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Last year, a six-month operation across the United Kingdom resulted in 528 perpetrators being arrested in nearly 200 police raids. The majority of the 167 victims of trafficking were found to have come from south-east Asian countries. An official said that the United Kingdom is a favourite destination for traffickers from Asia, West Africa and eastern Europe. He went on to say that the world recession would increase trafficking because the lack of a co-ordinated international response to it would encourage criminals to exploit this increasingly profitable area.

Prostitution is on the increase, and this may be one reason for the increase in trafficking. It is estimated that one in 10 men uses women in prostitution. If this number could be reduced, it would lead to a reduction in trafficking. In London, 80 per cent of women in brothels are trafficked, which means that 80 per cent of the activity there constitutes rape.

There are encouraging developments in Sweden, which criminalised the demand side of prostitution, dealing with those who buy sex rather than those who sell it. This has resulted in a significant reduction in human trafficking. The Swedish Government reasoned that prostitution reproduces gender inequality, which they wish to eradicate.

In conclusion, there is a real danger that this economic crisis will result in even more human trafficking. Therefore, we desperately need a greater international effort to counter this and indeed to counter violence of all kinds against women. Will the Government give an assurance that they will make an even greater effort to curtail this evil trade?

2.18 pm

Lord Addington: My Lords, I sense that, following the noble Lord, Lord McColl, a lighter tone will be apparent in my speech. In the past couple of years when the noble Baroness, Lady Gould, has brought forward this debate, I have tried to talk about the role of women in the sporting world. That is particularly important at the moment because we are hosting the next Olympics. The next Olympiad will be in this city, just down the road. If ever there were a beacon of hope in dark times, it should be the Olympics.

What is special about this Olympiad is the fact that, for the first time, the idea of legacy and mass participation has been brought to the fore in a way that has never happened before. Those are things that we should be bringing about. The Government have a target of increasing participation in sport by 1 million people, but I hope that does not result in just a million people doing more sport. There was a suggestion that weasel words might work their way into the debate. We need more people to take exercise. Unfortunately, according to my briefing, 80 per cent of women do not take enough exercise. What are we doing to reach that group?



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I shall start with a basic assumption, which may be wrong: women are not intrinsically more physically lazy than men. I hope that can be borne out. I doubt that many women want to be overweight. Popular culture tells us, repeatedly and at considerable length, the opposite. Why do we have a culture in which women do not take part in sporting activity? I do not know whether there is a historical reason but, at the moment, there is 50 times more media coverage of men’s sporting events than women's. That is ridiculous.

My own sport, rugby union, probably does not give much coverage to women’s rugby, small as it is by comparison with the men’s game. At the moment, the Six Nations Championship is taking place. I would be very aggrieved if some of the coverage of those games was suddenly lost on free-to-air broadcasting. At some point, someone will be upset by the free-to-air broadcasters trying to achieve more coverage of female sport to create the image that it is all right for women to take part in sport. That is the front end of the problem.

We have a good example of the back-end of the problem in my own sport. There was a very successful, well targeted campaign of recruitment into rugby union, called the Go Play Rugby campaign based on the last rugby World Cup. It was very successful, but most of us will not have noticed it because it was targeted a young men who had learnt the basic skills at school, but who had dropped out. They were targeted in the media which they read. Surely, one could recruit the female of the species in that way too to get them involved in physical activity and sport.

The Government have been pumping money into sport for quite a long time, as they have told us with considerable frequency and at considerable length. If people have the basic physical skills, surely we should have a series of targeted campaigns to get them involved before age and infirmity slow them down. The Olympic build-up is coming and we have to get people involved. We need to show young women, who have been taught how to kick a football correctly and who may enjoy the occasional kick about, how they can find a team so that they can take part regularly. How can we support that process? We want to make sure that activity becomes a habit early enough so that their social lives are structured around it. If you regularly play football on Sunday mornings, you will demand of your partner that they allow you to do so. Men have been doing that for years. Women should retaliate on Saturdays and Sundays and see who in the partnership plays where and in which league.

There are some good examples of schemes, such as the one in the north-west of the country for netball, where there was specific targeting, similar to the Go Play Rugby scheme. I know about that so I use it as an example. Specific targeting got people involved in netball. If people have the basic skills in netball, they should find a team and get involved. The Go Play Rugby scheme meant that the teams and clubs that people went to were prepared to accept them and they had a trial run. Will the Government encourage that as part of their Olympic drive? Will we encourage people to take part and to get involved?

In the current economic crisis, gym membership, which has been growing among women, will probably come under threat. Gyms are expensive and anyone

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who has ever been a member of gym knows that for considerable periods of time you pay for the idea of going to a gym. I wonder how many gym memberships will be lost. Perhaps we can find something in which colleagues and friends can take part. Please can the Government give an undertaking to consider targeted advertising to get people involved in sport or in group exercise activities so that they are socially tuned in and committed, at least in the medium-term? That would be a positive way to proceed. I encourage the Minister to give us an uplifting answer to a debate which has had one or two dark moments.

2.25 pm

Baroness Gale: My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Gould for securing this debate for the sixth year in succession. Although I am the 24th speaker, I will speak on a matter not mentioned by anyone else: the role of women in Wales. I declare an interest as a commissioner for Wales on the board of the Women’s National Commission.

Last week the Equality and Human Rights Commission for Wales published a document, Who Runs Wales? 2009. I knew the answer before I read it. It says:

“Who Runs Wales? 2009 paints a picture of life in Wales in which our boardrooms are overwhelmingly male and it is largely men who take the big decisions that impact on all of our lives. Women are more likely to be booking the meeting room and taking notes of the decisions”.

The report goes on to say that, taken as a whole, almost no progress has been made in achieving gender balance at Wales's decision-making tables since 2004.

In the business life of Wales, of the 100 top companies not one has a female chief executive. In the National Health Service in Wales, women make up 79 per cent of the workforce, but of the 13 chief executives only three are women. The number of women on the boards of the Welsh Assembly government-sponsored bodies has decreased from 33 per cent to 30 per cent. In local authorities, only 21 per cent of chief executives are women and there are only eight women MPs out of 40 in Wales. Only 25 per cent of councillors are women. There are no women as university vice-chancellors in Wales and although 74 per cent of secondary school teachers are women, only 16 per cent of them are head teachers.

How does all this impact on the role of women in a global economic downturn? In Wales there are nearly as many women working as men, but of course the jobs that women and men have are so different, with 40 per cent of women in part-time jobs compared with fewer than one in 10 men and 29 per cent of women in low-paid jobs compared with 16 per cent of men. Does that mean that women's jobs will be hit hardest because they are part-time and low-paid jobs?

To combat that eventuality, a number of initiatives have been put forward such as that by Chwarae Teg. Chwarae Teg is the leading professional agency for the economic development of women in Wales. It champions education, women as entrepreneurs, work-life balance and flexible working, helping women to overcome obstacles that prevent them from making a full and

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consistent contribution. It has just launched the Agile Nation project. The aims of Agile Nation are to promote gender equality, support career advancement and contribute to a reduction in the gender pay gap. Women will be encouraged and helped to achieve their full potential in the workplace through a programme of training and mentoring, a training allowance scheme and quality part-time opportunities. That project will be a great help to women at this time.

It is difficult for women to have a role in Wales when there are so few women in leading positions in Wales. But if one looks at the Welsh Assembly, what a difference one sees. Since the first elections in 1999, women have played a leading role and by the elections of 2003, 50 per cent of those elected were women. Having so many women in the Welsh Assembly has brought about a different agenda. Recent research conducted by Swansea and Warwick universities, entitled, Gender and political processes in the context of devolution, reported,

“The claim that a gender balance among political representatives has an effect, both on the way politics is done, and on the policy issues that are prioritised. We also have evidence that the diversity of political representatives facilitate engagement with a greater range of civil society organisations ... However we found resistance at local level to positive measures to increase women's representation”.

I could have told them that without research. It continues:

“This suggests that further consideration needs to be given to ways in which diversity amongst political representatives can be increased”.

The Welsh Assembly is a great example of what can be achieved when positive measures are put in place by political parties to encourage women. I am very proud to say that it was the Labour Party in Wales that took the lead 10 years ago. Unfortunately, other institutions in Wales have not followed suit. I quote again from Who Runs Wales?:

“Over the last three years we have seen very poor progress towards gender balance in our corridors of power. Wales is missing out on a pool of talent and the potential for more effective decision-making during an economic downturn when it can least afford it. Together we can change that”.

In order to make that change, I put forward an idea and ask the Minister what she thinks about it. I suggest that all institutions in Wales should get together, perhaps holding a convention, which could be facilitated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in Wales, fully to discuss the role of women in Wales today and to look at what measures can be taken to guarantee that women be allowed to play a full role in all walks of life.

Leading organisations in Wales will be invited to take part, such as the CBI Wales, the Wales TUC, the Welsh Local Government Association, NGOs in Wales, the four main political parties, the churches, Welsh Women's Aid and community groups, all meeting together with a will to change things for women in Wales. That could be a pilot scheme that the rest of the UK could follow. I hope that that idea is taken seriously, so that women would no longer be unable to play their full part in economic and public life in Wales. Women in Wales have waited for far too long, and we are not prepared to wait much longer.



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2.33 pm

Baroness Verma: My Lords, I join other noble Lords in congratulating the noble Baroness, Lady Gould, on initiating this most timely debate. Any debate about women is always timely. The global economic crisis has captured the eyes and ears of the world, and during these troubling times, it is important that we pay attention to the group that many reports indicate will be one of the worst affected: women.

Today, I draw your Lordships’ attention to some of the most vulnerable groups of women both at home and abroad, and concentrate my thoughts on the south Asian communities. The often lowly status of women in those communities means that they are often marginalised and persecuted. They are most likely to be victims of domestic violence, held back from education and often, because of the dowry system, killed at birth. Those women will be even more vulnerable to marginalisation in times of economic need in communities here and in south Asia. We must continue to take steps to protect them and raise their status to ensure that they have the best chance of flourishing as both individuals and members of the community.

However, we must not overlook the great strides that have been made to prevent the marginalisation of women in those countries, strides that we all welcome. The newly elected Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, went so far on Sunday as to announce that the Government will repeal all existing laws discriminatory to the womenfolk. Many of the prominent ministries in Bangladesh are now headed by women. India’s Government have also taken some steps to safeguard their women. They announced in 2005 the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Bill, which sought to protect women who live with their abuser against physical, emotional and sexual violence. Importantly, the Bill secured a woman's right to secure housing. In its definition of domestic violence, the Act includes,

Girls in those communities are not wanted because they are often seen as financial burdens. Land holdings can pass to in-laws, and dowries, which themselves are illegal, siphon money from families. Dowries can lead to the murder of girl babies. In 2007, it was reported that in northern Punjab, there were just 798 girls under the age of six for every 1,000 boys. The national average is 927. Over the past 20 years, it has been estimated that 10 million female foetuses have been aborted. The Indian GDP grew by 9 per cent in 2007, but despite that growth, more girl babies were being killed, according to a study by UNICEF. A higher percentage of boys are now born than 10 years ago in 80 per cent of India's districts.

With the IMF predicting that India's GDP will grow by 5.1 per cent in 2009, we can only fear that the number of killings will increase unless the Government take action. In India, dowries are illegal but are still widely provided and are still part of the culture among much of the south Asian community in the UK. Have the Government considered the issue of dowry within the UK? Although we welcome the steps that the Bangladeshi and Indian Governments have taken to

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protect women, law can go only so far to overturn the entrenched lowly status of women. As the UK committee for UNICEF has reported in Bangladesh:

“The lower status of women is deeply embedded in a society that has traditionally valued girls much less than boys. Parents view a girl child as a temporary guest who will leave the household at marriage—and cost a dowry”.

Even after a woman is married, she carries a lower status in her new household. An estimated 11 per cent of rural women in Bangladesh, about 4.4 million women, are confined to their homes.

The Bangladeshi community is blossoming in the United Kingdom, and brings with it its rich culture and admirable work ethic, but we must ensure that it and its rights within the UK are supported and protected, and that its women are encouraged to participate positively in the decision-making processes that affect them.

Areas other than dowry on which we need to focus are violence against women, education and the killing of young baby girls. Bangladesh shares with other nations across the globe the problem of the way that men treat women. In 2002, Bangladesh passed a strict law banning the throwing of acid in women's faces. On average, there have been 285 acid-related cases a year since 2002, but only 190 trials in total. No person should have acid thrown in their face because of their gender. Habits such as that occur throughout many communities. Although there are laws protecting women against persecution, it will take more than law to change the status of women in south Asian communities. It is important that we continue to advocate women's rights on a global scale.

During the economic crisis—do not forget that our fight to protect women goes on internationally—it is not only violence on the street that is targeted at those women but domestic violence, a problem of which we are all aware in the UK. The Government have taken many steps, which we support, to tackle domestic violence in ethnic-minority communities, but the number of successful prosecutions for domestic violence by the CPS rose from 55 per cent in March 2005 to more than 72 per cent in June 2008. The number of cases has gone up from 35,000 to 63,000 over the same period, but the most vulnerable groups are not those that step up and report domestic violence but those that do not. The latter are the ones that we need to be concerned about. Does the Minister have statistics that show how many of these prosecutions rose in favour of south Asian female victims of domestic violence? How have the Government monitored the success of the £3 million that the Ministry of Justice spent on independent domestic violence advisers in 2008? In 2008, the Government announced that they were developing a BME government working group to promote better partnership between groups tackling domestic and sexual violence. Has that task force delivered any results?

This debate always manages to highlight the need for a continued effort by Governments globally to work on pursuing environments that protect all citizens, and although we have made huge strides in securing rights for women, sadly there is an awful lot more to do.



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2.41 pm

The Earl of Listowel: My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Gould of Potternewton, for securing this timely debate. Listening to my noble friend Lady Howe of Idlicote and others speak of domestic violence, I was strongly reminded of the work that she did on legislation two or three years ago and in lobbying the Government, with the help of Women’s Aid and the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, to introduce new statutory protections for victims of domestic violence. I pay tribute to her success in that work and in her work as chair of the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV, which is such an important role.

I was reminded by the noble Baroness, Lady Scott of Needham Market, of the difficulties of transport in the developing world. The noble Baroness, Lady Flather, who is no longer in her place, spoke of maternal deaths. Some time ago, I was sponsored by Tearfund and Save the Children to visit Angola. I visited a maternity hospital, where it was forcefully made clear to me that the transport problems were key to mortality rates among women. Women were simply not getting to the hospital in time, so the noble Baroness made a very important point.

There are many women working in social care. According to the Fawcett Society, 90 per cent of the social care workforce are women, who are working with our vulnerable children and families. In a time of recession, their work is even more necessary and difficult, and we all need to give them even more support in that role. There are opportunities for us to do this. The Government propose in the Health Bill to ban the display of advertising on tobacco products in newsagents and there may be an opportunity to vote on this on Report. The Government are also seeking to recruit former social workers to provide the sort of mentoring—the noble Baroness, Lady Gardner of Parkes, spoke eloquently about this—of the many young women who are now going on social work courses. I should like to address those two topics.

Sixty-eight per cent of mothers under the age of 20 are smokers. Forty-five per cent of these smoke during their pregnancy. I pay tribute to the Government for reaching their target to reduce smoking among children to 9 per cent, but I am advised that two-thirds of children in care are smokers. We cannot afford to fail to persuade these children in care not to start smoking. We need to do all that we can to help those around them—the foster carers, the social workers—to persuade them not to smoke.

During the course of the Health Bill, I have spoken to a number of professionals, including a young woman who is just about to qualify as a social worker, a child pedagogue who has worked for 10 years as a teacher and a child psychiatrist who works with vulnerable children. They all say emphatically that it will be a step forward if we can remove the displays of tobacco from newsagents to which children go regularly to buy their chocolate and sweets—displays from the likes of Rothmans, Marlboro and Silk Cut. There is opposition to this and understandable concern about the impact on the newsagents’ businesses. I simply encourage your Lordships to listen to the debate on Report and

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to stay for a Division, if possible. The noble Lord, Lord Laming, and my noble friends report today on child protection and I think that he asks that we join together to work harder still to promote the welfare of children. This is a step forward in promoting the welfare of children.

I also bring to your Lordships’ attention the Government’s recent plea for experienced social workers to return to the social work workforce and to support newly qualified social workers. Since the advent of the new social work degree, social work courses have been oversubscribed, which is perhaps surprising in the circumstances. The new degree course invites more 18 year-olds to think of going straight into social work. More young women are going into social work in incredibly challenging circumstances and they need experienced practitioners to support them. I therefore hope that any noble Lords who know of social workers who are out of the practice might draw their attention to the Government’s new incentives to return to the workforce.

Paul Fallon, a former director of social services at Barnet local authority, introduced a model whereby senior practitioners were given a new role, and higher pay, to work in small teams to support newer and less experienced social workers. He reduced the vacancy rate for social workers in that borough from 30 per cent to 3 per cent in three years. This model of consultancy social work is becoming more widespread. There are incentives and I hope that many social workers will feel able to return to the profession in these circumstances.

Women are the backbone of social care. At a time of recession, when families and children are more and more challenged, women are key to improving the lives and welfare of our most vulnerable citizens. If we expect them to continue to stand in the firing line in these difficult times, we need to be consistent in giving them the political, financial and emotional support that they need. Even in these difficult financial times, we need consistently to give them that support. I look forward to the Minister’s response.


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