Are women fully protected by the Law?

Are Women fully protected by the Law? Generally, when society talks about equality between men and women it is phrased as women wanting the same rights as men. However, it can be argued that the structure of rights - and equality - is from a baseline of a wealthy white male – which means that there is automatically an unlevelled playing field. Additionally many in society would argue that women have reached the “goal of equality”. For example, within England and Wales we often see women in the highest roles in our society; women can vote, own property and have the same jobs as men. We also have legislation such as the Equality Act 2010 which categorises sex as a protected characteristic.

However, when you look more deeply into society and the law, whilst the law has adapted and developed to provide women with many rights and protections, there is still a long way to go. It is argued that obtaining equality and the same rights as men in law fails to consider the differences between men and women, not to mention the absence of consideration for other social, economic and political identifications such as race, class, disability and sexual orientation – for example.

Thinking about different areas of the law such as health (abortion and menopause, for example), the criminal justice system and sexual violence, do you think that the law adequately protects women? I look forward to reading your responses!

Bio
Hi, I’m Rachel Collins and I am a Tutor at the University of Law Online Campus. I teach on a number of ULaw courses, primarily the academic conversion courses. I originally studied law at the University of Liverpool, and I also have an LLM in Gender, Sexuality and the Law. I qualified and began practicing as a solicitor working on large corporate mergers between charitable housing associations and providing governance advice to a wide range of charitable and public sector bodies. I am passionate about women’s rights and the law and I am a Trustee at Basis Yorkshire, and host regular feminist book club events.

Real World Lectures
Explore today's real world issues in Business, Computer Science, Criminology, Law, Policing and Psychology. With inquisitive minds, we will question the world and form our own opinions. We’ll debate systems, procedures and behaviours. You may arrive at these events with questions, but you’ll leave with an ability to answer. For more information on Real World Lectures, please visit here.

Hi Rachel, really interesting to read about your work and your feminist book club! One of my goals for the year is to read more feminist literature, and I've just finished the Authority Gap which was really eye-opening - Do you have any books you'd recommend? Thank you

Hi there! Great to hear one of your goals is to read more feminist literature. I would recommend the following non-fiction books: A Decolonial Feminism by Francoise Verges, Eve was Shamed by Helena Kennedy and Revolting Prostitutes by Juno Mac and Molly Smith to start with. If you are a fan of fiction I recommend most Margaret Atwood novels (The blind assassin is my favourite), He, She and It by Marge Piercy if you are interested in feminist sci-fi and Her body and other parties by Carmen Maria Machado. Hope that helps and happy reading!

Are Women fully protected by the Law? Generally, when society talks about equality between men and women it is phrased as women wanting the same rights as men. However, it can be argued that the structure of rights - and equality - is from a baseline of a wealthy white male – which means that there is automatically an unlevelled playing field. Additionally many in society would argue that women have reached the “goal of equality”. For example, within England and Wales we often see women in the highest roles in our society; women can vote, own property and have the same jobs as men. We also have legislation such as the Equality Act 2010 which categorises sex as a protected characteristic.

However, when you look more deeply into society and the law, whilst the law has adapted and developed to provide women with many rights and protections, there is still a long way to go. It is argued that obtaining equality and the same rights as men in law fails to consider the differences between men and women, not to mention the absence of consideration for other social, economic and political identifications such as race, class, disability and sexual orientation – for example.

Thinking about different areas of the law such as health (abortion and menopause, for example), the criminal justice system and sexual violence, do you think that the law adequately protects women? I look forward to reading your responses!

Bio
Hi, I’m Rachel Collins and I am a Tutor at the University of Law Online Campus. I teach on a number of ULaw courses, primarily the academic conversion courses. I originally studied law at the University of Liverpool, and I also have an LLM in Gender, Sexuality and the Law. I qualified and began practicing as a solicitor working on large corporate mergers between charitable housing associations and providing governance advice to a wide range of charitable and public sector bodies. I am passionate about women’s rights and the law and I am a Trustee at Basis Yorkshire, and host regular feminist book club events.

Real World Lectures
Explore today's real world issues in Business, Computer Science, Criminology, Law, Policing and Psychology. With inquisitive minds, we will question the world and form our own opinions. We’ll debate systems, procedures and behaviours. You may arrive at these events with questions, but you’ll leave with an ability to answer. For more information on Real World Lectures, please visit here.

this probably isn't relevant but men and women can't really be equal
men have position and authority over women

Perhaps you are considering whether treating men and women the same - and therefore equally - is not appropriate because of the power imbalance and that other factors must be taken into account for women to be treated equitably?

yeah, something like that
i feel that men are so underrated these days... and that's sad

i understand a lot of men feel like they're targeted by feminism and tend to reply to criticisms of predominantly male behaviour with "but it's not all men". they also can't separate feminism from female supremacy which is sad.

yeah, something like that
i feel that men are so underrated these days... and that's sad

i understand a lot of men feel like they're targeted by feminism and tend to reply to criticisms of predominantly male behaviour with "but it's not all men". they also can't separate feminism from female supremacy which is sad.

Would you like to expand on this further A___J? In what way do you feel men are underrated?

these feminists - they're all like we don't need a man and all that
A man completes a woman...if that makes sense
Yes, you do. The world originally started with men, men who did heavy-duty jobs and stuff.

I definitely think there has been a lot of progress but that there are still issues. For example the idea of if a woman wants to have a child but worrying that taking maternity leave may impact negatively on her career etc. (I know this may happen to parents of any gender too, but it's often woman). Often woman can be paid less too, although could this be that woman are less likely to ask for a pay rise? I'm not sure. It feels like there's now more subtle inequalities

Are Women fully protected by the Law? Generally, when society talks about equality between men and women it is phrased as women wanting the same rights as men. However, it can be argued that the structure of rights - and equality - is from a baseline of a wealthy white male – which means that there is automatically an unlevelled playing field. Additionally many in society would argue that women have reached the “goal of equality”. For example, within England and Wales we often see women in the highest roles in our society; women can vote, own property and have the same jobs as men. We also have legislation such as the Equality Act 2010 which categorises sex as a protected characteristic.

However, when you look more deeply into society and the law, whilst the law has adapted and developed to provide women with many rights and protections, there is still a long way to go. It is argued that obtaining equality and the same rights as men in law fails to consider the differences between men and women, not to mention the absence of consideration for other social, economic and political identifications such as race, class, disability and sexual orientation – for example.

Thinking about different areas of the law such as health (abortion and menopause, for example), the criminal justice system and sexual violence, do you think that the law adequately protects women? I look forward to reading your responses!

men have position and authority over women

Would equality for women be more benefitted by a shared parental leave that can be taken off by either one of the parents? E.g. giving the birth mother the option to return to work while her partner stays home with the baby, if that's what they feel is the best dynamic for their family.

Hi A___J

Thanks for your contribution. I am wondering what you mean by men have position and authority over women? Would you care to expand on this? Perhaps you are considering whether treating men and women the same - and therefore equally - is not appropriate because of the power imbalance and that other factors must be taken into account for women to be treated equitably?