Oxfam's work on gender in the UK

Oxfam believes in an equal society, in which women and men have the same access to income and power.

We believe in a society where women have the confidence to demand what they're entitled to. Government, service providers, and employers truly understand their responsibilities to women, and live up to them. Neither women nor men live in poverty in the UK.

Gender resources

What we're doing

At grass-roots level, Oxfam works with women to give them the skills and confidence to influence local, national, and international decision makers. For example, our GenderWorks project runs training courses in Scotland and England to help women hold their local services to account.

We support a number of grassroots organisations such as Southall Black Sisters to ensure that particularly vulnerable women – especially those from ethnic minority communities – have a voice standing up for their rights.

We work alongside the public sector to make sure they know how to meet the needs of women and men in all their work. Much of our work has been with agencies trying to regenerate and improve deprived areas – engaging women so the schemes meet the needs of the local community.

Finally, through improving our understanding of the problems faced by women living in poverty, we can influence the UK and European governments to look at gender in everything they do, leading to better policies and services. 

Oxfam supports the EC's "For Diversity. Against Discrimination" campaign. Find out more about the EC's work to raise awareness of equality and diversity, provide information on anti-discrimination law, and encourage people to challenge their own views and prejudices.

What we're calling for

• Government should take action to end the gender pay gap
• Childcare should be made more available and affordable, particularly in deprived areas
• Women's caring responsibilities should be recognised and rewarded
• Women's organisations should be supported in having a voice to protect women's rights
• Data on women's poverty in the household should be collected and analysed
• Routine gender impact assessments of all changes to public service delivery should be carried out