International Women’s Day

Wendy Chamberlain Excerpts

Thursday 12th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)]

In this International Women’s Day debate, I rise to say a few words about the women and girls in Afghanistan, as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Afghan women and girls. I note that the hon. Member for Erith and Thamesmead (Ms Oppong-Asare) also referred to their experiences.

I saw comments in the Telegraph at the weekend saying that the fact International Women’s Day is marked in Afghanistan shows that the day is meaningless. I beg to differ, particularly given the number of us who are here on a Thursday afternoon. Factually, it is not listed as a holiday in Afghanistan, and we are not seeing celebrations, protests, debates or marketing based on the day itself there, simply because that is not possible for women and girls in Afghanistan. Afghanistan remains a member of the UN, which marks the day, but we do not need to formally ban something to effectively do so—not when women cannot gather and cannot speak, even in their own homes if they can be heard outside them. None the less, there is value to International Women’s Day, and I believe that even in the darkest of circumstances, there is still value in this day to the women of Afghanistan.

As we are hearing in this debate, International Women’s Day is about so many struggles but also celebrations. The women of Afghanistan’s struggles and the celebration of their resilience have equal value today. When they cannot speak for themselves, those of us with voices internationally can do so. Indeed, elevating the voices of Afghan women is what the APPG was set up to do.

There is no sugarcoating it: it is bleak in Afghanistan. A new penal code was introduced in January that has effectively legalised domestic violence, including sexual assault within marriages. Husbands are explicitly authorised to discipline their wives for non-specified transgressions. The only crime on the books is a husband beating his wife with a stick, causing severe injury such as a broken bone. The burden of proof for that offence lies on the woman, and the punishment if proven is just 15 days in prison. Injuring animals carries a greater penalty in Afghanistan. I doubt we will ever see a prosecution under that law, given that gathering the proof would require the husband who has committed the assault chaperoning his wife to hospital to get the evidential X-ray required.

On the other hand, if a woman tries to leave a marriage by visiting her father or relatives and does so without her husband’s consent or refuses to return—we can imagine circumstances where somebody would look to do that, to escape domestic violence in their house—she can go to prison for three months. If a woman is found to have abandoned Islam—and I believe we are talking here about the Taliban’s interpretation of the faith, which many disagree with—she can be jailed indefinitely, with 10 lashes daily until she chooses to return to the religion.

There are severe restrictions on working, to which the hon. Member for Erith and Thamesmead referred. Some organisations in some areas have negotiated the right for women to keep their jobs. Women can still provide healthcare, though increasingly women are being denied the right to have healthcare training, and we can easily see what that means for the future of maternal and female care in Afghanistan. We are certainly a long way away from there being freedom to work, and financial autonomy is simply not a reality.

The future for the next generation is even bleaker. Girls are growing up without completing their education, and with women being unable to have medical training, there will come a point when there are no women left to provide healthcare. The reality is that in a country at war, at the forefront of the climate crisis, where 17 million people faced acute hunger this winter, and with millions of displaced people returning from its neighbours, including Iran, it is women who are bearing the brunt of the desolation.

I am aware that in setting out this reality, I am not elevating the experiences, feelings or voices of any one woman. There are 25 million women in Afghanistan, and each and every one of them should have the right to speak, to live freely and, indeed, to live at all. Prior to 2021, they were able to do so. On this International Women’s Day, I would like to see commitments from the Government to the women and girls of Afghanistan.

I do not agree with the Government’s decision to close the door on the safe and legal routes for refuge or to study or work. I was told on Monday in the Chamber by the Minister for Border Security and Asylum, who was responding to the urgent question on the Government’s immigration policy, that this is about ensuring that universities are not making the decisions on who gets to stay here. But if there are no other ways for people to seek safe refuge here, it is not surprising that they take that opportunity, and if they no longer have that opportunity, it will not be surprising if they revert to irregular routes, by which I mean the small boats that we all say we want to prevent.

Having made that decision, the Government must do more in Afghanistan—much more. In opening the debate, the Minister talked about the work the Government do overseas, but I beg to differ on that assessment. Afghanistan is not one of the countries the Government have ringfenced as they look to cut official development assistance spending, but Afghanistan is apparently a priority. I would like to understand what that means.

It is important that we recognise the strength of Afghan women. The APPG has had the privilege of hearing from several Afghan women in the last year, as well as NGOs and academics who have spent time on the ground. We have heard a lot, unsurprisingly, about the loss of hope, but we have also heard about the unbelievable resilience. Afghan women live in unthinkable circumstances for any of us here, but they keep on. While this is a speech setting out terrible things, I am not asking people to pity women and girls in Afghanistan; in talking about them, I am asking for action. I know that you, Madam Deputy Speaker, were previously a member of the APPG in the last Parliament and know how supportive you were and continue to be.

To end, I want to share the remarks that the APPG heard last year from a female medical practitioner on the ground. She said that she spoke to us as parliamentarians

“as a witness to the quiet suffering and untold strength of Afghan women. These stories are not just tragic, they are powerful. And they must inform policy decisions and humanitarian priorities moving forward.”

I urge the Government to heed those words.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dave Robertson]

Thank you for your guidance, Madam Deputy Speaker. That is really important, because there are some ongoing cases; I will talk about the Metropolitan police in a minute.

It is clear that we must do better. For far too long, survivors have been ignored. That cannot and must not continue. I am really grateful to the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, who is set to meet survivors very soon, and I welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment yesterday to meeting survivors. It has taken far too long to get to this stage, but I am glad to see that things are finally starting to move.

I have had the privilege of meeting dozens of women who have taken the very brave step of disclosing their experiences to parliamentarians and people they have never met before. Their tenacity and strength has been fundamental to driving this agenda forward and making these recent advances. I am very grateful to all survivors, as I am sure everybody in the APPG is, but we must never take the trust that they have placed in us for granted.

The APPG ran a consultation with survivors, and we are really pleased that we have had dozens and dozens of responses to it, because we are clear that there is a huge network of people who have been wronged in so many ways by so many systems. It is astonishing how almost every time we have a meeting, there is something else. The scale of the failings cuts right across civil society and enormous parts of the state, and a huge amount needs to be done to recompense these people who have been so poorly served for so long.

I thank the Survivors Trust, which has been working with the APPG, and which provided invaluable support to ensure that we are working in a safe way, bearing in mind the trauma that survivors have suffered. In the coming months, I am eager to work with Members across this House and the other place, and anybody who wants to be involved, to make sure we build up a drumbeat of evidence about the scale of these crimes.

[Wendy Chamberlain]

The hon. Member is rightly and powerfully talking about the testimony of survivors. I join him in thanking the Survivors Trust, which has given us such invaluable support as we navigate managing a very difficult APPG. I want to mention two amazing women: our researchers, Kathryn and Jessie, who keep us right, keep us grounded, and have done a huge power of work, while we establish how we will take the APPG and the secretariat forward.

[Dave Robertson]

I am thankful to the hon. Member for mentioning Jessie and Kathryn, who act as the secretariat in a difficult space. They do that in and around other busy jobs. It is clear to me and the hon. Member that without their hard work, we would not have been able to do this. [Interruption.] They are far too good.

We are regularly reminded by survivors that for far too long, parts of their story, and often their entire story, was ignored. We are clear that things need to change and to move quickly. One of the things that comes up most regularly is the police investigation. I am glad that the Met, along with forces in Scotland and France, are investigating. The Met has now confirmed that it is interviewing suspects on suspicion of trafficking. That is vitally important, because survivors regularly bring up that the issue was not being taken seriously enough, and I am very glad that it now is. That focus is vital to maintaining what trust is left between survivors and the Met, but survivors still need reassurance that the force truly grasps the scale of the issue, and is truly working on this as fast as it can.

A frustration often raised with us is that the updates from the Met appear to be, “We will give you another update in three months.” That update ends up being, “There will be another update in three months.” Three months is not a short time, and when that statement is made a third, fourth or fifth time, it undermines people’s trust that things will ever come to a head, and that justice will happen.

I thank all Members who have spoken about al-Fayed’s crimes in this Chamber. A number of people have done so, in various ways. There are all those who joined the APPG, and all those who have spoken to me about the subject. It has been a real learning curve for me over the last year or so. It has been challenging for me; that is not to say that it is not more challenging for other people. I have appreciated people coming to me and showing trust. I want to repay that, as time goes by, and to move things forward for them.

A few Members have mentioned that the themes for this International Women’s Day have been rights, justice and action. We can see that this predator took rights away from far too many people; they deserve justice, and it is time for action to get justice delivered.

--- Later in debate ---

[Josh Newbury (Cannock Chase) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to speak in today’s phenomenal debate marking International Women’s Day, alongside so many remarkable women from across this House, including the hon. Member for Gorton and Denton (Hannah Spencer), who gave an inspiring maiden speech. Although she is no longer in her place, I particularly thank her for her words of solidarity for our trans community, including trans women, who should never be forgotten in this discussion. It is appalling that the hon. Lady has already experienced intimidation just for standing shoulder to shoulder with our trans siblings, but I hope she knows that many of us, on both sides of the House, will have her back on that.

As a man, I approached this debate with a little hesitance, because I am acutely aware that the experiences being discussed today are not my own, but I also remembered how many women from across the House contributed so thoughtfully to the debate on International Men’s Day, and that reminded me that progress on equality has never come from working at cross purposes to one another, but from working together. The women who shaped my life, particularly my mum and my sister, raised me not only to respect women, but to champion them—to raise women up, to challenge barriers whenever we see them and to take that responsibility seriously in the work that we do in this place.

Since becoming a father to my daughter, these issues have taken on an even deeper meaning for me. When you look at the world through the eyes of your child, you start to notice things that you might once have taken for granted. My daughter is only six years old, and yet I have already heard her say things like, “I can’t do that, that’s a boy’s job,” or describe certain roles as ones that require you to be “brave”—an attribute that she associates with men.

I can assure the House that my husband and I made sure that she knows that she can do any job that she wants to do, and that she is exceptionally brave herself, but hearing that from a six-year-old reminded me that, despite the progress we celebrate on International Women’s Day, the messages that children absorb about what women and girls can or cannot do can still shape their ambitions from a very early age. As a parent, and as a Member of this House, that is something that I feel a responsibility to challenge. Every girl, in this country and beyond, should grow up believing that her ambition is limited only by her talents and her determination.

One issue that I want to touch on, which has been mentioned by other hon. Members, is the perception of masculinity, and how that shapes the experiences of both men and women. For a long time, I have spoken about the challenges facing young men and boys, but doing that should never be seen as being in opposition to championing women and girls. In fact, the two go hand in hand. If we want a healthier society, we have to address both sides of that equation.

[Wendy Chamberlain]

The hon. Gentleman has made me remember something very important. When Sarah Everard was murdered, a number of us were lighting candles, and I remember having a conversation with my son and my daughter, during which my daughter, who was 15, told her brother about all the times that she had been cat-called and harassed on the street. I agree with the hon. Gentleman that it is important that the issue is not just about educating girls or educating boys—it is about educating the human beings that we are raising. Does he agree?

[Josh Newbury]

I completely agree with the hon. Lady. Allyship across many different characteristics is essential, but I have always felt that anything that men can do to echo and raise up the voices of women is incredibly powerful. We should take that seriously and not shy away from it in debates such as this one, where we may perhaps feel that our voice is not as important, as it absolutely can be.

Too many men and boys today feel disillusioned with politics, with opportunities and with what positive masculinity can look like in modern Britain. That is a real issue that deserves serious attention, but the answer to the challenge is not to exploit those frustrations by turning men against women, or to seek votes by weakening women’s rights, yet that is exactly the direction that some would take us in. For example, as we have heard, the Reform candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election suggested that people without children should be taxed for that, placing pressure on women to have children. That misogynistic view of women’s role in society should be rejected in the strongest terms.

I am proud of everything that this Labour Government are championing for women, including closing the gender pay gap. British women still earn 13% less than men, but the pay gap is not just about numbers on a spreadsheet. Large employers are required to publish gender pay gap data, but that alone will not close the gap. This is not just fiscal; it is cultural. Thanks to the Employment Rights Act, employers will have to publish clear action plans showing how they will close the gap and support women to progress.

Before they even go into work girls can feel, as my daughter has shown me, like there are things that are not for them—certain ambitions that are out of reach. When we look at the history of opportunity in this country, we are reminded of how much can change when assumptions and prejudices are challenged. One of the most powerful examples of that is the work of Jennie Lee. As well as being a true Fifer, as noted by my hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward), Jennie was also one of my predecessors as an adopted sister of Cannock.

As the Minister for the Arts in the 1960s, Jennie championed the creation of the Open University, which was built on the belief that talent should not be limited by background, age or sex. The idea that someone could study for a university degree from their own home was dismissed by many as unrealistic, but Jennie believed that education should be open to anyone with the determination to learn. The result has been extraordinary: the Open University has educated millions of people across this country and beyond, many of whom might never have had the opportunity otherwise to access higher education.

That legacy reminds us that expanding opportunity is not simply about access to education; it is also about expanding the horizons of what people believe is possible for themselves. But equality also depends on recognising the barriers that women still face in other areas of life. Women’s health has been overlooked far too often, with conditions such as endometriosis taking years to diagnose and many women leaving the workforce because of untreated menopause symptoms. I am proud that this Government are taking steps to tackle medical misogyny, from strengthening rights at work to improving support for conditions that largely affect women and expanding opportunity through education and childcare.

According to a report published by UN Women in 2022, it could take close to three centuries before we achieve full gender equality. That statistic should give us pause, but it should also strengthen our determination, because progress does not happen by itself; it happens when we smash outdated assumptions and refuse to accept that inequality is inevitable. If my daughter and millions of girls growing up across this country are to inherit a fairer society, it will need all of us in this House to continue that effort.