Page 4 - BPW-UK - E-news - Edition 111 - April 2023 with added PDFs

Let’s Talk about Belfast

The main purpose of the Wednesday talk was to discuss the two motions that were
passed at National Conference and how we can move them forward. At the end of the
talk, we had a more general discussion on members' feedback from the conference.

At the beginning I reminded members of the purpose of advocacy which is primarily
arguing for a cause (lobbying) central to our mandate. Can we improve on it as an organi-
sation and could we use our already established lines of communication more effectively?

MISOGYNY

There are some small signs of progress in this area in that a Private Members’ Bill,
which has cross party support, would criminalise harassing women in the street. This is
expected to be passed later this year.

Following the independent report on the Metropolitan Police that the whole culture
needs to change, it was a surprise to discover the Commissioner did not have the power
to dismiss officers. Only a legal tribunal can do this.

Discussion followed and Jill Turner said as well as writing to our MPs we should go
higher and write directly to the Minister for Women, Kemi Badenoch. Liz Jowett also said
it would be good to write to Select Committees with responsibility for our immediate con-
cerns.

Maureen Craig brought up the complication that some legislation is different in the
devolved areas of the UK.

We should also open dialogue and let our sympathetic allies e.g. 6-O and outside
bodies such as the Fawcett Society, be aware of our current motions.

The Fawcett Society has recently had a discussion on the impact of misogyny on
young people and a link to the discussion is here:
https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/event-videos.

HUMAN RIGHTS (UK)

The current proposed solution to the refugee crisis is being called “the illegal migra-
tion bill”. This solution goes against our current Human Rights’ Act and the Home Secre-
tary says we will leave the European Convention to pursue the current solution. This will
damage our international credibility and set a precedent which could affect all our human
rights in the UK. A better solution would be to speed up the process of examining the
right to stay which is currently too inefficient and long-winded. This encourages traffickers
and people entering illegally.

Discussion followed from Margo Davidson Wood and Monique Lee on how Australia,
Canada and the USA deal with this, having points systems and prioritising different cate-
gories of refugees.

On broad issues such as these we should use our status as an international organi-
sation and make our colleagues aware of our concerns e.g. the European Women's Lobby.

Any lobbying and letter writing in the name of BPW UK should come through the Ad-
vocacy Working Group first.
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