News & Campaigns

All the latest from HER-itage and our affiliates

Live-in childcare workers win the fight for minimum wage – Nanny Solidarity Network

The government has agreed to remove the legal exemption that excludes ‘family workers’ from minimum wage protections. This is a historic victory for live-in childcare workers who have been organizing throughout the pandemic in order to demand better pay and conditions.

  • The ‘family worker exemption’ was introduced into National Minimum Wage regulations in 1999. It states that workers do not have to be paid the minimum wage if they live in their employer’s house and are treated as ‘a member of the family’, particularly with regards to the provision of accommodation and food. This exemption was implemented under the guise that young workers were taking part in a ‘cultural exchange.’
  • When the Low Pay Commission investigated the exemption last year, the Nanny Solidarity Network (NSN) provided a platform for nannies and au pairs to directly submit testimonies to the Commission, alongside evidence from Kalayaan, the Voice of Domestic Workers and ATLEU
  • The Nanny Solidarity Network is a grassroots group for mutual aid and collective action. Workers established the network to run a solidarity fund during the first lockdown when many nannies and au pairs lost their income and accommodation and had no access to state support
  • Member’s testimonies revealed that far from a ‘cultural exchange’, the exemption had created an invisible, exploited group of migrant women, unable to report abuse and entirely dependent on their host family
  • Instead of ‘light housework’, workers described long hours, leaving no time for English classes. Many weren’t able to share meals with their host family and were given a mattress to sleep on or expected to share a room with the kids. Workers were paid as little as £1/hour
  • The Low Pay Commission concluded that the exemption provided a loophole for employers to exploit live-in workers and acted as a barrier for these workers when they seek to protect their rights. They recommended that the exemption is not fit for purpose and should be banned.
  • This week, the government publicly accepted the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations in full and has agreed to scrap the exemption.

The Nanny Solidarity Network calls on the government to ensure that this reform benefits all workers by also removing the ‘illegal working offense’ which criminalizes employment for many migrants in the UK, excluding them from protections such as the minimum wage.

Leticia Dias, Nanny and Member solidarity Coordinator at the Nanny Solidarity Network, says:  “They think that because we are migrants we don’t deserve the same basic protections as other workers. They think that because women have always done childcare and cooking and cleaning for free that this is not ‘real work.’ But this decision by the government to listen to our stories and remove the exemption shows that when we come together, we are powerful. We will continue to fight for the protections we deserve.”

Dr. Kate Hardy, Professor in Work and Employment Relations at the University of Leeds and author of Childcare During Covid, says: “Nannies enable thousands of parents to attend work each day and have seen their work intensify throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, during which many of them were locked down 24 hours a day with their employers. Despite the essential nature of this work, they have been historically ignored and excluded from government regulation. This ruling rightly brings nannies’ employment into public view and finally affords them the protections and basic conditions given to other workers”.

Press release at https://nannysolidaritynetwork.co.uk/live-in-childcare-workers-win-the-fight-for-minimum-wage/

 

March 29, 2022

Reform of the Gender Recognition Act: Government response to the Committee’s Third Report

Fifth Special Report

The Women and Equalities Committee published its Third Report of Session 2021–22, Reform of the Gender Recognition Act (HC 977), on 21 December 2021. The Government response was received on 10 March 2021 see below.

Government Response Introduction

  1. The Women and Equalities Committee’s (WEC) report on the Reform of the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) was published on 21 December 2021.
  2. The report by WEC made 26 recommendations in relation to the Government response to the consultation on the review of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 and issues affecting transgender people.
  3. The Government welcomes the WEC’s work and recommendations on the legal recognition of transgender people and wider transgender equality issues. As we made clear in our written evidence submitted to the inquiry, Government is clear that we want people who are transgender to be able to live their lives as they wish.
  4. The previous administration launched a consultation on reforming the GRA. The debate around this consultation was intense, reflected in the volume of responses received of over 100,000. As part of the consultation process and since it closed, meetings were held with approximately 140 representative organisations, including transgender, LGBT and women’s organisations. The GRA is an important issue and we wanted to ensure it was fully considered and all opinions were heard.
  5. We published our response on 22 September 2020. We concluded that the current provisions allow for those that wish to legally change their sex to do so, and we will not be changing the legislation. However, as set out in our response, we identified opportunities to improve the process and experience of transgender applying for a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). Since then, we have taken action to make the application process more straightforward. We will cut bureaucracy by digitising the process and enabling applications via gov.uk and we have already reduced the £140 fee to the nominal amount of £5.
  6. In the year of Safe to Be Me: A Global Equality Conference and with our commitment to banning conversion therapy including practices aimed at changing someone’s transgender status, the Government will continue to move forward with tangible action to improve the lives of transgender people.

To read all the Government responses in detail go to https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5802/cmselect/cmwomeq/129/report.html

March 29, 2022

Police officers accused of abuse avoid convictions and keep their jobs – Bureau of Investigative Journalism

Eight out of ten police employees accused of domestic abuse are still working, an investigation by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and ITV has found.

The figures, obtained through freedom of information requests from 41 forces across the UK, show that more than 1,300 officers and staff have been reported for alleged domestic abuse since 2018. Only 36 have been dismissed. 203 have retired, resigned or left for other reasons.

As well as keeping their jobs, police employees across the country were more likely on average to avoid prosecution, with only 3.4 per cent of the reports leading to a conviction. The conviction rate for the wider general public is twice as high. The Bureau’s data showed lower than expected conviction rates at forces across the UK.

Ruth Davison, the CEO of Refuge, said: “I can’t overstate how serious this is. Domestic abuse is fundamentally about power and control, the abuse of power. And police officers do have power — they’re supposed to use that for our benefit to uphold the law and to keep us safe.”

David Tucker, head of crime at the College of Policing, said: “Allegations of domestic abuse by an officer must be treated with the utmost seriousness. The charging and conviction rates for all domestic abuse is a matter of great concern.”

The data comes as the culture of British policing is under renewed scrutiny.

The Met, which is the UK’s largest police force with more than 33,000 officers and almost 10,000 staff, accounts for approximately one third of the Bureau’s figures. Almost 400 officers and staff were reported for alleged domestic abuse over an almost four-year period.

Part of a longer press release at https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2022-03-17/police-officers-accused-of-abuse-avoid-convictions-and-keep-their-jobs

 

March 29, 2022

UN Committee rules that criminalisation of lesbian and bisexual women breaches the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women – Matrix

In a landmark decision, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has ruled that the criminalisation of lesbian and bisexual women breaches the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

The Committee recognised that lesbians are particularly vulnerable to discrimination through laws and regulations.  It made a number of recommendations including that the State party, Sri Lanka, de-criminalise consensual same-sex sexual conduct between women.

The case was brought by Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, Executive Director of EQUAL GROUND, the main LGBT organisation in Sri Lanka, with the support of the Human Dignity Trust.

Rosanna Flamer-Caldera was represented by the Human Dignity Trust, Professor Christine Chinkin and Karon Monaghan QC from Matrix Chambers, Dr Keina Yoshida from Doughty Street Chambers, and DLA Piper.

https://www.matrixlaw.co.uk/news/un-womens-rights-committee-rules-that-criminalisation-of-same-sex-intimacy-between-women-is-a-human-rights-violation/

 

March 29, 2022

Animals used as a form of control during lockdown – research from UWS

Pets were used as a tool for coercive control and abuse during the pandemic, a new study has revealed.

It is amongst the latest findings from a major research project by University of West Scotland (UWS) into the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on those living with domestic abuse.

Interviews with call handlers of domestic abuse helplines revealed that victims’ animals had either been directly hurt during lockdown, or threats by the abuser to hurt victims’ pets prevented them from fleeing abusive situations over concerns for their animal’s safety.

Dr Roxanne Hawkins, Lecturer in Psychology at UWS, said: “Our research has revealed the impact of the pandemic on domestic abuse victims and with this comes the use of pets as tools of abuse, to exert control and coercion over the family. This has been documented by domestic abuse helpline staff, who have received calls from victims who have experienced threats by abusers to kill, harm, remove or cease access to the animal, usually cats or dogs.”

The research is part of a growing body of work by the University – involving Dr Hawkins, Dr Zara Brodie, Dr Chloe Maclean and Jack Mckinlay – exploring the impact of lockdown on both human and animal abuse.

Further key findings from this phase of the study, include:  – resea

  • Animals being used to intimidate family members to stop them from disclosing their abuse or seeking support
  • Abusers manipulating the emotional bond between the victim and their pet to inflict further emotional harm
  • Animals being used as ‘post-separation weapons’ to continue contact after the victim had fled
  • Children witnessing the abuser harming the household pet, raising concerns for emotional trauma
  • Organisations using animal abuse as an ‘indicator of risk’ for violence and abuse towards other family members
  • Animals as coping mechanisms with pets providing important emotional support
  • Some organisations have links to pet fostering services but these services may not have been available depending on the victim’s location.

Dr Hawkins added: “One of the most concerning findings was abusers’ use of victims’ animals to gain control.

Helpline staff reported that victims refused or were reluctant to leave their abusive situations because they believed their pet would be harmed as a consequence. Through this study, we have therefore identified animals as a significant barrier for fleeing domestic abuse.

Dr Roxanne Hawkins, Lecturer in Psychology at UWS

One helpline staff member reflected on a call from a victim discussing her experience. They said: “She felt she was trapped because of her cats – she felt like she couldn’t leave them because the perpetrator had threatened to burn them alive.”

Call handlers also highlighted the implications of what leaving home would mean for a victim of abuse in terms of their pet: “For most women [who want to flee the situation], when they hear there might be a chance that they may not be able to bring the dog, the conversation stops there. Even when pet-fostering services are signposted, callers are still reluctant to leave [their abusive situation] because they are deeply bonded to the animal and feel that they can’t live without it.”

Dr Hawkins said: “While the issues in this study were brought further into focus due to Covid-19, they are of course not unique to the pandemic. Our research shows that carefully considering animals during safety planning and providing access to safe housing that allows multi-species families in the UK to stay together is vital. Although some animal foster care services are available, and continued provision of such services is important, victims who are highly attached to their pets might still refuse refuge because they do not want to be separated from their animal.

“Pets are viewed as important family members and many victims, including children, are deeply bonded to their animals, and rely on them for emotional support. Keeping families and pets together is therefore important for psychological wellbeing and recovery following adversity.”

Part of a longer press release at https://www.uws.ac.uk/news/animals-used-as-a-form-of-control-during-lockdown/

 

March 29, 2022