to think that the tories really do dislike women....

[prettywhiteguitar]

thats it really.

And with every policy it just confirms it fo me that they think we are second class citizens.

It's bonkers to say that any policy sets out intentionally to harm a particular group. It might have that effect, but it is rarely if ever deliberately so.

Otherwise I could argue that the educational policy of denying selective education to anyone who can't afford to pay for it is a malicious policy designed to stop intelligent poor people from achieving a good-enough quality of education to be able to get high-paying jobs.

But I'm not paranoid, so I don't believe that. And besides, non-selective education is a left-wing policy, and the left is too nice to be capable of malice. So that'd never stick

OHW, your source is American and from 1998. I suggest you to Shelter to look up the actual stats for the UK.

The papers reported an 80% increase in female homelessness between 2003 and 2008. I don't know what the figures are now, but I have not read that male homelessness is increasing at a faster rate than female homelessness.

YABU OP, and a Labour supporter too.

If cuts target benefits, and women are in receipt of more benefits than men, then it doesn't make the cuts targeted at women. They are just cutting the benefits.

And last time I checked, child credits was for the benefit of the family, not 'women'. When they start cutting benefits for daughters while keeping sons at the same rate, then you might have an argument.

But as it is, this is just Labour spin. 'Tories don't like women - but look at how many women are on our front bench at PMQ'. Blah blah blah - its all hypocritical bullshit because they'd be making the same cuts to benefits themselves if they dared to show us their plan out of this mess. Which they wont...

Better?

i felt utter despair at the news that the torys had the keys to No.10. they have been sharpening their knives this long time, salivating at the thought of slashing their way through all that nasty public expenditure. I was a single parent during the labour years. I got overpaid tax credits, had to give it all back, though not my fault. I am still paying back my student loan that I took to go back to Uni in 2000. There was no care available after school for my daughter who was then in primary school, and the cost was prohibitive on a single wage for that as was available.

Women, education and healthcare are political footballs. This fact is unlikely to change whoever is in power.

So, who the fuck in their right minds voted for them?

Yes, they do - except for royal ones, of course. How sad for the poor little female offspring of William and Kate if she hadn't got to be Queen.... what would the wee mite have had going for her?

OHW, no, because that is an organisation that deals with street homelessness, which as I have said, is a tiny minority of homeless people in the UK. It is really an issue of how we define homelessness, and rough sleeping is not the measure used in the UK.

"So, who the fuck in their right minds voted for them?"

Everyone but the Scots and welsh.

Interesting stats OTheHugeWerewolef. However, I notice you are quoting St Mungos, one charity only and their statistics are about theri clients not homless in London as a whole. Indeed, given that St Mungos have a slight focus on the homeless with pet dogs, there could concievably be a slight bias towards men with dogs as clients.

I note that the stats from the UK as a whole do not sort by gender. They sort by ethnic group, by reason for homelesness, by Local Authority, but not by gender.

There's a big difference between imagining that the Tories sat down and formulated a set of policies with the express aim of having a go at women, and that they formulated a set of policies that affect women disproportionately (for many and various reasons, some given here).
I don't understand why some posters have assumed the former when it's the latter that's being discussed.

whichever way you turn it and whoever is in power, there has been very very little done of any significance to change working,parenting,legal circumstances for women in recent years. Can anyone out there please let me know, what has been the most significant policy in the last 20 years that has shaped your lives as women in a positive way?
Not all at once please?

and then look at how policies specifically about women are constantly being harrased. working rights, abortion policy, access to legal aid.....

lola...the heath in pregnancy grant where every pregnant women regarless of income was entiled to £190....but the tories scrapped it

20 years please picklebottom. Minimum wage? DOes that count

Sorry pickles did you mean health and not Heath as in Edward? Do forgive.

Rape being made illegal in marriage. That happened in about 1991 I think.

childcare tax credits
extension of maternity leave - I don't know exactly when it got longer but it wasn't that long ago you only got 6 weeks.

There is a lot more that could be done but there have still been worthwhile gains in recent years.

There are, however, certain things that were allowed to get worse unhindered over that period (eg violent porn, the spread of the sex industry) which have had significant negative effect on women's lives to outweigh many of the positives.

very enlightening people.

sorry about the spelling mistake.

laprune ^There's a big difference between imagining that the Tories sat down and formulated a set of policies with the express aim of having a go at women, and that they formulated a set of policies that affect women disproportionately (for many and various reasons, some given here).
I don't understand why some posters have assumed the former when it's the latter that's being discussed.^

Maybe because the thread title is 'AIBU to think that the Tories really do dislike women?'

Not 'have set out to destroy women' though.
They can simply dislike women enough not to care what effect they have on them.

YANBU

Nonsense, OP.

well, lets put it this way. if women were at the heart of policy planning or even taken into consideration when policy is formed, would we be having this converssation. Would women feel that working,parenting and all the rest were not the pile of obstacles that it so often feels like? Wouldn't we be like women in Norway, Sweden (I know it is not Nirvana but big difference) where the family is central to decisions and the impact it has on both parents. Paternity leave, nursery places and fees etc. Also, lower teenage pregnancy, homelessness, general health standards and heating for the elderly..etc.
If we had ever had a government that thought that these were reason enough to create positive policies, then we would be reaping the benefit, not constantly feeling left out and treated unfairly.
Women do less well in this country. It is academic how and where that is achieved