2. Incorporate CEDAW into domestic legislation CEDAW is the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Discrimination Against Women – also called the International Bill of Rights for Women. CEDAW provides an international framework for States to take responsibility for tackling discrimination against women and achieving substantive equality for women in both the private and […]
Conference motions
The Women’s Policy Group Northern Ireland (WPG) is comprised of women from feminist campaigning organisations, migrant groups, human rights and equality organisations and trade unions – including UNISON NI. In July 2021, the WPG updated and re-launched its Feminist Recovery Plan, which highlights the experiences of women in NI during the pandemic and make the […]
This Conference notes: • The near total ban on abortion in Texas by restricting it to the first 6 weeks of gestation, a time when most people don’t even know that they are pregnant • That this threatens the Roe vs Wade ruling of 1973 that made abortion legal in the US. • The huge […]
One in four workers are carer’s, the majority of these being women. 4.5 million people became unpaid carers as a result of Covid-19, which is an increase of 50% (Carers UK). This figure doesn’t include silent carers so the figures will be much higher. The lack of government awareness on the impact of caring responsibilities […]
The toxic debate ignited by the UK government’s public consultation on reforming the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) underlined the importance of our union supporting and representing our trans members effectively. Attacks on trans rights have continued to escalate. In September 2021, the Council of Europe published a detailed report ‘Combating rising hate against LGBTI people […]
Conference notes that UNISON’s national women’s conference led the development of UNISON’s current policy on sex workers, which was agreed in 2010 when National Delegate Conference adopted a motion from women’s conference supporting the Nordic model, a legal model based on decriminalising the selling of sexual services while introducing a ‘sex buyers law’ criminalising those […]
Conference recognises that CEDAW, the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, is significant in the international human rights framework because it is exclusively devoted to gender equality. It is one of the core international human rights treaties of the UN and it requires countries that have ratified it […]
Stalking is a behaviour that is designed to intimidate, harass, threaten and pursue an unwilling target. It can consist of harassing phone calls, following the target, contacting them repeatedly, frequently tracking their movements, and more recently, unwanted and obsessional contact on social media. It can be perpetrated by anybody but is most often carried out […]
Long COVID is a term to describe the symptoms and effects of coronavirus that last longer than 12 weeks beyond the initial diagnosis. Conference notes that the Office for National Statistics reported that over a 4-week period ending 6th June 2021 almost 1 million people in the UK confirmed they were experiencing long COVID. The […]
Conference notes that within the UK approximately a quarter of families with children are headed by a single parent and of those single parents 90 % are female. Historically single parents have been demonized and discriminated against in a systemic way. This has led to a situation where single parents will face difficulties in work, […]
“This Conference notes: Across the country there are services offering pregnancy advice and terminations. These types of medical centres attract protesters who hold vigils, hand out leaflets and intimidate those on their way to access services. This has an impact on the wellbeing of those women accessing this type of service and also has a […]
“This conference notes: That because of the pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns, home working increased in the UK from around 5% to around 30%. Research carried out in the US identified that women were three times more likely to be the main care giver in the pandemic and that only 37% of women had a […]
“This conference welcomes: The Government’s proposals to extend the right to request flexible working to workers from day one of their employment. This will benefit many women with caring responsibilities. The move of many employers to introduce hybrid working for many office-based staff allowing women to work from home and the office. However, this Conference […]
While women were already doing most of the world’s unpaid care work prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, research suggests that the crisis and its shutdown response have resulted in an increase in this burden. It is likely that the impacts for women and families will last for years without interventions. What we […]