Black and Minority Ethnic Women in the UK. February 2005

In February 2005, Fawcett published the seminal report Black & Minority Ethnic Women in the UK.

This report showed that the corridors of power are still closed to ethnic minority women – and their exclusion shows at every level of society.

Some of the facts we found:

• Although ethnic minority women form about four per cent of the population, they make up just 0.3 per cent of MPs – there are only two female ethnic minority MPs.

• There are no ethnic minority women police chief constables and there are no ethnic minority women judges in the House of Lords or Court of Appeal.

• Babies born to immigrant Pakistani mothers are more than twice as likely to die in their first week as the babies of British-born mothers.

• Rates of suicide among young South Asian women are double that of the general population.

• On average, Pakistani and Bangladeshi women earn only 56 per cent of the average hourly wage of White men.

• A woman victim of domestic violence has on average 11 contacts with agencies before getting the help she needs - this rises to 17 if she is Black.

A hardcopy version can be ordered for £5 from Fawcett by calling us on 020 7253 2598 or emailing us via our Contact page.