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.