End All Male Panels campaign

This letter is published in the Guardian today. Please go to this website (or endallmalepanels.wordpress.com) to add your support.


Hashtag for tweeters is #EndAllMalePanels

GUARDIAN LETTER TO EDITOR AND SIGNATORIES

Dear Editor

We are a group of women who have an interest in public or political life who have become increasingly concerned by the number of all male panels at policy debates particularly in Westminster and also across the country.

Recently advertised examples include the RSA’s “Tale of Two Cities” on whether Londoners are on the brink of “economic apartheid” – an event with three male speakers when we know women are disproportionately affected by the effects of the downturn. The IfG’s forthcoming “Policy by Twitter” event with four men – though we know many women in policy are not just active in social media but leading exponents.

As advocates and activists around gender equality, some of us in political parties, others not, we will no longer be attending events where there is an all male panel without exceptional reason and also be encouraging others to do the same. With few exceptions, most events – whether organised by men or women - could easily have been more thoughtfully planned with a better balanced panel. The benefits of this for all of us are clear – wider representation makes for more informed debate and better policy outcomes.

We strongly urge all think tanks or similar organisations to adopt a policy of no longer holding events without a consideration for gender balance.

For forward thinking organisations and particularly those at the heart of Westminster, we believe it is time to be following a higher standard of public life and debate, which is more in tune with expectations of increasing the presence and voice of women in all areas of our political and economic life.

Yours faithfully

1.      Seema Malhotra FRSA (Fabian Women’s Network and Management Consultant)
2.      Deborah Mattinson (Director, Britain Thinks)
3.      Emma Burnell (Blogger, ScarletStandard)
4.      Dr Monica Threlfall, Reader in European Politics, London Metropolitan University
5.      Dr Caroline Whalley
6.      Shaama Saggar-Malik (Director, Diversity In Public Appointments and Executive Development Consultant)
7.      Jo Cox (Director, Maternal Mortality Campaign)
8.      Dame Ruth Silver
9.      Anne Reyersbach
10.  Sophie Livingstone (Chief Executive, City Year London)
11.  Anita Pollack (Former MEP)
12.  Ivana Bartoletti (Editor, Fabiana and public sector worker)
13.  Rachael Saunders, Labour Women's Network and Tower Hamlets councillor
14.  Dr Laura Nelson (Senior Manager, Charity, and Blogger, Delilah)
15.  Vera Baird QC (Co-Director Astraea: Gender Justice)
16.  Melanie Smallman (National Secretary, SERA - Labour's Environment Campaign)
17.  Claire Leigh (Former Advisor Strategy Unit and Vice Chair, Young Fabians)
18.  Alison McGovern MP, Member of Parliament for Wirral South
19.  Kate Nustedt  Executive Director, WomenforWomen UK
20.  Fiona Mactaggart MP, Member of Parliament for Slough
21.  Olivia Bailey, Chair, Labour Students
22.  Christine Megson
23.  Felicity Slater (Masters student)
24.  Barbara Follett (Former MP & Former Equalities Minister)
25.  Carole Tongue (Former MEP and Chair UKCCD)
26.  Sheila Taylor (Bermondsey & Old Southwark Labour Party Secretary)
27.  Ellie Cumbo (Blogger, and Editor, Anticipations)
28.  Leonie Cooper, Co-Chair of SERA, and Wandsworth Councillor
29.  Cllr. Rohini Simbodyal, Edmonton
30.  Beverley Clack (Professor in Philosophy of Religion at Oxford Brookes University)
31.  Reema Patel, Law Student
32.  Helen Jackson, Former MP
33.  Neeraj Malhotra (Locum Consultant in Public Health, West Midlands)
34.  Ms Judith Cameron
35.  Alexandra Kemp, Chief Executive West Norfolk Women & Carers' Pensions Network
36.  Dr Kate Mckenzie
37.  Camilla Antrobus
38.  Scarlett MccGwire (Communications Consultant)
39.  Barbara Keeley MP, Member of Parliament for Worsley and Eccles South
40.  Jane Hanson FRSA Leading Learning
41.  Mrs Cathryn Nunnery
42.  Kirstin Hay (Student, Imperial College)
43.  Julie Fitzgerald (Management Consultant)
44.  Kate Grussing, Managing Director, Sapphire Partners
45.  Caroline Watson (Co-founder Progressive Women)
46.  Caroline S Dargan  Interim Headteacher and Education Consultant
47.  Anna Turley (Former Deputy Director NLGN thinktank and Editor of ProgLoc)
48.  Kathryn Busby, Co-director, National Campaign
49.  Sarah Hutchinson DPhil student, University of Oxford
50.  Professor Wendy Savage MBBCh, FRCOG, MSc(Public Health) Hon DSc
51.  Rebecca Rennison
52.  Lesley Abdela, Senior Partner Shevolution Consultancy
53.  Marie Bailey, HR Lecturer
54.  Ronit Wolfson, Account executive and London Young Labour Women’s Officer
55.  Rachel Jones FRSA and Chair, British Council for School Environments
56.  Nina Champion (Charity Project Manager and Croydon Community Activist)
57.  Nicky Gavron, London Assembly Member
58.  Dr Suzanne Franks, Centre for Journalism, University of Kent
59.  Rachel Briggs
60.  Dr Rupa Huq, Senior Lecturer in Sociology
61.  Professor Joni Lovenduski, Birkbeck College
62.  Janice Winter, MPhil (Oxon) Programme Manager, Axess Programme on Journalism & Democracy