91 Percent 

Over the next month WE will be protesting for a total of 91 hours to protest the fact that Disabled women were as much as #91Percent more likely to die of COVID. [source]

One of the Government’s first acts when the COVID crisis hit was to roll back councils’ duties to support Disabled and older people. Then the plan to support those shielding was created as an afterthought, in under 48 hours; blanket Do Not Attempt Resuscitation orders were issued to people in care homes without consultation; and many of us were initially left off the vaccine priority list despite being at far higher risks of death.

Now, it has been revealed that even after adjusting for socio-economic background, poor health and housing, Disabled women with higher support needs are still 91% more likely to die from COVID-19

Why protest?

We cannot let this injustice be ignored. We must raise awareness and hold politicians to account. Over the next month we will be protesting outside Parliament for a total of ninety one hours to show politicians that we cannot be ignored.

Show your support by joining our protest.

How can I take part?

1. Sign up to cover a protest shift in your own time

>>>> Cover a protest shift <<<<

2. Save the date for our online protest at 5pm on July 20th

>>> Save the date <<<<

3. Organise a protest in your area

>>> Organise a local protest <<<

Why is it important to protest:

We must create pressure for urgent political action to make change. To do this we need to keep this issue in the media and online and we need to demonstrate that the political decision to ignore - participating will help to do both.

By showing overwhelming support for urgent action by protesting locally and making noise on social media and in our communities, this heightens the likelihood of this issue being raised in parliament. To make change, we must make noise. 

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Don’t let the Government roll back our rights to at-home medical abortion services

At home medical abortion services have revolutionised access to sexual healthcare. It has reduced the number of women accessing online abortion pills illegally by nearly 90%, increased speed of access to services despite a global pandemic and is the preferred form of treatment for the majority of patients.

There is absolutely no justification for withdrawing telemedical abortion services, and denying many women access to services and putting even more pressure on our health service. 

Sign below to demand that the Government maintain access to telemedical abortion services.

Dear Sadiq Khan,

Women are exhausted, we are heartbroken, we are afraid. Over the last week women across the UK have been united in their sorrow and rage over the disappearance of Sarah Everard, and the fact that a Metropolitian Police Officer has now been charged for her kidnapping and murder.

This weekend women shared their stories of the lengths they have to go to try to feel safe in our city. Holding keys like knuckle dusters, avoiding going out at night, hiding disabilities, pretending to talk on the phone, walking down the train until they find a carriage with another woman. One woman described pulling strands of her hair out in a taxi to leave DNA evidence in case anything happened.

Enough is enough. You have the power to change this. 

• The Met cannot be trusted to investigate their own officer, especially when they are being investigated for their handling of an earlier indecent exposure allegation. As Police and Crime Commissioner for London, you must ensure the investigation into Sarah’s death is passed to a neighbouring police force.
• Invest in a specialist police squad to tackle gender based violence in London and restore women’s trust in the criminal justice system. Hold the Met to account for improving charging rates.
• Make ending violence against women and girls your top priority. Set and publish targets for crime reduction and appoint a Deputy Mayor to take the lead. 
• Guarantee sustainable funding for specialist violence against women and girls services based on need, so that no woman is ever turned away from safe refuge in our city. This must include migrant women.

Violence against women and girls is not inevitable. You, as Mayor, as London’s Police and Crime Commissioner, have a choice about whether and how to respond to the realities women and girls in our city are facing. For far too long our very real fears have been minimised and ignored by politicians. But enough is enough.

Yours sincerely,

Mandu Reid

Leader of the Women’s Equality Party

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Dear Sadiq Khan,

We are writing to ask you to make London a Sanctuary City for abused migrant women. 

Our city is facing two pandemics, the COVID-19 virus and the violence that it exacerbates. In the last year, rates of domestic abuse and other forms of gender based violence have spiralled across our city, and despite government rhetoric, many migrant women have been left to face that abuse alone.  

The government recently announced that it was putting travellers up in quarantine hotels, demonstrating that they have the resources and infrastructure to rapidly house people when there is political will. But they refuse to demonstrate that will, support or funding to ensure that migrant women are not trapped with their abusers.

As you know, the government’s ‘hostile’ or ‘compliant’ environment policies are stopping migrant women from leaving abusive relationships or seeking help. By stamping passports with No Recourse to Public Funds and excluding migrant women from accessing the welfare safety net, the government is denying women and children safe refuge and trapping them at home with their abusers. We can and must do better.

In the last year you have shown leadership on this issue by providing safe accommodation to 200 women fleeing domestic abuse - including migrant women. You have also funded a limited number of temporary bed spaces for women with No Recourse to Public Funds by funding the Covid-19 Crisis Project run by Southall Black Sisters and Solace Women’s Aid, but this is nowhere near enough to meet demand. Many women remain trapped in abuse and without hope of protection and support. Even with the surge in domestic violence during lockdown, which has resulted in a 34% increase in calls to domestic violence hotlines, four in five migrant women are still turned away from refuges - often with children in tow. 

We are asking you to go further by overriding the government’s inhumane policies to make London a Sanctuary City, just as Mayors across the US have done in response to Trump’s racist immigration enforcement actions. We are calling on you to ensure that migrant women in London will never be referred to the Home Office if they report their abuse to the police, and to guarantee each woman and her children:

• Safe accommodation
• £50 allowance per week, plus extra for children
• Access to wrap-around specialist support
• Legal advice and representation

Violence is not inevitable. Mayors always have a choice about whether and how to respond to the challenges facing the people and communities they represent.

We urge you to stand up to the government and to defy their inhumane hostile environment policies by ensuring that the most marginalised women are given the sanctuary and support to rebuild their lives. In doing so, you will be sending a message that London must be open and safe, for everyone.

Yours sincerely,

Mandu Reid, Leader of the Women's Equality Party

Pragna Patel, Founder and Director of Southall Black Sisters

Baljit Banga, Executive Director, Imkaan

Rosanna Lewis & Ngozi Fulani, Sistah Space

Jasbindar Bhatoa, Senior Legal Officer, Rights of Women

Gisela Valle, Director, Latin American Women's Rights Service

Halaleh Taheri, Founder & Executive Director, Middle Eastern Women & Society Organisation-MEWSo

Gabriela Quevedo, Director for Advocacy and Influencing, Latin American Women’s Aid

Matt Hawkins, Co-Director, Compassion in Politics

Karen Ingala Smith, Chief Executive, NIA

Camille Rouse, Legal Advice Service Manager, London Black Women’s Project

Dear Sadiq Khan,

Despite the fact that streets are emptier and many public spaces are closed, street harassment is still a serious problem. I am calling on you as Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner of London to ensure that women and girls can enjoy their daily exercise and move around our great city free from the fear or threat of violence or abuse.

One in five women and girls in the UK experienced street harassment during lockdown. This figure is far worse in London; more than half of women surveyed by Catcalls of London said street harassment got worse during the lockdowns, and 62% feared for their safety. Our branch in Lambeth conducted their own survey, and found that the most common forms of street harassment were catcalling, wolf whistling or unwanted comments, followed by unwanted physical contact, being followed, or sexual gestures. Respondents also said photos had been taken of them without consent, and perpetrators had even masturbated in front of them. 

London remains the worst city in the UK for street harassment and harassment on public transport. In 2016, ActionAid found that nationally, 36% of women feel at risk of harassment from public transport, but that rises to 51% for women living in London. Four years later those numbers have not changed; more than half of women experienced sexual harassment whilst using public transport in 2020, but only 2% felt able to report it. 

On International Women’s Day last year, you called for misogyny to be made a hate crime. Yet women are in the same position as they were in when you first became Mayor. We cannot simply wait for Central Government to change the law, and it is within your power to do something about this. Moving more Londoners to walking and cycling is a vital part of fighting Covid and making our city greener, but you cannot ask more women to use our streets without doing anything to ensure  they feel safe to do so. 

I am calling on you as a ‘Proud Feminist’ to fulfil your promise to make London a beacon of freedom and equality for women and girls, by developing a London-wide strategy to end street harassment and abuse on the transport network, including a public education campaign. I stand ready to work with you to make our streets and transport network safe for all women and girls. 

Yours sincerely,

Mandu Reid, Leader of the Women’s Equality Party and candidate for Mayor of London

Dear Rt Hon Gavin Williamson MP,

Re: Parents and Early Years workers are at breaking point

We are writing as parents, Early Years workers, and organisations and individuals committed to progress - and we do so to sound the alarm. Parents and Early Years providers are at breaking point, and unless the government acts now women’s unemployment will continue to soar - deepening and lengthening the economic crisis for everyone. This will affect mothers on the lowest incomes most acutely, who are nine times more likely to lose their jobs as a result of the latest school closures and lockdown.

The Prime Minister announced recently that Early Years settings should remain open to everyone, but that is simply not possible without urgent support. Already many Early Years settings have closed their doors, either temporarily or permanently, because of funding cuts, lack of testing and staff shortages. Together with school closures, that means parents - especially single parents and mothers - are in the impossible position of trying to juggle work, childcare and homeschooling. Since March last year parents have been asked to homeschool their children for 110 working days. The result is that women are more likely to quit their jobs or be made redundant, and children are being left behind.

Data from your department suggests that attendance at Early Years settings has almost halved as parents have been told to stay home, and Ofsted has reported that a third of nurseries fear they will permanently close due to the impacts of COVID-19. On top of that, the TUC reported last week that 71% of working mothers have been denied their request to be furloughed. Unless you act now, the Early Years sector will completely collapse and more and more women will lose their jobs.

Will you commit to five measures to keep childcare and parents afloat and help stop the spread of the virus?

• • A legal right to shared furlough or guaranteed Self-Employment Income Support for all parents. Currently, parents only have the right to request furloughing and 75% have been refused.
  • Early Years and school staff to be prioritised in the next round of vaccines so that they can reopen safely as soon as possible.
  • Increase child benefits to £50 per child and maintain the £20-a-week uplift in universal credit. With children at home, household bills are mounting and forcing families into poverty.
  • Ten days extra paid annual leave for all parents and 20 days for single parents to help them manage caring responsibilities without the risk of redundancy.
  • A bailout for nurseries to stop them closing permanently.

People want to do whatever it takes to keep our communities safe, but they are being pushed to breaking point. Together, these five measures will help reduce the risk of transmission, give our essential workers the support they need and deserve, and protect families so that they have jobs and childcare to return to when it is safe to do so. That is something we can all support and we ask that you do too.

Signed,

Mandu Reid
Leader of the Women’s Equality Party

* WE are homeschooling the Government on the realities of childcare. Join in here.

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Without the people, it would have been a whole bunch of hammers, with no carpenters, wishing for a house. - Marshall Ganz 

Why volunteer?

This party was built by volunteers and like our members and supporters, WE can’t do it without them. Do you believe gender equality is better for everyone and want to play a vital role in our movement? Become a carpenter and shape the future, because together we can make a change and build a better UK where equality comes first.

The world looks a bit different since we started, and our volunteering opportunities look a bit different now too. All of our volunteering roles can be done remotely, from the comfort of your own home. 

WE believe everybody should have the chance to participate and whilst we welcome specific skills and experience, what really matters to us is passion, enthusiasm and shared values. If you feel you can contribute as a volunteer, WE would love to hear from you! 

Feministmas Comedy Fundraiser - Line-Up
** TICKETS CLOSED **
If you have not received your ticket link, please email [email protected]

When?

Friday 11th December

What time?

9:00pm - 10:30pm

Where?

Online (via Zoom)

Who?