Written by: Nadoya Reid, Communications and Information Officer
International Women’s Day is a day to celebrate the women who have fought, and continue to fight, for equality, dignity, and justice. In celebration, it is important to take a moment for reflection. In the UK, women still face profound and persistent barriers when they seek legal protection, assert their rights, or challenge unfair treatment. Access to justice is not an abstract principle; it is a fundamental building block of gender equality.
This blog explores the evolving landscape of women’s legal rights in the UK and highlights why access to justice remains central to achieving gender equality.
Brief History of Women’s Rights
The story of women’s legal rights in the UK is one of determined struggle. From early reforms that allowed married women to control their own property in the late 19th century, to the inspiring and tactical actions of the suffragettes, including hunger strikes, militant protests, and public campaigns, every milestone was hard-won. Their activism ultimately secured the extension of the vote to all women over 21 without property requirements in 1928, a pivotal moment in the Women’s Rights Movement.
But the movement did not end with the suffragettes. Throughout the 20th century, women continued to organise, challenge discrimination and push for legislative change. Landmark victories such as the Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, and reforms in family law, employment rights, and reproductive autonomy reflect decades of persistent advocacy. These gains were achieved through the collective pressures of women refusing to accept inequality and injustice as the norm.
This legal activism continues today. Women’s rights organisations, free legal advice agencies such as law centres, are working tirelessly to address legal gaps and injustices that disproportionately affect women.
Unequal Access to Justice in today’s society
A 2023 report by Women’s Budget Group demonstrated the barriers women across the UK face in accessing legal justice and the impact of reducing funding for legal advice services. Services surveyed reported that 85% of vulnerable women are unable to access civil legal aid, and 77% of women often reach crisis point before receiving any legal help at all. The report shows that women disproportionately seek support for issues including pregnancy and maternity discrimination (39%), domestic abuse (48%), no‑fault evictions and homelessness, and social security challenges, with over 50% of organisations reporting women seeking benefits‑related advice.
Cuts introduced under the LASPO Act have reduced both the scope and availability of legal aid, creating what frontline providers describe as a “double whammy” for women, who face barriers on multiple fronts. These pressures are even more severe for low‑income women, migrant women, disabled women, and Black and minoritised women, who are more likely to experience intersecting forms of discrimination and economic insecurity.
Women are more likely to face multiple interconnected legal problems, often linked to poverty and caregiving responsibilities. Financial pressures, complex processes, and limited trust in institutions leave many unable to access the justice they are entitled to.
Why Women’s Rights is an Access to Justice issue?
Women’s Rights is an access to justice issue because of the types of legal problems women face, and the circumstances in which they face them, are shaped by persistent gendered inequalities. Women are disproportionately affected by domestic abuse, coercive control, sexual harassment, pregnancy and maternity discrimination, housing insecurity, and welfare disputes. These are not isolated challenges but the direct result of unequal power dynamics, economic disadvantage, and social norms that place women at greater risk of harm, instability, and discrimination.
Women are also more likely to work in low‑paid or part‑time roles, shoulder the majority of caregiving responsibilities, and have less financial flexibility when legal problems arise. This means that when legal advice is expensive, fragmented, or simply unavailable, it is women who are most likely to be left unrepresented and unable to challenge unfair or unsafe situations.
For many, these barriers intersect with racism, disability discrimination, or insecure immigration status, making the path to justice even harder to navigate. Migrant women, disabled women, and Black and minoritised women often face additional fears, language obstacles, and institutional biases.
When systems fail to provide accessible and affordable legal advice, women’s rights cannot be meaningfully upheld.
Conclusion: The Road Ahead
The progress achieved through the women’s rights movement throughout history is invaluable, but these gains can only be meaningfully upheld when women are able to exercise their rights in practice. Sustaining and properly funding free legal advice services is essential to ensuring that the protections won over generations remain real and enforceable today.
Free legal advice agencies play a crucial role in dismantling barriers that continue to deny many women safety, dignity, and justice, especially women’s rights organisations that provide specialist advice. With ongoing cuts to advice centres and the shrinking scope of legal aid available, it is crucial that we continue to invest in the advice sector to increase access to justice for all, particularly for women who are disproportionately affected.
Justice is a right, not a privilege. When we invest in women’s rights, we move closer to a society where justice is truly accessible to all women.