International Women�s Day
Marie Tidball Excerpts(3 months ago)
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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.
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.
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.
Oral Answers to Questions
Marie Tidball Excerpts(6 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Dame Diana Johnson
I can certainly talk to Ministers in the Northern Ireland Office to discuss what we can learn from the proposed programme and the good practice we know exists already in many parts of the UK. We want to build on that so I am very happy to share that.
Dr Marie Tidball (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)
The Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention (Dame Diana Johnson)
Sorry, Mr Speaker. These questions are like buses—they all come along at once.
Vehicle theft is a deeply distressing and damaging crime which can have a detrimental effect on both individuals and businesses, including in rural communities. That is why we are working closely with both the police and the automotive industry to ensure the most robust responses possible to these crimes. Last week I met with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime to discuss this issue and how we can better work together to prevent it.
Dr Tidball
An increase in car and van thefts and antisocial behaviour in Stocksbridge, Deepcar, High Green, Chapeltown and Dodworth has left my constituents feeling vulnerable and unsafe. Local people have also experienced excessive 999 response times. How is the Minister tackling the rise in vehicle thefts, working with manufacturers to improve vehicle safety and supporting South Yorkshire police after years of Conservative cuts?
Dame Diana Johnson
I am pleased that this question is being asked, and it is important to note that this autumn, driven by the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, the national vehicle crime reduction partnership has been launched, bringing together the police, the Home Office and manufacturers on the very point of how we tackle this problem. We are also committed to bringing forward legislation to ban electronic devices used to steal vehicles, empowering the police and courts to target those criminals using, manufacturing and supplying them.
Oral Answers to Questions
Marie Tidball Excerpts(7 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Dame Diana Johnson
The Government have no plans to scrap the role of police and crime commissioner. We think it is a valuable role that can enable the missions that this Government have set out to be enacted locally, including the safer streets mission. We need to work with the PCCs to make sure that mission happens in the different force areas around the country. PCCs also have a role to play with their other partners, local authorities and the voluntary sector.
Dr Marie Tidball (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)
Noisy off-road bikes speed around neighbourhoods such as Chapeltown in my constituency, deliberately disturbing and intimidating residents. Will the Home Secretary commit to properly tackling off-road bikes by giving the police the right powers to crack down on this issue?
Yvette Cooper
My hon. Friend makes an important point, and I thank her for standing up for her community. We want to strengthen the law to give the police more powers to tackle the nightmare of dangerous off-road bikes.