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Calling on the government to make women visible

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Fawcett Society, 60 charities, women's rights, #MakeWomenVisible, COVID-19, government repsonseAnd asking the government to pay proper attention to what women need.

Over 60 charities have come together to call for immediate action from the UK government to properly support women and girls during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Existing inequalities mean that women are set to be disproportionately impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic.

And without urgent action, the impact on women and girls will be devastating.

Groups of women already disadvantaged by our society will be struggling the most. This includes women living with disabilities, black, Asian and ethnic minority women, women in unsuitable housing and migrant women with ‘no recourse’ or rights to public funds.

The charities are asking the government to:

1 – Make women visible in crisis decision making: Women must be at the decision-making table and data collected by the government, the NHS and local authorities must be broken down by sex and other demographics including race and disability.

2 – Make women safe at work: The majority of key workers in high risk roles are women. They urgently need high quality personal protective equipment (PPE) that fits well.

Pregnant women in public facing roles must be suspended on full pay rather than sick pay if the risk to them cannot be reduced, for example by offering them alternative work or home working.

3 – Support parents during school and nursery closures: Child benefit should be increased, and the two-child limit and benefit cap under Universal Credit suspended.

Children who cannot access school work because they do not have the right IT equipment must be provided with it.

The government needs to make employers and the public aware that furlough covers people who cannot work due to caring responsibilities.

4 – Protect women from poverty and homelessness: Improve Universal Credit to prevent women falling into poverty during the crisis, by covering the cost of average rents and making payments sooner than 5 weeks.

Sick pay and carer’s allowance must be increased.

Women who are or were recently on maternity leave are also at risk because furlough does not work for them.

5 – Protect women from violence and abuse during lockdown: Home is not a safe place for many women and girls.

Urgent funding is needed to ensure that violence against women and girls services can cope with the impact of the Coronavirus and increased demand during lockdown.

6 – Make destitute migrant women safe and release women from immigration detention: England should follow Wales and Scotland and end ‘no recourse to public funds’ rules so that migrant women are not left destitute.

The government must release women from immigration detention.

7 – Safeguard disabled women’s rights, quality of life and care: Restore the law that upholds disabled and older people’s right to social care in England and Wales, and support disabled women to stay in work and live independently.

8 – Protect elderly women in care homes: Testing and PPE must be made available in all care homes to better protect older and disabled people.

9 – Reduce the number of women in prison to save lives: The early release scheme must be delivered with haste and extended to those with six months or less still to serve and those with underlying health conditions.

Failure to act will costs lives and put strain on the NHS.

To see more detailed information about these 9 points, click here.

Please download the full list of asks here and send it to your MP and share it on social media using the hashtag #MakeWomenVisible.

Thanks.

This list is supported by

Agenda;

anawim;

BackTo60;

Brighton Women’s Centre;

British Pregnancy Advisory Service;

Care International UK;

Centenary Action Group;

Centre for Women’s Justice;

Changing Lives;

Chwarae Teg;

Clean Break;

Close the Gap;

DEWA Project;

EVAW;

Faith Matters;

FiLia;

FTWW: Fair Treatment for the Women of Wales;

Henna Foundation;

Hibiscus Initiatives;

IKWRO;

IRISi;

Latin American Women’s Aid;

Latin American Women’s Rights Service (LAWRS);

Llamau;

My Sisters’ House Women’s Centre;

Oasis Cardiff;

Oxfam GB;

Pregnant Then Screwed;

Rape Crisis Scotland;

Refugee Women Connect;

Rosa;

SafeLives;

Scottish Women’s Aid;

SignHealth: The Deaf Health Charity;

Solace Women’s Aid;

Southwark and Lewisham Women’s Hubs;

Pecan;

Standing Together;

Step Up, Migrant Women;

Surviving Economic Abuse;

Tell MAMA;

The Equality Trust;

The WI;

The Women’s Centre Cornwall;

TIME’S UP UK;

Wales TUC;

Welsh Women’s Aid;

West Midlands Women’s Voices;

White Ribbon;

Women 50:50;

Women’s Environmental Network;

Women’s Equality Party;

WomenCentre;

Working Change;

Working Families and

Zero Tolerance Scotland.

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