What would benefit women most?

Childcare costs in Scandinavian countries is typically very much lower than in the UK, whilst being of good quality. It's properly funded by the govt so workers are paid properly. I don't think it's ridiculously utopian to think we could improve childcare in the UK along those lines. It's a question of what's seen as a priority and as valuable to society as a whole.

Regarding your point (c), I don't think that women middle managers don't want to step up to higher level management, I think there's probably still structural and cultural blocks that hinder them more than their own ambition.

In terms of your point (d), I think you'd need to get in before the age of 14-16 to change attitudes to different career choices. There is evidence that attitudes to STEM type careers drop off and lessen from primary school age onwards. Having said that, anything that shows the reality of a range of careers that are usually male dominated to girls would be a good thing.

In terms of self defence, point (a), classes are great for women's physical confidence and well being. But in terms of actual self defence, you have to be very well practised and confident to be able to apply the techniques in an unexpected and dangerous situation. So for me it's not going to address the issue of male violence, rather the well-being of women instead.

Would some relationships education be useful? I hear teenagers talk about the person they fancy as their partner, (and I know this -is-helpful to same sex attracted people) but sex and partnership are different things…

Restoring access to legal aid in family law / separation / divorce cases. Also in sex and maternity discrimination employment cases.

Legal aid in this country was silently absolutely slashed by the Tories since 2010 - almost no-one qualifies for it now. It used to be a mark of a civilised society that poor people could get access to the law on fair terms. A society where only the rich can access the legal system is one in which women are also disproportionately disadvantaged.

For me -i assume we're talking about the UK only?

• A root and branch reform of the police handling of sexual violence reports. Following up on things they see as trivial that are known to be precursors to more serious crime. Serious challenge of rape myths - campaigns in the past on various things have managed to shift societal thinking. Press to have firm rules on reporting. Schools unis duty to report. Serious consideration of what can be done around the reporting, charging, prosecuting rates. Harsher penalties so many where there's a dead woman and a derisory prison term. And for DV women keep being killed after multiple reports to police.

I believe that if it's taken seriously etc then that in itself would result in a shift in how as a society this stuff is seen.

I like (d) best of your options, though I agree with pp that starting earlier would be even better.

Reclaiming women’s single-sex rights, however, is the biggest issue right now. If any man who calls himself a woman can claim all the rights women fought for, that undermines all the other options anyway.

I think sex based rights is by far the biggest thing as all our freedoms are just disappearing with that. Without that pretty much all the suggestions will be meaningless.

Apart from that (!) Legal aid. A friend isngoing through a divorce where her ex wont play ball/messing around about finances and contact and my friend (on tax credits) has no means of support. It hit me then how blinking unfair that is. I didnt realise how innaccessible it was.

Part time working / return to working after a gap to become a norm. So many well qualified women step off their careers in their 30s with no idea of the impact that might have long term. That affects so many.

I think the answer is different depending on whether you mean the whole world or just this country. If the UK I tend to agree with @irresistibleoverwhelm that it's access to free legal advice; I would combine that with financial and legal classes at school. Childcare is a close second, perhaps obligatory maternity and paternity leave of three months and an aggressive child support agency?
Worldwide I think it has to be access to health care, and specifically safe and effective contraception and abortion, childbirth and postnatal care.

Safe homes. Women can't be safe without having safe homes to live in. I have to stay at risk of being killed by violent partner cos nowhere safe to go after refuge. Relationship education thing think no point cos most women know if unsafe even if they don't admit to themselves but just they know can't afford to live on own.

womens trade training colleges..a basic push on this as a real option which is in demand&pays well from say,year6
for trades/apprenticeships -my dd thought aboutvit at our local private yr10 thru12 trade school..wants to do architecture so has gone the uni route-but they were having more &more girls completing after doing a year of trades tasters..women are so underrepresented in this.

I dont know enough about the system to know how it all works. They were offered mediation and he just was "too busy" and refused to do the work/turn up. So again the woman misses out. Something with some clout however it works would be good! X

All good ideas and would help, but fundamentally all of these seek to change the individual women but leave the system standing untouched. The problem is not that women are deficient but that the system is wrong.

c) a coaching, mentoring or MBA type programme specifically targeted at female middle managers, to get them to want to step up to senior positions so they can then have a bigger say in corporate settings and provide role models for the next generation of women

My issue is that this is putting the onus and responsibility on women, saying they are responsible for the glass ceiling and this is blatantly not the case. A woman can want to step up but be unable to do so due to men keeping her down. It's not women who need tackling and re-educating it's men.

c) a coaching, mentoring or MBA type programme specifically targeted at female middle managers, to get them to want to step up to senior positions so they can then have a bigger say in corporate settings and provide role models for the next generation of women

My old workplace tried to set up something like this. The main problem? Their definition of ‘woman’.

I think at the moment it's definitely fighting to retain our sex based rights, language etc.

Other than that I think education around sex, relationship, pornography. We really need legal protection from the terrible harms extreme pornography is creating in our society. Particularly for women and children.

Better education in the authorities, police for example as someone upthread said. Also a more connected database of predators, the wonderful woman who wrote "Men who hate women" said there's a clear link between dv and later terrorist behaviour.

Also I think the value of single sex education cannot be underestimated. Research has shown girls learn better in single sex yet boys don't. More often than not girls are sacrificed to make teaching boys easier. I went to an all girls secondary school and it was incredible. I think going through your most formative years without the influence of boys was amazing for me.

fundamentally all of these seek to change the individual women but leave the system standing untouched

That was my initial reaction too. It's all very well to want to empower women, but doing it by saying 'Women - we can't change men or do anything about their behaviour, or change the system to prevent them from having unfair advantages, so instead here's how you can change yourselves' feels a bit depressing.

Make the CMS a system with teeth. Teeth like that of a rabid dog. What proportion of people don’t pay their council tax? Practically none because they very quickly add late payments, drag you to court and can even put you in prison. (First indication we had of dementia in my 93 year old grandmother - a court summons!)

With £4 billion owed to mothers in child support, I'd change the way that child support is collected and distributed to remove the ability of abusive men to force their children to grow up in poverty. The State should pay the mother, and then collect the money at source. The two should not be linked so that women are not penalised by men who refuse to pay.

the need to have some sort of job even if it's at minimum wage to keep up national insurance,

This only applies when your DC are age 12 and older. So long as you claim child benefit, you get NI credit towards state pension the same as if you were working. Even if your partner earns over threshold, you should still claim child benefit and either decline the money or pay it back come tax time just so you get the NI credits. .

These are all great ideas but just address the symptoms of the oppressive system rather than the system itself.

a) self-defence bootcamps for women
Everyone should learn self-defence/a martial art. Good for control of anger and violent impulses. Problem is culturally in the West it’s not encouraged for girls.

b) a women's university No! That’s what the Taliban are doing. Segregated education is never equal.

c) a coaching, mentoring or MBA type programme specifically targeted at female middle managers
No, women are already better educated than men. It’s not a lack of qualifications holding us back, but sexism. I think men should be coached on how to work for a female boss.

d) work placement scheme/careers talks targeting 14-16 year old girls I think this is already done?

e) financial planning workshops for women,
I’d rather see current financial planning courses be inclusive and educate men and women on the financial issues that disproportionately affect women.

But as far as what would do the most, that’s a debate we don’t need to have. It’s a waste of time to argue over which idea is best. We need champions for all ideas and to pursue them all at once.

From your suggestions, OP - option e.
Economic/financial independence is the only way forwards for women, in reality.