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Open Letter

Letter: Campaigning for Women’s Visibility in UK Response to Covid- 19

Joint letter in response to Pandemic policies- Women and girls in all their diversity must be seen, have their voices heard and their needs met.

“The Coronavirus pandemic is exceptionally difficult for everyone and is having a huge impact on all our lives. So far, women and girls in the UK have been largely invisible from the debate and excluded from decision-making. Now schools and nurseries have closed their doors it will be women who take on most of the unpaid care work, reducing their hours or giving up paid work, turning the clock back on gender equality. Many women are on the frontline, delivering essential services, usually the lowest paid or in insecure work. Many women will be trapped in their homes, self-isolating with an abusive partner. It’s women who are also more likely to care for older or disabled relatives and neighbours. Yet hundreds of billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money is being spent without considering the specific challenges women are facing. ​Women and girls in all their diversity must be seen, have their voices heard and their needs met.”

Full list of signatories: 

  1. Adina Claire – Acting Co-Chief Executive, Women’s Aid Federation of England
  2. Adrienne Darragh – Chief Executive, Hibiscus Initiatives
  3. Angela Everson – CEO, WomenCentre
  4. Anna Herrmann – Joint Artistic Director, Clean Break
  5. Anne Mc Vicker – Director, Women’s Resource & Development Agency-WRDA
  6. Anthea Sully – Chief Executive, White Ribbon UK
  7. Baljit Banga – Executive Director, Imkaan
  8. Caroline Criado Perez – award-winning writer and campaigner
  9. Catherine Fookes – Director, Women’s Equality Network (WEN) Wales
  10. Cerys Furlong – Chief Executive, Chwarae Teg
  11. Clare Murphy – Director of External Affairs, British Pregnancy Advisory Service
  12. Faeeza Vaid MBE – Executive Director, Muslim Women’s Network UK
  13. Gisela Valle – Director, Latin American Women’s Rights Service
  14. Hannah Shead – Chief Executive Office, Trevi House
  15. Harriet Wistrich – Director, Centre for Women’s Justice
  16. Helen Pankhurst – Convenor, Centenary Action Group
  17. Hera Hussain – Founder, CHAYN
  18. Iman Atta – Director, Tell MAMA
  19. Iman Atta – Director, Faith Matters
  20. Jane van Zyl – Chief Executive, Working Families
  21. Jemima Olchawski – Chief Executive, Agenda
  22. Joeli Brearley, – Founder, Pregnant Then Screwed
  23. Julie Budge – Founder / CEO, My Sisters’ House C.I.O
  24. Dr. Kate Paradine – Chief Executive, Women in Prison
  25. Laura Seebohm – Executive Director, Changing Lives
  26. Laurie Lee – CEO, CARE International UK
  27. Lee Chalmers – Founder, Director, The Parliament Project
  28. Lisa Dando FRSA – Director, Brighton Women’s Centre
  29. Lisa-Marie Taylor – CEO, FiLiA
  30. Maggie Parks OBE – Chief Executive, The Women’s Centre Cornwall
  31. Mandu Reid – Leader, Women’s Equality Party
  32. Dr. Mary-Ann Stephenson – Director, UK Women’s Budget Group
  33. Matt Home – Director, Willowdene Rehabilitation
  34. Natasha Walter and Marchu Girma – Directors, Women for Refugee Women
  35. Dr. Nicola Sharp-Jeffs – CEO, Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA)
  36. Niki Scordi – Chief Executive, Advance Charity
  37. Nikki Guy – Centre Manager, Stockport Women’s Centre
  38. Pip Eldridge – Interim Director, TIME’S UP UK
  39. Pragna Patel – Director, Southall Black Sisters
  40. Professor Sophie Harman – Queen Mary University of London
  41. Rokaiya Khan – CEO, Together Women
  42. Rosalind Bragg – Director, Maternity Action UK
  43. Sam Smethers – Chief Executive, The Fawcett Society
  44. Sarah Tomlin – Equal Power Coordinator, 50:50 Parliament
  45. Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu – Lawyer, Political & Women’s Rights Activist
  46. Sneh Jani-Patel & Olivia Head – Co-Founders, Bread and Roses
  47. Sophia Benedict – Women’s Services Manager, Southwark and Lewisham Women’s Hubs, Pecan
  48. Sophie Walker – Chief Executive, Young Women’s Trust
  49. Stacy Smith – Chief Executive Officer, Her Centre
  50. Suzanne Jacob – CEO, SafeLives
  51. Vanessa Pine – Co-Founder, Activate Collective
Topics
Covid- 19

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