions during the Highland clearances of the late 19th century. Too often, women were conspicuously absent from official documents and records, so, nearly 200 years later, it is heartening to see their tremendous contribution recognised.
During 1852 and 1853, five attempts were made by sheriff officers to remove tenants from the land that their families had worked for generations. At the forefront of the rebellion were the formidable women of Coigach. They were described by the Inverness Courier as “a band of Amazons”. Their descendants still live in Coigach, as do my cousins.
Each time the official parties arrived by boat bearing the summons of removing, the people, particularly the women, were ready. They seized and burned the writs. On one occasion, the sheriff officer was, in the words of the outraged factor,
“entirely stripped of his clothes and put back aboard the boat”.
Katie MacLeod is said to have removed the shoes of the sheriff officer to check he had not hidden any paper there, and he was later thrown into the sea. She paid a high price: she was barred from the estate and was forced to build a house below the high-water mark, so it was frequently flooded. Today, stones from her house are included in the splendid memorial.
The Lorg na Còigich memorial, then, in the north- west of Scotland, overlooking the Summer Isles in Loch Broom, is extra special in many ways. It is beautifully designed, has been built by local stonemasons and was funded by the community’s efforts. Some stones were even hauled from the seabed. So it is a matter of great satisfaction to me that I have the opportunity to speak in the House of Lords today to pay tribute to my courageous forebears and celebrate women everywhere who do so much to strengthen and support our communities.
Baroness Caine of Kentish Town (Lab)
My ladies and Lords, it is a pleasure and a privilege to welcome my noble friend Lady MacLeod of Camusdarach and congratulate her on an excellent maiden speech. It vividly described her cultural background and journey to the Lords from Glencoe and made clear her determination to effect greater mutual understanding and respect between these corridors in Westminster and the Highlands.
Torcuil Crichton, the Western Isles MP, said of her appointment to this place that
“for many years she has given voice to other people ... Now it is time to hear her own voice”.
Her own voice is of a highly respected, honest, articulate, positive and politically committed woman, with a very different Highland background from those from there who up till now have sat on these Benches.
What of the years when she gave voice to other people? A talented editor and journalist, she is best known for her work as Alistair Darling’s spad. My noble friends Lady Nye and Lady Hunter worked with her during those times. They describe her as
“a really loyal and politically astute advisor and as the rock that Alastair depended on during the difficult and tumultuous times of the global economic crisis in 2007”.
I know that Scottish noble Lords will concur that she commands affection and respect for that work, and within Scottish Labour ranks for playing a key role in keeping the Scottish Labour flame alive in the darkest days after the 2014 independence referendum, in which she worked tirelessly to support keeping the union. All these and more are reasons why a recent Sunday Times interview noted that her ennoblement has been lauded as a significant asset in this upper House, something that I fully concur with. I am sure that, like me, noble Baronesses and Lords across the House will join me in welcoming her, and that we all look forward to hearing much more from her as she goes forward in this House.
I turn to the debate and to one of my noble friend’s countrymen. In 1558, John Knox published his polemic work, The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women. He argued that rule by women was unnatural, that men were suited to leadership and women to obedience, and that women ruling would bring chaos, conflict and ruin. His thoughts appear to have had some influence in this place, with membership of the House of Lords down the centuries being strictly male and overwhelmingly hereditary. With support from the Lords spiritual and the Law Lords, they ensured that women were barred from sitting in this place until the passing of the Life Peerages Act 1958, a full 50 years after women from all walks of life were allowed to stand as MPs.
Barbara Wootton, a renowned academic who sponsored the successful Bill to abolish capital punishment in the 1960s, and Stella Isaacs, founder of the Women’s Voluntary Service, were the first women to be sworn in on 21 October 1958, with three others joining them to see out the 1950s. Sitting alongside 900 men, they made 0.5% of the total. Let us hear it for them.
Now, in this decade of the 2020s, I can say—with thanks to the wonderful Lords Library—that up to 4 March 2026, 95 Baronesses have been appointed alongside 147 Lords, bringing the total ever appointed to this place over eight decades to 405, with the position today being 588 men and 283 women, 34.5% of the total. In addition, the excellent Leader of our House and Deputy Chief Whip are women, and there are many highly talented and hard-working others serving on the Front Benches as Ministers and Whips. So we have made significant progress, but there is still much more to do, particularly in relation to diversity.
However, if John Knox is looking down on us today, he will see me blasting my trumpet with pride with all my fellow baronesses, past and present. In my view, it is a magnificent regiment of women who have brought wisdom and expertise to the service of our country. I would give an extra toot to the noble Baroness, Lady MacLeod, and the three other baronesses making their maiden speeches this day. May we celebrate today and always remember to use the privileged positions we hold, as we have heard today, to improve the lives of girls and women from all backgrounds in this country and internationally—both now and in the future.
Baroness Shah (Lab)
My Lords, I am proud to rise on International Women’s Day to speak on the theme “Give to gain”, especially as we will be hearing from a number of brilliant maiden speakers today, including my noble friends.
At first hearing, “Give to gain” may sound like a transaction, but I believe it speaks to something far deeper and older than that. It speaks to the truth that when we invest in women—in their rights, dignity and power—we do not give anything away; we gain everything. We gain stronger economies, healthier families, more just societies and democracy worthy of the name.
Today I do not only want to speak to the language of economic dividends or policy frameworks; I want to speak about courage. There is no better place to begin than with a woman named Jayaben Desai. In the summer of 1976, Jayaben Desai, a Gujrati Indian immigrant, like my family, barely five foot tall, walked off the production line at Grunwick Film Processing Labs in Brent, north London. Her manager gave her an ultimatum: work overtime or leave. She left. She then stood on a picket line for nearly two years, rallying postal workers, trade unionists and politicians, drawing tens of thousands to those streets, including people I still call friends. When asked how a small group of south Asian women could possibly take on the establishment, she replied with characteristic fire: “We are the lions, Mr manager. When you sleep, the lions will still be there”. Grunwick management never fully conceded, but what Jayaben Desai gave the rest of us was a monument to solidarity—proof that women who far too often were dismissed as invisible could stand up, speak out and change the conversation of a nation. She gave her fight and we gained our conscience.
Yet, 50 years on from Grunwick, we must be honest about how far we still have to travel. The gender pay gap in the United Kingdom remains stubbornly persistent. Women still make up a disproportionate share of those in poverty, of unpaid carers, and of workers in insecure employment. Globally the picture is still darker. In too many places, girls are denied schooling, women are denied the vote and, scarily, more are exploited. We have not finished giving, which means we have not finished gaining.
I have a daughter. She is 16 years old. She is bright, funny, opinionated—much like her mother—and everything you would want a young woman to be. She is growing up in a world, like the girls I taught, that in some ways is immeasurably better than the one Jayaben faced in 1976. She has legal protections, educational opportunities and role models that her generation can see and name. But she is also growing up online and what she encounters there—what all our daughters encounter there—is a form of misogyny that is not shouted from a factory floor or written in a policy document. It is algorithmic; it is ambient; it is everywhere. It is the content that tells her that her worth is in her appearance. It is the influencers and, worse still, the ideologues who have built an entire platform on the idea that women’s progress has gone too far—that feminism is the problem and the girls who speak up are asking for what they get. It is a normalisation of sexual harassment in comment sections. It is the boys in her class who have been radicalised, quietly and systematically, by voices online that trade in contempt for women. Jayaben faced her oppressors across the factory gate. My daughter and her generation face theirs through a screen.
This is not a peripheral concern for this House. It is central to the question of what it means in 2026 to invest in the next generation of women. “Give to gain” means giving women—our daughters—the digital literacy to recognise manipulation and building platforms that are safe by design. It means giving them the knowledge that what they are experiencing is not a personal failing. It means giving our sons something better too, because the answer to online misogyny is not only protection but a kind of education in the values and the example that we choose to model for all our young people. “Give to gain” is not a transaction or a trade, but the understanding that when any of us gives courage, it gives the rest of us something to gain. When any of us gives voice to the voiceless, the voiceless are no longer voiceless.
On this International Women’s Day, let us honour Jayaben Desai and the millions of women like her—seen and unseen, celebrated and forgotten—who gave so we might gain. The lions are still here. They are in every workplace that denies equal pay, every street that is unsafe after dark and every classroom where a girl is told to dream smaller. Let us ask ourselves, with urgency and humility, what are we prepared to give?
Baroness Verma (Con)
My Lords, I start by thanking the Minister for this important debate on International Women’s Day.
I begin my contribution by paying tribute to my right honourable and noble friend Lady May, a former Prime Minister, and to my right honourable and noble friend Lord Hague. I joined the Conservative Party in 1999 because they asked me to help make the party look more reflective of the country we lived in. It was because of their support, their mentoring, and their desire to make sure that politics was reflective of all, that I stand here this year celebrating 20 years of being in this House and able to help bring change. I am also very privileged to be able to say that I was the first South Asian female in Parliament to sit on the Front Benches. That really shows what a fabulously brilliant country this is. The ability to grow and contribute is a great honour for anyone, and particularly to act as a role model for others.
Following on from the noble Baroness, Lady Shah, my first role model as a child was Jhansi Ki Rani. In the history books, for those who do not know, she tied her baby on her back to fight against the British during their colonisation in India because the men had decided that they did not want to fight. She said, “Well, wear the bangles and stay at home”. It was those sorts of people in history who helped shape the things we see today. I was born in India and came to this country aged nine months. I was born in Amritsar, one of the most spiritual cities in India. My mother went into labour sitting in the Golden Temple, so I feel that my entry into this world has always been very blessed.
When my mum came to this country in 1960, she wanted to be part of this wider community of countries and knew that she had to learn to speak English. Every time I have stood up in this Chamber to speak about minority communities, I have always emphasised the importance of being able to communicate in English. So many of our communities remain left out if they cannot communicate, and that is really important for women and girls.
I say that because I live in a city which is rich in ethnic diversity, but also, unfortunately, in many women who cannot contribute because they are not able to communicate. I urge the Minister to look at how we can make sure that every person in this country can be part of the wider community because they can communicate and engage—not just by speaking but through literacy, including financial literacy and digital literacy. These are the big dividers that keep communities poor, if they are not part of the wider discussion. I do not say that because I feel we should make special cases, but because I genuinely believe that every single person has an entitlement to fulfil their maximum potential.
As the noble Baroness, Lady Gohir, said, women of all ethnicities suffer racism every day. I can honestly assure noble Lords that it is not just the Muslim ladies. Some of the cases that come to me are awful—they are vile—but most of the problems lie with the way in which we respond to them. We need to make sure that we talk as a collective and do not separate communities out, because gender-based abuse of any kind for anyone from any community is unacceptable.
I finish by paying tribute to two people in my life. One is my mum because, against all odds, when she came here, she was a foul cook when we grew up and remained a foul cook, because the only things we ate growing up were Irish stew and broth, because that is what our neighbours cooked for us. Secondly, my husband has stood stalwart with me against a lot of people within our communities who felt that my place was not in this House.
Baroness Martin of Brockley (Lab) (Maiden Speech)
My Lords and Ladies, it is a profound honour to address this House for the first time and a real pleasure as well to speak alongside so many incredible women also making their maiden speeches today. I am grateful to my supporters, my noble friends Lord Wood of Anfield and Lord Livermore, for their friendship and guidance. I am forever indebted to the staff of this House, all of whom have been unfailingly kind, despite my endless questions. Thank you for your patience.
This is an extraordinary place full of extraordinary people and I am humbled to sit among you, but I do not want to talk about the people here today—I want to start with somebody else’s story. When I was 15, I met a boy. He was clever and charismatic, the sort of person who would light up a room when they walked in. The closer we got, the more I learned about him. I learned that he was not going to school, that he lived on a rundown estate with just his 16 year-old brother and that he did not have any support around him. I learned that he was in trouble with the police and was often in and out of court. But not once did he tell me that a social worker had been to visit to see why he was not in school and not once did he tell me that he had been offered help to try to get back into education or training or away from crime. That was in 1993 and we have been in touch ever since. I moved out of south London and went to university in 1997, the year when Labour came to power after 18 years of Conservative government. While I was learning new things and meeting new people, he was doing the same just a few miles down the road. The only difference was that he was in prison, and for the second time. He was not blameless for his actions, but the odds were stacked against him and it was clear that the system had failed him.
After university, my first job was at the Youth Justice Board, a new agency established by the Labour Government in 1998. It had a mandate to be tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime. That meant early intervention for kids at risk of crime. It meant multidisciplinary teams focused on the needs of the child and their family and it meant prison sentences when they were necessary but alternatives to custody when they could be avoided. It was exactly the kind of approach that might have changed the trajectory of my friend, and the stats show that it worked. From 2000 to 2009, the number of young people entering the criminal justice system fell by over 12% and the rate of reoffending fell by nearly a quarter. That meant fewer victims of crime and fewer young people written off before they had had a chance to begin.
Now, you might ask what the link is between International Women’s Day and a boy from a south London estate. For me, the answer is this: in this country, the circumstances of your birth, including your gender, remain one of the strongest predictors of how far you will go. That troubles me, and it should trouble all of us, because the result is patterns repeated, opportunities squandered and talent wasted. It was that conviction that led me to work as chief of staff to Rachel Reeves, first in opposition and then in government, as she became the UK’s first female Chancellor. In that role, I saw at close hand how the barriers to success for women remained stubbornly, frustratingly high. I have been blown away by the expertise and the energy of so many of the women I have met over the past five years—women who are building businesses, investing in the future of our country and creating jobs. I can tell you this: they are every bit as talented as the men I have met along the way.
Although we have seen progress, as many of my noble friends have pointed out today, the numbers tell a story. In 2022, one in five of all new companies were led by an all-female team yet, in 2024, just 1.9% of the total value of UK equity deals went to all-female-founded teams. That disparity is evident in bigger businesses, too, with women making up just 8% of CEOs in FTSE 300 companies. The cost is not just to the women affected but to all of us, measured in businesses never built, innovations never realised and billions of pounds of growth left permanently on the table.
It is these experiences and the many others that I have had over the years, including working at No. 10 during the global financial crash, that have shaped two of the areas that I intend to focus on in this House. The first is criminal justice, particularly as it affects young people, and especially how we can prevent more young people from getting involved in crime in the first place. The second is inclusive economic growth, so we can harness the immense potential of people from all backgrounds, all walks of life and all parts of the country, whether they are a woman or a man, to create a stronger, more resilient economy.
Underpinning all this is a conviction that our institutions themselves need to change—not just the policies they produce but how they work, who shapes them and who they were built to serve. I look forward to working with noble Lords and noble Baronesses across this House to achieve these goals.
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Lab)
Well, my Lords, another brilliant maiden speech. We are so fortunate to have so many new women on our Benches—on all our Benches. It is so good to be here today and I am very proud to welcome my noble friend to the red Benches. I know that the whole House will benefit greatly from her breadth of experience. A career that spans youth justice to the strictures of the Treasury is admirable, always driven by values, compassion and a clear-headed approach to dealing with social and economic justice. She is a feminist. She is clearly a woman who enjoys challenges and the fact that she worked as chief press officer at No. 10 during the tumultuous years of the global economic crisis must demonstrate that she has inexhaustible reservoirs of patience, knowledge and diplomacy. Many of my noble friends in this House were also there during those difficult times, when I truly believe that we in this country, and our Government, did everything that was necessary to safeguard the economy of the world. I thank her for the part that she played in that.
A masters degree at Harvard Kennedy School was followed by four years during the years of austerity working at Citizens Advice on policy campaigns, including on welfare and employment rights. Her determination to tackle disadvantage, widen opportunity and break down barriers, including for women, have been her catalysts for action. She has worked to bridge many gaps in society and now, as business adviser to the Chancellor, she is working to help bridge the gap between business and government. I am very proud to share the red Benches with her and I know that she will make a fantastic contribution to the work of this House.
International Women’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate women and girls throughout the world, from businesswomen, nurses, doctors, engineers, teachers and those in so many other professions, to those working in the fields, or fleeing from war or imprisoned in their homes by repressive regimes, unable to get an education. It is a reminder that women can do anything. Across the world, progress has been made, but now the fragile gains are being reversed. There is a global rollback of women’s rights, as the noble Baroness said, and the fact that there are strong men throughout the world who are wielding such evil power must make us think that it is time for women to get there, to be leaders of our world. As Malala said,
“I think realizing that you’re not alone, that you are standing with millions of your sisters around the world is vital.”
That is why today is so important.
I am proud to be chair of the Jo Cox Foundation. As my noble friend the Minister, my predecessor as chair, knows, we make positive change on issues that my friend Jo was passionate about: building stronger communities, tackling the epidemic of loneliness and championing respect in politics. Jo was passionate about inclusive, respectful politics. Violence, abuse and harassment are a growing barrier to women’s equal representation in public life and, indeed, the functioning of our democracy. Too many elected and potential representatives are avoiding political activities. Too many excellent change-makers are choosing not to stand in the first place or stepping away due to safety concerns for themselves and their families. This is not the way to achieve the 50:50 Parliament that we all want and need. The problem reflects the intersectional gendered inequalities in our society, meaning that the impacts are felt disproportionately by those who are already underrepresented in our democracy. It is a damning indictment of our political culture that too many now view harassment as simply “part of the job”.
Change is possible, however, by working across political divides towards a vision of a political culture where everyone can safely participate in respectful, robust debate in the spirit of Jo’s message that we have
“more in common than that which divides us”.—[Official Report, Commons, 3/6/15; col. 675.]
This is the 10th anniversary of Jo’s murder, an act driven by extremism and division, a stark reminder of what can happen when it is left to grow. I hope that everyone will join me in celebrating Jo’s legacy and raising awareness about her message by participating in the Great Get Together in June. Noble Lords can be sure that I will contact them all to ask for their participation. Jo was a life-long humanitarian who worked for women’s empowerment throughout the world and spoke out courageously against injustice and mass atrocities. She knew that, wherever there are despots or war, it is women who suffer most, as they are now in Afghanistan and Sudan. Like me, she would be deeply concerned about the Government’s recent announcement about halting visas for students from those countries.
In a former life, I was principal of Somerville College, where Lady Rhondda had been a student, but she gave up her studies to become a suffragette. Somerville became a college of sanctuary and the University of Oxford, like so many other universities, also then became a university of sanctuary. I am immensely proud of the extraordinary, courageous sanctuary scholars who study across the UK. This must continue. One of my former colleagues said that, with the current government policy, “It feels as if the Government are joining the Taliban in denying education to the women of Afghanistan”. They are her words, not mine. Two of the eight sanctuary scholars currently at Somerville are inspirational women medics from Sudan who have emerged from unimaginable trauma, unbowed and determined to shape a better future for their countries. They want to, and will, return. Education is a fundamental right, and we must strive to ensure that women and girls have access to education throughout the world. Channelling Jo’s humanitarian values, I ask the Government to commit to responding positively to the OCHA emergency relief co-ordinator’s appeal. The world cannot, and must not, look away.
Confucius said:
“Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace”.
Women of the world are desperate for peace and they need hope. A recent visit to the Asian University for Women in Bangladesh gave me much hope. It offers amazing opportunities for extraordinary young women who have faced indescribable challenges. Of the 2,000 students, over 500 are from Afghanistan and more than 300 are from Myanmar, most of whom grew up in Cox’s Bazar. These wonderful, resilient young women want the opportunity to rebuild their societies when there is peace. Hope and peace are precious commodities. In this Chamber we have the privilege, power and platform to bring about change in our communities, our country and around the world. We have a duty to use it.
Baroness Brady (Con)
My Lords and—why not, on today of all days?—my Ladies, I start by offering my congratulations to the noble Baronesses on their most excellent maiden speeches. I reassure them that we have all breathed that sigh of relief as we sit down when it is all over; I assure them it gets better. I offer them a very warm welcome; this House is definitely enriched when we have women who join it with leadership roles, with passion and with experience.
I speak today not simply to celebrate women’s achievements—though there are so many, and we have heard so many wonderful stories—but to confront honestly the unfinished business that still stands before us. When I reflect on the path that brought me here, being the youngest person to run a public company in the UK and the first woman to run a football club at 23, I was walking corridors where I was frequently the only woman. I learned early on that being capable is not the same as being accepted, and that strength and resilience must often speak louder than credentials in environments designed by and for someone very different from me.
The UN’s theme this year,
“Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls”,
is not just aspirational. It must be organised and structural. Rights are meaningless if they do not translate into justice at work, in law and in society. Justice is hollow without action that dismantles the economic, cultural and institutional barriers that women still face every day.
Let me be frank: while the UK has seen the headline gender pay gap fall over the past decade, the reality behind the number is sobering. Women still earn substantially less, on average, than men. At the current pace, some reports suggest that parity may not arrive until the middle of this century. This gap is not abstract; it means that women in effect work unpaid for many weeks of the year compared with their male counterparts. ONS data shows that women my age have the highest pay gap, at 19.7%, and work the equivalent of 72 days a year for free. From the very start of this year until next Friday, 13 March, we are in effect working for free. It also compounds over a lifetime, contributing to a dramatic gender pension gap that leave older women far more financially vulnerable than men.
Why does this persist? It is because we still operate systems that penalise women for caring—for their children, families or older family members—while rewarding uninterrupted career progression. ONS data shows that the full-time employment rate for mothers with dependent children was around 39%, compared with about 84% for fathers. It is also because culture still reverberates with assumptions about who belongs in leadership. When job titles and pay packets are decided, old biases queue up to decide who gets the corner office. I am co-chair of the Women and Work APPG—everyone is welcome to join—and our report in 2025 showed that women-led businesses with all-female founding teams received just 1.8% of all UK venture capital in early 2024. There is no justice in that.
This is not a plea born of pessimism. It is a call to accelerate action: to enforce equal pay at every level; to expand and make affordable, high-quality childcare universal; to redesign workplaces so that flexibility is not a consolidation prize but a standard practice; and, so that when a woman sits at a board table, she is not seen as a badge of diversity but as a recognised equal contributor to strategy, profit, vision, leadership, values and purpose. We have seen the transformation power of transparency. The requirement for gender pay gap reporting has forced organisations to look in the mirror. Transparency alone, however, is not change; it is a spotlight. Light without follow-through leaves too many shadows untouched.
As someone who built a career in male-dominated fields, I know what change feels like when it actually happens. Opportunity broadens, voices diversify and decisions become better. While I am proud of how far we have come, I will be deeply humbled if, in my lifetime, we can reach a point where advocating for women’s equality is unnecessary because equality has become genuinely normal. Let this day be more than reflection. Let it be a turning point for concrete action in business, in government and in every institution that we influence.
Baroness Campbell of Surbiton (CB) [V]
My Lords, International Women’s Day gives us the opportunity to celebrate women’s outstanding contribution to society. Today, I want to focus with pride on disabled women, whose leadership and talent have reshaped our understanding of equality and inclusion. I will also demonstrate what happens when disabled women are ignored.
Modern disabled women refuse to be defined by their medical condition. They define themselves by determination, skill and leadership. They are clear that their lives are not exceptional; they are the same as anyone else when barriers are removed. Paralympians are probably the best example of how society’s perception of disability has changed. My noble friend Lady Grey-Thompson radically transformed sporting expectations of elite performance. When she began her career, she faced not just competitors but profound prejudice and discrimination. Through sheer force of will, and 11 gold medals, she fought for equal access so that others could follow. Her success is about more than medals: she has demonstrated that motherhood, disability, elite athletic performance and today’s politics are not contradictions but co-exist powerfully.
Achievement is not confined to stadiums. In the arts, Liz Carr, an Olivier Award-winning actress, has challenged stereotypes with intelligence and wit. Through her performances and activism, she has confronted harmful narratives about the value placed on disabled lives. She has used her visibility not for celebrity purposes but for advocacy. Similarly, Rose Ayling-Ellis brought British Sign Language into millions of homes during “Strictly Come Dancing”, when over 11 million viewers watched her silent tribute to the deaf community. She broke stereotypes and took home the Glitterball, sparking a surge of interest in BSL. She then used that platform to support older deaf residents isolated in care homes, demonstrating that when communication barriers fall, everyone benefits. In a society obsessed with physical perfection, disabled women and girls often experience low self-esteem and face online abuse and sometimes even hate crime. Katie Piper OBE survived a life-changing acid attack and has since become a powerful advocate for burns survivors. Through her foundation, she challenges society’s fixation on appearance.
But for every socially included disabled woman we celebrate, there are hundreds of others whose independence is denied and potential ignored. Last week, the BBC reported the story of Lucinda Ritchie, aged 32. She is academically accomplished and nationally recognised for her assistive technology advocacy. She uses a powered wheelchair, breathes with a ventilator and communicates with eye-gaze technology. For the last eight years, she was living in her adaptive bungalow with 24-hour healthcare assistance paid for by NHS Continuing Healthcare. After hospital admission with pneumonia over Christmas, she expected to return home. Instead, the NHS commissioning board decided it was in her best interest to place her in a nursing home miles from home. Overstretched staff, unfamiliar with her complex needs, switched off her power chair and could not work her eye-gaze technology. A woman who had been thriving was now isolated and frightened. Last week, she was apparently back in hospital because the care provided was not tailored to her needs. This appears to be a violation of her Article 19 rights under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to live independently with support. For decades, personal budgets and empowerment models transformed disabled people’s lives, enabling them to exercise genuine choice and control. Independent living is not theoretical; it is deliverable. Has that good practice gone? Why did we support disabled people to move out of institutions only to return them to them 30 years later?
I am pleased that the Minister, the noble Baroness, Lady Smith—Jacqui Smith—is responding today. As Minister for Social Care in 2001, she made a choice between two shortlisted candidates for the role of the first chair of the Social Care Institute for Excellence. She could have gone for the safer pair of hands, a man who had been advising the Department of Health for years, but, instead, she took a chance on a disabled woman who wanted to radically transform the way social care operated by empowering service users to be co-producers for community care. What the Minister did not know then was that her choice gave me my first big career break, which led me to your Lordships’ House. In thanking her, I ask her to meet me again to look at ways to prevent this backward slide from independence to dependency and exclusion.
International Women’s Day must be more than a celebration of disabled women and women. Disabled women’s rights to equality, dignity and freedom are not symbolic; they are vital and must be upheld, not just today but every day of the year.
Baroness Carberry of Muswell Hill (Lab)
My Lords, my warm congratulations go to all my noble friends who have made such brilliant maiden speeches today. We are very lucky to have them all with us.
I want to use my few minutes today to thank the women who serve in our Armed Forces. This week, the Prime Minister rightly paid tribute to the bravery of our servicemen and servicewomen who put themselves in harm’s way to keep others safe. Today, as we sit safely in this lovely Chamber, hundreds of servicewomen are on active deployment in the Middle East, and we should not forget what we owe them.
Women in the forces serve in front-line combat roles. This country lifted historic restrictions years ago, and, since 2019, all roles, including ground close combat, have been formally open to women. There are brilliant women doing challenging jobs, across all ranks and roles, in the Army, Navy and Air Force. Our nation needs these women. Our Armed Forces are under strength. The commitment of these women is vital to our safety and security, and we need more of them.
There are very big challenges. In 2021, the Government announced that women should account for 30% of all new recruits into the Armed Forces by 2030. We are nowhere near that. As of October last year, women were approximately only 12% of the UK regular forces and just under 16% of the reserves. More women have joined up over the decades, but women’s presence is still relatively limited and uneven. By any meaningful measure, women are underrepresented in the forces and in the most senior military leadership roles.
If you talk to young women choosing their future careers, as I do, many will tell you that they are not going to consider the armed services. They know they would get access to cutting-edge skills and exciting careers but they are put off by reports of service culture. The MoD and the services have done a lot to deal with bullying, harassment and discrimination, but no one who read last year’s survey into sexualised behaviours and sexual harassment in the Armed Forces is going to be encouraged to sign up. Around two-thirds of women reported coming up against at least one form of sexualised behaviour in the past 12 months; nearly one in 10 women reported non-consensual sexual activity; and over one-third reported being groped or touched. Nor is there anything encouraging about broken locks in female accommodation, ill-fitting uniforms, inappropriate kit, poorly co-ordinated victim support and lack of confidence in current complaint services.
There are also more subtle pressures. I spoke to a young woman officer this week. She is in her mid-career, in a front-line combat role. She loved her job, but she said she had to tough it out every day against a general male attitude that made it clear that women should not be doing these challenging jobs. She was too polite to describe this as a heavily sexist and toxic masculine culture, but that is what it is. We are dealing with endemic harassment, inadequate institutional responses and cultural resistance, so it is no wonder that we are missing recruitment targets and losing talented women mid-career.
The MoD and the services are, to be fair, getting a grip on all this, but there is still such a long way to go. I applaud initiatives such as the improved complaint system, new education and prevention initiatives, and specialist teams that are rolling out consent and misogyny training across key training bases. There is also a violence against women and girls taskforce, a victim and witness care unit, and zero tolerance. However, it all needs to add up to profound cultural transformation, robust mechanisms to prevent and address harassment, and effective support structures for victims.
Above all, we need sustained strategies for recruiting and retaining women across all ranks and specialties. Without this, we are wasting talent, failing women and failing our nation. I end by saluting all the women currently serving in the Armed Forces and again thank them for their service to our country.
Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Con)
My Lords, first, a warm welcome to the new Members, especially those making their maiden speeches today. I made mine in the International Women’s Day debate 15 years ago. I sometimes feel a little less optimistic about women’s and girls’ rights and freedoms than I felt then—but perhaps that is because I am 15 years older and possibly a little more cynical.
Those who were in the Chamber or following the debate we had earlier in the week on the amendments tabled by my noble friend Lady Bertin to the Crime and Policing Bill might think that we have had enough talk—and a graphic talk at that—about porn. The industrial scale of online pornography is an issue that has crept quietly, almost invisibly, into the lives of our children and young people, reshaping expectations, relationships and behaviour. The attitudes and behaviours of entire generations of young people have been scarred by the violent misogyny that defines today’s online pornography trade, which has—at least until now—been free to peddle violence against women for profit.
The consequences are all around us: from the normalised sexual harassment that UK Feminista and the NEU found is perpetrated against over a third of girls in schools, to the shocking crimes against women such as Gisèle Pelicot, and perpetrated by men such as Jeffrey Epstein and his friends. As Helen Rumbelow so powerfully exposed in her recent Times article:
“For Jeffrey Epstein porn videos were a training programme to be watched, used as script for his young victims, then added to in a life-porn loop”.
Porn is no longer a marginal adult product. It is a mainstream educator and the de facto sex education curriculum for millions of boys, and increasingly girls, before they have even reached adulthood. The age of first exposure to porn continues to fall. What was once hidden behind the counter of a newsagent is now available free, algorithmically promoted and almost always extreme. The material most readily accessed is not romantic or relational; it is aggressive. It frequently depicts coercion, degradation and violence against women, and it does so without consequence.
When boys learn about intimacy through content that conflates dominance with desire before they have experienced healthy relationships, it shapes their understanding of sex before it shapes their understanding of consent. When girls encounter it, it shapes what they believe is expected of them and they feel pressured to perform acts they neither want nor understand. No wonder increasing numbers are wanting to opt out of becoming women. When teachers say that playground language increasingly mirrors the scripts of pornography, we need to ask ourselves whether this is simply the cost of modernity or a failure of governance. The porn industry is among the least regulated digital industries in the world. Platforms profit from engagement, not well-being.
However, this week—fittingly, in this international women’s week—there is cause for hope that we have started to turn the tide against the pornification of society, and that this will be the week that Parliament finally stepped up to meaningfully confront the misogynistic violence perpetrated and fuelled by online pornography. The package of amendments brought forward by my noble friend Lady Bertin, and supported by the House, would respond to this evidence base of harm. According to child protection experts, viewing violent pornography is a key risk factor for men committing child sexual offences, with incest and step-incest genres found to be the most violent.
The comprehensive banning of porn that depicts incest and step-incest, and material that mimics child sexual abuse material, is essential to protecting girls and children. Some 88% of UK pornography users—that is a lot of people—say they are in favour of regulation to verify that all individuals shown in pornography are consenting adults. Women are the targets of vile physical and verbal aggression in 94% of scenes in porn content, and most of the time, the aggressors are men.
Parity between the online and offline law to ban abusive, violent and degrading content is essential to protect all women from the abusive violence that is then re-enacted in bedrooms, schools, online spaces and in the streets. If noble Lords do not know what I am talking about, they should google it, watch, and then join the campaign. My noble friend Lady Bertin’s amendments are by no means the end of what we in this Parliament need to grapple with, but they are a very good start.
Baroness Chakrabarti (Lab)
My Lords, I congratulate my noble sisters the Ministers on securing this debate and thank my noble friend Lady Gale in particular, among so many others, for years of doughty campaigning, not least for ensuring that this is an annual occurrence. I of course congratulate all today’s fine maidens—what an auspicious beginning in the House.
There are so many issues worthy of discussion, but I repeat my plea of many years for the enforcement of equal pay law not to be left, as currently in statute, to women workers themselves.
Five years on from Sarah Everard’s kidnap, rape and murder, and while too many wealthy and powerful men hope that the latest terrifying war will provide convenient distraction from the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking and abuse scandal, I wish to use my remaining time to remember the late Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Having read her memoir, Nobody’s Girl, I commend it to everyone in your Lordships’ House. Goodness me, it is a very hard—as well as a compelling—read. It is a remarkable testament to rights, justice and action, and to human courage, resilience and solidarity. But it is also about crimes of incredibly cruelty against girls and women on an industrial scale, under the gaze, and even with the complicity, of some of the most wealthy and powerful people in the world. It is that very wealth and power that led to so much complicity, denialism and silencing, not just by the most active perpetrators but on the part of all the venal quislings and hangers-on in their orbit.
Virginia writes:
“Don’t be fooled by those in Epstein’s circle who say they didn’t know what Epstein was doing. Anyone who spent any significant amount of time with Epstein saw him touching girls in ways you wouldn’t want a creepy old man touching your daughter. They can say they didn’t know he was raping children. But they were not blind. Not to mention the fact that many prominent people were still associating with him years after his convictions. Epstein offered many of the men in his circle sex with the females he and Ghislaine Maxwell trafficked, both girls and women. I know because I lived it. But even the men who did not partake of the favors Epstein offered could see the naked photos on his walls, and the naked girls on his islands or by his swimming pools. Epstein not only did not hide what was happening; he took a certain glee in making people watch”.
She continues:
“Each one of us can make positive change. I truly believe that. I hope for a world in which predators are punished, not protected; victims are treated with compassion, not shamed; and powerful people face the same consequences as anyone else … Imagining it is the first step. In my mind, I hold a picture of a girl reaching out for help and easily finding it. I picture a woman, too, who—having come to terms with her childhood pain—feels that it’s within her power to take action against those who hurt her”.
I imagine that, too.
Lord Bates (Con)
My Lords, it is an honour to speak in this debate, in which we have had so many excellent and inspiring speeches, including four maiden speeches so far; there is one more to come immediately after me, so I will get on with it. The premise of my speech is simple and profound: women and girls benefit overwhelmingly from UK overseas development assistance. As that is the case, it then follows that women and girls will be the prime people who suffer as a result of cuts to overseas development assistance.
On 5 February, the Foreign Sectary made a courageous visit to the front-line refugee camps in Sudan and Chad to see for herself what was happening there. When she returned to the House of Commons, she gave a very powerful Statement, in which she said that 85% of the people in those camps were women and children and that they
“had fled the most horrendous violence and violations”.— [Official Report, Commons, 5/2/26; col. 437.]
The Foreign Secretary reminded us of the well-established fact that the prime beneficiaries of UK aid have always been women and children. This bias exists for a very good reason: women and girls are all too often on the front line when it comes to conflict but at the back of the line when it comes to education, healthcare, safe water and economic empowerment. Our aid was meant to address this imbalance, and it has succeeded. We gave and they received, but we also gain as a result.
It therefore follows that, when we cut UK aid, the hardest hit will be vulnerable women and children. Cuts already announced to the UK contributions to the Global Fund and to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance are estimated by the ONE Campaign to be likely to result in 620,000 preventable deaths, most of which will be of children under the age of five. An article by Niki Ignatiou in the British Medical Journal on 10 September 2025 gave one example of the effect of these cuts:
“The planned 46% reduction in Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office health spending in 2025/26, including cuts to the Women’s Integrated Sexual Health programme, is a cruel proposal at a time of acute public health crises for women and girls. These cuts are predicted to leave millions of women and girls without access to contraception, resulting in unintended pregnancies and thousands of maternal deaths”.
The Government’s own equality impact assessment, published last year, expressed concern about the impact on gender equality of cuts to bilateral spending on overseas aid—but what is the point of an impact assessment if it does not impact the policy it is assessing?
The full scale of the cuts now being implemented to UK aid is unprecedented. The UK aid budget has been cut faster than those of any other G7 country, including the United States. Yet this is from a Government who were elected on a manifesto pledge that promised not only to maintain aid at 0.5% but to return it to 0.7% as soon as possible. It is the single most regressive policy for women and girls I can recall, and yet it seems to have passed through the House almost on the nod.
I make these remarks not personally against Ministers and Members opposite, who I know care deeply and passionately about international social justice. I also make them in the deep humility of speaking from these Benches, where our policy on cutting aid is even more draconian and unworthy of the efforts of people such as Sir Andrew Mitchell and my noble friend Lord Cameron, who pledged and implemented a policy of 0.7% when in coalition with the Liberal Democrats, not because it was popular or fiscally prudent but because it was the right and responsible thing to do for the sixth richest nation on earth. However, we are not in government; the party opposite is—and it is our duty to hold them to account.
I have one question for the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Malvern—who I respect enormously—when she comes to respond to the debate from the Dispatch Box. Will she acknowledge that the most vulnerable women and girls in our world will suffer disproportionately because of the aid cuts being implemented? If so, will she ask the two women in charge of this policy—the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Foreign Secretary—to change this deeply damaging and unconscionable policy? Such a change will require courage, but as the noble Baroness, Lady Lloyd, reminded us at the beginning of the debate, courage calls for courage everywhere.
Baroness Paul of Shepherd’s Bush (Lab) (Maiden Speech)
My Lords, sisters, it is an honour to rise to speak in the House for the first time. Mine will be the last maiden speech today—what a hard act to follow. I do so with deep humility and heartfelt gratitude to all who have welcomed me so generously from across the House. I offer my sincere thanks to my supporters—the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, a brilliant champion of vulnerable people and difficult causes, and the noble Lord, Lord Alli, whose warmth and wisdom have guided me as I take my first steps here.
Like others today, I also remember my dear friend Baroness Margaret McDonagh, a formidable woman who changed my party and our country for the better, and who would have been so proud to see me here today.
My thanks also go to the staff of this House, whose quiet professionalism sustains our democracy day by day and who have shown remarkable patience—and quite a lot of bemusement—as I have repeatedly failed to orientate myself in this magnificent but labyrinthine building.
I am proud to take my seat as Baroness Paul of Shepherd’s Bush. My title honours my grandparents Tom and Mary Basquil who, like so many families, settled in London after the war to help rebuild this country.
My grandad was originally from rural Ireland, and he raised five children on a labourer’s wage. My grandmother was from Wales. She was a secretary and, quite frankly, was the smartest women I have ever known. They met in a boarding house in the 1940s in Shepherd’s Bush. They got married, worked hard, raised their family and made the most of what life had given them.
My mum is their middle child. In 1965, on the day of her 15th birthday, she was made to leave school, with no qualifications, prospects or plan, because at that time, nobody really cared what working-class children wanted to do with their lives. Nobody thought about the contribution they could make or the difference they could make to our country. She went on to have me at 19 and my brother at 20, and for much of our childhood, she brought us up on her own. It was hard. I am biased, but I think she did magnificently.
I did not grow up in a political family, but growing up in my family made me political. There were challenges and hardships, but mine is a proud, clever family which just gets on with it and meets life’s dramas with humour and tenacity. If I can bring even one ounce of their decency, drive and common sense to this House, I will have done them all proud. It is evidence of what they made possible and what our great country makes possible that a girl from a high-rise block of flats on a council estate in Shepherd’s Bush—and the first Tracey ever to enter your Lordships’ House—should now stand here on the Parliamentary Estate addressing you all.
Today’s debate marking International Women’s Day is a moment to celebrate progress and to confront the challenges that remain. I hope that the House will indulge me, as I want to talk briefly on the experiences of working-class boys—not to detract from the focus on women and girls, but because the futures of both are so deeply connected.
Many working-class boys arrive at school less ready to learn. At the end of primary school, less than half of all boys on free school meals meet the expected levels for reading, writing and maths. They achieve lower outcomes at GCSE and A-level, and they are more likely to be excluded from school than girls. They are less likely to move into higher education. Those gaps follow them into adulthood, where young men are now significantly more likely than women to be out of education, employment or training. I know these boys—they grew up on my estate; they went to my schools; they are my friends. They face profound social challenges, too.
Increasingly, we are all living our lives online—and some of what they find there is deeply harmful and is specifically targeted at them. I work at Pool Re, which is the UK’s terrorism reinsurer, and previously worked with the National Citizen Service and on the Government’s review into opportunity and integration led so brilliantly by the noble Baroness, Lady Casey. I have seen through that work how some young men are alienated and can be drawn into some of the most harmful spaces. Children—because that is what they are—are exposed to a mix of extreme propaganda, violent pornography, misogynistic narratives and material that blurs the line between fantasy, grievance and real-world harm. In recent years, one in five terror-related arrests are of those under 18—including a child as young as 11—and most had been radicalised online. These are some of the worst things that people can be arrested for, and one in five of them are under 18.
There are other consequences of these reduced outcomes for boys, not just for our overall social cohesion but, dare I say it in this House, for our politics, that just cannot be ignored. None of this is an excuse for violence—nor should it ever be treated as one. Violence against women and girls is a profound injustice that we must confront directly and unequivocally, but we know that a society that invests in marginalised boys will be creating safer futures for our women.
Where you start from in life does not always determine where you end up, but none of us makes our way on our own, and I believe very strongly that by improving the outcomes of our young boys we are improving the future for all.
I thank you all for your patience today and I look forward to learning so much from you in the years ahead.
Baroness Casey of Blackstock (CB)
My Lords and fellow Baronesses, it is with utter joy that I welcome my noble friend Lady Paul of Shepherd’s Bush into the House today. May she be the first Tracey but not the last. My noble friend is, as I think noble Lords from across the Benches will now have gathered, another trooper from the McDonagh school of politicians and political life—you could almost call it the best stable going.
My noble friend has had a lifetime of public service dedicated to her political party. I often feel that in public life we forget how important political parties of all different types and organisations are. People often dedicate their lives to them, and without them we would not have a flourishing democracy. I think it is important that we always recognise that. People who were below stairs are now above stairs. People who were behind the scenes are now in front of the scenes. The back room has become the front room, and that is a really important part of political life and our democracy. I thank all the noble Baronesses here today from across all the Benches for their good work supporting our democracy.
My noble friend Lady Paul of Shepherd’s Bush has already shown today in her speech her extraordinary determination to bring both intellect and heart into this Chamber. I have worked with her in many different guises, and I want just to alight on two. For the last 10 years she has worked in the space of counterterrorism and dealing with extremism. She has already today shown how important that work is, how it knits our fabric of life together, and that without it we do not enjoy our safety and our security. But in and among it, my noble friend did not mention today that she has driven a lot of the work to inform support to the individuals and families whose lives have been traumatically affected and changed because of extremism and terrorism. That shows, more than anything, alongside her work at the NCS, that Tracey will always bring those less fortunate to this Chamber with heart, with courage and with determination. I honour and salute her and the other maidens here today joining these Benches of formidable, wonderful and challenging women. She is most welcome and I am honoured to be of support to her.
Obviously, I also thoroughly enjoyed everybody else’s maiden speeches. I am slightly panicked by those who followed them; I do not feel that I have done as good a job as some of the others, but I always do my best. As always, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Lloyd of Effra. I will be extremely grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Malvern, my former boss.
I know that noble Lords indulge me every single year by allowing me to read out the names of women killed in the last 12 months where the principal suspect is a man. This year I go ahead of my dear friend and honourable colleague next door, the Member for Birmingham Yardley, who will read out the list in the way she always has done and honour those women on 12 March.
With noble Lords’ support and agreement, I take this opportunity to read out the names, collated by the Femicide Census, of the women and girls aged 14 and above and two children who were killed either by a man or, in circumstances where the case is yet to be tried, where the principal suspect is a male. Before I begin, I want to pause and acknowledge that almost one in five of these women this year was killed by her own son—a ratio that is hard to countenance and is higher than is ever usually the case here in the United Kingdom.
So to the names: Suratchanee “Lat” Parks; Delia McInerney; Lucy Harrison; Laleh Zarejouneghani; Judith Law; Jane Riddell; Dawn Kerr; Victoria Adams; Simone Smith; Brigitta Rasuli; Anjela Chetty; Joanne Penney; Michelle Egge-Bailey; Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo; Rachel Dixon; Claire Anderson; Paramjit Kaur; Clare Burns; Sarah Reynolds; Hien Thi Vu; Rebekah Campbell; Paria Veisi; unnamed, 40s, killed on 17 April 2025; Tracey Davies; Pamela Munro; Aimee Pike; Elizabeth Tamilore “Tami” Odunsi; Nnenna Chima; Kathryn Perkins; Margaret McGowan; Ellen Cook; Rachael Vaughan; Marjama Osman; Yajaira Castro Mendez; Miriam MacDonald; Mary “Marie” Green; Mandy Riley; Samantha Murphy; Isobella “Izzy” Knight; Christina Alexander; Annabel Rook; Reanne Coulson; Nilani Nimalarajah; Irene Mbugua; unnamed, 40s, killed on 26 June 2025; Nila Patel; Sarah Montgomery; Angela Botham; Fortune Gomo; Phyllis Daly; Gwyneth Carter; Stephanie Blundell; Brenda Breed; Vanessa Whyte plus her two children, James aged 14 and Sara aged 13; Courtney Angus; Nkiru Chima; Kimberley Thompson; Shara Miller; Paris Kendall; Sufia Khatun; Zahwa Salah Mukhtar; Niwunhellage Dona Nirodha Kalapni Niwunhella; Sheryl Wilkins; Halyna Hoisan, also known as Lina; Tia Langdon; Ndata Bobb; Linner Sang; June Bunyan; Michelle Thomson; Ann Green; Shelley Davies; Anjanee Sandhir; Catalina Birlea; Chereiss Bailey; Sonia Exelby; Agne Druskienea; Michele Kennedy; Angela Shellis; Stephanie Irons; Dickiesa Nurse; Natalie Egan; Colleen Westerman; Katie Fox; Lainie Williams; Lili Stojanova; Xiaoqing Ke; Julie Wilson; Maria Saceanu; Lisa Smith; Janet Bowen; Samantha Lee; Lisa-Marie Hopkins; Gilly Livie; Tania Williams; Gloria De Lazzari; Victoria Hart; Lisa Denton; Vanessa Pountney-Chadha; Helen Rundle; Anam Rafay; Rita Rowley; Amaal Raytaan; Carla-Maria Georgescu; Helen Bird; Angela Clayton; Naomi MacIvor.
I beg the leave of the Chamber also to mark today the fifth anniversary of the death of Sarah Everard, raped, tortured and murdered by a serving police officer five years ago. May she and all the 106 women and two children named today rest in peace.
Baroness Thornton (Lab)
Noble Sisters and Brothers, I am honoured to follow my friend, the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, who has reminded us all of the price women pay for the misogyny and violence that is still here today in our liberal, democratic society. Every woman’s death means a family is shattered and has to live with the consequences of the murder of their mum, grandma, sister, auntie or friend.
The list read out by the noble Baroness reminds us that this violence, and sexual violence, is visited on women and girls across the world, as has been mentioned by many noble Lords in the debate today. My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary said recently about Sudan:
“The world must not look away. The international community has failed the women of Sudan. The stories of brutal attacks, sexual torture, public rape used as weapons in conflict against fleeing women and children are truly horrendous. This is a war waged on women’s bodies. Yet too often these stories are not heard, and the world turns its back”.
She went on to say:
“The UK is stepping up support for survivors, we will not look away. The world must come together to stem the bloodshed, protect women and girls, and drive urgent momentum towards peace”.
I am very glad that she said that and I am sure that everyone in the House will be, also. But I also share concerns about our aid budget and the effect it will have in these circumstances.
These debates often honour the women, and indeed men, who have fought over millennia for our rights and equality. Sometimes it is our mums and grandmas we honour. Sometimes it is Malala, Mary Wollstonecraft, Fawcett, the Pankhursts, the Matchgirls or Jayaben Desai at Grunwick. I was there on the picket line at Grunwick. We are honouring the women on whose shoulders we stand, and the galaxy of noble Baronesses’ maiden speeches today gladdens my heart: you are all here with us.
I also congratulate my noble friend the Minister on her first International Women’s Day speech. I think it might be my 25th, but I am not absolutely sure. There are years when we have had to fight to have this debate at all. I pay tribute to my noble friend Lady Gale, and indeed other noble Baronesses on Benches across the House, who have had to fight to have this debate. We have sometimes been relegated to late at night, and even to Grand Committee.
I will use my remaining few minutes to honour one of our own, my fellow Bradfordian and honourable friend Naz Shah MP. The book Honoured, which she wrote, tells of being working class and living in poverty, of the racism, and of the punishment of her family under the honour-based system when her father deserted them. Naz wrote:
“My fight started in the womb. I mean, because I was born a girl, my father didn’t pick me up till he had a son”.
She writes of leaving school at 12, forced marriage at 15, bringing up her two siblings when her mother was imprisoned after a life of abuse and coercion and trying to protect her daughter. My friend became a campaigner, and this led her into politics. She has also built a great and successful career for herself to support her family, and she was sustained in her campaigning by Southall Black Sisters. I want to mark how much I admire and credit the work of these sisters over many years.
Before running against George Galloway in Bradford West in 2015, Naz published a blog about her family’s history because, quite rightly, she said that, if she did not own her own story, it was ripe for exploitation. But she was telling it as a campaigner who had fought for her mother. This book tells it in a profoundly personal way. She has lived through these horrors and they have shaped her politics. It is a remarkable read. It is a book that is a testament to the strength and resilience of this woman and, indeed, to many of the women we honour today.
I do not intend to mention George Galloway again, except to say, as someone who went home to Bradford for six weeks to work in Naz’s campaign, it was one of those wonderful moments in politics when we overturned his majority resoundingly. We did it in large measure because women from all our communities in Bradford supported Naz and saw through the misogynistic politics of the then Respect party. In his losing speech at the count, he spoke of “lions and hyenas”—it was a very puzzling speech—but I agreed with Naz, who said, and this is very typical:
“I thought, ‘Get over yourself, mate. You were the pussycat who lapped imaginary milk on Big Brother””.
It is important to honour our sisters in struggle wherever we find them, and that is why today is so important.
Viscount Stansgate (Lab)
My Lords—or can I just say “Colleagues”?—I am very glad to have the opportunity to contribute to today’s debate, and what a pleasure it is to follow my noble friend Lady Thornton. I congratulate all the maiden speakers today. They were all excellent. They will all enrich the House, and I am sure they all feel all the better for having given them. I also congratulate the Minister on introducing the debate and the way in which she did and for highlighting an area that is why I want to take part today.
I want to talk about the position of women in science. I thank all the organisations that have been in touch with me to raise issues they think are important. I want to pay tribute to them and place on record, in this Chamber and in Hansard, the names of the following scientific organisations: the Council for the Mathematical Sciences, the Royal Society of Biology, the Institute of Physics, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Society of Chemical Industry, the Physiological Society, the Genetics Society, Applied Microbiology International, the Society for Experimental Biology, the Campaign for Science and Engineering, the Royal Society and, indeed, someone who wrote to me from AstraZeneca. I cannot do justice to the information I have: it is all here, and I intend to present it to the Librarian of the House for the benefit of Members and staff, because it is what you might call a Polaroid, or perhaps these days I should say “screenshot”, of the current position of women in science.
Of course, it is depressing that things do not change as quickly as we would hope. In a nutshell, women in science in the UK continue to face a cluster of interconnected structural, cultural and career progression barriers. The most significant issues probably centre on persistent underrepresentation, hostile or exclusionary work environments, slow advancement into senior roles and systematic biases that begin early in education and get worse throughout their careers. All the societies, without exception, have asked for better data collection and monitoring—perhaps the Minister, when she winds up, can say something about that point—and all stress the importance of role models.
I shall give the House an example. I am a member of the Numeracy for Life Committee, which met yesterday. We were discussing how maths is considered difficult, especially at a young age, partly because of a lack of confidence from parents and teachers. We had two inspirational witnesses giving evidence, one of whom was Professor Hannah Fry. What a role model she is. They talked about the importance of making maths fun as it is such an important determinant of future progress.
Turning to the main issues that have been raised, I am afraid that the leaky pipeline still exists. Women remain underrepresented in core STEM fields at every stage. There is gradual improvement, but that is the problem—it is gradual. Women make up only about a third of core STEM students in higher education but, at current rates, parity in engineering could take 70 years. Women account for about a quarter of the UK’s STEM workforce and progress is so slow that equal representation is unlikely before 2070. Only about 10% of UK inventors on patent applications in 2024 were women, and parity is forecast to be decades away.
The Royal Society of Biology says that there are persistent gender inequalities across the scientific pipeline and not enough professors in the core sciences. The Royal Society of Chemistry says that, whereas 48% of undergraduates in chemistry are women in, only 15% are professors; there will, apparently, be parity by 2067. We know that median salaries are lower for women than men, but I found striking a report that said that the disparity in bonuses between men and women reaches 80% or more.
Time is pressing, so I cannot go through everything. I apologise to those societies of which I can make no mention. Other issues are familiar to the House. The Society for Experimental Biology reports derogatory labelling by senior male professors with no consequences for them and the dismissal of professional opinions as “emotional”. Many raised the issue that women still too often have to choose between a career and a family.
There are some hopeful signs. The Society of Chemical Industry says that, although its membership is 70:30 in proportion, for those members who are under 30 it is 50:50. The Royal Society reports that women-founded tech companies in the UK raised £3.6 billion in venture capital funding in 2022—up £700 million on the previous year. That is encouraging.
I want to close with a few positive points, as there are initiatives that are having an effect, although I do not have the time to talk about them. The Royal Society is holding a meeting on Tuesday about the position of women in science in the future.
I end with an invitation. On 17 March, we hold the annual STEM for Britain event in Parliament. It is organised by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee—I declare an interest as its president. The event brings together and presents the best work of early-career scientists in all the major disciplines. It is very competitive, they are judged accordingly and the final prize is given to the person who best explains their work. The proportion of women taking part in this year’s event is over 50%. That is a sign of the future, and all I can say is that the future cannot come soon enough.
Baroness Hooper (Con)
My Lords, in thanking the noble Baroness, Lady Lloyd, for initiating and introducing this now annual debate, congratulating all the excellent maiden speeches and listening to the many and varied speeches, I cannot help reflecting that, although there is still a long way to go in many countries, including our own, there is good news too.
If I may be personal, I am told that I am now the longest-serving woman in your Lordships’ House—not the oldest, but the longest-serving. There is general good news to underline. For example, when I graduated in law, only 10% of law graduates were women; now it is well over 50%, and the same goes for doctors. That is clear evidence of positive change and should give hope to the engineers, scientists and others who have been speaking about their particular fields.
We have also had three women Prime Ministers, albeit one on a rather short tenure. There are more women in Parliament—evidenced by our maiden speakers today—and, as already pointed out, more women as council leaders, although not, I think, as yet, a directly elected mayor who is a woman; oh, there is a nod. I also point out, incidentally, that these things can go both ways. I recently met the first male nurse to become president of the Royal College of Nursing; he is happy to be called Matron.
In personal terms, I was the first woman partner in my 100 year-old law firm. I was one of a handful of women to be elected in the first direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979. I was the first woman president of Canning House, the leading specialist organisation for enlarging and building our links with Latin America, and I was the first woman director on the main board of a leading pharmaceutical public company.
However, I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time, and at a time when it was recognised that more women should be involved in the running and management of commercial enterprises. Those of us with suitable qualifications were positively pushed to do our bit. I think that is something that is also happening now. There is recognition that there are still things to be done for our women in this country, and there are more open minds on this. Things have clearly changed greatly since my day, but they can always improve.
After my perhaps slightly indulgent trip down memory lane, I would like to focus on the good news from Latin America. It may surprise some people to know that there are currently more women ambassadors in London, from 19 Latin American countries, than from any other region in the world. There are also currently women presidents in Mexico, Costa Rica and Venezuela, and in the recent past in Brazil, Argentina and Chile. There are more women parliamentarians than ever before, thanks in particular to the introduction of quotas. These are valuable role models in countries which are often thought of as being very macho. But, this year, we have elections for a new Secretary-General of the United Nations and, as of now, at least four of those candidates are from Latin America, so—vamos a ver.
Nevertheless, there are the usual problems as well. A recent OECD analysis showed that, in virtually all these countries, education and health for girls and women is still below the level that it should be, and employment is almost inevitably in lower-paid jobs; women are in 90% of social care jobs, for example, throughout the countries of Latin America. The prevalence of the informal economy in many countries also contributes. There is also a need to look at the problems of violence and abuse against women as well as problems over property rights.
I had hoped to look into some aspects of Mexico, with the first woman President in Mexico doing such a valiant job, and a large meeting in Mexico City held this time last year, which was attended mostly by women, as part of the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s programme and committee on women, led by a Mexican lady, Senator Cynthia López Castro.
Unfortunately, however, there is never enough time to say everything that could be said. I look forward to hearing from the remaining speakers and, indeed, from the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Malvern, who has the formidable task of winding up such a great array of speakers. I look forward to celebrating International Women’s Day on Sunday.
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)
My Lords, I congratulate all our maiden speakers today, and I hope they continue along the lines we have heard from them.
I want to start in Geneva, where I recently spent a week visiting various United Nations organisations. I saw how much they have been hollowed out, degraded and cut back by funding withdrawal, particularly from the United States, but also from the UK cuts to official development assistance. This is an issue particularly for women. I heard and saw first-hand how the World Health Organization has been slashed. Its African regional office is majorly affected, losing 638 of 2,500 posts. In Geneva, we heard how maternity services, care for victims of sexual violence and nutritional provision for malnourished children—a disproportionate number of them likely to be girls—will be cut back.
I thought of that yesterday as I was at Porton Down at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Antimicrobial Resistance talking about AMR. I was thinking too about an inquiry we conducted jointly with the WASH APPG—that is water, sanitation and hygiene—about how many maternity facilities, particularly in Africa, lack the most basic facility of running water. That means risk of infection and the need to use antibiotics prophylactically, which risks speeding AMR.
As we talk today, we might think about the women at this moment in labour in those maternity clinics—their lives and their babies’ lives at risk because of inadequate resources, because some people in this world are taking far more resources than they should have the right to while those women suffer. The cutbacks will mean only that that situation continues, which makes not only those women and babies less safe but all of us less safe.
I turn now to how the closing down of international public spaces and actors has opened up a space for forces with interests other than global well-being and human and natural flourishing—corporate interests, and dubious interests. I am not, on this occasion, talking about President Trump and his so-called board of peace.
We have, I am afraid, seen today in our debate a practical demonstration of this. The slogan for International Women’s Day is “Rights. Justice. Action”, as has been noted by, among others, the noble Baronesses, Lady D’Souza, Lady Goudie and Lady Smith of Llanfaes. You can find that on the dedicated page on the UN Women website, where it notes correctly that this year’s event
“comes at a time when justice systems are under strain. Conflict, repression, and political tensions are weakening the rule of law”.
We have today, however, heard another slogan, “Give to gain”. It is a very different slogan, a very neoliberal slogan, one focused on the individual—focused on making a sop to our current system, rather than acknowledging the need for radical change. It is a slogan that originates with an opaquely owned website that appears to be a corporate shill. It is suggestive of the philosophy infamously promulgated by the cryptocurrency billionaire, Sam Bankman-Fried, who is now of course in jail: so-called effective altruism. That has helped to build a political culture that practically invites the most egregious forms of capture of our public global spaces by the rich. The haves give; the have-nots receive. The have-nots have to avoid challenging the status quo if they are going to get a few crumbs from the table.
If you want to find out more about the origins of the “Give to gain” slogan, the Women’s Agenda website has a detailed account of the origins of the URL internationalwomensday.com—that .com should be a giveaway. It makes no declaration of its ownership or origins. It is, of course, a name that can simply be bought by anyone. Women’s Agenda says—as far as I can establish, rightly—that this is the creation of a “London-based marketing firm”. The “about us” part of the website says nothing. There is no mailing address. The digital regulations require that it says that it is owned by Aurora Ventures (Europe), which is apparently based in London. That is what we know. What we are seeing is the impact of search engines, tech companies and maybe artificial so-called intelligence tools enabling corporate capture.
I turn briefly to what I wanted to talk mainly about today, the situation of many women in war zones. We have had considerable accounts of the women in Afghanistan, and I commend those who have talked about that. I think about the women in Sudan—the women of El Fasher, many of whom now head households because their male partners have been killed—and the women in Iran who have been fighting against the regime and are now in jails under the most hideous conditions, with the assaults that are being made on Iran. There are the women in Palestine, Myanmar and the central African states—and, of course, women in the US. System change—that is what those women need. As UN Women says, they need rights, justice and action.
Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale (Lab)
My Lords, I draw attention to my entries in the register of interests, but I start by congratulating my noble friends on their outstanding maiden speeches. If I may say so, I am particularly looking forward to the contribution that the noble Baroness, Lady MacLeod, will make to this House in reminding us of the history, the beauty and the potential of the highlands of Scotland.
The noble Baroness, Lady Lloyd, said in her introduction that society has improved, which is undoubtedly the case. All those women who fought for decades for rights and change have enabled my daughter to have choices that were not available to her ancestors or even to her mother or grandmother, and enabled my granddaughters to worry more about AI than they do about inequality—and one in particular to worry more about beating the other girls’ football team than whether she can get the pitch off the boys.
These and other women and girls have built their success and potential on the hard work of women down through the ages. However, in far too many places and homes around the world today, women are still denied ownership of land, free access to money or proper access to education. They suffer daily violence or the fear of that violence; they are restricted in their choices and limited in their freedoms. In such a world, we need always to step up, never to step back.
Earlier this week, I met Maggie Banda, the CEO of WOLREC, the Women’s Legal Resources Centre, in Malawi. WOLREC is the operational partner of the Keep Girls in School scholarships, sponsored by the McConnell International Foundation. In rural Malawi, 200 girls are successfully completing school and are in many cases beating the results in the national exams that favour girls who attend better-provided schools in the towns and even boarding schools of Malawi, so they are doing exceptionally well, and we are very proud of them. This week, because of the incredible barrier that exists for girls, not just in Malawi but elsewhere in the world, due to menstruation, and the limitations put on them sometimes because of it, particularly in the school environment, we successfully launched an appeal for dignity packs for girls. When we stigmatise menstruation, we turn our backs on them, and the McConnell International Foundation is not going to do that.
Maggie Banda is also responsible for the Pamodzi Kuthetsa Nkhanza programme in Malawi, which is the largest programme in the UK-funded What Works to Prevent Violence initiative, which I believe may well have been started by the noble Baroness, Lady Sugg, when she was a Minister. This programme is reducing violence against women in the Balaka and Lilongwe districts; it is currently impacting on 750,000 people, changing attitudes in local communities, reforming local police operations and supporting survivors. It is just one example of work that is at risk as a result of our cuts to overseas development assistance, yet Maggie, a proper leader, is someone whom we should invest in to make that change in Malawi, not just for the girls that my foundation supports but for all those others who are affected by violence against women.
There is widespread concern, as passionately described earlier by the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, in particular, that there may be cuts to the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative or to women, peace and security initiatives more generally. Surely, in today’s world, when we see so much devastating violence and restriction of rights, which has been spoken about so eloquently here today, we cannot allow a situation where we make that worse rather than better. I hope the questions asked by the noble Lords, Lord Bates and Lord Ahmad, and the noble Baroness, Lady Sugg, will be answered by the Minister today.
During the past 18 months, I have gone from disappointment at our lack of action to improve our overseas development budget to a sense of shame last year, when it became clear that we were going to spend less money than the Conservative Government had, for the first time in Labour's history. I am now angry about the impact of that—the girls who are going to be left out of school; the rape and violence victims we have heard about in this debate, who we will turn our backs on as a result of the programme cutbacks; and the girls and women who will be silenced in countries where we no longer support the groups that advocate for their rights.
This is a time for the UK to step up, not step back. I implore Ministers and the Government, today, this weekend and in the weeks ahead to make “Give to gain” more than a slogan. They should make it a reality and ensure that we rethink and reverse those cuts in the short term, before the allocations are made before the end of this month. We should prioritise women and girls in the allocations that will be made from the reduced budget and give them a chance.
Baroness Fall (Con)
My congratulations to those who have made the wonderful maiden speeches I have heard today. I give them a warm welcome to the House—especially those from the back room, like myself and my noble friend Lady Sugg.
Many of us gather each year for this debate to think about the challenges and achievements of women across the world living in very different circumstances: girls who excel at school and others who are not permitted to study; women nurses, teachers and CEOs who make a huge contribution in professional life, while others are not allowed to leave their homes; and mums the world over who strive for their children—and for some, that means trying to find the next meal. We celebrate women in public life, while mindful of those who are prevented or banned from it, but we never forget that it is our job here in this Chamber to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.
We recognise that there is much that binds us together, some for good and some less so. One such challenge is the rise of online misogyny, a point that has been made in this debate by my noble friend Lady Jenkin. Echoes of hate, harassment and discrimination against women and girls impact many lives. Of course, there is nothing new in misogyny, but what is new is the context—the extent to which modern tech enables, amplifies and personalises this discourse. Its tentacles reach into private spaces, and it preys on the minds of our children and creates networks and echo chambers that amplify negativity. Those who should be held responsible hide behind anonymity and group deniability, while tech barons evade accountability and transparency. We are talking about sexism, violent porn, the sharing of non-consensual pictures, deepfakes and bullying in a whole variety of ways, all of which undermine confidence and reinforce inequalities.
We should be under no illusion: this is a global phenomenon. Its impacts may vary depending on internet use, legal frameworks and social attitudes, but it affects women all over the world. The emotional harm is palpable and growing. We are seeing a huge surge of anxiety and mental health problems, as well as the impact on behavioural issues such as violence against women. Those issues are well-known to this Chamber, and I pay tribute to my colleagues, such as my noble friends Lady Bertin and Lady Owen, for their tireless work in this space, and to the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, who read out that moving list just now in the Chamber.
Today, I want to draw attention to another related problem: the danger of creating a generation of young women and girls whose confidence is undermined from a young age, first in the classroom, where they feel less able to speak out, and then playing out later in their lives. Will online misogyny silence a generation of women and girls? It is already well-known that women in public life face levels of intimidation greater than their male counterparts. Many female politicians known to us cite abuse as a factor in deciding to step down, and many more will be put off trying.
The question for us is how to address the problem. The fact is that legal protections are uneven across the world. There is also disagreement about who is actually responsible for content, and whether regulation is the wrong approach, for it curtails freedom of speech. I shall take each in turn. First, on accountability, tech has dodged this issue for years, laying the blame for content on the users, yet these platforms are more than capable of making changes to algorithms that would prevent users being driven to the worst content, or, indeed, that stop content such as that on Grok, which should never have been allowed in the first place.
Secondly, the argument between freedom of speech absolutism and the regulator should not be taken to the extreme. Of course, we do not want the sort of highly censored internet that we see in China or censorship without transparency: an army of unknown censors in Palo Alto is not the answer. Society has always drawn its lines—that is our role as legislators—and the internet is no exception. Thirdly, anonymity on the web encourages users as it offers disguise to trolls and bullies. It is time that individuals took responsibility for their online selves.
However, it has never been just about the platforms. We must tackle the issue society wide, addressing education and culture change. It is said that it takes a village to bring up a child. Now, that village is online, but we have no idea who the village is. We need to be proactive and vigilant, encouraging girls to speak out and helping boys and girls respect one another, not pitting one against the other. That means mentoring, supporting charities such as Debate Mate and helping women into public life—and keeping them here.
In summary, online misogyny is global and widespread. Young women often face severe online misogyny, with knock-on implications for their participation in public life. We should be constantly reassessing safety on the web, not just through regulation but through education, discourse and transparency. Tech needs to step up, and so must we in our determination to stop a generation of women and girls losing their voice.
Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-Afl)
My Lords, I too thank the noble Baroness, Lady Lloyd of Effra, for introducing this important debate today. I also congratulate the five noble Baronesses on their excellent maiden speeches.
A Black woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955. This was the catalyst for the civil rights movement. Gender and race often go hand in hand in the struggle for equality. One of the strongest female role models in my life was my mother, who came to Britain from Jamaica. She was part of the Windrush generation and worked as an auxiliary nurse. She used to tell me, “John, being black is not a profession. Make sure you get a good education”. My father, on the other hand, was passionate about cricket. He used to say to me, “Boy, one day I want to see you at Lord’s”. He meant Lord’s cricket ground.
There are numerous women of colour who have overcome the obstacles of racism and issues connected to gender. They include Mary Seacole, the Crimean War nurse, and the Black suffragette, Sarah Parker Remond. When I was at the BBC, I had the privilege to interview Dame Kelly Holmes, who overcame a challenging upbringing, rose through the ranks in the Army and won two Olympic gold medals. Another interview was with the Bishop of Dover, Rose Hudson-Wilkin, who came to England from Jamaica as a child. As noble Lords know, she was a chaplain to the late Queen and to the House of Commons. I mention these people because, if you cannot see it, you cannot be it. I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s in Birmingham, when I did not see Black people in prominent positions—you need to see these people to inspire you.
Although 20% of UK small and medium-sized companies are run by women, there is still too much unused business talent among women, especially BAME women. Most corporate boards are still mainly male and white. I therefore ask the Minister: what further plans do the Government have to encourage an increase in female company directors?
There are other ongoing issues, such as the earnings gap between women and men. When I was a district councillor in the Midlands in the 1980s, I remember a lady complaining to me that her take-home pay was so low that it would not even take her home. I am not sure that much has changed since then for women in low-paid jobs. For all workers, the median hourly gender pay gap is at 12.8%. In the developing world, it is widely recognised that empowering women is an important step in driving economic growth. What plans do the Government have to help reduce the gender pay gap?
According to this year’s PricewaterhouseCoopers Women in Work Index, the UK ranks number 17 out of 33 OECD countries for female economic empowerment. We are the sixth richest economy in the world, so surely we can do better than that. My third question to the Minister is: what further plans do the Government have to address the fact that the UK ranks so low in female economic empowerment?
I have the privilege of being a vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence. Let us face it, AI is changing every aspect of modern life, although I am a firm believer that everyone in this Chamber has AI—it is called actual intelligence. But there is no doubt that AI is changing everything. I have had the privilege of speaking about AI in various parts of the world and more recently in America. But there is still a need for more women in science, technology and engineering. I see this as a former chancellor of Bournemouth University and having hosted a number of AI seminars in relation to private and public sector companies. While women are 50% of the UK population, they are only about 22% of the AI profession, according to a number of reports, including research done last year by the Alan Turing Institute called Women in Data Science and AI. What plans do the Government have to further improve gender diversity in the AI profession?
A recent interim report found that NHS maternity and neonatal services in England are failing too many women and families. It cited some shocking reasons, including understaffing, racism, bullying, lack of compassion, lack of transparency in reporting and outdated facilities. The Government are due to consider the final recommendation in June, so will they commit to a statutory public inquiry into this serious health care issue which can compel witnesses to give evidence?
Lastly, we must not forget that women making a contribution to the world is not new. There were prominent women business leaders in the Bible over 2,000 years ago. For example, in the Book of Acts, Lydia ran a fashion company, Priscilla ran an upmarket residence franchise and Queen Candace governed her nation’s economy. There is also Deborah in the Book of Judges, who was the nation’s chief lawyer. In the context of the current Middle East conflict, let us remember Esther from the 17th book in the Bible, in which Queen Esther’s skill and bravery saved the Jewish people from destruction. Maybe if there were more women around the table for peace talks, we would have fewer wars. Those biblical heroines and women of today show that women are a real voice, not just an echo.
Lord Griffiths of Burry Port (Lab)
My Lords, I attend this debate regularly but do not always—or even often—put my name down to speak. I feel that what I need to do in attending the debates is to listen hard to what is being said and to gather some kind of range or spectrum of ideas and issues—things to be happy about and things to concern us—as the debate unfolds. I have put my name down this time and, before moving on to another part of my speech, I just say that I hope that the House has heard the stabbing, persistent and passionate questions of the noble Lord, Lord Bates. Our Parliament should be ashamed of itself of how it—all parties—has handled the question of overseas aid over recent time. It is scandalous. Having worked overseas and knowing that it is women who are at the heart of most of the aid that goes from this country, I believe that we simply cannot allow ourselves to indulge in the normal range of concerns, congratulations and the rest of it.
In August, I am going to be standing in a graveyard in Burry Port, where I come from, by the grave of my mother. It will be the 50th anniversary of her death. If I have been shaped by anybody, it has been by her. When she married young, the marriage did not work out and there was a bitter and acrimonious divorce. My father could afford a lawyer, while my mother could not, and so she was named as the guilty person, evicted from the family home and she went with two boys into homelessness and misery.
I remember my mother’s screams, but I remember even more pertinently her sobbing at the violence she received from my father as he departed from the marriage. It was an extraordinary series of events, culminating after the enactment of the law that gave us national assistance by an application on my mother’s behalf for some benefit from it. She had had a bad injury in the factory where she worked, carrying heavy sheets of steel from one part of the process to another, and she could not work. I will never forget the man with a briefcase who came—petty officials get up my nostrils. She was accused of being a malingerer and was told that she had no right to take money from the state, and the rest of it. I was 10; my brother was nine. We lived in one room in a brickyard. We looked each other in the eye, turned on him, beat him up, kicked him and threw him out. We feared that that would mean that we would have no entitlement to the benefit. Mercifully, the powers that be saw that the man who treated us in that way was himself to be reprimanded.
My mother, who suffered abuse, eviction, homelessness, poverty, misery, pain and injury at work, rose above all of that. She had a translucent personality. She was generous, she never complained, she never pointed the finger at anybody and she was not judgmental. She did not go to church, because she thought that that was judgmental. She smoked. She backed a horse sixpence each way—but only in the big races, she used to tell us. She did her bingo and she loved it. I used to go and post the football coupons for her—to Vernons, it was. And, of course, she was divorced, which was a stigma in those days. None of that dragged her down. She said, by the way, “I’m not going to go to the chapel and give those preachers too much to preach about”. Quite right she was, because I heard a number of those kinds of sermons in my time.
I would like the noble Baroness, Lady Bloomfield, to add Olwen Thomas to the list of great Welsh women that she gave us earlier. I remind myself, as I ask for that, of the wonderful verse by Thomas Gray, his “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”.
“Full many a flow’r is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air”.
My mother was gigantic. I have learnt generosity, not to have a chip on my shoulder and to enjoy life, largely because she shaped me, gave me my platform and all the rest of it.
Let me say one last word. Others have been indulged; I claim the same indulgence. I passed my 11-plus without knowing that I had sat it. When I went to the grammar school, still wearing no underwear, having no pyjamas or anything like that—we were desperately poor—I walked through its door as a poor boy from the lowest level of British society. As I said to some headteachers just two days ago, they must not only think about their concerns, strategies, philosophies and the rest of it. They need to recognise that the schoolchildren coming through the door to their classrooms may have come from the sort of background that I came from. The people who debate the grand themes of this kind in this Chamber should always remember the lowest of the low, who are the ones in most need of benefit. If women mean anything, they would focus on that.
Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)
My Lords, I wholeheartedly welcome this debate and thank the noble Baroness, Lady Lloyd, for her excellent introduction. I declare my interests as co-chair of the APPG on Women, Peace and Security, a steering board member of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative and founding chair of the Afghan Women’s Support Forum. I congratulate all those who have made such excellent maiden speeches today. It is an honour to follow the remarkable and moving speech of the noble Lord, Lord Griffiths, and I thank all the men who have come here on a Friday to support us women.
The UN International Women’s Day theme this year, as we have already heard, is “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls”, but sadly, we have to acknowledge the rolling back of hard-won rights for women across the world today, a situation that I am afraid is exacerbated by this Government’s approach to international development. Not only is aid being slashed but there is an abandonment of funding for education for women and girls and a pivot to working with African leaders, nearly all men, with a poor track record on female issues, be it FGM or child marriage, who now wish to be seen as partners. This means that many of the grass-roots projects that have helped empower women will be abandoned. At a time when the US has abandoned the world’s poorest, the UK should be stepping up, and it is proven that small amounts of money on the ground can be transformative.
Time is short, so I shall focus on the plight of women in conflict countries, which is worse than ever. Last weekend’s events have been truly shocking and, for sure, women will be disproportionately affected. I cannot overlook the school that was bombed and can only imagine the agony of the mothers of all those children killed in Iran. In 2000, UN Security Council Resolution 1325 recognised the disproportionate effect of conflict on women and girls. It was Major General Cammaert who said:
“It is perhaps more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier”
in modern wars. The Red Cross reports that there are over 130 active conflicts in the world today—more than double the number 15 years ago—with civilians bearing the brunt of attacks. How many of these conflicts were started by women? I hazard a guess: none.
From Sudan to Syria, from Ukraine to Gaza, it will be women’s organisations on the ground struggling to help communities. Empirical evidence shows that including women in peace processes makes peace more durable, legitimate and effective. Agreements with women’s participation are 35% more likely to last 15 years. Yet look at the situation today, with so many peace negotiations centred around the Middle East. These countries do not have any women leaders, and we never hear from a woman spokesman about the situation there.
On Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, none of the executive members is a woman, and of the 19 members at the Davos launch there was only one woman. After last weekend, do we really think that President Trump has credibility as a peacemaker? If we are serious about establishing peace, protecting rights and seeking justice for women, we need to have women involved.
Sexual violence continues in every theatre of war. I can never forget hearing Dr Mukwege telling us that 83,000 women in the DRC have been brutally raped and that he and his team repaired women and girls at Panzi Hospital with ages ranging from five into their 80s, as my noble friend Lord Ahmad talked about. However, the UN has highlighted that sexual violence in conflict rose sharply in 2024, with impunity for perpetrators remaining the norm.
The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative was inspiring, so can the Minister tell us why the Government have not appointed a special representative? Last year was the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, and at the event at the FCDO the Foreign Secretary talked about her support for the agenda, but where is the action? Why will the Government not accept the Women, Peace and Security Bill? This would ensure that even if we have Ministers who do not consider this agenda important, it will be embedded in the DNA of UK foreign policy.
Before I end, I have to raise the situation in Afghanistan, which the noble Baronesses, Lady D’Souza and Lady Goudie, have already talked about. It really is the worst country in the world to be a woman. The Taliban has implemented a systematic and comprehensive erasure of women’s rights, with over 100 edicts severely curtailing the ability of women and girls to live, work and move freely in public. It recently introduced a new penal code permitting husbands to physically punish their wives and children—providing no bones are broken, of course. We should not forget that many people there are starving. It is really a shame on the world that this is happening in this day and age.
Rights for women are rolling backwards around the world. We cannot wait to reverse this trend, for, as Gloria Steinem said:
“Don’t think about making women fit the world—think about making the world fit women”.
Baroness Brown of Silvertown (Lab)
My Lords, what a magnificent number of wonderful maiden speeches—a bevy of brilliant new Baronesses. It has been absolutely fabulous.
For my contribution, I will raise how gender inequality exacerbates food insecurity around the world. In doing so, I draw attention to my entry in the register of interests as co-chair of United Against Malnutrition and Hunger.
Today, more than 1 billion adolescent girls and women globally suffer from undernutrition, and two in three women lack essential vitamins and minerals. A lack of access to nutritious foods particularly impacts pregnant and breastfeeding women. Maternal undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and anaemia increase the risk of stillbirths, newborn deaths and post-term and preterm deliveries, as well as impairing foetal development, with lifelong consequences for that child’s health.
In households, despite having higher nutritional needs than men, women often eat last, least and worst. When food is scarce due to conflict or climate, women and girls are often trapped in forced marriages or sexual exploitation to provide food for their families. In Somalia, the number of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity will increase to 6.5 million by the end of this month. This year, 1.8 million children under the age of five are expected to suffer acute malnutrition.
When I read that, I remembered the story of Zala, a Somalian. Her parents struggled to feed her and her siblings, and she had to drop out of school. If not for an intervention by a charity allowing her to provide food for her family, she could have been forced to marry an adult man to relieve her and her family’s food burden. This would have trapped her in a cycle of powerlessness, forced into unwanted pregnancies and the dangers of giving birth as a child. Others in the same village were not so lucky—girls trapped in lifelong servitude, subject to physical and sexual abuse, with no hope of escape or freedom. That is the cost of food insecurity on women and girls.
The hunger crisis in Sudan existed long before the current conflict, but hunger has escalated with the renewed hostilities. Hunger has disproportionately impacted women and girls, with 73% of women in Sudan unable to access enough food to stay healthy. In Haiti, escalating gang violence and economic recessions have driven over half of the population to high levels of food insecurity. Women and girls suffer disproportionately, facing greater obstacles to food, restricted access to health services and high levels of violence, obviously including sexual violence.
Afghanistan has rightly been discussed many times in the Chamber today. There was a nearly 30% increase in hospitalisations for malnutrition among pregnant and breastfeeding women last year, but I fear that that is an absolute underrepresentation of the situation.
In Yemen, 1.7 million pregnant and breastfeeding women were malnourished last year. In the DRC, conflict continues to drive tens of thousands of people from their homes, and by June, 1.5 million pregnant and breastfeeding women will be malnourished and in need of nutritional aid. Sadly, I could go on. If we are to start to break this cycle, it is absolutely essential that we never lose sight of women and girls when delivering nutrition interventions and never lose sight of nutrition in interventions when we say that we are delivering for women and girls.
My right honourable friend the Minister for International Development has made it clear that we will work to advance gender equality and empower women and girls in our international action. It is critical, therefore, that this includes a commitment to protecting nutrition funding, within a reduced international aid budget—particularly for maternal health and for the first thousand days of life—through nutrition-specific interventions, such as antenatal multiple micronutrition supplementation, which is proven and cost-effective. Evidence shows that multiple micronutrient supplementation can prevent mothers from passing malnutrition to their babies, reducing infant death by 29%.
A renewed commitment to the Child Nutrition Fund would be an impactful way of focusing funding. The fund can also leverage significant additional funding through match-funding initiatives by global philanthropies, maximising investment and the impact of every penny we spend at a time of fiscal constraint.
A focus on nutrition would keep women and girls safer from appalling economic choices, ensure that maternal and child health is prioritised and give a real future to those blighted by the scourge of hunger and malnutrition, which goes way beyond the presenting malady.
Baroness Gill (Lab)
My Lords, it is a great honour to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Brown, and take part in this International Women’s Day debate, especially on this special day, when so many of our newly ennobled women made their brilliant maiden speeches. We have heard of their remarkable achievements. They are inspiring additions to your Lordships’ House.
Today’s debate marks a milestone for Sikh women across all areas of British life. There has been much to celebrate since I was first elected in 1999, notably the first five Sikh-heritage female MPs elected in 2024 in the other place, and I was honoured recently to join these Benches, too. We now have Sikh Labour women across both Houses.
Women of Sikh heritage are in every field of life, from leading King’s Counsels, judges, professionals, academics and creatives to achievers of amazing feats, such as “Polar Preet” walking across Antarctica. We have much to be proud of.
Nevertheless, there are many concerns in our society for Sikh women. A recent report by Sikh Women’s Aid highlighted that two-thirds of respondents experienced domestic abuse, although—a little differently—in the extended family context, the perpetrators can also be other women.
More worryingly, there have been several incidents of racially motivated rape targeted at Sikh women. That has heightened insecurity among the community. This development needs urgent action by local law officers.
In addressing these challenges, the House has regularly raised concerns about online misogyny—in this debate, many of your Lordships have made reference to it, recognising that women who stand up or speak out are more likely to suffer from extreme levels of abuse and threats of violence.
As we progress with accelerated speed toward artificial intelligence becoming part of our everyday lives, I fear for how this will affect ordinary women’s lives. Whether it is automated human resources or assessments about opening a bank account, it is likely that an algorithm will be deciding. We should all be concerned, because the vast majority of those writing the codes and algorithms are likely to be men.
I had the opportunity to work in the tech sector, albeit a decade or so ago. I was staggered—as we have already heard—that so few women work in the sector, not just in the UK but worldwide. Of course, there are always high-flying household names in the US, but they are the exception as opposed to the rule. Most of the women in the senior jobs I came across were in generic areas, such as HR, communications or public policy—as I was.
I beg noble Lords’ indulgence as I share some statistics. Last December, in its report, BCS Gender Diversity in the Tech Sector Report, the British Computer Society, the Chartered Institute for IT, noted:
“There were 441,000 female IT specialists in the UK … 22% of all IT specialists in the UK”.
If we had equality between the sexes, there would have been at least 1 million.
The report also noted that women earn 12% less than their male counterparts and are more likely to be part-time. However, for me, a shocking statistic was that only 0.6% of employees in this growing sector are Black women. The women who are in this sector are more likely to be unemployed and less likely to be self-employed, and only one in 20 is an IT engineer. The figures are a little better if you are a project or programme manager, although not in all cases: in manufacturing, only 11% of IT employees are women.
What really disappoints me is that the representation of women in senior executive roles has not changed since I was there. It is a truly shameful record that does not inspire confidence in the projected AI-dominated future. I welcome the statement made by the Minister, the noble Baroness, Lady Lloyd of Effra, at the start of this debate—I am hugely encouraged by her emphasis on addressing concerns in the tech sector—but I emphasise that the one point the Government must address is greater participation of BAME women in STEM learning.
I acknowledge the challenges around the safety of and opportunities for women and girls, but it is vital that, today, we recognise the success and value that all women and girls across the country bring to British society.
Baroness Morrissey (Con)
My Lords and fellow Baronesses, I add my sincere congratulations and a very warm welcome to the five noble Baronesses who have all made such wonderful and inspiring maiden speeches today. I thank the Minister for holding this debate and the House for continuing to mark International Women’s Day every year.
As we have heard, there is still so much to be done, both here in the UK and around the world, to achieve even basic levels of safety and security, as well as opportunity, for women and girls. It is vital that we keep the spotlight on these issues but, of course, actions speak much louder than words, so I applaud so many Members of this House across all Benches for their hard work in so many areas. Collective efforts are absolutely critical, because these issues are far too numerous to be solved by any single person or initiative. Whether we refer to “Give to Gain” or “Rights, Justice, Action”, both those themes are clearly renewed calls to action for all of us.
My own efforts currently focus on encouraging girls to be more ambitious and on helping women fulfil their career potential. I am afraid that, on the latter in particular, we often seem to take one step forward, only then to take one or even two steps back. I know that puzzles many people because, obviously, we know that women are, on average, more highly qualified than men—although not necessarily the men here today.
Companies run plenty of special programmes to help women progress, yet the results speak for themselves. We are going backwards in Britain, certainly in terms of female CEOs. As the noble Baroness, Lady Martin of Brockley, told us in her maiden speech, just eight FTSE CEOs are now women, down from a not-too-high peak of 10 two years ago. Progress is also achingly slow in the broader index and on executive committees. People often describe the problem as one of childcare costs and societal attitudes, but I do not think that that explains it completely. Sweden has had equal parental policies for 50 years, for example, but still just 14% of its CEOs are female; that is the highest of all western nations but, obviously, it is still an awfully long way from parity.
I appreciate that this might not seem to be the most important issue affecting women today, but I believe that a key root cause has much in common with the tragedies and travesties such as Sarah Everard’s murder five years ago and the grooming gangs—which really should be called rape gangs. I believe that that root cause is a pervasive tendency for many people to turn a blind eye to bad behaviours against women.
There is little point in having wonderful corporate programmes to develop women’s careers if at the same time there is a culture of “Hear no evil, see no evil, say no evil”. As Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey put it about the Epstein scandal:
“the very fundamental question … for all of us, is how is it that we live in a society in which this happens—and the cover-up happened as well?”
I want to look specifically at what was said at the time of the appointment of Jes Staley as Barclay’s CEO in 2015. The Daily Mail first ran a story about Staley’s links to Epstein on 25 October 2015, alleging that Epstein had “backed him for the” Barclays CEO job three years previously. Barclays announced Staley’s appointment just two days after the Mail ran its story, with the then chairman describing Staley as
“a man of enormous integrity”,
even though he said he knew him only through the recruitment process.
Four years later, even as the regulators were raising more questions about Staley’s relationship with the convicted sex offender—and after they had fined him over £640,000 for trying to uncover the identity of a whistleblower—a second, new chairman of Barclays did not judge that the Epstein matter warranted a full board discussion. In February 2020, by which point a regulatory investigation was fully under way, Barclays was still insisting that Staley had the board’s “full confidence”. Staley eventually resigned in November 2021 after regulators concluded he had mischaracterised his relationship with Epstein and, as your Lordships will know, he is now subject, finally, to a lifetime ban from UK financial services.
There have been far too many serious misconduct scandals in recent years involving financiers, business leaders and politicians whose behaviours were hidden in plain sight, with people not asking the right or perhaps even any questions. It is hardly surprising that the behaviours persisted, and it should certainly come as no surprise that there are so few women who are willing to stay and battle their way to the top where they might be able to improve things.
Sexism in the City and beyond will never end as long as people turn a blind eye to sexual harassment, but I am more optimistic now that the tide could start to change with the powerful combination of new regulations around “non-financial misconduct” and the restrictions on companies’ use of non-disclosure agreements to cover up bad behaviours as set out in the Employment Rights Act.
There may also be a silver lining from Epstein’s very dark cloud and how it has enveloped so many who were previously regarded for so long as “the great and the good”; that is, that “everybody knew”—and chose to turn a blind eye—really does become a thing of the past. On International Women’s Day, that surely would be something to celebrate.
Baroness Hyde of Bemerton (Lab)
I congratulate my noble friends, my sisters on these Benches, on their stellar maiden speeches. I declare an interest: I am the executive member for health and social care at Islington Council.
My Lords and Ladies, like other sisters in your Lordships’ House, I have a range of appalling personal experiences and those of my family and friends that I could draw on to make illustrative points in these debates. Instead, today, I am lighting a candle rather than cursing the darkness. I want to celebrate some extraordinary women and their work to end male violence against women and girls. We need to share these stories of hope, sisterhood and solidarity to nourish us all as we persist in the costly fight to eliminate violence in all its forms against all women.
I want to tell your Lordships’ House about the incredible work of Catherine Briody and Karolina Bober at Islington Council, who, funded by their fabulous Labour council—I refer your Lordships to my earlier declaration—have overseen the development of a multi-agency, daily safeguarding meeting replacing the monthly MARAC. That has enabled it to support 728 survivors in the last year. Over four years of operation, it has reduced its repeat referrals to 18%, increased engagement with survivors from 18% to 88%, and enabled a sevenfold increase in civil and legal protection orders. Because it is daily, Catherine and Karolina are also able to check that those proposed actions are actually completed and to track their outcomes, so they know that their work is life changing.
Catherine and Karolina have also pioneered work in Islington with She Is Not Your Rehab, in particular working with young men to prevent the occurrence and recurrence of violence against women. Their model with men acknowledges, “Your childhood trauma wasn’t your fault, but your healing is now your responsibility”. It works through building relationships and accountability. When founder Matt Brown spoke to 300 boys at a school locally, 100 of those boys contacted him afterwards to share their stories and their pain. Boys need and want this invitation to talk and to be seen. This emphasis on preventing perpetration in the borough is also bolstered by this Labour Government’s huge investment in perpetrator work, getting upstream and preventing new victims.
The other trailblazer I want to celebrate today is Natalie Collins, survivor and founder of Own My Life, a programme that has enabled 20,000 women to recover and live their best lives following violence and abuse. The first time I met Natalie, we were in a very austere boardroom at a pretty traditional Christian charity, and she was monologuing loudly about vaginas. “I like Natalie”, I thought. Beyond her gregarious, joyful exterior, I discovered Natalie as an ally, a person with huge heart and an utterly razor-sharp mind who thinks constantly about how we can structurally and strategically eliminate violence against women and girls, so I want to celebrate today the women courageously taking back ownership of their lives, supported by Own My Life practitioners. I want to celebrate the female police officer in London, abused by her partner, who not only stayed at the Met after feeling she should resign but has now been promoted and is seeing CPS decisions changed so that more perpetrators are charged, and the woman in the south-west who was suicidal but is now living her best life.
Natalie sent me some quotes from participants. One said:
“Own My Life is effective and life-changing in ways I can’t think anything else would be. I have spent more than 30 years in a coercive relationship that I couldn’t leave, despite multiple professionals advising me to do so. I’ve now done it in the space of 12 weeks”.
Another woman simply stated:
“This course gave my children their mum back”.
As well as her astonishing work through Own My Life, Natalie worked with other survivors of her rapist ex-husband’s abuse to bring joint cases to ensure a successful prosecution for the repeated rapes and domestic abuse. Their story has recently been told in the BBC documentary, “Lover, Liar, Predator”. It is not an easy watch, but it is a recommended one.
Humans are wounded in relationships, and yet that too is where we experience healing. Natalie, Jenni, Shannon and Robyn enabled a successful prosecution of that serial rapist because they did so together. She Is Not Your Rehab’s work is effective because of the relationships and group work that allow accountability and ownership, rather than engendering shame.
This painful, profound work is always collaborative. This International Women’s Day, I want to celebrate these awesome sisters, Kathryn, Karolina and Natalie, and remind us that the path to eliminating violence is a path trod in solidarity, led by survivors and never a solo pursuit. As Shannon states powerfully at the end of that documentary,
“That’s how we break his power over us, by being together”.
Lord Patel (CB)
Noble Baronesses, right reverend Prelate and Lords, it is a privilege to take part in a debate that marks International Women’s Day on my youngest, formidable granddaughter’s birthday and to listen to so many powerful speeches from noble Baronesses, not just the maiden speeches, which were all brilliant, but all noble Baronesses’ speeches. I might have been expected to speak about the need to improve women’s health in England, but the noble Baroness, Lady Sugg, is a better advocate than I could ever be, so I will tear up that bit of my speech and move on.
In an International Women’s Day debate in another year, I spoke of HeLa cells, so called because they are cancer cells obtained without consent from a young, Black, uneducated woman named Henrietta Lacks, who suffered from an aggressive form of cervical cancer. These cells are the first human immortal cells, and today, 70 years after the death of Henrietta Lacks, they still survive as cultures in laboratories all over the world. Research using these cells has resulted in many treatments, including the development of the human papillomavirus vaccine for cervical cancer, the use of which will, I hope, one day end women getting cervical cancer. Pharmaceutical companies have benefited hugely from treatments developed using HeLa cells, yet Henrietta Lacks’ family remain poor.
Today, I will speak briefly to celebrate the achievements of brilliant women scientists in the United Kingdom who are the driving force in finding cures for cancers, including cancers that affect women. I would have loved to name them all but time does not allow me, so I will mention only a few.
Dr Nguyen created an atomic-level model of the enzyme telomerase to better understand cancer cell immortality and drug development. Professor Fitzgerald developed a method for early and less invasive diagnosis of oesophageal cancer. Professor Plummer was the pioneer of PARP inhibitors, a class of cancer drugs that are now standard treatment for BRCA-related cancers such as breast and ovarian cancers. Professor Dive developed liquid biopsies of biomarkers for early detection and monitoring that will lead to early diagnosis of many cancers. Professor Bryant worked on drug development to kill cancer cells. Professor Thistlethwaite developed CAR T-cell immunotherapy, a successful treatment for certain rare cancers. Professor Seligmann conducted research to make chemotherapy safer. Professor Beral carried out a study of 1 million women on cancer risks for women. Dr Jamal-Hanjani progressed the understanding of cancer cell survival in advanced cancers and of finding treatments. There are others, such as Dr Kitson, Professor Balkwill—regarded as one of the finest women scientists in the world—and Professor Psaila working on cancers that primarily affect women.
The UK has huge strength in life sciences research, not just in cancer research, and is strongly driven by brilliant women scientists. UK women scientists are ranked second only to those in the USA, with many featuring in the top 1% of highly cited academics. For only the second time in history, the 2026 Blavatnik awards were awarded to three young women scientists: Dr Nguyen, Dr Roessler, and Dr Pinilla.
More girls now taking up STEM subjects bodes well for the future of UK science. Some 57% of PhD students in CRUK institutes are women; at the same time, only 29% reach group leader positions. That needs to change
I have been privileged to be trusted by thousands of women to look after them during their pregnancies, for some at a very anxious time. If it were not for that, I would not be here.
Baroness Davies of Devonport (Con)
My Lords, it is an honour to be here today to celebrate International Women’s Day and to hear the speeches of so many noble Lords, including such interesting maiden speeches, on which I add my congratulations.
I cannot start any other way than by recognising the struggles of women around the world who are not being treated as equals, and most especially to express solidarity with the women of Afghanistan and Iran, who are fighting so bravely for their education, freedom to wear what they want, and even the right to have a voice in public. These are things that we take for granted here in the West. The world is watching as we try to enable half of the world to have the same rights as the other half. It was inspiring to watch the brave Iranian women’s football team abstain from singing the national anthem in protest last Monday at the Asian Cup.
As everyone knows, my area of expertise is sport and physical activity. For 10 years now, I have been working for equal rights for females to have their own space in sport, based simply on safety and fairness in competition. All my life, I have worked to get more people to be able to do sport; that means sport for everybody. I am passionate about the positivity, resilience and confidence that being active brings, both physically and mentally, which is massively underacknowledged and underappreciated. Exercise releases nature’s anti-depressants.
Women, however, get just 5% of all the money that is in the world of sport, and less than 4% of prime-time media coverage. I spent a year writing Unfair Play, a book all about inequalities and injustices in the world of sports. In our research, we found that, on an average day, there were 20 men’s sports stories to every one story on women.
Right now, here in the UK, boys get 280 million more hours of sport each year than girls, and they get access to a wider range of sports. Some 340,000 more girls than boys are excluded from sport due to costs. Over half of girls say that seeing role models encourages them to play sport, but where are those role models?
Noble Lords would be forgiven if they thought women’s sport was getting more exposure, because in some sports, of course, it is. Football, rugby and cricket have been getting better coverage, and that is brilliant to see, but it has been at the expense of other sports and a diversity of sport, and it has been regular coverage rather than blanket coverage during major tournaments, which is what we see the most. If I asked noble Lords to name just five present-day competing female athletes in five different sports, I think they would probably really struggle. The BBC has even lost the television rights to this year’s home Commonwealth Games—a multisport event. You will have to watch it on pay-per-view. This is the first time that has happened in my lifetime.
Females are often relegated to unsuitable equipment, inconvenient time slots, less investment into research, and the use of leftover sports facilities after men have had first dibs. I recently spoke to a group of elite female rugby players who cannot use the club’s state-of-the-art main training facility because it does not have floodlights—the women have to work during the day when, of course, the men do not. Stadiums in this country are not even built with automatic male and female changing rooms. We require a UK version of the great American Title IX. That is on my to-do list.
At my first Olympics, when I was just 13 years old—just yesterday—I was outnumbered four to one. This is an area where we have made great improvement at elite level, but it does not work its way down. We now lose girls from sport at 11 and 12 when it used to be 15 and 16. We need to think outside the box on how we engage young girls to stay involved in physical activity. If that means putting hairdryers in school changing rooms and bringing in Zumba classes, we need to do that. Presently, 2 million hours are lost to girls who skip PE every year.
What is so often overlooked is the confidence that participating in sport brings. Fabulous research in the USA shows us that over 50% of all female CEOs have come from a background where sport played a big part in their life. It gave them confidence and ambition. If we deter girls from sport, we lose that resilience, that achievement and the desire to go on.
That is why it is so important that we give girls and women their own sports category at all levels, not just elite, because all women and girls are worthy, not just the best ones. Female sport is not a consolation prize or a support structure; it is there for women and girls. Peer-reviewed science shows us that we cannot remove all male physical advantage—the difference remains huge and consistent. When presented with unfairness, females just exclude themselves.
The same applies to privacy in changing rooms. Some 83% of girls and young women aged between 16 and 24 have reported sexual assault or harassment in sports facilities. Changing villages, although cheaper for councils, are a haven for voyeurism. We must deal in facts and statistics, not feelings, because the feelings of women and girls are being utterly ignored at the moment.
I know it was a long time ago, but my own sport, swimming—one of the biggest participation sports and a life-saving skill—used to be on screens four or five times per year. Today, we are lucky if we get it on the television once a year. Remember, not every little girl wants to be a footballer—although football is a great sport, of course. We need role models across lots of different sports. We have to start telling our young athletes that they are important.
When advantages affect men’s sport, they are dealt with extremely quickly—take, for example, carbon shoes or sharkskin swimsuits—and are either removed in weeks or made available to everybody. But when unfairness affects women’s sports, it is treated differently. So far, it has taken me 10 years and counting, and we are not there yet.
In 1998, the IOC asked its female athletes whether they wanted sex screening to remain. Well over 80% said yes, but the IOC still removed it. Why ask women the question if we are just going to be ignored? It is very likely that we will see its reinstatement across all sport this year, but it has taken us 26 years to get it back. In the meantime, women and girls have walked away from something that has a huge positive effect on their lives and, of course, helps their mental health, which at the moment is probably at its lowest ebb ever.
I have never wanted anyone excluded from sport, but it is not beyond our skills to find ways to include everyone without ruining the experience and opportunities of 51% of our population. They are worthy of a level playing field too. I can honestly say, after 50 years of being involved in sport, that it has given me resilience and confidence, which I have definitely needed over the past few years. At the moment, we are taking that away from our young children. We need to make sure that we can find more space for them.
Lord Young of Norwood Green (Lab)
My Lords, as somebody once said, at this stage in the debate, anything that can be said has already been said, but not by everyone. I find myself in that position so, if I repeat a few things, it is not surprising.
The UN introduction to this, which says that we should be focusing on rights, justice and action for all women and girls, is absolutely right. It made me immediately think of the enormous contribution made by young Iranian women who fought for the right just to wear what they wanted—and whether they want to cover their hair—a right that, in this country, young women take for granted.
I congratulate the Minister on introducing this International Women’s Day debate. It is also a fantastic privilege to have five maiden speeches; they have all been so different and so interesting. I cannot wait for the impact that the noble Baronesses will have on the House. If I do not pay a personal tribute to each of them, it is because I do not want to go over time.
So many interesting things have been raised in this debate. I will add my endorsement of the noble Lord, Lord Bates, because we do have to answer that justified criticism. I pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, for drawing our attention to the tragedies that take place in war, which mainly impact women. My good friend, the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, raised the importance of everybody learning our language. If people do not learn our language, they are ghettoised and more likely to be discriminated against. It is also interesting that, during this debate, two noble Baronesses—I do not give their names because my notes are too scruffy—raised the important fact that, when boys do not do well, they are likely to be the next generation of misogynists. It is in our interest to ensure that we deal with that situation.
I have here today two friends of mine. I hope they have enjoyed the debate; they have sat through a lot of it. I brought them here because both have played a part in education and in housing, and both are significant women where I live, in Ealing. I hope that they have enjoyed the debate.
We have had so much good advice. I had forgotten, until the noble Baroness, Lady Brady, reminded me, that she had that little job of running a football team. I apologise that I had forgotten all about it. I am sure that she was received without the slightest bit of misogyny when she first took that job. I thank her for inviting me. She rose to the challenge, which is probably the most important thing.
We know that we have to deal with the issue of all the stuff that is coming out online. That is probably one of the biggest challenges that we face. It is so corrupting for the next generation—not just for boys but for girls as well. I see that as a top priority. I am conscious that this has been a very long debate. I have tried to ensure that I end as near as damn it on time, so I have just a couple of points that I want to raise at the end.
First, I am proud of my daughter, Laura, who is a junior hospital doctor in Northwick Park Hospital and making such a great contribution. Secondly, are things getting any better? This is one that noble Lords probably will not believe but, as I use public transport quite a lot, I have noticed more men are pushing buggies. I never noticed that 20 years ago, so they must be taking a bit more care. Finally, I have a question for the Minister. Can she explain how the Government’s childcare reforms will expand opportunity and support more women to stay in or return to work?
Baroness Nye (Lab)
My Lords, I too would like to pay tribute to the wonderful maiden speeches from the women today. I have had the privilege of working with all of them—in the case of my noble friend Lady Linforth, for too many years to mention. I feel somehow that a new APPG is being formed on the transition from back room to front of house.
On this International Women’s Day, I begin by recognising the remarkable courage of Gisèle Pelicot, a survivor whose advocacy has become a powerful force for change. She has inspired many through her determination to shift the burden of shame away from victims and firmly on to perpetrators. Her work stands as a reminder that survival itself is an act of resistance, and that the voices of survivors must be central to reform. Yet, for every woman able to speak publicly, there are too many who cannot. We heard from my noble friend Lady Casey the list of women whose lives have so tragically been cut short this year because of violence by men. However, that list does not include the number of women who take the desperate decision to take their lives following domestic abuse, because those deaths are vastly under-recorded.
It is thought that official statistics may capture as little as 6% of suicides where domestic abuse is a contributing factor. A recent regional study from Kent found that one-third of all suicides between 2018 and 2024 involved domestic abuse. If reflected across the UK, as many as 1,500 women each year may be committing suicide because of abuse, up to 15 times higher than previously recognised. This means that women experiencing abuse may now be more likely to die by suicide than by homicide. This is not only a tragedy, but a profound institutional failure.
The Government’s Tackling Violence against Women and Girls Strategy, rightly highlights the lack of professional curiosity that has so often characterised institutional responses to these deaths. The Government know that it is vital that police officers acknowledge the link between domestic abuse and suicide and are working to make sure that understanding is effectively embedded. But policing cannot shoulder this burden alone. The NHS has a crucial role in prevention. In far too many cases, there has been repeated contact with health services. It is shocking that 85% of victims ask for help five times before they receive the support they need. GPs are often the first port of call, and every doctor, nurse and healthcare worker must be trained to be confident in spotting the hidden agenda that can lie behind routine appointments. We also need to ensure better data sharing across the NHS between GPs, A&E and mental health services, so that the warning signs are not lost in silos. These women deserve far better. We need to address under-reporting, improve investigative standards and reform the way abuse-linked suicides are identified and recorded.
As we confront violence against women in our own communities, we must also recognise that such violence is not confined within our national borders. In that respect, I refer the House to my entry in the register because, as a trustee of the Burma Campaign UK, I know how women and girls in Myanmar continue to face widespread and systemic sexual violence in the ongoing conflict. The situation in Myanmar remains one of the gravest humanitarian and human rights crises of our time. Before and after the military coup in 2021, the Burmese army has systematically weaponised sexual violence as a tactic of war, escalating a long-standing pattern of rape, gang rape and sexual torture to terrorise and crush resistance. Now, credible testimony shows that the Arakha Army in Rakhine State is adopting the same tactics, also perpetuating rape and torture, mainly against Rohingya women and girls in detention centres.
As the penholder on Myanmar at the UN Security Council, Britain has a responsibility to take a lead. However, unlike the US, Canada and the EU, it has been more than a year since the British Government brought in any new sanctions to reduce money, arms or equipment, including jet fuel, reaching the Burmese military. There have been no sanctions at all on any member of the Arakan Army responsible for these atrocities. Will the Minister ask the Foreign Secretary, as a matter of urgency, to look at further sanctions? The people of Burma need a signal that the world is watching and that the perpetrators of these crimes cannot act with impunity, because the women and girls deserve no less.
Baroness Burt of Solihull (LD)
I was just having a little nap there—as if I could be, after all the absolutely brilliant speeches we have had today; they have been quite remarkable. I start by welcoming the newcomers to this House; it was absolutely fascinating learning about the diversity of their experience, and I am so looking forward to hearing from them when they get going. I am absolutely delighted that we have so many very clever women on the Benches now—not that there were none before, but you know what I mean.
It is just impossible to cover all the issues that we have talked about today. I am not going to have to do this again, which I am thoroughly thankful for, because this is my 11th and last speech that I shall be making in this House to celebrate International Women’s Day. I shall be retiring very soon.
Baroness Burt of Solihull (LD)
I like that “ah”.
I use the word “celebrate” advisedly, because over the years some issues change, but the basic premise that most women are more vulnerable and have fewer opportunities than men persists—and I am talking only about this country, where we, in the main, have far better treatment and more equal rights compared to men than in many others. We have been listening to harrowing descriptions of some actions by men in power. We do not need to look very far to see the names of those men who are making the lives of women, and men as well, all over the world, just that little bit impoverished. The sooner they go, the better, as far as I am concerned—but I should not really be saying things that are disrespectful to people with whom we are supposedly working for a better world. I look forward to the “better world” bit.
I was just thinking about the world itself and where you would go, if you were looking for explanations or ideas as to how we improve things for women. You probably have to go to the Scandinavian countries to see examples of true equality. I heard a lovely story of a young boy who was talking to his mum, and he was incredulous to discover that his country, Iceland, could have a male Prime Minister. So that is very sweet—but it illustrates the fact that we have a long, long way to go.
I do not want to patronise the House by going into the difference between what is a man and what is a woman. The noble Baroness, Lady Jenkin, was talking about the pornification of society and how it puts girls off growing up to be women. On reflection, I do not think I would want to adopt male attributes; I just want more equal rights. This is not so much the case today, but when I was little, I would have loved to have been a boy, but I have discovered that there are advantages to being a woman and being in that particular club. I kind of get why women would want to change to men, but why, oh why, would a male want to become female and accept fewer rights, unless of course they felt genuinely disembodied—that is, in the wrong body? My attitude to people who want to change sex has always been: “Come on in. Be what you want to be. We’ve got one life, so why live it in the wrong body?”
Ever since I took on this equalities role, I have been trying to figure out why some women do not want people of other sexes to join their club, as it were, but want the exclusiveness of the sex that they were born into. In my personal view, it would be better to welcome them to the ongoing fight because, as we have learned today, there is so much more that we need to fight for—there certainly is plenty. I have never understood why, and I probably never will. As a woman, I have grown to love the sisterhood that we all share. Isn’t it lovely that we can have a day when we celebrate our individuality as the sex that we are?
Anyway, let us leave aside what is happening to women who want to change. I also do not want to dwell on what is happening to women in other countries that repress women. International politics and treatment is too much to cover, and I want my outgoing speech as equalities spokesperson to be positive, just for once. I would love to take a moment to look at the other end of the telescope, as it were, and count a few of the blessings that we enjoy as women. In the UK, men and women fight together to improve the lot of women. We get a lot of support from men, and I am delighted to see the number of men who not only have attended but have taken part today. Of course there is misogyny, harassment and so on, but many improvements are in the process of being made.
In law, we are dealing with the justice Bill, with a more understanding approach to the pressure and challenge of being a witness. Women who are victims are, in the main, supported and more sheltered than they have ever been. Getting justice as a victim of sexual crime is always a huge challenge—the figures for perpetrators brought to court, let alone prosecuted, are, I think everyone here will agree, miserable—but we have champions: people like, as the noble Baroness, Lady Nye, mentioned, Gisèle Pelicot, who refuses to take ownership of the shame of multiple horrible rapes. An inspiration, n’est-ce pas?
The noble Baroness, Lady Davies of Devonport, just pointed out the inequalities in much sport. I was going to put this down as a plus on my list, because I had not realised that there are a lot of issues relating to women’s sport that we do not appreciate have happened—or I certainly did not. There is far less concentration on sports that we are still really good at, but for which we do not necessarily get the funding, or equal treatment as second-class citizens, basically.
Speaking of which, in health we have more complicated bits inside than men. Many areas of health were ignored and women’s pain demeaned because men do not understand or have to endure the same pain. That, however, has improved hugely. I am very happy that we are in that situation now and we look forward to learning rather more. We are becoming more equal, but improvement is glacially paced, I am afraid.
All in all, for British women, things are on the up, not least because there are more of us in positions to make decisions—and we are there with our sisters as well. We can help pull each other up the ladder and we can all be there, men and women. It will not work otherwise. We are the ones who understand and have special skills in abundance—empathy, et cetera—that will make the world better for one another and across the world itself.
Sisters and brothers, it has been a fascinating day. Despite all the bad things, we are on the up. The more we do it together, the better it will be. As a colleague from the Labour Benches said earlier, let us focus on the light and not look too far into the darkness. Let us march forward together.
Baroness Barran (Con)
My Lords, it is a pleasure to speak in this debate and I, too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Lloyd, for securing it. It is an unusual debate because it feels really quite personal. Not only are all of we, noble Lords and Baronesses, in the room but, on many occasions, our mothers, grandmothers and other significant women in our lives are here in spirit.
I start by acknowledging the excellent maiden speeches. The noble Baroness, Lady Nargund, talked about justice, equality and service in her family not just being aspirations, but her reality. That, I think, resonated with all of us. She also mentioned that compassion must be matched by competence. I say “Hear, hear” to that.
The noble Baroness, Lady Linforth, talked about her tea-making skills and her ability to spot errant nonsense a mile away. I urge her to focus on the second, rather than the first. I was also relieved to hear that being asked to do ludicrous things is a cross-party phenomenon.
The noble Baroness, Lady MacLeod of Camusdarach, will bring great value to the House. It was a joy to listen to her make the case for the importance of high-quality journalism in a world of misinformation and fake news. She also painted the most beautiful picture of life in the Highlands, an area that I am incredibly fond of, and the importance of the Gaelic language.
I felt that the speech by the noble Baroness, Lady Martin, was an example in real modesty. It was incredibly self-effacing. She got to almost the end of it without mentioning herself and focused on others throughout. I predict that, in her focus on economic growth and the role of women in that, she may form alliances with my noble friend Lady Brady in putting her foot on the accelerator of progress.
Last, but definitely not least, I welcome the noble Baroness, Lady Paul, with her focus on working-class boys and the importance of education. She talked about learning from the House and I felt very much that we would be learning from her. I just wanted to say to all the noble Baronesses that we really do try work in a cross-party way in this House, which is often when we do our best work. I hope that they will move forward in that spirit.
Finally, like the noble Baroness, Lady Caine, I acknowledge the earliest women who joined your Lordships’ house following the Life Peerages Act, the first maiden speech being made by Katharine Elliot, Baroness Elliot of Harwood, who acknowledged the trepidation we all feel when making our maiden speech. She said that she had
“always found in life that if there is something difficult to do it does not get any easier when you do not do it but put it off”.—[Official Report, 4/11/1958; col. 161.]
She sounds like a great addition to the House. She also noted that, with the exception of Her Majesty’s opening of Parliament, hers was the first occasion in 900 years that the voice of a woman had been heard in your Lordships’ House.
Turning to the extraordinary speeches that we have heard across all Benches, the theme which ran through all of them was one of fairness and equality of opportunity in public life, which is dear to the hearts of all of us who are privileged enough to sit in your Lordships’ House. I acknowledge the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, and the work of the Jo Cox Foundation. As a former Minister of Loneliness, I was fortunate to work a bit with the foundation and meet Jo’s parents. Her focus on respect and trust in public life is needed perhaps more today than when she advocated for it.
I am sure that I speak on behalf of all the House in acknowledging the contribution from the noble Baroness, Lady Campbell of Surbiton. She is an extraordinary role model of courage, talent and professionalism on behalf of disabled women. I also mention my noble friend Lady Davies of Devonport’s speech. She made such a strong case for the importance of inclusion of women in sport, including those with almost no talent. I was extremely relieved to know that I was on the team.
There was also, quite rightly, a big focus among your Lordships on the importance of women’s contribution to the economy: from the Minister, my noble friend Lady Bloomfield, the noble Baroness, Lady Hunter of Auchenreoch, who is not in her place, and my noble friend Lady Brady. I was slightly appalled that we have not even hit the starting gun as women in terms of our 72 free days of work and absolutely support her call to accelerate action. I thank very much my noble friend Lady Morrissey for her work supporting the careers of women. I am sure that, with her leadership, it will soon be two steps forward and maybe not even one backwards.
Rightly, we also heard very powerful voices in relation to the situation internationally. We all think of the women in Iran and Afghanistan in particular, but we also heard, sadly, including from the noble Baroness, Lady Nye, of cases in many other countries around the world. We were surrounded by such authority from my noble friends Lord Ahmad, Lady Sugg, Lord Bates and Lady Hodgson, the noble Baronesses, Lady D’Souza and Lady Goudie, and the noble Lord, Lord McConnell, among others. The point made at the outset of this debate by the noble Baroness, Lady D’Souza, that gender equality is elusive and can slip away from us, was echoed by my noble friend Lady Sugg. The noble Baroness spoke in relation to education and my noble friend in relation to health. Importantly, my noble friends Lord Ahmad and Lady Hodgson spoke of the terrible curse of sexual violence in conflict. The Government will have heard the calls for more action on these issues from across the House.
I commend my noble friend, as I think she is—she was outside the House and I am hoping she still is—the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, for reading the names of the women who have lost their lives, having been killed by men known to them. I had hoped to recruit her for the APPG for parliamentarians with weak tear ducts, but she did so extraordinarily bravely today that I am afraid she is no longer eligible.
Many noble Lords talked about the attitudes which underpin violence against women and girls. These are perhaps exemplified, if that is the right word, most horrifically by Jeffrey Epstein, but also by the courage of women such as Gisèle Pelicot to reject that. We heard from my noble friend Lady Verma about the importance of addressing violence against women and girls, and from the noble Baroness, Lady Gohir, about the particular impact on Muslim women.
I was struck by the huge focus from many of your Lordships on online harm, and particularly the impact on young women. That included child sexual abuse material online, which the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Llanfaes, talked about, and the pornification that, as my noble friend Lady Jenkins said, is silently creeping into our children’s lives, and of course the risk of radicalisation, which the noble Baroness, Lady Paul, referred to.
I want to end on a slightly personal note and mention one woman who I think we all miss, Baroness Newlove. She was a tireless campaigner in relation to crime and the criminal justice system and victims, who died within the last year. I want to mention briefly the women in this House on my Benches—there are many around the House—who have inspired me, including my noble friends Lady Bertin and Lady Owen, who have campaigned tirelessly on the most difficult subjects. I want to mention my noble friend Lady Jenkin, who has done so much to bring women into public and political life, and has the most incredible nose for what the next issue that will gain momentum will be. If she says to you, “I’m getting interested in X”, my advice is be interested in X. A former colleague of mine, the honourable Member for Lowestoft, Jess Asato, has suffered the most terrible abuse online. I pay tribute to her courage in dealing with it.
Finally, like many noble Lords, I have spent a lot of time outside this House in recent months working on the risks that social media poses to women and girls and to young boys. I thank and acknowledge the inspiration I have received from the groups working on it, including Health Professionals for Safer Screens, Generation Focus and SafeScreens, and in particular my “smartphone ban” WhatsApp group—it wakes me up in the morning with cheerful messages, and I often go to sleep reading the last message. They have been tireless, constructive, honest and brave throughout.
Most importantly, I acknowledge the parents who have lost children as a result of social media: Esther Ghey, mother of Brianna; Ellen Roome, mother of Jools; Hollie Dance, mother of Archie; Mariano Janin, father—the honorary mother in this context—of Mia; Lorin LaFave Gordon, mother of Breck; and Lisa Kenevan, mother of Isaac. We give a voice to them in this House, and we all know that it is the most enormous privilege.
To go back to the first women Peers in this House, they were described as
“making history without unduly disturbing it”.
I hope that noble Lords—new and less new—will go on making history and will disturb it as much as is needed.
The Minister of State, Office for Equality and Opportunity (Baroness Smith of Malvern) (Lab)
What a splendid debate we have had today.
I recognise the excellent maiden speeches we have heard. My noble friend Lady Nargund vividly described her and her family’s journey from south-west India and her family’s history of struggle, which I have no doubt will inform her contributions to our House. Given the story she told, perhaps we should hand out sweets to everybody in the House of Lords to celebrate her arrival here. I know that her NHS experience will also be brought to bear on our discussions.
I turn to my noble friend Lady Linforth. All of us who have been Labour Party members over recent years will wholly understand the comments of those who have said how much relief you feel when you see Carol Linforth, as she then was, in charge of some very tricky events. She has made a phenomenal contribution to our party. As others have noted, stopping errant nonsense from men in the Labour Party is a major contribution to political life. I welcome, as others have, her conversion from having “backroom” influence to being a strong voice in this House.
My noble friend Lady MacLeod drew on her Scottish heritage, identifying the learning and its impact on her political views, and on her role—as it was at a time when I knew her better—as a journalist. As others have said, her contribution, as poacher turned gamekeeper, to our considerations in this House of freedom of speech and the role of free journalism will be important. I was particularly proud to work with her during the last years of the previous Labour Government. She is, as others have described her, stalwart and knowledgeable, and will be a major asset to our House.
I turn to my noble friend Lady Martin. I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, that it was just like my noble friend to focus, as she did, not on herself but on the issues and challenges that will motivate her. From her time at the Youth Justice Board through to her time supporting government, her work alongside our first female Chancellor of the Exchequer, and her ongoing work with women in business, she will make a reality of the objectives that she set, ensuring that we do all we can in this country so that background does not determine destination. She will have a major role to play in that.
My noble friend Lady Paul told us about her family with great warmth. I have no doubt, even if she doubted it, that she will do them extremely proud. She has enormous energy. Having had the opportunity to work within the political sphere and to campaign and lobby on whether or not to have a national citizenship service and, as we have heard, on issues around boys and radicalisation, she will make a major contribution to this House.
The other amazing thing about this debate, of course, is that it identifies for us the diversity and range of women and the issues that they take up and that challenge them. We heard from the noble Baroness, Lady Bloomfield, about the Welsh women she celebrated, and the noble Baroness, Lady Gohir, made a strong argument about the representation of Muslim women, about the range and breadth of their voice and their agency. My noble friends Lady Hunter and Lord Stansgate and the noble Lord, Lord Patel, focused on the contribution of women in science and engineering and what we need to do to ensure that it continues. The noble Baroness, Lady Campbell, did as she always does and ably represented disabled women and challenged us on their role: I do believe that my decision to make her chair of the Social Care Institute for Excellence was one of the better decisions I made as a Minister.
My noble friend Lady Carberry talked about women in the military, both to ensure that we provide our thanks and recognition and to raise the injustices in some of the treatment that they experience. The noble Baroness, Lady Verma, and the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, identified the intersectionality between race and sex that sometimes causes specific issues and challenges for black and minority ethnic women, and my noble friend Lady Gill talked about the contribution of Sikh women.
I will try, in the time left, to pick up some of the key themes and respond to points raised. First, there was the issue of representation and voice. Many noble Lords noted the progress made in political representation in both Houses, certainly since I was elected in 1997, when still only 18% of the House of Commons were women. Due to action across parties—although I have to say I am particularly proud of Labour’s commitment to all-women shortlists, which was the basis for my selection and election—we have seen considerable growth, and now over 40% of the House of Commons are women. My noble friend Lady Caine also identified the growing number of women here in the Lords, as we have seen in the quality of the debate today. Given that the noble Baroness, Lady Burt, will be leaving us, let me just thank her for her role here.
As she always does, and demonstrating her commitment to women’s representation throughout her distinguished career, my noble friend Lady Gale challenged me once again to say when we will introduce Section 106. We have a commitment to do so, and I hope to be able to return to her with positive news about progress. My noble friend Lady Royall identified, as did others, the challenge for women in public life now of abuse and intimidation. Having been part of it, I recognise the work of the Jo Cox Foundation, which is enormously important in tackling that, but it is all our responsibility to make sure that our politics is carried out in a way that is respectful and recognises difference, but also recognises the strong motivations that bring people into politics and does not dissuade other women from coming into a life of politics.
We are, of course, despite the progress that has been made, still in the era of firsts. I particularly welcome the reference by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Derby to our first female Archbishop. I know that we all send her our very best wishes. The noble Baroness, Lady Morrissey, raised the challenge of the representation of women in business leadership, which, despite her leadership, still has much further to go. The Government’s Women’s Business Council, newly refreshed, is working on this area.
There was a strong theme of international concern and work in the debate, particularly from the noble Baronesses, Lady Sugg, Lady Bennett and Lady Hodgson, the noble Lords, Lord Ahmad and Lord Bates, and my noble friends Lady Royall, Lady Brown, Lady Thornton and Lord Young. Just to be clear on this, the UK will support women and girls internationally to lead and participate in economies and societies. We champion the work of women’s rights movements, which are critical to achieving progress. We are committed to eradicating gender-based violence, including conflict-related sexual violence, technology-facilitated violence, female genital mutilation and child marriage, and to delivering on the women, peace and security agenda.
On some of the specific points raised by noble Lords, on sexual and reproductive health rights, we are taking action to advance that, as a major donor, through our diplomatic network and in collaboration with partners. In 2024, we supported UNFPA partnerships, which averted nearly 10 million unintended pregnancies, more than 200,000 maternal deaths and 3 million unsafe abortions. My noble friend Lady Chapman is a SheDecides champion, and in November 2025 she announced new UK commitments for family planning, aiming to make health and rights a reality for all.
On preventing sexual violence in conflict, in 2025, the UK PSVI programmes supported nearly 60,000 survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. We are working to refresh our approach to PSVI from 2026 onwards.
I recognise the issues raised by noble Lords about the reductions in overseas development aid, but we are committed to embedding equality meaningfully. We are retaining our agenda equality target for FCDO bilateral ODA programmes, and we will share details on strengthened measures for women and girls in due course.
On the issue of violence against women and girls—another important theme—I, as others have, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, for her centring of the victims of violence against women in the debate today, and the noble Lord, Lord Griffiths, for sharing his personal story. We must acknowledge that there is still work to do in the area of violence against women and girls. It is a sad reality that women and girls do not always feel safe in the communities they have helped to build. That is why it is a top priority for the Government. In December 2025, we published our VAWG strategy, which set out our mission to halve the level of these crimes within a decade. We will go further than before to deliver a cross-government, transformative approach. The strategy is backed by at least £1 billion of funding across government over the spending review period. We will, of course, report back to this House on progress on it.
I particularly thank my noble friend Lady Nye for raising and celebrating the role that Gisèle Pelicot has played with her bravery, manifesting this important requirement to ensure that the blame for violence against women, and the shame, rests where it should— with male perpetrators. I also thank my noble friend Lady Hyde for celebrating the campaigners and survivors, who make such a difference in this area. My noble friend Lady Chakrabarti rightly gave voice to Virginia Giuffre in the debate today. The noble Baroness, Lady Morrissey, rightly raised issues around the influence of powerful and rich men. Frankly, I have been shaken by their ability and propensity to get away with heinous crime and the fact that this has gone unchallenged—including by other men alongside them—for years on end. This means that we need to redouble our efforts, both to tackle violence against women and girls where we find it, and to strengthen the voices of women and male allies to identify and tackle wholly unacceptable behaviour, wherever it is found.
One of those places is, of course, online, as my noble friends Lady Goudie and Lady Shah and the noble Baronesses, Lady Smith of Llanfaes and Lady Fall, identified. That is why the Government’s VAWG strategy reaffirms our Government’s commitment to tackling violence online, including intimate image abuse, which disproportionately affects women and girls. The strategy includes a clear commitment on device-level safety measures for children. To support that mission, we want to make it impossible for children to take, share or view a nude image; we are working constructively with companies to make that a reality. In the VAWG strategy, we also announced that we would legislate to ban nudification apps. The Government are meeting this commitment and will legislate in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise making, supplying or offering to supply tools that are designed to create non-consensual intimate images.
My noble friend Lady Paul was right to identify the need to support boys in how they respond to the many misogynistic influences that they face. That is why the Government, in our refreshed guidance on relationships, sex and health education, we put a particular focus on how we can challenge that and support teachers to challenge it in our schools. The UK co-leads, along with Chile, the 18-member Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse and has expanded support for StopNCII, an international tool that helps victims block or remove intimate images, along with other support internationally in this area.
The noble Baroness, Lady Jenkins, raised in particular the issue of pornography. The Government are committed to ensuring that online pornography is properly regulated. We thank the noble Baroness, Lady Bertin, for her continued commitment to driving forward that important work. We will, as part of the VAWG strategy, create a joint team to address the issues in the noble Baroness’s review, and I know that discussions will continue in this House on what more we need to do in relation to legislation to challenge this issue.
My noble friends Lady O’Grady and Lady Shah, the noble Baroness, Lady Brady, and the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, raised the issue of the gender pay gap in the workplace. Women’s equality and economic growth go hand in hand, but we need to ensure that every organisation is harnessing the talent, creativity and brilliance of women in their workforce. That is why, although we have seen some progress on the gender pay gap, we are committed to going further. The Chancellor has vowed to close the gender pay gap once and for all and we are all getting on with the work of making that a reality. This week, we highlighted the requirement in the Employment Rights Act for businesses to develop action plans on the gender pay gap and on menopause support in the workplace; in fact, this landmark Act is a major step forward for women in terms of the gender pay gap and other areas, such as flexible working and tackling the sexual harassment that too many women have to put up with in the workplace.
My noble friend Lady Nargund and the noble Baroness, Lady Sugg, mentioned health. This Government have already made significant progress on improving healthcare. We are renewing the women’s health strategy to assess the progress that has been made so far and to continue progressing delivery. We will identify and remove enduring barriers to high-quality care. We have established women’s health hubs in nine out of 10 integrated care systems. These are playing a role in shifting care out of hospital and reducing gynaecology waiting lists. We have taken urgent action to tackle gynaecology waiting lists through the elective reform plan, which supports innovative models offering patients care closer to home and piloting gynaecology pathways in community diagnostics.
I enjoyed the contribution of the noble Baroness, Lady Davies, on women and girls in sport, and thought she was very right about the ongoing challenge that we have.
Today, we have celebrated progress and identified where challenges remain. We could not make any of that progress without the support of many other women—business leaders, those in civil society, educators, academics, campaigners and others—both at home and abroad. As we finish this debate, I will take a moment to thank them for their tireless efforts in supporting women, both up and down the country and internationally, to thrive.