Voting deferred until voting time.

The next item is the debate on International Women’s Day. I call on the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children to move the motion. Carl Sargeant.

Motion NDM6247 Jane Hutt

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

Celebrates International Women's Day 2017 and recognises the role, contribution and achievements of women in the economic, political, social and cultural life of Wales.

Motion moved.

Llywydd, I’m pleased to open this debate in celebration of International Women’s Day 2017. The first International Women’s Day took place over 100 years ago and since then it’s grown into a truly global event—a day when the achievements of girls and women are recognised irrespective of nationality, ethnicity, language, culture, wealth or politics. It’s an excellent example of how people can come together, as one, for a common cause.

Men have a duty to speak out on equality, violence and abuse and we need an International Women’s Day because those battles are not yet won. Until that time comes, I am proud to stand with those who call out abusers, the sexist and the denigrators of women, whoever they may be and wherever they may peddle their poisonous misogyny.

The Deputy Presiding Officer took the Chair.

The theme for International Women’s Day in Wales this year is ‘creating an equal future’ and we’re proud to support the Women’s Equality Network Wales in delivering four International Women’s Day events across Wales. Deputy Llywydd, the Welsh Government stands committed to enhancing the lives and opportunities of girls and women across Wales, creating an equal future for them. We must recognise, however, that despite all of the progress that has been made, girls and women still face barriers and inequality. Creating an equal future chimes well with the Welsh Government’s aims and commitments. From tackling poverty and delivering a more diverse pool of decision makers in public life to lessening the pay gap and tackling violence and abuse, our equality objectives ensure that action is focused on the areas that disproportionately affect women and the other protected groups.

The evidence tells us that lone parents are more likely to be women and as those with childcare and other caring responsibilities, women within these groups can find themselves in poverty and access to training or work can be really difficult. We know that employment provides the most sustainable route out of poverty, and that’s why tackling the barriers to employment is a key priority for this Government. Programmes such as Lift and Communities for Work are making an important difference by providing bespoke and targeted support for those furthest away from the workplace. I’m pleased to say that, up to the end of January, 55 per cent of participants engaged on Communities for Work programmes have been women. Affordable, available and accessible childcare can be a major barrier to women accessing training and employment. This is why we’ve committed to offering working parents 30 hours a week of free early education and childcare for three to four-year-olds for a 48-week period. As well as providing support into employment, we also must build women’s confidence and skills so that they can make further headway in a wide range of sectors, and achieve positions of influence.

We recently accepted all of the recommendations within the ‘Talented Women for a Successful Wales’ report, which aims to tackle the critical shortage of women in STEM roles in Wales, and work is already under way to take this forward.

The Welsh Government as an employer has pledged its commitment to the 50/50 by 2020 campaign, alongside other organisations and employers in all sectors in Wales, and signing up to the campaign demonstrates employers’ public commitment to working towards equal gender representation in decision-making and influencing roles here in Wales.

We’re also working hard to encourage and support women and other under-represented groups to come forward for public appointments. Diversity of representation brings divert of thought—fresh ideas, new perspectives and a better understanding of our communities. We are committed to addressing gender pay inequalities, and we have robust duties in place for the public sector in Wales so that we don’t just report on the pay gap, but that we also to take action on the underlying causes too, including the different distribution of men and women between grades, occupations, working patterns and contract types. It’s not good enough that women are concentrated in sectors and occupations that are often associated with low pay, and often low hours and casual or zero-hours contracts. Our society is still based on gender-biased norms, so we must continue to challenge gender stereotypes and encourage girls and women into non-traditional, better paid careers.

Llywydd, our Agile Nation 2 project, run in partnership with Chwarae Teg and jointly funded by the EU, supports 2,207 women and works with 500 employers to promote female career advancement and to reduce the gender pay gap. The project is focusing on nine key sectors of the Welsh economy, including advanced manufacturing, life sciences, health and energy.

As I’ve said, we must recognise the importance of men playing their part in working for gender equality. We all have a part to play. Without men as committed allies and supportive partners in this quest led by women, genuine change will not happen. The positive impacts of gender equality are good for all of us—our families and society as a whole.

We must also stand together against domestic abuse and other types of violence against women, which can have devastating and long-term consequences. Our Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015 is a landmark piece of legislation. It is intended to provide a strategic focus on these issues to prevent violence wherever possible, and to provide effective support for victims. But the key is to change the attitudes and get the message across that violent behaviour is not acceptable in any circumstances, and will not be tolerated in our society.

This is a day to celebrate the achievements of women, Llywydd. In the National Assembly, we have a female Llywydd and a female Deputy Llywydd. Within Welsh Government, the Permanent Secretary, the chief scientific officer and the chief veterinary officer are all women. The four commissioners in Wales for future generations, older people, children and the Welsh language are all women. What great models they all are, Llywydd. I’m sure their achievements serve to highlight the talent that we have here in Wales, and we will encourage other women to put themselves forward for those top jobs. Llywydd, we’re not complacent. There is much more to be done before we can claim that we’ve created an equal future, but Wales has much to be proud of and we stand committed to supporting women and girls to aspire and achieve here in Wales and across the globe. Diolch.

Thank you very much. I have selected the four amendments to the motion, and I call on Sian Gwenllian to move amendments 1, 2, 3 and 4 tabled in the name of Rhun ap Iorwerth. Sian.

Amendment 1—Rhun ap Iorwerth

Add as new points at end of motion:

Notes that women remain under-represented in leadership positions and regrets that only 4 per cent of the CEOs of the top 100 businesses in Wales and 31 per cent of board members of major WGSBs are women.

Calls on the Welsh Government to commit to reaching the 40 per cent threshold of gender balance of women on WGSBs and to increase the number of women that are chairs and on advisory panels of WGSBs.

Amendment 2—Rhun ap Iorwerth

Add as new point at end of motion:

Regrets that the median hourly pay gap between men and women in Wales in 2015 was 14.6 per cent.

Amendment 3—Rhun ap Iorwerth

Add as new point at end of motion:

Regrets that 29 per cent of women working in Wales earned below the living wage, compared to 20.5 per cent of men, based on the hourly living wage of £8.25 as at April 2016.

Amendment 4—Rhun ap Iorwerth

Add as new point at end of motion:

Believes that gender parity in Wales would be improved if healthy relationships lessons became compulsory in schools.

Amendments 1, 2, 3 and 4 moved.

Thank you very much, and thank you for bringing this important debate forward today. It is true to say that the situation of women has been transformed since the days of the suffragettes, but equality is a long way from being a reality. I do hope that Plaid Cymru’s amendments note in a practical way a few areas where this Government can bring influence to bear.

One of our amendments relates to healthy relationship lessons in schools. The education sector in England has announced that sex and relationship education is going to be mandatory in schools. Healthy relationship education will be taught in primary schools there, with a focus on building healthy relationships and remaining safe. And secondary schools will be duty-bound to teach sex education and healthy relationship education, where pupils will develop their understanding of healthy relationships among adults, with sex education taught in the same context. Schools in Wales don’t have any duty to bring these courses forward, other than to just teach pupils about HIV, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

A report by the European Parliament notes that the Nordic and Benelux countries have the highest-quality sex and relationship education, and that report also suggests that high levels of pregnancy among teenage girls happen in nations where sex and relationship education is taught at too late a stage in their lives. It was noted in a report from Bristol university in 2016 that LGBT education is invisible within sex and relationship education and reinforces prejudices against the LGBT community. Research shows that sex and relationship education that is effective not only reduces pregnancy levels among teenage girls and sexually transmitted diseases, but it can also, of course, open discussions in relation to abuse of women and girls and reduce violence against women.

Now, 8.3 per cent of women between 16 and 59 in Wales suffered domestic abuse during 2016, compared with 4.3 per cent of men. Now, in this figure, 3 per cent of women suffered a sexual assault, compared with 0.5 per cent of males, 6.5 per cent of women suffered abuse from a partner, compared with 2.7 per cent of men, and 4.4 per cent of women suffered stalking, compared with 3.5 per cent of men. This shows a gender disparity that is clear. In order to change this, we need to introduce healthy relationship education at as early a stage as possible, and I do note that the Cabinet Secretary for Education has established a panel to assist with this work in Wales. But I also note concern expressed by some that this aspect of developing the national curriculum isn’t being given as much priority as it could by this Government and that we are at risk of missing this real opportunity provided by the Donaldson review.

I turn now to another of our amendments related to representation. In 2014 only two of every 100 of the top businesses in Wales had a woman chief executive, and in terms of local authorities, only 18 per cent of chief executives are women, and only 27 per cent of councillors are women. This is in stark contrast with the staff of local authorities, where 72 per cent were women in 2014. Now, the percentage of female Assembly Members has fallen to 41.7 per cent from 50 per cent in 2003, and my own party has room for improvement here. We need to reintroduce a system and a meaningful mechanism to increase that percentage, in my view. Plaid Cymru, in Government, would introduce management boards that were gender balanced in institutions funded by the Welsh Government.

I’ve only touched on two areas this afternoon, but two areas that this Government, in an entirely practical way, with the right will, can address and assist us to move towards a far fairer Wales. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Hannah Blythyn.

Diolch, Deputy Llywydd. Today’s motion to mark International Women’s Day proposes that the National Assembly for Wales

‘Celebrates International Women's Day 2017 and recognises the role, contribution and achievements of women in the economic, political, social and cultural life of Wales.’

With this in mind, it’s right that we recognise history, or should I say herstory makers and great contributions made to our country. But I’d like to take time today to pay tribute to some of the truly remarkable women making a difference in a variety of ways in my constituency of Delyn and across Flintshire—the fabulous women who rarely make the headlines, but are the beating heart of our communities and our country and are the glue that binds us together, the women who do things not for recognition or reward, but just because it’s the right thing to do or just because that’s what we do as women.

So, last week, I took to social media—and it didn’t go wrong—to seek suggestions of wonderful women to give a mention to today. Like for many Members here, Delyn reflects a proud Welsh tradition with the brilliant Flint Male Voice Choir, but not to be outdone, in 2013, the Flint Ladies’ Choir was formed. The fabulous Flint Ladies’ Choir has gone from strength to strength, guided, in no small part, by their chair of the last three years—Mel Buckley. Mel dedicates her time with an enthusiasm and energy that is set to see the choir go from strength to strength in the community and beyond, offering opportunities to so many local women. The choir now has nearly 70 members and I hope to host them in the Senedd sometime later this year.

Sarah Way, nominated by her wife, Sue, is someone who embodies the absolute value of volunteers and how volunteering brings our communities together. An unpaid full-time volunteer director for RainbowBiz Limited, Sarah tirelessly gives her time day and night to the social enterprise, supporting the many amazing people she works with across projects and events across Flintshire, including the popular Digging Deeside gardening project, which I know the Cabinet Secretary will be familiar with and that has become a lifeline for many of the volunteers involved. Indeed, volunteers are the essential fabric of our local communities and organisations.

Each year, many of us here take part in events, activities and services to mark Remembrance Sunday, the vast majority of which are made possible only by people volunteering their time and dedication. Val Nevitt is one such person, and a shining light in the local community—the poppy appeal organiser in Flint for four years now, raising £13,000 last year alone. Because of Val’s unwavering commitment and hard work, the poppy appeal in Flint has gone from strength to strength and Val has raised over £50,000 for the poppy appeal during her time as organiser.

At an event last weekend, I met a group of inspiring young women from Mold Alun School who were volunteering as part of the United Nations Foundation’s Girl Up campaign—a campaign that engages young women to take action to support girls and young women in the developing world, in places where it’s often hardest to be a girl. These amazing Alun School students are changing perceptions and doing their bit to break down barriers within their own school, whilst at the same time championing the cause of young women across the world.

Last but by no means least—Viv Williams, sat in the gallery here today. One of the founders of Flintshire War Memorials, Viv and the volunteer team at Flintshire War Memorials, known more colloquially to us and familiar to us as Names on Stones on Twitter, have worked and continue to work tirelessly to tell the stories of those who served and fell locally in the first world war and who we often have only known as names on stones. Viv also organises study trips to Flanders and works tirelessly to share the stories and work of Flintshire War Memorials with organisations and groups across the area, from schools to the Women’s Institute and much more.

Of course, there are many more women out there in my constituency and across our country making a difference, doing more than their bit, and to all of you today and every day, we say ‘thank you’. Thank you for all that you do, thank you for being an inspirational woman and thank you for blazing a trail for all of us.

Thank you. Leanne Wood.

International Women’s Day is a day of celebration across the world. It’s a day to come together to mark the achievements and successes of women, often in adverse conditions, in all spheres. It’s not just a time for celebration, it’s also a time for reflection, a time to realise that there’s still so much to do in terms of gender equality. It might be 2017, but we face the risk of going backwards if the likes of Nigel Farage and UKIP had their way. We’ve all heard those statements from them calling for paid maternity leave and anti-discrimination laws to be scrapped. Let none of us pretend that there are not existing threats to the hard-fought rights that women have achieved to date.

I don’t want my daughter or her daughters to grow up in a society that treats them worse or pays them less because of their gender. I don’t want her to grow up in a society that could well overlook her for promotion because of her gender. I don’t want her to grow up in a society where she is more likely to be bullied in her workplace or online because of her gender. And I don’t want her to grow up in a society where she is more likely to be the victim of domestic abuse or rape because she will be a woman. Yet, unless we see some drastic change, that is the fate that awaits her and all of the other girls growing up in Wales and, in fact, much of the world. No matter how much we teach them to be confident, or tell them that they can do or be anything that they choose, that is the reality that they face.

In the last century, a strong band of women put their lives on the line, quite literally, to achieve universal suffrage. They were afraid of no-one. They were not prepared to be second-class citizens. A century on, and we are still striving for gender equality and an end to violence against women and misogyny, and we are still striving for many more equality measures. That is why I am proud to call myself a feminist—it’s because I want equality, and it’s why I will join millions of others throughout the world to celebrate International Women’s Day.

As the theme for International Women’s Day 2017 states, we must be bold for change and step up to help drive gender equality. We will be supporting the motion and all amendments. Despite progress in some areas, we must address the barriers that continue to prevent women from playing as full a role as men in the economic, political, social and cultural life of Wales.

Oxfam Cymru is calling for a human economy that benefits women and men alike. Oxfam Scotland’s ‘decent work’ research showed that women valued a number of factors higher than men, for example a supportive line manager, support to return to work after absence, additional benefits beyond pay, flexibility in choosing working hours, and a job that is easy to get to. As the charity Chwarae Teg/Fair Play states, steps to address gender inequality can help drive economic growth, yet steps to drive economic growth will not necessarily deliver equality. As a new economic strategy for Wales is developed, they’ve said it’s crucial that the following three questions are addressed: how can the strategy deliver equally for men and women? How can the strategy take equal and fair consideration of the contribution of men and women? And how can it be ensured that the strategy doesn’t create any additional barriers to women reaching their full potential? They emphasise that Wales’s economy is not currently making the most of women’s potential, where women’s economic participation remains lower than men’s, where women continue to be more commonly employed in sectors that are lower paid and offer fewer opportunities to progress, and are less likely to be represented in more senior positions, and where women are often found working below their skill level with a lack of appropriate childcare and/or flexible working options cited as contributing factors. In consequence, a 16 per cent gender pay gap persists in Wales.

Chwarae Teg’s experience in delivering the previous Presiding Officer’s Women in Public Life development scheme confirms that there are sufficient numbers of interested, suitably qualified and experienced women in Wales to provide boards with a ready-made pool of talented women to fill available posts and help the boards achieve their goals. They also propose using public procurement, investing in good social infrastructure, such as childcare and health services, and tackling gender stereotypes as additional steps to address the complex causes of the gender pay gap. This includes healthy relationship education, helping pupils develop a better understanding of gender roles and ensuring that teachers and schools are supported to create gender inclusive learning environments. As I stated during the Stage 3 proceedings of the Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015, those of us, like myself, who have been out, for example on Hafan Cymru’s Spectrum project, teaching children and young people about healthy relationships, abuse, its consequences and where to seek help, know of the positive impact this can have.

Assurances were secured by the three opposition parties at Stage 4 of the Act that stakeholders from the violence against women sector would be involved in developing proposals to ensure that healthy relationship education is developed within the Welsh curriculum—something we heard about at lunchtime at the cross-party group on violence against women and children. In 2014 the Centre for Social Justice reported findings that 43 per cent of young people received no information about healthy relationships in school, and that one in three girls and one in six boys experienced sexual violence in the classroom. They recommended that relationship education be made mandatory in the school curriculum. In England, the UK Government has now announced a requirement for relationship education in primary schools and relationship and sex education in secondary schools.

The Autistic Women’s Empowerment Project recently told the cross-party autism group that the different presentations of autism in women and girls suggest that the accepted ratio of five boys to one girl should actually be a lot closer, where many females are left undiagnosed, misdiagnosed or without support. As the parents of many misdiagnosed daughters have told me, statutory bodies don’t understand that thinking has changed, that autism presents differently in girls, and that many females are unable to access a diagnosis due to stereotype views, leaving autistic girls and women vulnerable to low self-worth, anxiety, depression and self-harm.

Well, with local government elections on the horizon, I will conclude by referring to the Equality and Human Rights Commission figures, showing that only 26 per cent of councillors in Wales are women. Well, my wife is a Flintshire county councillor, and until we address the health-harming misogyny that she suffered there, many more women will not be encouraged to come forward.

Can I say that I’m absolutely delighted to be able to speak in this debate as part of the celebration of International Women’s Day? It’s celebrate that I actually want to do. Today, we have heard, and we will hear, about a number of inspirational women—the famous and the not so famous—all of whom have made their mark, not just in Wales but across the world. For my contribution I want to mention just a few.

In sport, the shining example of Tanni Grey-Thompson, who probably did more than any other person to advance the cause of disabled sport in this country. During her career, she won a total of 16 Paralympic medals, including 11 golds, held over 30 world records and won the London marathon six times. She later became a TV presenter and is now an active member of the House of Lords.

In politics, women had to fight for the right to vote. A leading Welsh suffragette was Margaret Haig Mackworth, who blew up a post box in Risca Road, Newport to show how strongly she felt about votes for women. The general election of 1929 was, of course, the first in which all women above the age of 21 were able to vote. Not only could women now vote, they could also stand for election to Parliament, and out of the three who stood in Wales, the one who succeeded in being elected, of course, was Megan Lloyd George, daughter of the former Prime Minister, David. She was elected as the Liberal MP for Anglesey, later seeing the light, of course, and becoming the Labour MP for Carmarthen. Of course, we shouldn’t forget Julia Gillard, a former Australian Prime Minister born in Barry, who came back to Wales to address the Assembly in 2015, the event being so popular that it had to be shifted from the Pierhead to the Senedd and was broadcast on senedd.tv for those who were unable to get tickets.

In industry, not surprisingly, given the rich industrial heritage of Merthyr Tydfil, there were women pioneers in industry from the town. One was Lady Charlotte Guest, wife of John Josiah Guest, owner of the world’s largest ironworks in Dowlais, and Merthyr’s first MP. When he died in 1852, Charlotte took control of the business, and although she is best remembered for her philanthropic concerns for the workers in the area, she continued to run the works until she remarried in 1855. Another was Lucy Thomas, known as the mother of the coal industry, who took over the running of her husband’s business when he died in 1833, leaving her with an estate of under £1,000. He’d discovered a rich coal seam in Merthyr, and it became one of the most successful mines in Wales. By the time of her death in 1847, she’d increased the worth of that business to over £11,000. And more recently, there was the fashion designer Laura Ashley, born in a modest terraced house in Dowlais in Merthyr Tydfil, and who went on to become one of the world’s leading clothing and furnishing designers and manufacturers.

There are so many other inspirational Welsh women I could talk about, but it’s not just about individuals. In the time that I’ve got left to me, I want to also pay tribute to women who have acted collectively in their trade unions, making a difference to the lives of so many. The record of women acting collectively is a proud one: from the match girls’ strike in 1888, which led to the banning of dangerous white phosphorus matches and improvements in their working conditions, to the general strike of 1926, when women first took to the streets to defend men’s right to a decent wage. In 1934, when the Government took action against the rising cost of paying dole and benefits to the unemployed—does that sound familiar—a hunger march left Tonypandy and among the hundreds of Welsh miners were a dozen women wearing rucksacks and red berets. They’d been coached in public speaking to be able to address meetings on their overnight stops on the way to Cardiff. Of course, during the miners’ strike of 1984, women protested alongside their husbands, fathers and brothers to oppose the closure of 28 south Wales pits. As well as protesting about the loss of jobs, they were fighting to protect their communities. Women joined the picket lines, they marched at rallies and they provided food parcels. Women Against Pit Closures politicised women like never before in these coal-mining communities, and one of them, Siân James, went on to become the Labour MP for Swansea East.

Women in trade unions have relentlessly campaigned on issues that affect them disproportionately, pursuing equal pay claims, equal rights for part-time, fixed-term, agency and low-paid workers, and, as we debated last week, fighting the exploitation of the use of zero-hours contracts, which also affects women more than men, and of course campaigning for equality and affordable childcare, which this Government is seeking to address. Llywydd, I feel extremely privileged to have been elected to the Welsh Assembly, and I owe an immense debt of gratitude to those women who went before me and blazed a trail in politics and in the trade union movement, making it possible for me and other women like me to be here today. Our responsibility now is to pave the way for the next generation of women who will make their mark in Welsh life.

I welcome today’s debate proposing that the National Assembly celebrates International Women’s Day. I’m sure many Members and the wider public will reflect on the well-known women of the present day and throughout the history of Wales. However, I would like to take this opportunity to commend the contributions made by ordinary women in Wales—women who helped build this country, working in the home, farm, factory and so many other places. We will never know their names, but on their shoulders our country stands. Without the mothers of Wales teaching their children in their own mother tongue, the Welsh language would not have survived, nor would its folklore or poetry. UKIP therefore call on this place to acknowledge their invaluable contribution to our country, a contribution on a parallel to that of men.

With regard to the amendments proposed by Plaid, yes, women are under-represented on the boards of non-governmental organisations, companies and governmental boards. However, artificially increasing numbers by imposing a quota might look good, but it would be ultimately meaningless without understanding and addressing why fewer women are board members in the first place. You can draw up all-women shortlists to your heart’s content, however, it is through talent and ability that women should obtain top positions within companies. [Interruption.] We should not support the elevation of women above men, but rather seek to compete on a level playing field, treating each gender with total equality.

It is through debates such as this, and the awareness raised by activists in events such as International Women’s Day, that we progress further towards total equality in the workplace and beyond. Plaid are correct to regret the median pay and relatively lower earnings of women versus men in the workplace. This is a reflection of the occupations that women are still largely employed in. For instance, on average, women are far more likely to be in part-time work, on zero-hours or low-paid contracts as a consequence of childcare and other caring responsibilities.

UKIP will not be voting in favour of amendment 4 as there is no causal link between healthy relationship lessons in schools and educational attainment, and it is educational attainment that is the most significant factor in the pay and conditions of female workers. To those who bemoan the slightly lower pay enjoyed by women in Wales and the UK, I’d say this: your ideals for perfect equality are laudable, but we should be proud that the UK is one of the best places on earth to be born and live as a woman.

There are many challenges that women face in today’s society beyond the workplace—issues that, for many, are unpleasant to discuss or even acknowledge. Women, and indeed many girls of a young age, have been victims of cultural practices violating their bodies and their futures. As International Women’s Day approaches, I call on this Assembly and campaigners to confront the issue of female genital mutilation. As a society, we have a duty to care for those who have suffered as a consequence of this heinous act and to do everything to combat the motivations behind this crime. At the same time, we must speak out for millions of women throughout the world who do not share the same rights that we are fortunate to hold.

In recent months, we have witnessed thousands of women protesting against the newly elected President of the United States. I ask them: where were the marches and protests for their sisters abroad, many of whom have suffered a fate worse than FGM for stepping outside cultural norms? We require a sense of perspective. Yes, we need to tackle sexism and inequality in everyday society, but more importantly we need to provide a beacon of hope for women who are deprived of their basic human rights by speaking out on issues that are shamefully still ongoing in the twenty-first century.

So, let’s celebrate our achievements as women. Let us remember those women who have gone before, those who campaigned and secured our freedoms and liberties. But, let us not forget the millions of women who do not have a voice and ensure that, tomorrow, on International Women’s Day, we provide them with that voice. Thank you.

In my contribution today I want to talk about the implications for women of leaving the EU. I want to start off with European structural funds. European structural funds are worth £2 billion to Wales between 2014 and 2020. The Treasury has guaranteed that all projects started before the UK leaves the EU will be fully funded until their completion, but we don’t know what is going to happen after that. We don’t know what regional policy will be after we leave. Obviously, we are having discussions here in Wales to try to influence what that will be, but we don’t know. But, we do know that it will have a big impact on women.

Gender equality has always been a core objective of the European Union. Since the UK joined in 1973, membership has helped ensure improvements in pay equality, protection from discrimination, childcare, parental leave and care for pregnant women and new mothers. Also, international co-operation across the European Union has helped tackle female genital mutilation, because we need collaborative working on issues such as female genital mutilation. As we know, it happens in Wales. We know it happens in Cardiff. A recent committee in Cardiff identified cases where female genital mutilation had taken place. So, it’s essential that we work collaboratively on this issue.

There’s also international co-operation on human trafficking. We know that women are far more likely to be trafficked into the sex trade. In fact, the EU says that 30,146 people were registered as victims of human trafficking across the 28-nation EU in the three years to 2013; 80 per cent of the victims were women; 69 per cent of all those trafficked were victims of sexual exploitation; and more than 1,000 child victims were trafficked for sexual exploitation. So, we need to be in a situation where we can work collaboratively on those issues. When we do leave the EU, we have got to ensure that we still have those collaborative ways of working, because it is vital for women who are in these vulnerable situations that we do.

Leaving the EU will mean the loss of targeted funding for gender equality. In 2012, 28 per cent of the EU’s aid budget included gender equality or women’s empowerment as a key objective. This is what has been written into all the EU’s work, all its policy—a recognition of the inequalities that there are. When we leave the EU, we’ve got to ensure that we do not lose all that good work that has been achieved. In addition, any economic downturn will hit women hardest. All the evidence has shown that when the going gets hard, it’s women who are hit hardest. That’s certainly what’s happened with the Tory cuts. A 2015 report from the LSE showed that 78.9 per cent of welfare cuts fell on women, especially single parents, and black and minority ethnic women are also disproportionately affected. [Interruption.]

The Fawcett Society has called for a woman to be on the Brexit negotiating team, in view of the all-male make-up of the current trio, which is made up, of course, of David Davis, Liam Fox and Boris Johnson. I think we do need a woman there to try to negotiate. I mean, these negotiations are so important for women. Whatever happens post Brexit, we must ensure that the hard-won gains for women are not lost and that the cross-cutting themes that are embedded in the European structural funds, for example, are not lost.

The Women and Equalities Select Committee in Westminster has made recommendations post Brexit, one of which is that there should be a clause on equality in the great reform Bill, and I think that that is a very sensible suggestion. They’ve also suggested that Parliament and the courts should declare whether new laws are compatible with equality principles. Again, I think that is a very important recommendation, because we are moving into a situation where we will have no guarantee that we will have equality written into legislation, into any future regional policy, into co-operation between countries. So, I think we’ve got to use all we can to do that, because there’s no doubt that the European Union, and our membership of the European Union, has been a huge advantage to women and has helped us make great steps forward.

We are, here in the Welsh Assembly, a young institution, but this Assembly has indeed got a very proud record of honouring and enacting the principles and the aims of International Women’s Day, as do successive Welsh Labour-led Governments. Since devolution, we’ve been amongst the most gender-balanced legislatures in the world—the first to elect an equal number of able women and able men. The consequences of that representation in terms of policy and legislation cannot and must never be overlooked.

One of those landmark policies is the Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015. It’s the first legislation of its kind in the UK and it is the only law in Europe to have a specific focus on violence against women. That, we have heard, has been contested in this Assembly, and I will stand, as my colleagues will, steadfast behind that.

I’m going to tell you a story that I heard on Saturday. It isn’t a nice story, and it’s a story about a young female who found herself in jail—she has now been released on probation. Without telling me who that individual was, I was told about her story. Her story is one of drug addiction that started at the age of nine, when she took her mother’s Valium tablets. She took her mother’s Valium tablets because she couldn’t face the day. Her mother locked her and her brother in the coalhouse, because that was the only way that she could keep those two safe from an abusive father and husband. Those two children sat in that coalhouse, and whilst they could hear their mother screaming they knew she was alive—they were absolutely terrified when it was silent.

She went on through her life, as a consequence of that abuse and the addiction that she had gained very early on to Valium, to become a drug addict and to find herself within the prison system. So, that is why—it is stories like that, and they don’t make good listening. But these are individuals—we cannot begin to imagine that fear that was going through the mother and her children’s lives. That is why we support a gender-based approach to domestic abuse, and we do it quite proudly.

I wanted to tell that story, because those stories are never told. People see somebody within the prison system, they see somebody who has an addiction, but they never ever stop to think—they never ask why. So, I did that last weekend, and I wanted to share that with you today, because it is essential that, when women are elected to office, they do the right thing by the women who will never be elected to office. And doing the right thing means sometimes telling the stories that people don’t want to hear, and bringing through legislation that will actually hope that those children will not become victims later on in life.

The other area that I want to focus on is women’s economic activity, and we’ve heard today grand statements about that from the other benches. The 2016 autumn statement told us that 86 per cent of the net gains to the Treasury through tax and benefit measures came from women, and that was up by 5 per cent from 2015. But the UK Government has continued to evade its duties under the 2016 equalities Act, and refused to carry out a gender assessment, unlike the Welsh Government. If they did that, and bearing in mind that the budget falls on International Women’s Day this year, they might find that the cuts that they have made to the public sector have hit women specifically by 80 per cent—80 per cent of all those cuts have hit women, and I think it’s time that they actually did carry out an equality impact assessment on what they’re doing.

Different tack here: March is Women’s History Month. And what is the point of Women’s History Month? Well, we have 50 per cent of the population, but only occupy 0.5 per cent of recorded history. And that matters if generation after generation after generation has been exposed to that imbalance as a truth about values. I know that some Members here in the Chamber like to hark back to the twentieth century to make their political points, as if nothing has happened in the meantime, but to explain the problem of 0.5 per cent for half the population, and its effects on our cultural DNA, Dr Bettany Hughes thinks that we need to start right back with prehistory, where the opposite was true.

If you look at all the figurines made between 40,000 BC until around 5,000 BC, a period that really sees the flourishing of the modern mind, at that time about 90 per cent of all those figurines were of women. So, women are very present in the archaeological record, but then start to disappear once prehistory turns into history. At the birth of civilised society, you have very highly productive and sophisticated settlements, with women having great status—they were high priestesses, they had property rights, they owned land, they wrote poetry. But these new civilisations wanted to expand, and that needed muscle power. At that point, society becomes more militarised, and the balance of power moved. It was then that we saw the quantum shift in the story of the world, and we start to find powerful warrior gods appearing in the archaeology, as well as in the epic tales, representing a gear change in how we are told the story of humanity.

Growth through military means—muscle mattered, and it still matters. This long-lived status quo has become the base note of society. Whereas previously a measure of achievement might have been the physical survival and nurture of a community, and quality of life, it is even now expansion and success. Women’s roles continued to diminish, and women’s strengths lost their kudos. So, why do we know about some women but not others? Well, if you think of some of the women in history that we’ve all heard of—the likes of Cleopatra and Helen of Troy—one of the reasons their stories have lasted so long is that they are portrayed as highly sexualised. They’re exciting, but the danger of their influence has also become a warped morality tale. We remember them as creatures who draw men towards their beds and towards their death, or, in Judeo-Christian culture, to their fall from grace. Often women aren’t allowed to be individual human characters in history—they have to be stereotypes.

Older literature has been complicit with that as well. Cleopatra was a poet and a philosopher. She was incredibly good at maths, and she wasn’t particularly good looking. But, when we think of her, we think of the big-breasted seductress, bathing in milk, with this really weird relationship with asps. Often, even when women have made their mark and they are remembered by history, we’re offered a fantasy version of their lives. Now, of course, even if we don’t believe this stuff any more, and we say out loud that men and women are equal, how are we still so affected by it? How is it still possible for any Member of the European Parliament—as one did last week—to declare, unashamedly, that women should be paid less because we are smaller, weaker and less intelligent? How can it be possible to say that these days? Now, Dr Hughes says that there’s been a problem here for at least 3,500 years, so, it’s no surprise that we have some catching up to do, because we’re actually overcoming a hardwired collective false memory.

Physically, the stories of women have been written out of history rather than written in, but times are changing and I think we’re more interested now in the story of what it means to be human, as opposed to being a man or a woman. It’s an issue that has very, very deep roots and I would really like us to be sure that we collectively are known as the generation that opened rather than closed minds and who opened up these stories, put them back on the page and started recalibrating that collective memory, because, yes, of course, women have impacted on history. It’s just that we need to know about it and it’s difficult to celebrate or recognise our achievements as women, as the motion says, if we don’t know about them. So, I thank Members who have contributed today for actually giving some examples. We need to actively look back for women’s stories and put them back into the historical narrative, globally, nationally, and locally. Of course, it’s down in no small part to the—. It’s part of the job of historians to fill the gaps in history, which is why I think we should resist any attempt to downplay the role of history in the new Wales curriculum, but ask to reconsider what it’s for. Let’s get it to do the right thing, Joyce. Let it be bold—I think somebody else mentioned that we need to be bold—in recalibrating that collective memory so that women’s strengths are valued across time and not just in the last 100 years. The Nazis may have failed to conquer Europe, but they’ve done a damn good job of dominating our history curriculum, and we are still talking about muscle and missing half our history a century after the first International Women’s Day. Thank you.

I am actually proud to rise in this Government debate to mark International Women’s Day. Today, I gathered on the Senedd steps with my fellow female Labour Assembly Members and I was very proud to shine a light on Welsh women who have made an impact in public life across Wales.

You may have heard of Benjamin Hall, who was a man from Islwyn, my constituency, who Big Ben was named after. But, today, I am not going to talk about a husband; I’m going to talk about the wife, and she is not defined by him. This is a lady called Augusta. She was a remarkable nineteenth-century Welsh woman who played a cultural role in the adoption of the now familiar Welsh national costume as our national dress, something that every single one of us as politicians are familiar with. Two centuries later, on St David’s Day last week, girls wore this costume with pride, alongside the rugby shirts, and alongside the variety of costumes all over Wales. This church and the educational mandate that Augusta endowed in Abercarn in Islwyn is known locally as the ‘Welsh church’ and I’m proud to say that I got married in it. It still proudly stands on the sides of the valley and it features on the badge of Ysgol Gymraeg Cwm Gwyddon. Over the years, thousands of pupils have learnt about the historic and cultural connection to Augusta Hall. It is right that International Women’s Day encourages us to find role models like Augusta in all of our communities as we continue to strive for true gender equality in all areas of life.

Today, Welsh Labour has led the way in securing gender balance in the National Assembly for Wales. It is easy to say that. In the current Assembly we in Welsh Labour, again, have a gender balanced group, with 15 women Members out of 29. This is a result of policy and will, and not namby-pamby wishful thinking. As a result of Welsh Labour action, the National Assembly remains significantly more representative of the population than the UK Parliament. And it is why we have the ground-breaking violence against women legislation—the first in the UK—and it is legislation we should all be rightfully proud of, every single one of us across this Chamber.

I am proud to be the second female Welsh Labour Assembly Member for Islwyn. As a child, I was passionate about politics and actively looked for opportunities, unashamedly, to serve in public life. As a female, I know I was faced with added obstacles in achieving this goal. But, today, the landscape of gender equality in Wales has greatly improved. But gender equality has still not been obtained. The gender pay gap, the Women Against State Pension Inequality pensions debacle, demonstrate this. I’m delighted that increasing the number of women in positions of power and influence is a priority for this Welsh Labour Government, and this Welsh Government believes that there are still far too few women in prominent roles—unlike some in this Chamber—across public life. Women’s voices need to be heard and decision-making bodies, such as the Government and local authorities, must be representative of the communities that they serve. The Welsh Labour manifesto makes a commitment to seek to introduce better gender data for appointments to public bodies across Wales, ensuring that at least 40 per cent of those appointments are women. This is not to be ashamed of.

In October 2015, the Welsh Government launched a call for evidence to increase the understanding of the challenges and barriers contributing to the under-representation of certain groups on public sector boards, and the measures to address this that have been successful in Wales and other countries. The Welsh Government is committed to using the findings to develop its responses to under-representation in public appointments. And what should concern us all is the continuing gender pay gap. Pay gaps are a complex and long-standing issue, and some of the levers of change rest with employers. The public sector equality duty requires public sector employers to address pay and employment differences across those protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010. And it is right that we consider the impact of the European movement in regard to where we are moving forward post Brexit, and that we do protect those qualities across Wales.

Many women in employment in Wales still earn less than men, and this is because many traditional female career paths and women are more likely to work part-time than men, due to caring responsibilities. And finally, it is something that all of us in this Chamber and everyone watching need to devote ourselves to challenging. We cannot see any longer the twenty-first century roll on with a gender pay differential. It is a true stain on Welsh life that must end, and this Government will continue with that difficult journey until we achieve parity—parity of esteem, parity of pay, parity of equality and a true society of equals across Wales. Diolch.

And finally, Jayne Bryant.

Diolch, Deputy Llywydd. It’s an honour to speak in this debate today. Indeed, there are many of my colleagues here who have inspired me, and it’s a privilege to join them and others in this Chamber.

I know that I stand on the shoulders of others. Many women who have gone before us made sacrifices and fought battles so that women can have the vote, go to university, work and choose how to live their lives. We’ve come a long way from the suffragettes such as Margaret Mackworth, Lady Rhondda, but there is much more to do. As a new Member, this is really the first opportunity that I’ve had in the Chamber to pay tribute to my predecessor as the Member for Newport West, Dame Rosemary Butler. Rosemary certainly has been an inspiration to me and many other women in Newport and throughout Wales. As Llywydd, she used her position to encourage and support women in public life. She understood that a diverse workforce is better for everyone. It’s important to ensure that women in senior positions don’t pull the ladder up, but hold out a hand to other women. Rosemary’s Women in Public Life campaign certainly made a difference. In Newport, she organised International Women’s Day events over many years, bringing together women from all walks of life to meet, learn from each other and have fun, always keen to support and encourage women to try something new, give it a go and not be afraid of failure, something that I know she will continue to do.

International Women’s Day is also about recognising the value of women in crucial roles, such as paid and unpaid carers. There’s a long way to go to solve the gender pay gap, and it’s shocking that, in 2017, gender can have an impact on how much you get paid. Indeed, the World Economic Forum estimated that the global gender pay gap won’t close until 2186. This is inexcusable. The UK is currently twentieth in the world behind Nicaragua, Burundi, Ireland, Slovenia and Germany. We can do much better.

Equal rights is not just a fight for women. My grandfather, who was a blacksmith from Glyncorrwg, was proud to call himself a feminist. He died five years ago at the age of 89, and he wholeheartedly believed in equality and knew that it was something that men needed to fight for as well. And I know that the Cabinet Secretary believes that, and he’s a champion for equality.

International Women’s Day is an opportunity for us to reflect and celebrate the fantastic works and achievements of women in our community. Since being elected, I’ve met women who are campaigners, leaders and who just get things done—formidable women, many of whom just get on with it and don’t realise the difference they’re making. This year’s theme is ‘Be bold for change’, and, only three months into 2017, we’ve already seen women taking to the streets across the world to protect peacefully against divisive politics. We can see from the hateful language on social media against women that the fight for equality is not over. We must face these challenges head on and test the advancements made.

In many parts of the world, women won’t be celebrating. In fact, they might be fighting to survive the day. In countries such as Syria, Iraq and Nigeria, women face rape as a weapon of war. We hear how, in some countries, women and girls are being forcibly married, sexually abused and raped by their so-called husbands and sold to others. It’s also a chance to think of those refugees who have travelled hundreds of miles to find safety, many of them mothers, forced to carry their children from one danger zone to the next. Battles we thought had been won seem to be bending in the wind. It’s imperative that we all stand together, celebrate what we’ve achieved and take bold action for change.

I call on the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children to reply to the debate—Carl Sargeant.

Thank you, Deputy Llywydd, for the opportunity to respond to this debate. International Women’s Day has become a major occasion in the equality calendar and it’s good to see that it achieves such widespread, positive media and that it sparks so much debate on this issue. Shining a spotlight on inequality and presenting the stark evidence that exists to show how women are still being treated unfairly can only facilitate meaningful change.

Can I turn to some of the contributions by Members in the Chamber today? First of all, I’d like to thank Hannah Blythyn for her thoughtful piece, a very local piece to her constituency. The people she mentioned—the Flint women’s choir, the RainbowBiz, Val from the poppy appeal, Vicky Perfect—the key custodian of Flint castle—then, indeed, Viv Williams in the Chamber today, from Names on Stones. Last but not least, Hannah, my mum, because she was also from Delyn, so I’d like to make that very clear.

Other contributions in the Chamber today—Leanne Wood, again, spoke very openly about the celebration but also reflection, around the world, around gender equality and I’m grateful for her continued support. The only thing I would say is that this is not a fait accompli. Choices of change to challenge suffrage are in the hands of all of us, including the leaders within this Chamber and all Members, and I’m grateful for her contribution.

Michelle Brown raised some interesting issues. I must say, there was only one part of the debate where I didn’t quite agree with—her contribution around healthy relationships. I don’t agree with that because there is an absolute link between healthy relationships and the well-being of an individual, and that’s something I’m very pleased to be working on with the education Minister in terms of that successful programme for the future.

Can I turn to the amendments of today? We will be supporting amendment 1, and the Welsh Government is driving forward a range of actions, including diversity in public sector boards—not just women, but all under-represented groups—and we know we’re not there yet but progress is being made. Tomorrow, the EHRC will publish their latest ‘Who Runs Wales?’ report and it will highlight that some sectors—for example, the NHS—have made huge strides in getting more women into senior roles. Nevertheless, I do recognise there is still much more to do, in particular in local government.

We’ll also be supporting amendments 2 and 3, in recognition that there is a very real gender pay gap in Wales, as there is in the rest of the UK. You’ll be aware that tomorrow is actually International Women’s Day; what some of you may not know is that today, 7 March, has been branded as Women’s Pay Day. It is the day that the average paid woman in the UK starts getting paid compared to the average man. Effectively, women are working for the first 66 days of the year for free. That cannot be right. Pay inequality is a complex issue and the days of jobs being advertised with different rates of pay for men and women are long gone, but the pay gap endures. Only by addressing the underlying causes of pay inequality can we ever hope to eliminate it. We are tackling the issues on a number of fronts, and, as I mentioned earlier, including tackling gender stereotyping, occupational segregation and the lack of affordable childcare.

Llywydd, moving to amendment 4, we will be opposing amendment 4 today, which is about healthy relationships becoming compulsory in schools. I absolutely agree with the Plaid Member’s contribution in regard to healthy relationships in schools and it’s something that I’m working on with the Cabinet Secretary for Education, who announced that a healthy relationship expert panel has been set up to address needs and to support schools to provide good-quality, inclusive healthy relationships education. It would be wrong to pre-empt that work, but we will come back to the Chamber to discuss further with colleagues around the outcome of that.

To come back to the focus of today’s debate, Llywydd, it is about celebrating women’s contribution to social, economic and political life. Our role, as a Government, is to ensure that women have the same opportunities as men to achieve their full potential. Just some of the millions of women and girls of Wales I’d like to say thank you to—thank you to people like Hannah Blythyn, Dawn Bowden, Jayne Bryant, Rebecca Evans, Lesley Griffiths, Vikki Howells, Jane Hutt, Julie James, Ann Jones, Eluned Morgan, Julie Morgan, Lynne Neagle, Rhianon Passmore, Jenny Rathbone, Joyce Watson, Sian Gwenllian, Bethan Jenkins, Elin Jones, Leanne Wood, Angela Burns, Suzy Davies, Janet Finch-Saunders, Michelle Brown, Caroline Jones and Kirsty Williams. Comrades, continue to be bold, and let’s build a better International Women’s Day. Equality should be at the forefront of every Government and everything that Government does and we should never lose sight of this. Diolch yn fawr. Thank you.

Thank you very much. The proposal is to agree amendment 1. Does any Member object? No. Therefore, amendment 1 is agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Amendment 1 agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

The proposal is to agree amendment 2. Does any Member object? No. Amendment 2—no? Okay. Therefore, amendment 2 is agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Amendment 2 agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

The proposal is to agree amendment 3. Does any Member object? No. Therefore, amendment 3 is agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Amendment 3 agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

The proposal is to agree amendment 4. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Object. Right, okay, thank you. We’ll return to voting on that at voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.

It has been agreed that voting time will take place now, and, unless three Members wish for the bell to be rung, I intend to proceed directly to voting time. Okay, thank you.