Women in Society

Baroness O'Loan Excerpts

Wednesday 21st July 2010 Lords Chamber

[Baroness O'Loan]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, for initiating this most important debate today. I declare an interest as the Government of Ireland’s special envoy for women, peace and security—United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325. I congratulate all those who have made their maiden speeches so effectively and with such eloquence today.

There can be no doubt that many statistics indicate that the position and capacity of women in the United Kingdom are being developed and enhanced. However, it cannot be said that they are being developed with sufficient rapidity. Figures from the website of the Women’s National Commission show that in 2009 just 32 per cent of public appointees were women—and we know that 80 per cent of Members of this House are men. We have heard the figure for representation of women of 22 per cent in the other House, while many similar figures indicate the low level of representation of women in political life. The United Kingdom is 50th in the list of Parliaments in its female representation and falls behind a range of other countries, from Denmark and Sweden to Timor-Leste. I declare an interest in Timor-Leste as the Irish Government’s special envoy for conflict resolution there.

We know that in the United Kingdom most recent figures show that fewer than 10 per cent of High Court judges or Court of Appeal judges are women—and how many female Supreme Court judges are there? We know that less than 16 per cent of partners in our largest law firms are women, that less than one-quarter of prison governors are women and that only 12 per cent of chief inspectors in the police were women in 2008. On that point, I was very pleased, as I acted as Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, to see the level of women coming through into the Police Service of Northern Ireland. There was an average representation of about 37 per cent in each class that I met in recent years, so a huge amount is being done, although much remains to be done.

Women clearly do not have a proportionate or equal position in the United Kingdom today. My experience tells me that the situation will change only as a consequence of a multi-faceted strategy aimed at developing women and enhancing their sense of self, their confidence and their capacity to seek opportunities and to apply for and to seek for promotion in all its forms. That has to be combined with really open and transparent appointments processes.

Despite all that has been achieved—and an awful lot has been achieved in the past 30 or 40 years—women in British society are still regarded as the lesser sex. Very often, women’s sense of their value in society has been damaged by their life experience, particularly where it has been one of poverty, marginalisation and deprivation. The Government’s big society proposal will present huge opportunities for women to take an active role in civil society and to go on from that to garner experience and capacity and so to play a role on a greater stage. Coming from a very poor background and as a student working in the Fulham legal advice centre as a volunteer, I learnt an awful lot. One can learn much from that kind of experience.

We meet here at a time of significant economic difficulty and, whatever the politics of the attempts to manage and recover from the recession, it remains a fact that we now face cuts in public funding and public services on a massive scale. It is profoundly important that we take all steps to preserve and indeed enhance the current levels of funding for those who work with women who are the subject of gender-based violence, including domestic violence. The Minister and other noble Lords have already referred to this issue, but we know that, according to the British Crime Survey, 85 per cent of victims of domestic violence are women. The Home Office estimated that in 2009 a million women were victims of domestic violence, which is the equivalent of 20,000 women a week suffering.

Much of the care, protection and refuge for these women is provided by civil society organisations such as Women’s Aid, which are very often run by women and for women. They conduct campaigns to highlight the extent and the cost of the problem. They work in hugely difficult circumstances, often with the very real threat of physical violence to the volunteers. They operate in hugely difficult financial circumstances, too. They often rely on donations and have to compete in the increasingly difficult world of public sector finance. The physical, psychological and social effects of violence against women are well documented in terms of death, injury, loss of confidence, fear, depression, poverty, et cetera. Women who are assisted and facilitated to move out of the cycle of domestic violence can rebuild their lives; they can become again functioning and contributing members of society. It is imperative, therefore, that funding is secured for these critical services.

The Motion refers to the role of women not only here in the United Kingdom but in other countries. October will mark the 10th anniversary of United Nations Resolution 1325, the first UN resolution seriously to address the problems of women in conflict. It provides for action on three fronts: the enhancement of the levels of women’s participation in politics and community life; the prevention of gender-based violence; and the development of the gender perspective in policy-making. It has been followed by three more resolutions—1880, 1888 and 1889—each of them a little more forthright and a little more demanding. However, it remains the case that, almost 10 years on, little has been done internationally to give effect to these resolutions. This has been generally acknowledged and there has been much hand-wringing, but there has been little progress in this area. The United Kingdom has the capacity to make a significant difference in this context.

There are two important issues in respect of which this Parliament and this Government can make a difference. The first is epitomised by the story of Aisha, a 13 year-old Somali girl. She was raped by three men. Her family went to the Islamist militia to report the crime. She was detained and accused of adultery. No attempt was made to apprehend the men who attacked her. She was sentenced to death by stoning. She was driven into a football stadium where a huge crowd had gathered. She begged them not to kill her. She was buried up to her neck and a truck loaded with stones arrived. Fifty men set about stoning her. After 10 minutes, she was dug up to see whether she was still alive. She was, so they buried her again and the stoning started again until she was dead. This Government must use every opportunity afforded by their international relations and their capacity as a donor to press for the abolition of the death penalty in such cases, especially as it was suffered by Aisha and so many others like her. It is not enough, as happened recently, to substitute an alternative way of killing women in such circumstances.

The second issue relates to the United Kingdom’s role in conflict zones. It is most important that the 1325 national action plan is enhanced following the recent consultation. It is a UN requirement that there is no immunity for gender-based crimes in peace negotiations, particularly where rape is used as a tool of war against the civilian population and where little girls and young women are taken as sex slaves by participants in the conflict. This is a difficult provision to give effect to, especially in countries where the warlords are marching triumphantly, acknowledging freely that they have used rape as a tool of war. There is a temptation in peacemaking to value the opportunity to make peace above the need for justice, but peace is based on justice and negotiators must be strong and not hasty in making peace. Even more important, it is essential that women are included in peace processes and that their voice is heard, even in patriarchal societies. Women suffer disproportionately in war and their voice must be heard as peace is made.

There is one female provincial governor in Afghanistan. Her name is Habiba Sarabi. She governs a minority people, hundreds of whom were murdered and thousands of whom were displaced by the Taliban. She could not be at the Kabul peace conference, as she was not invited. The Government, in the execution of their responsibilities under the resolution, should do all that they can to ensure that her voice and the voices of women like her are heard in ongoing and future negotiations. The Government have announced an additional £200 million to promote stability and development in Afghanistan. I hope that, in the process, Her Majesty’s Government will make a distinct and significant contribution for women, to enable them to participate in and stand for elections, to return to and stay safely in their homes, to educate their daughters and to feed their families. As peace is made in the world, it is in part made through developing women’s potential. That makes the world a stronger, more stable place. There are many opportunities, as identified in today’s debate. I hope that we will enhance the position of women, both nationally and internationally, as a consequence of this debate.