Women's Views on News |
- Who the women in Cameron’s new cabinet are
- Female developers numbers rising
- Women’s aid group launches urgent appeal
| Who the women in Cameron’s new cabinet are Posted: 21 May 2015 03:25 AM PDT
Prime Minister David Cameron has, it seems, taken some criticism to heart and included more women in his new Conservative cabinet. But who are they, and what do they stand for? Here is a brief overview of the women in Cameron's new, post-election all-Conservative cabinet. Nicki Morgan continues as Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities. Originally appointed as Secretary of State for Education in July 2014, Nicki Morgan kept her job during this most recent cabinet re-shuffle. She has already caused controversy by claiming that academies and free schools are better than council-run state schools. Teachers are understandably demanding hard evidence for this sweeping statement, of which there is none. This isn't the first time Morgan has been in trouble over using spurious statistics. In December 2014 she was reprimanded by the UK Statistics Authority for stating that 'one third of children under Labour left primary school unable to read or write'. In fact, 91 per cent of 11 year-olds were perfectly literate. Perhaps the Secretary of State for Education should brush up on her maths skills? Morgan previously voted against same-sex marriage, although now she is Equalities Minister she has, she says, changed her mind. Priti Patel is Minister of State for Employment. Priti Patel was born in London, the daughter of Ugandan immigrants who fled Idi Amin's regime and settled in Britain. She has been an MP since 2010, and is one of the authors of the controversial book ‘Britannia Unchained’, in which British workers are described as being 'among the worst idlers in the world'. Patel voted against gay marriage. She opposes prisoner voting, and has been known to support the death penalty, although she recently backtracked on that stance. She has also been criticised for her background in lobbying for the tobacco and alcohol industries as she has, for example, spoken out against plans to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes. Caroline Dineage is the new Minister for Equalities at the Department for Education. She is also Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice. Dineage voted against gay marriage, although she has taken quite a sharp U-turn on the matter since taking on her new job. She is passionate about animal welfare and opposes fox hunting. Her promotion to Minister for Equalities means she joins her husband, the Minister of Defence personnel, Welfare and Veterans, Mark Lancaster, in the Cabinet. Justine Greening continues as Secretary of State for International Development. Justine Greening has been Secretary of State for International Development since 2012. She was caught up in the 'Contribsx‘ Wikipedia controversy, when former Conservative Party Chairman Grant Shapps was accused of tampering with her profile to highlight an embarrassing incident when she failed to vote on military action in Syria because she was talking to a colleague at the time. In a move that appears straight out of The Thick of It, Shapps was recently demoted from Tory Chairman to a junior position in Greening's department. Greening bucks the trend so far by supporting gay marriage. Elizabeth Truss is Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs again. Elizabeth – Liz – Truss has kept hold of her job as Environment Secretary, although she faces many challenges over the next few years, including maintaining flood defences, improving air quality by reducing pollution and continuing UK climate change efforts, all in the face of enormous cuts. Truss was, from 2012-2014, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education and Childcare, where she pushed for reforms to pre-school childcare and A-Levels with varying degrees of success. Theresa Villiers continues as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Theresa Villiers has been Secretary of State for Northern Ireland since 2012. Currently she is defending the new government's plans for a Bill of Rights, saying it will not undermine the European Convention on Human Rights and therefore will therefore not affect the Good Friday Agreement. Amber Rudd is Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change First elected to Westminster as MP for Hastings and Rye in 2010, Amber Rudd has a history of promoting women's issues, including campaigning against female genital mutilation (FGM). She is the chairperson of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Sex Equality and has repeatedly called for more women in the cabinet. In her new capacity as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Rudd aims to 'unleash a solar revolution in Britain', and wants to curtail on-shore wind farms, unless the locals don't object to them being built. Her appointment has been greeted with enthusiasm from green businesses and campaigners. However, her pro-fracking stance is likely cause a fall-out with the Greens and other anti-fracking groups and communities. Anna Soubry is now Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise. Soubry steps into this newly-created role with the aim of increasing the number of small businesses in the UK. She was formerly the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for Defence, the first elected female politician to be a minister in the Ministry of Defence (MoD). She is renowned for being outspoken and irreverent, once locking horns with UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage over his use of wildly inaccurate immigration figures. Theresa May continues as Home Secretary. Theresa May has been the Home Secretary – full title Secretary of State for the Home Department – since 2010. She has frequently faced criticism, for her policies on domestic abuse, for example, and most recently her proposals to criminalise 'coercive behaviour'. And her counter-extremism measures are also causing alarm with anyone who values free speech. Theresa May was named by BBC Radio 4's Women's Hour as Britain's second most powerful woman on The Power List 2013. Baroness Stowell of Beeston is Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal again. Tina Stowell can be credited with steering the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 through the House of Lords. Baroness Anelay of St Johns is Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. Joyce Anelay has enjoyed a highly esteemed career in the Conservative Party. However, arguably her most notable contribution to international affairs was in 2014 when she actively opposed the search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean and spoke of the ‘pull factor‘. This lack of support from the UK – and other European countries- has resulted in a 1600 per cent increase in people drowning while trying to cross the Mediterranean. The death toll jumped from 96 in the first four months of 2014 to well over 1,500 in the same period this year, according to the International Organization of Migration. Overall the number of women in this new Parliament has risen by about a third to 191, so female MPs now make up 29 per cent of the total. There are 68 female Conservative MPs, or 20 per cent of Conservative seats, up from 48:16 and the number od female Labour MPs has increased from 87 to 99, despite an overall fall in the number of Labour MPs. But the biggest rise in female representation in the Commons came from the Scottish National Party, which now has 20 female MPs, up from just one. And now we wait and see…  |
| Female developers numbers rising Posted: 21 May 2015 02:15 AM PDT
The results of a recent study conducted by Stack Overflow Careers suggest the percentage of female developers in the UK is about to start growing. Currently, just 4 per cent of developers in the UK are women. But the study shows that almost 20 per cent of female developers in the UK have been working in developer roles for less than a year. That compares to 3.4 per cent of male developers with less than a year's experience – suggesting that women are entering the field much more rapidly. The study also found female developers are less likely to be self-taught, with more having undertaken training such as online courses and intensive boot camps. And female developers are reported to be relatively less concerned about salary levels, placing greater value on both work/life balance and job title. Stack Overflow's annual Developer Survey this year received responses from more than 26,000 people in 157 countries, working in coding and related roles. The vast majority of respondents – over 92 per cent – were men. Overall, women were more than twice as likely as men to have less than two years' experience. The study’s authors express hope that this is a sign the gender gap is set to narrow. The study also highlights differences in gender imbalance depending on the country. For instance, women account for more than 15 per cent of developers in India, compared to just over 2 per cent in Sweden. One recent example of a UK employer taking steps to attract more female developers is BBC Digital, which on 26 June will host a free event for women in technology. BBC Digital said it was specifically looking to hire more women, to "ensure that our staff base reflects the diversity of our audiences by increasing the number of women we employ in technical roles." As the report sums up: ‘Software development has a gender balance problem. ‘Our internal stats suggest the imbalance isn’t quite as severe as the survey results would make it seem, but there's no doubt everyone who codes needs to be more proactive welcoming women into the field.’  |
| Women’s aid group launches urgent appeal Posted: 21 May 2015 01:09 AM PDT
Forty years ago a support network was established in London for women and children who had suffered from abuse, to help them to forge a new life. What started as a small project helping forty women has grown into Solace Women's Aid – a charity that has since then helped over 60,000 women and children who have suffered from emotional, physical and sexual abuse. The charity provides a range of specialist services across London including refuges, advice and advocacy, counselling, support groups and family and children's projects. However, all of this could be under threat thanks to the cuts to government funding which have affected all of the groups, NGOs and organisations trying to mitigate the effects of domestic abuse. Solace is currently supporting 8,500 women and children throughout London, but the charity knows there are many thousands more in need of help. The numbers of women seeking refuge from abusive situations is growing and Solace's services are overwhelmed. So Solace is commemorating its 40th year by launching an urgent appeal for funds – the 40 campaign – designed to ensure that Solace can continue operating and supporting women. While life for many women has improved over the past forty years, the London Metropolitan Police crime figures for the year ending March 2015 show there was a 20 per cent increase in reported rapes in the city last year. Reports of other sexual offences increased by 34 per cent and there was a 20 per cent increase in reports of domestic crime. Many women are finding that when they have reached the point where they want to escape and ask for help, overwhelmed charities and support networks are unable to assist them straightaway. Last year, although Solace provided refuge for 377 women and children campaigners know there are many more currently on the waiting list. The austerity measures of recent years have seen cuts to legal aid, welfare benefits and local authority support services, cuts which has directly affected women seeking help from abusive situations. The government’s cuts make it harder for agencies like Solace to operate at the same time as demand for their services is increased. As domestic abuse and sexual violence is reported more and more in the media Solace have seen more women ask for help. It should be good news that more women are asking for assistance. But unfortunately, thanks to cuts in government funding, there are fewer resources with which to assist them. Mary Mason, CEO of Solace said: “As domestic and sexual violence is discussed more and more in the media we've seen a huge increase in the number of survivors who feel more confident in coming forward, disclosing their own experiences and seeking support. “All this in a climate of significant funding cuts.” When asked if the recent political change to a solely Conservative government after the elections was a cause for concern, Karen Ruskin, head of fundraising at Solace, told Women's Views on News: "Cameron is planning £12 billion more cuts to the welfare budget, and although it isn't yet clear exactly where many of the cuts will be made, they are bound to leave women and children affected by domestic and sexual violence vulnerable, especially mothers and those on a low income." In spite of the challenges Solace is facing, new volunteers are being trained on Solace Women's Aid helplines and additional staff are being recruited to provide one-to-one counselling, group therapy and specialist legal advice. Over the past three years Solace increased the number of people it was able to help by 70 per cent. Solace still hopes to provide support to at least 8,500 women and children who have experienced domestic and sexual violence. In reality, the only way Solace Women's Aid, and hundreds of similar charitable organisations, is going to be able to continue doing its work is through the support of donors. Because one thing is clear, any organisation currently counting heavily on government funding should be working hard on Plan B. For more information about Solace’s 40 Year Campaign click here.  |
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