International Women�s Day

Marie Tidball Excerpts

Thursday 6th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dr Marie Tidball (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)]

The first time I saw the Alison Lapper Pregnant sculpture in Trafalgar Square, it took my breath away. The swollen belly of Lapper spoke of a body that was loved and carried life. It said, �I exist�bodies like mine exist, and therein there is beauty. We shall no longer be invisible.�

However, unlike non-disabled women, our experiences of pregnancy have not been celebrated or discussed. When I found out in 2017 that I was pregnant, I was filled with joy and a deep connection to my body and unborn child. Growing up, the absence of disabled women�s representation in discussions of sexuality, relationships, menstruation, menopause and maternity left me feeling that my womanhood did not count�that it was vitiated by my visible physical disability. In contrast, when I was pregnant, my body was no longer just a topic of medical scrutiny; my womanhood was no longer invisible. I wanted my maternity to be embraced by a healthcare system that supported me in my journey, but that was not my reality. Instead, the system was unprepared for a body like mine.

Early on, I was triaged to a genetic counselling service. I was left feeling devastated. As my pregnancy progressed, there were no specialist midwifery teams, and the lack of awareness of the interaction between my disability and maternity continued. I had to be induced at 37 weeks, leading to a caesarean section. My core muscles were severely impacted and I was left debilitated. After birth, the en-suite room I was put in was inaccessible�the very space that was meant to aid my recovery became another barrier. Upon discharge, the occupational therapy team had no specialist advice on how I could breastfeed outside of my home or carry my baby. I became increasingly dependent on family members. I was exhausted and lost my confidence, not because of anything I had done, but because the structures that were meant to support me did not know how to do so.

My experience came eight years after the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities raised concerns that the UK had failed to mainstream disabled women�s rights into healthcare. This week, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has published a report demonstrating that disabled women are more likely to experience stillbirth, have lower rates of breastfeeding, and endure longer post-natal hospital stays.

[Naushabah Khan (Gillingham and Rainham) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making an incredibly powerful speech. Does she agree with me and with my hon. Friend the Member for Clapham and Brixton Hill (Bell Ribeiro-Addy) that health services for women of colour are also lagging very far behind?

[Dr Tidball]

I certainly do, and I want to ensure that our health services take a more intersectional approach. Indeed, UK maternity policy continues to overlook women�s needs. Now it is time for action.

Disabled women should experience high-quality, inclusive maternity care. We need joined-up, meaningful, inclusive maternity care pathways throughout pregnancy, birth and the post-natal period to improve access, experience and outcomes for disabled women. Crucially, there must be nothing about us without us. Disabled women must be central in improving maternity care services, and while I met some wonderful clinicians, we must increase their understanding through better training and update clinical guidelines to secure appropriate care. Finally, we must ensure that healthcare facilities, equipment and information are accessible, and that reasonable adjustments to maternity wards enable disabled women to recover from birth with dignity.

--- Later in debate ---

[Rosie Wrighting (Kettering) (Lab)]

I rise today as the youngest woman in Parliament and the first woman to represent my constituency of Kettering. I was raised by women: my mum, my nan and my aunt Emma. I am proudly a gen Z woman. Like many others my age, I grew up on social media. I watched this series of �Love Island�. This weekend, I am going to see Sabrina Carpenter, and I am still shocked about Molly-Mae and Tommy Fury�s break-up. However, absolutely none of that takes away from my ability to serve my constituents.

Being a young woman in this place has its pitfalls, and I know that women MPs bear the brunt of online abuse, making ourselves read daily online comments that criticise our appearance, question our intelligence and threaten our safety. In a post when the election was called last year, more people asked me if I had an OnlyFans account than about our manifesto pledges. Online, I am called �Barbie�, I am a �stupid girl�, and a �child playing politics� and many more creative things that I cannot say in this House. I know many great women who have not stood for Parliament because of online abuse or worries about their safety, and this House is worse off because of it. My message for women who are thinking about getting into politics is that there is a place for you here, and we need you.

[Dr Tidball]

Does my hon. Friend agree that she is a phenomenal role model, as a woman with a great knowledge of business? She brings her special expertise to Business and Trade Committee, having worked in the fashion industry.

--- Later in debate ---

[Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower) (Lab)]

Ahead of International Women�s Day, we must remember that violence against women and girls is not inevitable. Men who kill, men who rape, and men who abuse and sexually harass do so in the context of an entrenched sex discrimination that normalises male predatory behaviour and quickly blames victims, but with sufficient will and a change in that context, it can and must be ended. That is why the most welcome change since last year�s International Women�s Day is that we now have a Labour Government.

As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on commercial sexual exploitation, I have a particular interest in prostitution. The reports from the Femicide Census�whose authors, Clarrie and Karen, are here today�are harrowing but none the less groundbreaking. The latest report, published yesterday, looks in detail at 2,000 completed cases of women killed by men that are on the database. That is 2,000 too many. Forty-five of the women who had been killed were identified as being involved, or having been involved, in prostitution, but as women were only included in this cohort if their involvement in prostitution had been explicitly mentioned in either official documents or the media, that is likely to be a huge undercount. The researchers found that of this cohort, women killed by men in the UK who had been involved in prostitution tended to be younger and were less likely to have been born in the UK than any other women killed by men, and the data shows that women involved in prostitution are also the most vulnerable in society.

A Home Office report noted that approximately 50% of women involved in prostitution in the UK started being paid for sex acts before they were 18 years old, while up to 95% of women involved in street prostitution are believed to be problematic drug users. They are indeed the most vulnerable�and this not a job; this is not work.

Women involved in prostitution are disproportionately victims of violence, including fatal violence. In their deaths they are more likely to be subjected to sexual violence, and after death their bodies are more likely to be desecrated. That is not a coincidence. Prostitution is the oldest form of sexual exploitation�a form of violence against women and girls. It is another manifestation of sexual inequality.

[Dr Tidball]

Is it not a positive development that our Government announced this week that young girls would no longer be placed in young offender institutions?

[Tonia Antoniazzi]

That is fantastic, and it is at the heart of what our Ministers are doing to support women and girls.

All in all, women and girls matter, including those who are exploited in the sex trade, to whom I wish to dedicate my speech.