Women in Britain suffer disadvantage in all areas of life.
Women working full-time on average earn 17% less than men working full-time; for part-time workers the gap is 36% an hour.
Twenty percent of single women pensioners risk being in poverty in retirement.
Fewer than 20% of Westminster MPs are female; less than 11% of board members on major British companies are female.
Women still carry out the majority of unpaid work in the home, particularly caring work, and in total work considerably more hours than men on average.
One in four women is subjected to domestic violence during her lifetime, and rape and sexual assault remains a blight on our society, with significant under-reporting of cases, and with only six out of 100 cases reported to police resulting in a conviction. Violence against women costs our society 40bn a year, and the psychological and personal costs are enormous.
The Green Party would:
Recognise that work consists of many tasks other than those that are currently paid.
Introduce a citizens' income for all, and a citizens' pension.
These measures would significantly reduce poverty, and particularly women's poverty, and end the traps that can make returning to paid work, or doing part-time work, currently unsustainable or financially impossible.
Introduce 24 weeks' paid maternity leave for all women in paid work.
Introduce a law to ensure that boards of major companies are at least 40% female. (Following the model in Norway).
Insist that all large and medium-size companies carry out equal pay audits, and redress inequalities uncovered; and that the law be changed to make joint suits for equal pay cases simpler.
Implement its model policy for dealing with domestic abuse (including domestic violence) which recognizes that the needs and desires of the victims must be paramount, and that all service providers who come into contact with potentially vulnerable women need to be trained to provide appropriate assistance.
Ensure that a full range of birth options is available to all women, and that all women are entitled to the care of a single midwife throughout their maternity experience and postnatally.
Remove the law requiring the consent of two doctors for an abortion, allow midwives and nurses who are appropriately qualified to perform abortions, and remove other restrictions that are medically unnecessary, with the aim of improving access to NHS abortions.
Ensure that rape crisis centres and domestic violence centres receive guaranteed funding from core budgets so that they are not forced to live in a state of constant funding uncertainty.
Institute an asylum policy that particular recognizes the potential risks to, and needs of, women seeking asylum, including issues of forced marriage, female genital mutilation and domestic violence.
