Lobby Parliament for women’s rights
Lobby your MP for women’s rights at the Houses of Parliament on 24 October 2012.
Join activists and organisations from across the country at a feminist lobby of parliament in London and call on MPs to stop eroding women’s rights and start driving forward women’s equality.
Reproductive rights are under attack, women’s economic independence is being eroded by the cuts and age-old inequalities such as violence against women persist.
Equal rights campaign group UK Feminista is organising a mass lobby of parliament which aims to see constituents meet 100s of MPs and lay out the facts and outline the action needed to tackle violence against women, access to justice and economic equality for women and women’s representation in politics.
UK Feminista will be making a lobby pack for you to download from their website – or pick up on the day – with the calls for action and all the facts and figures that you can use and give to your MP.
Come along.
From 11:00 – 13:00 there is a rally and training event: it will be at Church House, 27 Great Smith Street, Westminster, London, SW1P 3AZ - NOT, as previously annoucned, at the Abbey Centre, 34 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BU.
This will be packed with talks and short films on the issues in question, and there will be a short training session so you can get all the info you need on how to lobby your MP and find out what will happen once you get inside parliament.
Then from 14:00 – 16:00 you lobby your MP at the Houses of Parliament.
To find and contact your MP – and find out what they have done and said so far – click here.
You can also email your MP to arrange a meeting through UK Feminista’s website on the ‘sign up’ page.
For more details of the lobby on 24 October, visit – and keep an eye on – the UK Feminista website.
The rally will be from 11:00-12:30, and will be at Church House, 27 Great Smith Street, in Westminster, London, SW1P 3AZ.
There will be talks by Yvette Cooper MP, Caroline Lucas MP and Amber Rudd MP, and a performance by the Olympic Suffragettes.
Constituents at the lobby (still from 14:00-16:00 at the Houses of Parliament) will ask their MPs to:
Help ensure every school plays their part in preventing violence against women and girls: ‘Talk to schools in your area about the importance of tackling violence against women and girls in schools and write to Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Education, asking him to make prevention work in schools a priority in his department.’
Take action to end the stereotyping, objectification and sexualisation of women in the media: ‘When the Leveson Inquiry report is published in November, show support for action to ensure that the press does not discriminate against women.’
Take a stand for urgent investment in childcare for all: ‘Write to the Rt Hon George Osborne MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, asking him to restore the childcare element of Working Tax Credit to previous levels and to ring-fence funding for Sure Start children’s centres. Talk to your local authority about the need to invest in Sure Start and affordable childcare as a priority.’
Take action to ensure justice for women seeking asylum: ‘Show leadership in challenging the culture of disbelief in the UK Border Agency and call for free quality legal advice and representation for all women seeking asylum so that women fleeing persecution receive fairer decisions on their asylum claims.’
and to
Protect reproductive rights and support an abortion law for the 21st century: ‘Commit to speak out in support of the right to safe, legal abortion for all women and for reform of the 1967 Abortion Act to extend it to Northern Ireland. Take action to prevent anti-choice protests from continuing outside abortion clinics where women’s safety and privacy is threatened.’