As a member of the Women and Equalities Select Committee and representative of thousands of women in Bath, I attended the debate in the House of Commons to mark International Women’s Day.
Although we are edging ever closer to gender equality, there are still shocking statistics that show we have some distance to go. Women are, on average, paid less than their male counterparts and many still face abuse on a daily basis from their partners, as my colleague Jess Phillips MP highlighted in her speech. Even in our Parliament, widely considered the mother of all parliaments, we stand behind 40 other countries in the proportion of women MPs representing the public.
Following from my recent work and debates, I spoke of the lack of women in STEM careers and gender stereotyping of toy manufacturers.
You can watch me delivering the speech above.