International Women�s Day
Katrina Murray Excerpts(3 weeks, 5 days ago)
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Katrina Murray (Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) for allowing us to do what this House does at its best: speak as one and work together.
International Women�s Day is an opportunity for us all to celebrate the achievements of women, reflect on the progress we have made and, crucially, recommit to the work still to be done. As we have been rightly reminded throughout this debate, there are still many, many battles to be won, whether in our local communities, across the nation or globally. Women have always been at the forefront of change, often having to fight to have their voices heard, yet they have made significant contributions and led movements for justice and equality. The fight for women�s rights is a fight for economic justice, reproductive rights and freedom from violence and discrimination. It is a fight against exploitation, trafficking and the silencing of women�s voices.
The theme for International Women�s Day this year is �Accelerate Action�. While every single one of us in this place has a role to play in that, it is also necessary for our communities. Like other Members, I will take a moment to share the stories and celebrate the achievements of some really spectacular women in my constituency. However, not a single one of them would say that they were spectacular or that they are doing something above and beyond. They are women like Lavinia McElhinney, the ladies� president at Woodilee bowling club, whom I met at the club�s fundraising coffee morning last year. Women�s sports, such as bowling, are just as important at the sport on the telly.
There is Louise Carberry, a primary 7 pupil at Kilsyth primary school, whose app-designing skills saw her win the Make It Happen Club app design challenge. Her �save the whale� idea was not only recognised, but developed into reality�yet another woman going into science, technology, engineering and maths. There is also RSE, an engineering company in my constituency that is overwhelmingly recruiting graduate women engineers in the water industry. There are the inspiring women of Kilsyth and Stepps guiding. I must admit that I am biased�I was a Guide, a Brownie and an occasional adult volunteer�but the volunteers there are bringing young women forward.
Our fight is not finished. The battle for equality continues everywhere, so let us recommit ourselves to not only celebrating progress, but truly accelerating action.
Oral Answers to Questions
Katrina Murray Excerpts(5 months, 1 week ago)
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Dame Angela Eagle
Addressing such issues is more of a Foreign Office responsibility, which is why we liaise closely with the Foreign Office when considering the production of information notes. If laws that are passed and put into effect in other countries lead to persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution for individuals, that is one of the contexts we use to make a decision. That includes LGBT rights, but also other rights.
Katrina Murray (Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)
Organised immigration crime puts lives at risk and threatens our border security. We have agreed a new anti-smuggling action plan with our G7 partners to strengthen collaboration in areas such as intelligence, information exchange and the pursuit of criminal finances. The UK work will be led by the new border security command. As evidence of our closer collaboration with other countries, this weekend, at the request of the French authorities, a Border Force vessel rescued 46 people and returned them to France.
Katrina Murray
According to research by UK Feminista, over a third of female school pupils have been sexually harassed while at school. Much of this can be traced back to misogynistic online influencers and the harmful impacts of pornography. Will the Home Secretary tell the House what she is doing to prioritise women’s online safety and how she is engaging with counterparts in the devolved Administrations to ensure that no woman or girl is left behind when it comes to ending sexual harassment and the exploitation of women?
Yvette Cooper
My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point. The mission for safer streets that the Government have set includes a really ambitious mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. We know that that is immensely difficult, and I hope that all the devolved Administrations, as well as local communities and organisations, will want to be part of it. My hon. Friend is right to prioritise women’s online safety, and that is why my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology is prioritising action on online deepfake abuse.