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!
BioHi, 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 LecturesExplore 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
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