Fawcett Society

The Fawcett Society is a membership charity in the United Kingdom which campaigns for women's rights. The organisation dates back to 1866, when Millicent Garrett Fawcett dedicated her life to the peaceful campaign for women's suffrage. Originally named the London National Society for Women's Suffrage, and later as the London Society for Women's Suffrage, the organization was renamed The Fawcett Society in 1953.[1]

The Fawcett Society
Fawcett Society logo
PredecessorLondon National Society for Women's Suffrage
Merged intoLondon Society for Women's Suffrage
Formation1953
FounderMillicent Fawcett
HeadquartersVauxhall
Location
  • London, England
ServicesAdvocacy
Key people
Dame Jenni Murray OBE (President)

It is a charity registered with the Charity Commission[2] and has a membership of around 3,000. Its supporters include Carrie Gracie, Emma Thompson, and Ophelia Lovibond.

The organisation's vision is a society in which women and girls in all their diversity are equal and free to fulfil their potential, creating a stronger, happier, better future for all.

Its key areas of campaign work include equal pay, equal power, tackling gender norms and stereotypes and defending women's rights. The Society publishes its own research and aims to bring together politicians, academics, grassroots activists and wider civil society in service of gender equality.[3]

There are local Fawcett Society groups across the UK, which support the campaigning work of Fawcett and organise events and activities in their areas. Locations include Devon, Milton Keynes and Tyneside.[4]

The library and archives of the Society, formerly the Fawcett Library, are now part of the Women's Library at the British Library of Political and Economic Science, the main library of the London School of Economics and Political Science.[5]

Governance

The Society's outgoing Chief Executive is Sam Smethers, whose term ended at the end of 2020.[6] The President of the Society in 2020 was Jenni Murray.[7]

The society's work is overseen by a board of Trustees.[8] The Chair in 2021 was Fiona Mactaggart.[9] Trustees have included:

Governmental action

The Fawcett Society filed papers with the High Court seeking a judicial review of the government's 2010 budget, contending that the Treasury did not fully assess the impact that budget cuts would affect different groups, as is required by law. An analysis of the budget found that women would be paying around £5.8 billion of the £8 billion of savings planned. Their judicial review was denied.[12]

In September 2020 the Society called upon the Chancellor to assist the childcare sector in the Autumn 2020 Comprehensive Spending Review, arguing that funds allocated to the UK's furlough scheme will have been wasted if parents are unable to work.[13]

Gender pay gap

In October 2020 the Society and the Global Institute for Women's Leadership at King's College London co-published their joint report into legislation surrounding gender pay gap reporting. It found the UK lagged behind other countries in not requiring employers to produce a plan for addressing gender pay gaps, but praised the UK for its transparency and legislative compliance.[14]

The Society has been criticised by business groups for comparing average pay for full-time men with average-pay for part-time women to highlight the disparity,[15] and a lack of transparency in making their methodology clear.[16] The Society incorporated this criticism in its 2015 Gender Pay Gap methodology.[17] The 2015 pay gap quoted was for full-time employees.[18]

The Society publicises an annual Equal Pay Day, marking the day that women in effect stop being paid when calculated using the full-time mean average gender pay gap.[19]

T-Shirt and controversy

In October 2014, the Fawcett Society in association with Elle UK and the high street chain Whistles produced a new version of the society's "This Is What a Feminist Looks Like" T-shirt. Politicians who wore the shirt in public included Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg, and Harriet Harman, though Prime Minister David Cameron reportedly declined.[20] The £45 shirt was produced in a Mauritian factory where it was believed migrant workers from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India and Vietnam were paid less than a pound a day, slept 16 to a room, and otherwise kept in sweatshop conditions.[21] The Fawcett Society responded with a press release stating, "We remain confident that we took every practicable and reasonable step to ensure that the range would be ethically produced and await a fuller understanding of the circumstances under which the garments were produced."[22] Fawcett were assured by Whistles that their suppliers were "fully audited".[22]

References
  1. "Who was Millicent Fawcett and what were some of her famous quotes?". Metro. 2018-06-11. Retrieved 2019-07-08.
  2. Charity Commission. The Fawcett Society, registered charity no. 1108769.
  3. "Who we are". Fawcett Society. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  4. "Find a local group". Fawcett Society. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  5. "Library - Library - Home". Lse.ac.uk. 2013-10-01. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  6. Andy Ricketts. "Fawcett Society chief to step down". www.thirdsector.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  7. "Our people". Fawcett Society. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  8. "The Fawcett Society". The Fawcett Society. Archived from the original on 2014-01-19. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  9. "Our trustees". Fawcett Society. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  10. Rath, Kayte (2012-09-03). "BBC News - Profile: Green Party leader Natalie Bennett". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  11. "Angela Mason - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  12. "The Fawcett Society". The Fawcett Society. Archived from the original on 2013-10-22. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  13. Jacobs, Emma. "Childcare sectors in urgent need of funding, warn unions and parents". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  14. Media, P. A. (2020-10-13). "UK 'unique in its light-touch approach' to gender pay gap". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-10-14.
  15. Archived January 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  16. "The Fawcett Society on the Gender Pay Gap". Tim Worstall. 2008-02-25. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  17. "Calculating the gender pay gap". Fawcett Society. 2015-11-11. Archived from the original on 2016-01-15. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  18. "Equal Pay Day". Fawcett Society. 2015-11-09. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  19. Topping, Alexandra (2020-11-20). "Women in mid-30s may never know equal pay in their working lives". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  20. "Harriet Harman wears feminism T-shirt to prime minister's questions". The Guardian. 2014-10-29. Retrieved 2014-11-02.
  21. "'Sweatshop' claims over Fawcett Society slogan T-shirt", BBC News, 2 November 2014.
  22. "'This is what a feminist looks like t-shirt': Fawcett Society Response". Fawcett Society. 2014-11-01. Archived from the original on 2014-11-05. Retrieved 2014-11-02.
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