The UK has a long history of women who have broken barriers and blazed trails for the next generation. From Her Majesty the Queen to Emmeline Pankhurst. From Margaret Thatcher to Anita Roddick. This list goes on.
This week is the beginning of a world-wide effort by the UK Foreign Office to mark the contributions of women in history and those who continue to fight for gender equality. We’re calling it our “Week of Women.” But in fact, it’s so much more than that.
The barriers we have broken, or the goals we still wish to achieve cannot be summed up in a single week. When it comes to gender equality, it’s a fight that must continue every day.
However, our “Week of Women” does represent a unique opportunity to reflect on our successes and set our sights on new challenges.
Gender equality is one of many ways we can further bind the UK and US together. Why? Because we have fundamentally the same values and we already share a vision of a more just and equal society for all.
The British Embassy – and our network of consulates around the US – is holding true to that vision.
At the Embassy in Washington, we hosted a women’s speaker series for staff with leaders in their field like former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and BBC America anchor Katty Kay. We’ve convened learning sets for women to help them build their careers, re-launched our flexible working policy and established a group to support gender inclusion in the work place.
We’ve shone a spotlight on British businesswomen, with delegations of British female CEOs visiting Silicon Valley, and a visit of the Houston Women’s Chamber to the UK which led directly to the creation of a London Women’s Chamber.
Visits by prominent Brits, including HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, Baroness Scotland and Secretary of State for Women and Equalities Nicky Morgan, have also helped promote women’s rights and equality. Their voices have led to new partnerships in efforts to combat domestic violence, modern slavery and sexual assault in the military.
We’re looking ahead, too. We want to encourage gender equality on every level in our partnership with the US, and to make sure that everyone is included in the conversation on the special relationship.
This week, we’ll be highlighting those who are working within our network in the US to build partnerships. We’ll also be looking for new voices who can add to the relationship.
So please join the conversation here on this blog or by following along at #WeekofWomen. Which UK or US women have inspired you? What do you think will help cement the transatlantic effort in years to come? Together, we can work to make gender equality an achievement, not just an aspiration.