Brexit will hit women the hardest

[SistersOfMercy]

Hope this is ok, new here, but this is an important issue after it was revealed austerity of course hit women the hardest. Now the UK female population has another serious set back in Brexit.

Employment rights
FGM and cross EU legal agreements
Attacks on minority women in the UK

Seems this is the most serious abrogation of women's rights in the UK for decades, but no one is talking about it on any feminist forums I go on!
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/fawcett-society-sex-discrimination-law-review-impact-brexit-womens-rights_uk_58b44220e4b0a8a9b7846b25

While I agree that the economic downturn that will follow Brexit will inevitably hit women hardest (because women are always hit hardest in a downturn), I do wish we could stop with the claim that all our equal ops legislation and work place protections are entirely dependent on the EU, and without the EU it will inevitably be a Hobbesian race to the bottom. This is factually incorrect. For instance, maternity rights in Britain are in excess of the EU minimum, and better than, for instance, the Netherlands (13 weeks maternity leave, 4 of which must be taken before the EDD).

What we do have to be very careful of is to watch and campaign very hard, because there will undoubtedly be many in the Conservative party who wish to turn it into a Hobbesian race to the bottom, so we have to be ready to push back very hard. But this country does actually have a long and honourable tradition of establishing workplace rights, equal rights, decent employment practices, setting up a welfare state, all of which pre-dates our EU membership. It's not inevitable that it all goes up in flames. It only does so if we, collectively, let it.

Oh yes, I am less sure that a post-EU UK ran by Labour, the Greens or WEP would be such a problem. But they are not in power and the party of austerity will be the one setting the agenda.

YY to this. Caroline Criado Perez has done some good stuff on this recently, particularly on much leapt-upon Telegraph headline: Women will have to give up work to look after parents unless EU care workers are given priority after Brexit

We are going to need someone to care for these people and, at the moment, it’s women and EU workers who are doing the vast majority of the work. And if EU workers are barred from entry to the UK, (the report estimated a “worst-case scenario” shortfall of 6,000 doctors, 12,000 nurses and 28,000 care staff within five years) well, then it’s going to be left mostly to women. And the uptick in unpaid care needs will impact on women’s ability to engage in paid work – of course it will.
www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/caroline-criado-perez-sexism-feminism-1-5644434

It's not inevitable that it all goes up in flames. It only does so if we, collectively, let it.

Agreed tho' I am apprehensive that the major political parties are all manifesting a willingness to throw many of those hard-won rights and privileges under the bus.

The politics of divisiveness makes it plausible that we might collectively allow those rights to be weakened or disappear (but that's in my bleaker moments).

That's a very good point @Anlaf, of course all the care workers from the EU leaving will result in an even bigger gap of unpaid work done by women. The real gender pay gap is probably the biggest issue in women's rights at the moment.

I was wondering what feminist orgs are doing about this and the Fawcett Society seems to have some very good priorities for activism. Tempted to support them somehow, donation at least!
www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/Pages/Category/what-we-do