Another 200 years for women to gain true equality

The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has releases figures that suggest that it could take up
to 200 years for women to gain true equality in politics and many decades to attain the same
levels of men in other areas of civil life.

The EOC's annual survey of women's representation in positions of power suggests equality between
men and women will take:

• 20 years in the top management of the civil service
• 40 years at the director level of FTSE 100 companies
• 40 years in the senior judiciary
• Up to 200 years – another 40 elections – in Parliament

Currently, women account for only 11 percent of directors at FTSE 100 companies, 20 percent of MPs (with only two ethnic minority women) and 16 percent of local authority council leaders. The survey also shows that women make up just 9 percent of the senior judiciary, 10 percent of senior police officers, and 13 percent of editors of national newspapers.

However, women are reaching critical mass in some areas, including as heads of professional bodies
(33 per cent) and national arts organisations (33 per cent), but in most fields there has been
little change since the EOC first published the survey two years ago.

Jenny Watson, chair of the EOC, said: "Thirty years on from the Sex Discrimination Act, it is time
for us to face some stark facts. Women will not make it to the top in significant numbers unless
action is taken to remove the barriers that stand in their way, and Britain will continue to miss
out on women's skills and talents for another generation."

More information from the Equal Opportunities Commission