In recognition of National Democracy Week, on Thursday 5th July 2018, we will be screening ‘When Women Rule’, a documentary by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, at Chelmsford Museum. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion, provoked by the statistic that ‘only 23% of the world’s politicians are women’. Chaired by Syd Moore, (Strange Sight/Writer in Residence Essex Book Festival 2018/Co-founder of Essex Girl’s Liberation Front), the panel will feature
Ann Glover, UNISON Eastern Head of Local Government
Lelia Ferro, Snapping the Stiletto, Writer in Residence
Imogen White, Essex Young Assembly
Vicky Ford MP
Councillor Susan Sullivan, Springfield North, Chelmsford
Councillor Jude Deakin, Chelmsford City Council, Essex County Council
This year sees the first year of National Democracy Week in the UK, on the 90th anniversary of the 1928 Equal Franchise Act, which have women the same voting rights as men.
Only about one in four parliamentarians worldwide is a woman, fewer than one in five government ministers is female, and the number of female heads of state or government is set to decline this year to 15 from 17, studies show. (Thomson Reuters website)
In the UK today, only 5 of government’s 23 cabinet ministers are women – and that includes Prime Minister Theresa May. This falls somewhat short of the United Nations’ goal of women’s equal participation in politics by 2030, but elsewhere across the globe much more needs to be done to get women into power. When women do rule, they bring otherwise ignored issues to light.
Watch the documentary for yourself to discover the impact that pioneering women in politics are having in all parts of the world.
