“This day gives us a chance to reflect on how far we’ve come and the great strides in progress that have been made towards women’s equality.“
To mark International Women’s Day, Daisy Cooper MP tabled a Parliamentary bill and talked to different groups in St Albans about the day.
On the day itself – 8 March – nine women MPs in Daisy’s party, the Liberal Democrats, tabled a bill to mark the International Women’s Day’s 2022 theme of ‘Break the bias’. Daisy’s bill asked for safe and secure accommodation for all women leaving prison, in recognition that women are far more likely than men to face exploitation or return to abusive relationships at this juncture.
While in Parliament, she also joined together with all the other women MPs in Westminster for a photocall to celebrate the fact that 35% of MPs in Parliament are now women – a record high.
Later that day, she joined an online call with the pupils of Abbot’s Hill Junior School to discuss women’s achievements, before travelling back to St Albans to meet with the 1st Park Street Girl Guides to talk about gender bias, safe street lighting and the gender pay gap.
The week was rounded off with an International Women’s Day event organised by St Albans Liberal Democrats, which Daisy co-hosted. At the reception, five local St Albans women shared their stories, hopes for the future, and their own personal female heroes.
Daisy said: “This year’s International Women’s Day felt especially poignant with scenes of Ukrainian women either fleeing war or taking up arms, to fight for their families and future. Sadly, around the world and here in the UK, discrimination and bias against women still exists but this day also gives us a chance to reflect on how far we’ve come and the great strides in progress that have been made towards women’s equality.
“It was great to be able to talk to so many girls and women in both Westminster and St Albans about this important day.”