The Green Party offers its congratulations and support for this event today, which highlights the importance of the role of mothers in families around the world and the unpaid, and too often unrecognised, work that they do.

Too little is done to support and help them - and even ensure their most basic rights, both in the UK and around the world. The Millennium Development Goal furthest from being realised is that of reducing pregnancy-related deaths. In the poorest countries, six out of 10 women who would like to manage their family size with contraception are unable to do so.

The new policy addresses the well-documented health benefits of breastfeeding for both mothers and babies as well as the environmental ones. Unlike formula feeding, breast feeding requires no water for bottle sterilisation, no packaging or transport.

Sarah Cope explains: “There will always be women who can’t or don’t want to breastfeed. But what we are doing is giving people access to high-quality information about the benefits and challenges of breastfeeding, as well as seeking to normalise it and protect women who breastfeed in public – who still, believe it or not, face opposition on occasion.

“A Green Government would provide for significant fines for any business whose staff tried to stop a woman from breastfeeding on the premises. This law already exists in Scotland, but in the UK all a woman can do is sue under the Sexual Discrimination Act, which most women would be unlikely to do.

"Back in November, my local newspaper, the Ham and High, reported that Elizabeth Simpson was asked to stop breastfeeding her 10 week old daughter Aimee by staff in the Freemasons Arms in Hampstead. Ms. Simpson was told that she could go downstairs or use the toilet.

“This is completely unacceptable and the Green Party's policy seeks to address that. The more women we see breastfeeding their babies in public, the more acceptable it will become, and more women will chose this way to feed their babies.”

Formula manufacturers spent around £20 per baby promoting formula in 2006, with a just 14 pence per baby being spent by the government promoting breastfeeding [1]. Although the World Health Authority recommends that babies are exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months, with breastfeeding continuing for at least the first two years,  UK breastfeeding rates are low and have been for decades: 42% of babies are being breastfed at 6 weeks, 29% at 4 months and just 22% at 6 months of age [2].

Ms. Cope adds: “I gave birth to my daughter Clementine three years ago at the Royal Free Hospital and was determined to breastfeed. However, I was pressurised by midwives to bottle-feed, and told my baby was ‘suffering’ because of my decision to breastfeed her. This despite the fact that posters all over the maternity ward declaring ‘breast is best’.”

Notes

[1] Breastmilk Vs 'Formula' food by Pat Thomas (Article in 'The Ecologist' magazine, 1st April 2006)
[2] Summary of the World Health Authority (WHA) Resolutions. Resolutions of the WHA Relevant to Infant and Young Child Feeding amending the World Health Organisation (WHO) International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes (2009)

The policy provides for one month leave for the month after the birth for both parents, then for a further total of 22 months of leave. This must be split, with at least one parent taking a minimum of six months, otherwise the entitlement is lost. Single parents can take the full length of leave.

All of this is to be paid at 90% of parental salary, up to a reasonable level of salary.

Natalie proposed the motion to conference in her role as chair of the Green Party Women group.

She said: “I'm delighted that the Green Party now has a standout parental leave policy that far out-strips anything offered by the other parties.

“We recognise that parenting is a arduous task, and that in our overstretched society, parents need a helping hand so that, if they

choose, they are able to devote significant stretches of time and attention to the task.

“Other parties are merely offering statutory pay levels for maternity and paternity leave, but we all know that many parents cannot afford to live for long on £120 per week.”

Natalie added: “I'm also pleased that the policy encourages two parents to be involved in the day-to-day care of the young child. The policy is constructed to encourage fathers to be more closely involved in childcare. In Sweden, where there is a similar policy, a quarter of fathers are now taking significant stretches of paternity leave. With the likelihood of both parents taking leave, this should also help to reduce the discrimination against women in the workplace."

Natalie concluded: “The Green Party recognises that this could be costly for small firms, and has allowed for their payments to be met  from taxation. The cost to parents of rearing children – an average of £200,000 to the age of 21* -- is extremely high, and it is only fair that society meet some of the costs.”

* Note: Calculated by the LV friendly society, see http://www.lv.com/media_centre/press_releases/lv-cost-of-a-child-survey-2010

Opening Spain’s six-month rotating EU presidency, the country’s interior minister launched a campaign for a new approach to gendered violence, with proposals for a Europe-wide system of restraint orders aimed at curbing attacks on women, a reworking of crime statistics to highlight the problem, and for EU legislation to protect women across borders.

The South East Green MEP, who sits on the Euro-Parliament’s Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee, said: “The Spanish government should be applauded for recognising that urgent coordinated action is required at the EU level to tackle the crisis of gendered violence. Not enough is being done to address the causes, care for the victims, adequately punish the perpetrators – and make violence against women absolutely unacceptable.

“The interior minister Alfredo Rubalcaba’s promising proposals indicate that Spain is willing to make this issue a priority during its term in EU presidency. Rubalcaba, who has been attending European police and justice councils for more than three years, told the Guardian that these meetings had never specifically covered gender violence – a horrifying fact when you consider that violence against women is a serious problem across the EU.”

She continued: “The proposed cross-border European legislation could play a crucial role in identifying men with a history of gendered violence and in ensuring that a restraining order put on a violent partner in one EU country also applies in another.

“The Spanish campaign will also serve to raise awareness of the scale of the problem. Here in the UK, the statistics speak for themselves; the British Crime Survey suggests that there are more than 300,000 rapes and serious sexual assaults each year. The conviction rate in rape cases is around 6.5 per cent – the lowest in Europe, according to a recent survey.

“Amnesty International estimates that one woman in four will experience domestic violence at some point in her life, while on average, two women are murdered every week by their partner or ex partner. So-called ‘honour’ killings are another growing threat to women, with the Association of Chief Police Officers estimating that 17,000 "honour" crimes are committed against women each year.”

Caroline Lucas concluded: “EU governments must ensure more is done to support the victims of violence. Here at home, the government needs to address the funding crisis faced by many specialist support agencies like Rape Crisis centres, which offer enormous support to women when they are most vulnerable."

The public meeting on "Women, Work and the Recession" has been organised by Green Party Women.

Gayle O'Donovan, a member of the group, and the Green parliamentary candidate for Manchester Central, said today: "The discussion around the recession has tended to be led by men, not least bankers and the politicians who tend to take their lead from bankers. Government response to the recession has prioritised male-dominated sectors, like the car industry. Sectors dominated by women, such as retail and caring, are being neglected."

Rachel English, coordinator of Women Working Worldwide, will discuss issues affecting workers in East Africa who grow fruit and vegetables for the UK market.

And Sue Bond, national vice-president of the PCS Union, will talk about campaigns to stop cuts at the Equalities and Human Rights Commission and the British Council.

Sue Bond said today: "Women workers should not have to pay for an economic crisis which is not of their making. PCS is appalled that all three mainstream parties support cuts in public spending in response to the recession, at a time when public services are needed more than ever, particularly when it is women who stand to suffer most from cuts in welfare and public service delivery."

Notes to Editors

1. The public meeting will be on Saturday 31st October, from 1600 to 1800 at the Manchester Environment Resource Centre, Bridge 5 Mill, 22a Beswick Street, Manchester, M4 7HR. Click here for a map to the venue.

In a letter to Gordon Brown ahead of a summit in October at which the European Council will handle nominations for the EU’s so-called “top jobs”, Caroline Lucas MEP called for the Prime Minister to do his utmost to ensure the equal representation of women and men in the important nominations to be made.

The European Summit, to take placebetween 29-30 October, will decide nominations for the first ever Council President, the incoming EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, and the members of the new European Commission (1).

The South East Green MEP said: “Together with the European Women’s Lobby 50/50 Campaign for Democracy (2), I urge Europe’s leaders to seize this excellent opportunity to make the EU more equal and democratic.

“It is the shared responsibility of European governments to ensure that the outcome of this selection reflects the fact that women represent half of the European population – and that European policies at the highest level need to unequivocally reflect the needs and aspirations of all Europeans.

“The new face of the European Union must reflect the fundamental European values of justice and equality.”

Earlier this week, the Equality and Human Rights Commission published the results of an official inquiry into gender discrimination in the British workplace, which found that women earn around 80% less than men in performance-related pay at some of the UK’s leading finance companies (3).

It was also found that more than eight out of 10 women starting new jobs are paid lower average salaries than men.

At Green Party conference last weekend, the acting director of the Fawcett Society, Rowena Lewis, highlighted the Society’s 2008 report calling for boardroom quotas to improve the representation of women and address the pay gap – something which the Green Party has long supported.

Quotas are already a reality in some countries. When Norway called on firms to have 40% women on their boards – a percentage adopted by the Greens – it was found that, contrary to expectations of a shortage of suitable candidates, there was a wealth of high quality female applicants.

Notes

1) A number of these jobs will only come into being if the Irish government ratifies the Lisbon Treaty.

2) The European Women’s Lobby (EWL) is the largest coalition of women’s organisations in the EU present in 28 Member States and accession countries, representing over 2500 member organisations.

And one of the party's new policies should be a government-funded national hotline for victims of rape and sexual abuse, she will say.

Caroline Lucas said today: "Rape crisis centres are struggling for funding. Some have closed; others provide phone services for a few hours a week. 40% of adults who are raped tell no-one. 31% of children who are abused reach adulthood without speaking of it. They may need help at any time."

"Vital services must be funded from taxation"

Dr Lucas, who is widely tipped to become the party's first UK MP in the coming general election, added: "These are absolutely vital services, and it's entirely appropriate that they be funded from taxation." The cost for such a hotline is estimated by the Green Party to be between £4 million and £5 million per year. (1)

"This is not meant to replace existing services, which also deserve better government support than they are getting now. Their knowledge of their own community and ability to meet its needs is irreplaceable. But there needs to be a overall and referral service open at any time a victim needs it."

If the motion passes, the Green Party's new policy would be to fund a national rape crisis hotline, to be operated by an NGO, to provide 24-hour, seven day access to immediate support and referral for victims of sexual crimes. This would direct callers to local services, including local phone lines.

Caroline Lucas added that she expected the motion to win strong support.

***

Green Party autumn conference is at Hove Town Hall, Friday 4th to Sunday 6th September 2009.

Motions on childcare and measures to address Britain's high rate of teenage pregnancy will also be debated.

During a live web chat on top parenting website Mumsnet, the Green Party leader said "I vividly remember that, as a Green Party County Councillor in Oxfordshire, I was thrown out of the debating chamber for breastfeeding my three month old son, and accused of bringing the Council into disrepute!"

 Caroline said the Party wants more support for women who choose to breastfeed, but added, "I'm anxious that women who don't or can't aren't made to feel bad about the decisions they make".

Mums in homes and offices across the country took an hour off to 'chat' with Britain's only woman political leader asking her about her views on parenting, MPs expenses, constitutional change and, of course, the environment.

Caroline confided that she often longs to spend more time with her two sons, but said "I honestly do believe I'm doing my small bit to help try to make sure there's a liveable planet for them, and for all other kids - it's a serious as that."

She said she tries to involve her boys in her work where possible adding, "My youngest son has been on a fair few peace marches in his time."

When asked about her fears Dr. Lucas said, "I confess that the huge mountain of resistance that we need to overcome in terms of climate change does keep me awake at night."

She pointed to the urgent need to move towards a zero carbon economy and the exciting benefits that reflect "what most of us aspire to like more secure jobs, less time commuting, more time with our family, warmer homes, easy access to affordable local food [and] belonging to a community."

Jean Lambert, London's Green Party MEP, will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mary Wollstonecraft, the mother of feminism, by taking part in a debate about the position of women in politics today.

The discussion, entitled Political Power for Women: How Far Have We Come? Why Does It Matter? will take place at 7pm on Saturday 25 April at the Newington Green Unitarian Church.

Jean Lambert MEP will join other prominent London politicians, Diane Abbott MP and Emily Thornberry MP, for the debate, which will be chaired by the journalist Suzanne Moore.

The event forms one of a series to mark the birth of Mary Wollstonecraft, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, the seminal treatise first published in 1792, which argued against the received attitudes of women and femininity, and called for women to develop, and be credited with, their own intellectual faculties.

Wollstonecraft was also an educationalist: central to her argument in the Vindication was a call for girls to be granted the right to a rational education. The passion and foresight of her work made her an icon for the feminist movement.

Jean, a former teacher and a longstanding campaigner for equality, said: "Women have made great strides in politics, but are still hugely underrepresented, with just one in five MPs and one in four MEPs being female.
"I am proud to be celebrating the achievements of Mary Wollstonecraft, who was a true inspiration to women of her time and indeed to many people now. She was prepared to stand up for women's rights and challenge the status quo in a way that that no-one had done before.

"Still the glass ceiling exists for many women when it comes to career opportunities and the gender pay gap often starts with first jobs, despite the fact that women's educational achievements equal or outdo those of men.
"I encourage anyone who is interested in discussing the role of women in modern society to come along to the debate - it should prove to be a lively and empowering evening."
Profits from the Mary Wollstonecraft celebrations will be donated to Stop the Traffik, the worldwide movement to combat people trafficking.

Further details about the debate and other events to mark the 250th anniversary of Mary Wollstonecraft's birth.

Only £233,000 a year was included in this year’s budget towards the centres. At least £744,000 annually is needed to fund the Mayor’s commitment.

The recent spring Green Party conference (last month, in Blackpool) demanded that rape crisis centres receive regular, reliable, core funding so that they can provide this essential service securely and permanently, rather than having to rely on volunteer fundraising and emergency appeals. Rape crisis centres across the country are, despite valiant volunteer efforts, failing to meet the need of new and past victims. 25% of local authority areas have no provision for rape crisis centres at all.

Jenny Jones, the Green Party's Home Affairs spokesperson, was only one of two Assembly members who supported an amendment to the budget in February which would have provided funding for all the centres.

Jenny Jones said: “If you promise something, you must jolly well get on and deliver it. There's a lot of back-tracking going on and a lot of women need these centres and need them immediately. Women in London have been let down by the police over the Worboys case and other investigations into rape. Now the Mayor is letting them down over his promise of more support.”

London's Green MEP, Jean Lambert, commented: "There is no bigger event for an individual or a family than welcoming a new child to the world, and it is vital that adequate leave is guaranteed for working mothers in particular. Along with the World Health Organisation and several other groups, I would like to see working women entitled to at least 24 weeks of maternity leave.

“Today the European Parliament's women's rights committee fell short of that level of commitment, but it did at least adopt a position for a minimum of 20 continuous weeks, of which at least six must be fully paid. The European Commission had supported 18 weeks, with certain Member States favouring even more restricted rights to leave.

“I am satisfied that the Committee has made a stand for the rights of both parents to be able to fully participate after the birth of a child. Paternity or co-maternity leave of at least two mandatory weeks is now set out for the mother's life partner.

“I also welcome that mothers are set to have improved protection against unfair dismissal when they return to work. According to today's adopted position, employers will be obliged to prove that any dismissal of a mother within 12 months of maternity leave is not discriminatory.

“These measures represent real progress for maternity and paternity leave across Europe. I now call on the European Parliament as a whole to support the position of its women's rights and gender equality committee."

The Committee voted 18 in favour, 6 against with 5 abstentions. The European Parliament will vote on this issue in its May plenary session in Strasbourg. The European Parliament is co-legislator on this issue, on the double legal basis in the EU treaties for 'health and safety at work' and 'gender equality'.

 * A wider range of birth choices - including home birth for all women who want it

 * All women to be entitled to support from a single midwife throughout each pregnancy

 * A major recruitment drive for midwives

 * Medical interventions to be significantly reduced

 * Culture change throughout the NHS so that birth is treated as a normal event - not an illness - in which mothers are empowered and able to be in control

The Greens announced these policies on the day that a study was published in the British Obstetrics and Gynaecology Journal showing that home-birth is no more dangerous than hospital birth, for "normal" pregnanices - something Greens had long claimed, and which has now been demonstrated in a study of half a million births in the Netherlands.

The party's recent spring conference decided the Greens must take the lead in proposing huge improvements in UK maternity services. The conference debate was told:

 * In 25% of NHS trusts intervention rates are double the targeted rates

 * There is a severe shortage of midwives within the NHS

 * The proportion of women giving birth by caesarian section remains at twice the target rate suggested by the World Health Organization

 * The bill for medical negligence in childbirth rose almost 60% from 2005 and 2007

NHS maternity services need to change direction towards midwife-led, women-centred services that provides medical interventions only when necessary.

The Greens estimate that the dramatic improvements in maternity services proposed in A Green New Deal for the NHS would cost about £500m.

Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MEP, who is widely tipped to become the first Green MP at Westminster in the next general election, said today: "The UK must achieve the best possible standards of maternity care. Currently, due to shortage of funding, shortage of midwives and excessive interventions, we are far behind where we ought to be. The Green Party will fight the next general election on this platform - huge improvements in the NHS, and not least in maternity services."

Note
1. The full report A Green New Deal for the NHS is scheduled to be published on Friday 17 April.
URL: http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/15-04-2009-maternity-services.html

Published and promoted by Tracy Dighton-Brown for the Green Party of England & Wales, both at 1a Waterlow Road, London N19 5NJ.

On maternity services, conference passed C05, calling for a full range of birth options to be available to all women, and supporting midwifery-led care along the model provided by independent midwives.

Also passed was a motion calling for the forthcoming Equality Act to provide for gender pay audits, for unions and individuals to be more easily able to start equal pay cases, and for a requirement on major companies to have at least 40 per cent of their boards female (as is now the case in Norway).

And conference also backed a motion calling for gender issues tobe fully and properly recognised in applications for asylum.

The motions passed are detailed below

Domestic abuse

Motion
Insert a new section titled “domestic abuse” after CJ350 (Hate Crime) and
renumber subsequent sections.

CJ351 Addressing the imbalances of power – including economic and social power – that can leave individuals vulnerable to domestic abuse is central to many aspects of Green Party policy. The Green Party recognises that domestic abuse takes places in a range of circumstances, in all types of relationships, and that the victims can be women or men, children or vulnerable adults, including disabled adults and older adults. Nonetheless, it is acknowledged that a large majority of cases involve abuse by men against women, with research indicating that one in four women will experience domestic abuse during their lifetime. On average more than two women a week in Britain are killed by current or former domestic partners. Abuse can be physical, emotional or psychological,
financial, or involve restricting of personal freedom.
CJ352 Relationship education to inculcate values of respect for others and respect for difference will be provided in schools and other appropriate environments. Such educatio will also provide knowledge about the unacceptability of abusive behaviour of all types, and about when potential victims are most vulnerable (such as women during  pregnancy, in relationships involving drugs and alcohol), how abusers can gradually wear away at resistance, and what escape routes are available.
CJ353 Programmes will be provided that train all frontline staff dealing with the public, including housing officers, street rangers, police, workers in the health services and particularly maternity services, and other relevant individuals to recognise signs of abuse and to be able to provide pathways of escape for victims. They will recognise that for different victims different referral points and aid agencies will be appropriate. Victims will not be pushed towards police and the criminal justice system against their inclination or will. Peer support networks, with appropriate training and support, will be encouraged.
CJ354 Multi-agency working is essential to identify the full extent of domestic abuse and improve prevention or early intervention. Crime Reduction Partnerships must take the lead in co-ordinating information from refuges, NHS, Police, Children’s Services, Adult Services, social housing, schools, voluntary organisations and any other appropriate local body who may have information about individuals and families at risk.
CJ355 The Green Party recognise
that domestic abuse can have wide ranging impacts, affecting whole families and neighbourhoods. Where children are living in households where there is physical abuse among partners, the children can often also be at risk of physical abuse, and witnessing abuse can have longterm psychological damage. We will expand access to counselling is for all those affected by domestic abuse, the victims, the witnesses and the perpetrators. This is the most effective way of reducing re-offending and breaking cycles of offending within family and neighbourhood networks.
CJ356 It will be assumed that victims will be assisted to remain in their own homes with the provision of all necessary safety measures (including alarms, improved locks and grills, extra police patrols, “neighbourhood watch” schemes etc). Where this is not possible or desired by the victim, appropriate immediate refuge and future housing will be available for all victims escaping domestic abuse. All of these provisions will be publicly funded with permanent guaranteed funding, so that there is certainty about their continuity. Victims will be offered appropriate counselling, and measures put in place to attempt to prevent offenders reoffending.
CJ357 For victims escaping domestic abuse, lack of funds can be a major barrier. If the abuser controls finance and the victim can not access public funding (e.g. working individuals who can’t claim benefits), then the
barriers to escaping are increased. All essential services will be made readily available to all victims to
help them through the trauma and difficulties to escape abuse, including help with housing, legal costs, etc. The court system will be provided with appropriate resources and guidance to ensure that the needs
of victims of abuse are recognised, both in hearings related to their case and other matters.
CJ366 Asylum policy will recognise that claimants may be especially vulnerable to domestic abuse, and will ensure that asylum claims of victims fleeing abuse are treated appropriately. It will also recognise that claims may be validly made on the ground that victims’ own state will not or cannot protect them from an abusive partner.

Gender and asylum

Insert into RA405 in the refugees and asylum seekers chapter of the MfSS after “Convention”:
The Green Party further recognises that gender issues may be a rightful cause for an asylum claim, as where, for example, a woman or girl may be subject to female genital mutilation or forced marriage were she to be denied asylum.

Maternity services

Insert a new section after H302, titled “Maternity Services” and subsequently
renumber.

H303 All women should be entitled to the highest standards of care during pregnancy and birth, and post-natally. We will ensure that women are given the information they need to make appropriate choices about how they wish to give birth, and that a full range of options, including home birth and a range of styles of hospital delivery, is
made available to all women.

H304 The incidence of medical intervention in childbirth has escalated in recent years, particularly the rate of caesarean sections, which are expensive and, when not medically required, risky. We will work to
reduce the number of interventions in childbirth, and change the culture of the NHS so that birth is treated as a normal and non-medical event, in which mothers are empowered and able to be in control.

H305 All women will be entitled to the care of a single midwife through prenatal care, birth and the first month of post-natal care, in line with the model of care currently provided by independent midwives. This will be made possible by initiatives to improve the recruitment and retention of midwives.
H306 We will ensure that the NHS embraces the current quality and style of care as offered by Independent Midwives so that they are able to work within the NHS system and offer this type of care to all women in a single tier system. We shall ensure that midwifery training places are increased to meet medium and long term needs. This will be achieved by: ensuring that terms and conditions for midwives are improved, increasing investment in midwifery services to ensure that these policies are delivered, specific funding for midwife training along with targeted recruitment drives, and ensuring that the culture of midwifery services is supportive for
both mothers and midwives.

H307 All women and their partners will be offered a full range of psychological support after birth to help deal with trauma and post-natal depression. The Green Party will ensure that baby clinics are open for adequate hours, so that women can get access to health visitors and take their babies for regular check-ups at a location and time that is convenient for them.
H308 Maternity units should be sufficient in number and located so that all women are within reasonable reach of one. Special Care Baby units will be expanded in line with the increasing number of babies that need intensive care, but special attention will also be given to preventative efforts to reduce the number of low birthweight and other problems that contribute to this need. Funds allocated for maternity services should
be ringfenced to ensure that they are used for the intended purpose.
H309 Throughout maternity services the focus will be on compassion and on providing a safe, supportive environment. Complaints will be treated with sympathy, and systems arranged to ensure that complaints
can be registered easily and are investigated properly, challenging the ‘conspiracy of silence’ that discourages women from speaking about their traumatic experiences for fear of frightening other women.

 Women in employment and business

The Green Party calls for the forthcoming Equality bill and Act to include
the following provisions
1 Medium and large-sized companies be required to undertake equal pay audits that compare the earnings of their employees and to take action to redress inequalities.
2 Legal changes to make it much easier for women to take equal pay cases to court, and to allow women to take such cases as a group, with the support of the unions.
3 Significant funding is put into encouraging girls and women to consider a broader range of careers.
4 The law to follow Norway’s in requiring that companies listed on the Stock Exchange have 40% of their board members being female within five years of the date of the passing of the legislation.

At the Green Party's spring conference in Blackpool, party leader Dr Caroline Lucas MEP will propose a motion on workplace equality.

The motion will note that women working fulltime in the UK are paid 17% less than men. And according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission's "Sex and Power 2008" survey, the percentage of female directors has stalled at 11%, and fallen in a number of categories.

To help tackle this, the new Green policy would require:

    * Medium and large companies to undertake equal pay audits that compare the earnings of their employees, and to take action to redress inequalities.

    * Legal changes to make it much easier for women to take equal pay cases to court, and to allow women to take such cases as a group, with the support of their unions.

    * Significant funding to be put into encouraging girls and women to consider a broader range of careers.

    * The law to follow Norway's in requiring that companies listed on the Stock Exchange have 40% of their board members being female within five years of the date of the passing of the legislation.

A separate motion intended to improve women's rights in the UK would ensure major improvements in NHS pre- and post-natal care, including a full range of birth options and the right to a single midwide throughout.

Other motions on women's issues will include:
    * A motion to help combat domestic abuse, starting with "respect" training in schools.

    * A motion to extend the right to asylum for women and girls, to include asylum for those who would be forced to undergo forced marriage or genital mutilation were they denied asylum.

Dr Lucas, the only female leader of a major British political party, said: "This year, 90 years after women first got the vote in Britain, and 80 years after full suffrage was achieved, it is disgraceful that still fewer than 20% of MPs are female. We should be aiming over the next decade to finally redress that balance.

"As an excellent Hansard Society report has shown, having women in parliament is not just an issue of numerical equality, important as that is; women MPs address issues of particular concern to their gender, addressing employment, health, domestic violence and representation questions, among other. Women are more than half of the population, but without boosting the number of female MPs the concerns of half the population will not be properly addressed."

Dr Lucas added: "It is interesting that in the three Assemblies within Britain elected through forms of proportional representation - the Welsh Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the London Assembly, the percentage of women is much higher - approaching parity in the case of Wales.

"The Green Party supports proportional representations for its innate fairness and capacity to re-engage disillusioned voters, but its clear ability to deliver more gender-balanced parliaments is another plus."

She continued: "Political parties have a responsibility to promote and encourage women to rise through the ranks, which must work particularly at the local government level, at which many politicians start, as I did myself.

"I'm proud that a survey this year of local government candidates in the East Midlands, North East, North West, West Midlands and Yorkshire & the Humber showed that the Green Party was leading the way in having 42% female candidates, a clear nine percentage points ahead of Labour and the Liberal Democrats."

Dr Lucas welcomed the formation of Green Party Women, which will work in concert with an informal group, Women By Name, which has long acted within the party to support and encourage women members to take up prominent roles.

She said: "The Green Party has always had its heart and policies in the right place on women's issues, but it hasn't always done enough to tell the rest of the world about them. By building links with women's groups, and promoting our policies, Green Party Women will help ensure voters know about our views on such important issues as equal and fair pay, work-life balance, the valuing of unpaid contributions to family and society, and healthcare."

This year’s event marks the fifth anniversary of the revived Reclaim the Night marches, which have been growing across the country, with women in a number of UK cities determined to make a stand against gendered violence and rape.

Over 1500 women joined the evening march last year, and organisers from the London Feminist Network and other women’s groups are expecting an even higher turnout for 2008.

Dr Lucas, who is also Green Party Leader, commented: "Gendered violence remains a blight on the lives of women in the UK and across the world. By joining the Reclaim the Night march, women and girls can send a positive and powerful message to demand safer streets at night.

"In the UK, two women every week are killed by a violent male partner, and 1 in 4 women are affected by domestic violence. Each year across the UK 3 million women experience violence, and there are many more who live with the memories of past abuse.

She continued: "It is completely intolerable that in the 21st century, out of every 100 rape cases reported to the police, just six end in the rapist being caught and punished. Not enough is being done to care for the victims, adequately punish the perpetrators, and to make this sort of violence absolutely unacceptable.

"A report by New Philanthropy Capital warns that violence against women is costing British society £40bn a year, but charities which help victims are grossly underfunded. The UK Government must urgently address the funding crisis faced by many specialist support agencies like Rape Crisis centres, which offer enormous support to women when they are most vulnerable."

 “Women are often active in their local communities,” said Shan Oakes,  “and many women politicians are achieving at high levels, but there are still far fewer women than men at all levels of political life. "  

The meeting was attended by women from around the country, including two Green Party candidates for the European elections next year, the Green deputy mayor of Kirklees, Julie Stewart-Turner, and Sarah Jennings, recently elected as Liverpool's second Green Party councillor.   

Shan Oakes, Green Party candidate for Europe for Yorkshire and the Humber, said, “The Green Party is fully committed to equality and diversity.  We are the only serious UK political party to have a woman as its leader.  Caroline Lucas was elected as our leader this year with an overwhelming majority.  She is one of the most able politicians of her generation. 

The meeting in Huddersfield produced a list of steps that the Green Party can take to encourage more women into politics.  Some measures from earlier meetings have already been put into place, including the addition of an equality and diversity coordinator on the national executive. The first holder of that post, Maya de Souza, was at the meeting.

Shan Oakes continued, "The Green Party recognises that there are not enough women at all levels in politics in the UK and is taking energetic steps to redress this in its own practice. The Green Party is leading the way in encouraging more women into politics, and Green Party women in Yorkshire are in the forefront of the challenge.

"Ignoring women, and the barriers they face in entering politics, is a waste of talent.  The Green Party is working to enable more women to stand as candidates for councils, the UK and European parliaments and the Welsh and London assemblies.  The Green Party’s two MEPs are women, Caroline Lucas and Jean Lambert.  The Green Party has many women councillors including 7 out of the 12 Green councillors on Lancaster council, and one of our two London Assembly members.

"Eighty years after all women were able to vote in the UK , there are still few women in Gordon Brown’s cabinet. There will be a black president in the White House in January, but how many women are there in Obama’s proposed team?”

The meeting was organised and supported financially by Kirklees Green Party.  Previous meetings have been in Barnsley and Sheffield, and at Green Party conferences. The next one will be at the Spring conference in March.

It noted that women in Northern Ireland were forced to travel outside their region, and were legally forced to pay for an abortion, but that amendments moved in relation to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, expected to be debated next month, would give them the same rights as women in the rest of the UK.

A spokeswoman for Green Party Women said: "It is a disgrace that women in Northern Ireland suffer discrimination as
compared to other women in the UK, as a result of it not being included under the 1967 abortion law.
"It is particularly the young, the poor and the otherwise disadvantaged who have to find many hundreds of pounds to cover the
cost of travel and medical treatment, but all women are penalised through the forced delays in abortions that they have already decided to have.

"Over the 40 years that the 1967 act has applied to the rest of the UK, almost 50,000 women have had to pay the expenses and deal with the disruption to their lives caused by the need to travel for an abortion, and at least five deaths have been attributed to unsafe abortions. Last year officially more than 1,300 women giving Northern Ireland addresses paid for private abortions in England."

She added:  "The Green Party doesn't believe that the current abortion law in England, Scotland and Wales is adequate, and it also supports other amendments to be debated next month that would remove the two-doctor rule, allow nurses and midwives to carry out abortions, and remove other medically unnecessary restrictions. But ending the discrimination in Northern Ireland, even if only allowing women there the access available to other UK women, would be an important step to
fairness and equity.

"This issue has not been devolved to Northern Ireland (as it hasn't been devolved to Scotland), so it is the responsibility of all MPs to act to restore equality for the women of Northern Ireland."