Women and the cuts

The TUC has issued a toolkit on Women and the Cuts designed to help trade unions assess the human rights and equality effects of the spending cuts on women in their communities.

Although the toolkit focuses on women, much of the information it contains can be used to look at the impact of the cuts on other groups. It looks at the effects of the cuts in employment, education and training, housing, welfare reform, health, social care, services for children and young people, legal aid, transport, violence against women and women’s voluntary organisations.

It explains how these cuts will affect women, explaining how to go about researching the local impact of the cuts, and provides a guide to carrying out local consultations.

It is based on a report produced by Coventry Women’s Voices in partnership with the Centre for Human Rights in Practice at the University of Warwick. This report generated much media interest and has been used for local lobbying, and the evidence provided has been used in applications for funding from public bodies and trust funders.