This year’s International Women’s Day is all about accelerating action. Well, nothing says action like changing laws and legislation to make the world a better and fairer place. 

In honour of this year’s IWD, we wanted to reflect on how far things have come for women in the last century regarding their legal rights. Spoiler alert: whilst we might have come a long way, we still have a long way to go. 

Action for women: a brief history

1882: The Married Women’s Property Act – women can own a share their family home

Until this point, all property was legally owned by men. While this Act was a huge step forward in terms of security, it still only applied to married women. Unmarried women still had no legal right to their own property, and it would be another 40 years before women had equal rights to property as men. 

1919: The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act – the year things started to change 

The act itself might have been only four pages long, but its impact on women was significant. Under this Act, women could no longer be disqualified from holding jobs in civil or judicial offices. In other words, women could now become lawyers and civil servants. 

Women aspiring to be solicitors and barristers would have to wait until 1922. 

1928: The Equal Franchise Act – women over the age of 21 are granted the right to vote 

After years of campaigning and sacrifices by Emmeline Pankhurst and other courageous women, The Equal Franchise Act meant women over 21 could finally have their say in parliamentary elections. 

1970: The Equal Pay Act – women won’t accept being paid less for the same labour as men 

1970 saw a huge milestone in employment law – with employers no longer (legally) being able to pay men and women different amounts for like-for-like or equal work. 

Since 2017, businesses with over 250 employees must submit an annual report demonstrating they are paying employees equally. However, many argue some loopholes still contribute to a huge gender pay gap. 

1975: The Sex Discrimination Act – a huge leap for maternity rights

This Act meant men and women could no longer be discriminated against purely based on their sex. Working women were now entitled to maternity leave and could no longer be unfairly dismissed for getting pregnant. 

This was also a huge period of liberation, with women being able to take out mortgages and loans and get served in bars.

2010: The Equality Act – women are granted the same legal status as men 

This was ultimately a combination of all the legislation that came before it.

A law solidifying that women hold equal legal status and rights as men and, therefore, cannot have their sex, race, disability or religion held against them. 

What’s next? 

As a law firm with multiple female solicitors and partners, it would be too easy for us to say, ‘the work here is done’. In reality, women across the globe are facing gross inequality – there is very much still work to be done.  

Following the 2024 general election, Labour included the following women-and-girls initiatives in their manifesto: 

  • Childcare reforms
  • Flexible working arrangements
  • Reducing violence against women
  • Making misogyny a hate crime
  • Extending employment tribunal time limits
  • Protecting against maternity discrimination
  • Implementing a Race Equality Act
  • Closing the gender pay gap

 

We hope to see these plans come to fruition so that we can all be protected by the law, as we should be.