Too often, women remain treated as a homogenous group by researchers and policymakers, with the assumption of a single female experience. However, this one size-fits all approach means there are, in effect, millions of invisible women, who are not being seen or heard by policymakers.
Factors such as race, faith, ethnicity, age, disability, sexuality, location and employment status can combine with gender to create distinct and particularly troubling experiences of discrimination and inequality – but this intersectionality is still largely being overlooked. As a result, valuable insight into the different experiences of women is often being lost.
That is why the APPG on Sex Equality decided to focus its work on understanding what can be done by government to take a more effective approach to understanding the discrimination, inequality and exclusion that too many women in the UK continue to face – especially when it comes to accessing work.
