During autumn and winter 2022/23, we have a major focus on activities to end male violence against women and girls, and on supporting the national Back Off Campaign to prevent harassment of women attending abortion clinics. MK Fawcett supports the national Fawcett Society’s action to end Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). Local actions include writing to Milton Keynes parish councils, encouraging them to become White Ribbon accredited. Milton Keynes Council has itself achieved White Ribbon accreditation and is encouraging parishes to do likewise to make Milton Keynes the first White Ribb ..read more

Since March 2022, several members of Milton Keynes Fawcett have been out and about in the community, speaking to local women about their experiences of life in the city. We have been gathering women’s views by asking a simple question ‘What is it like to be a woman in Milton Keynes?’ We have worked in partnership with Community Action: MK and Voices of Women MK, a broad partnership of women’s organisations in the city. These informal conversations have taken place, usually at coffee time, with individuals or small groups, in the places where they normally meet. We have visited a number of sett ..read more

In 2020 Fawcett Milton Keynes Fawcett co-founded Voices of Women Milton Keynes (VOWMK), a partnership of local women’s organisations, to champion women’s voices and to make Milton Keynes a better place for girls and women, in all their diversity, to live, work and thrive. The VOWMK partnership participates in the Voluntary Sector Alliance, which is the Strategic Voice of the ‘Networks of Networks’ in Milton Keynes. The partnership commits to: Coalition building and collaboration; Collecting evidence of and actively promoting the voices of women and girls;  Encouraging women and girls ..read more

In November 2017, Milton Keynes celebrated 50 years since its founding, and MK Fawcett contributed to the anniversary through a touring exhibition entitled ‘Women Who Made Milton Keynes’. It featured the lives of 10 women who had had a huge impact on the identity of the new city but whose roles remained uncelebrated, often because they had chosen to work as groups rather than as individuals. Our research for the exhibition sparked an interest in documenting the lives and experiences of local women, which continues in various aspects of our current work. The 10 women, included in the collage ab ..read more

This is a long-term interest for Fawcett Milton Keynes, dating back to research carried out in 2015/16. It forms a major part of our current work. In 2020 we launched a series of discussion papers on women and local democracy in Milton Keynes. We’ve shared these papers with Milton Keynes Council, local political parties, and local and national organisations concerned with widening participation in local democracy. In line with Fawcett’s national commitments, our aim is to promote greater diversity in local government, including increasing women’s participation. We argue that it is important fo ..read more

24th March 2023 Sexual harassment has no place anywhere in our society, let alone in the workplace.  And yet, 40% of women experience workplace sexual harassment, with that number even higher for disabled women and Black and minoritised women. And that doesn't even begin to account for those cases that go unreported. Which is why Fawcett is so pleased to see the Worker Protection Bill, brought by Wera Hobhouse MP, pass its second reading in the House of Lords today.  Fawcett, along with partners from across the women and equalities sector and the trade union movement have campaigned ..read more

In the wake of the release of the damning Casey Report into the Met Police, we want to create a safe space for women to feel seen and heard. This event will bring together experts, campaigners and women across the UK to reflect and think about what comes next for policing. This online event will be held on Friday 12 May on Zoom, from 12.00pm to 1.00pm. Sign up below to be the first to hear about this event and more like it. This is a free event, but registrations are essential.  To keep up to date with our work including on holding the police to account, sign up to the Fawcett Societ ..read more

21st March 2023  Like so many across London and the UK, we are disturbed by the findings of Baroness Casey's report into the Metropolitan Police. For women, though the findings are dreadful, they are unsurprising. They reflect what we already know to be true: a culture of misogyny is rife in the force, and we need urgent change now.  Read Fawcett's open letter to Commissioner Mark Rowley of the Metropolitan Police. Read our statement in full below. Baroness Casey's report is a painful and unflinching account of the systemic failings of the Metropolitan Police. It makes clear tha ..read more

15th March 2023  The writing is on the wall— high quality, affordable and accessible early years education and childcare is an election-winning issue. Fawcett research shows that 75% of women in marginal constituencies said that affordable childcare is important to them when deciding which party to vote for, and a majority of men too (63%). It’s an issue that cuts across party lines, with 73% of people who intend to vote Labour and 72% of people who intend to vote Conservative saying that a political party caring about affordable childcare is important to them when deciding how to vote in ..read more

14th March 2023 Any act of violence is a disgrace. But violent acts are particularly harmful when perpetrated by people who have additional responsibilities to keep the public safe. In light of the sentencing of Sarah Everard's murderer for indecent exposure, and a spate of stories about violence in the Metropolitan Police, The Fawcett Society, along with our partners the Runnymede Trust, Muslim Women's Network UK and Agenda Alliance, have written to Sir Mark Rowley, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. We welcome the Met Police's commitment to rebuilding trust with women and Black and min ..read more