International Women's Day 2022

#BreakTheBias

This year’s International Women’s Day falls globally on the 8th March. This is a day where we celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, and marks a call to action for accelerating the drive towards women’s equality. It’s about breaking the gender bias in workplaces, communities, schools, colleges and universities, and beyond.

The Stats

Menopause and women’s health in the workplace has recently come to the fore as a massive issue that’s often brushed under the carpet, and the working lives of women have suffered as a consequence. Women make up 75% of classroom teachers and a massive segment of the overall school workforce in the UK - it's time to stop ignoring these issues.

One in four menopausal people experience extreme symptoms that adversely impact their work, meaning they have had to take a leave of absence, discontinue working or put their career progression on hold.

Only one in 10 companies have a menopause policy when an estimated 13 million people in the UK are living with menopause. This is partly due to the lack of awareness about women's health so it's crucial that employers introduce support and guidance as soon as possible.

Pregnancy and maternity leave is another health issue amongst women in the workplace. One in five mothers said they had experienced harassment or negative comments related to pregnancy or flexible working from their employer and /or colleagues. If scaled up to the general population this could mean as many as 100,000 mothers a year (2018).

Sexism is even happening amongst pupils and their peers. Ofsted’s report on sexual violence and sexual harassment in schools highlights such. Amongst other issues, it found that 92% of girls said sexist name-calling happens 'a lot' or 'sometimes' to them or their peers. The frequency of these harmful sexual behaviours means that some children and young people consider them normal. You can find out more about peer on peer abuse in schools here.

What Can Schools Do?

To help forge inclusivity and equality, schools and academies can:

Actively call out gender bias, discrimination and stereotyping whenever you see it, encourage students and staff to do so;
Publicise and remind staff about equality, staff wellbeing and sexual harassment policies;
Educate staff about workplace sexism and sexual harassment;
Educate pupils by teaching about women's history and political movements. There are some useful classroom resources from the BBC linked here;
Ensure the RSHE curriculum is carefully sequenced, with time allocated for topics that children and young people find difficult, such as consent and sharing explicit images; and
Have zero tolerance towards sexism, sexual harassment and any discrimination based on gender, implement sanctions where appropriate.