Report reveals fewer women in positions of power and influence
Sex and Power, the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s annual report looking at women in top positions of power and influence across the public and private sectors, suggests a worrying trend of reversal or stalled progress – with only a few significant increases.
The index indicates fewer women hold top posts in 12 of the 25 categories (almost half). In another 5 categories, the number of women remains unchanged since 2007’s index. Women’s representation has increased in just 8 areas. There are fewer women MPs in Westminster, where they make up just 19.3 percent of all MPs. Women’s representation among FTSE 100 directors has improved slightly from 10.4 to 11.0 percent.
The Commission has likened women’s progress to a snail’s pace. A snail could crawl: (i) nine times round the M25 in the 55 years it will take women to achieve equality in the senior judiciary; (ii) from Land’s End to John O’Groats and halfway back again in the 73 years it will take for equal numbers of women to become directors of FTSE 100 companies; (iii) the entire length of the Great Wall of China in 212 years, only slightly longer than the 200 years it will take for women to be equally represented in Parliament.
If women were to achieve equal representation among Britain’s 31,000 top positions of power, the Commission estimates nearly 5,700 ‘missing’ women would rise through the ranks.
You can download a copy of the report at: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/Pages/default.aspx
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