Have you seen the billboards across London (including in the airports), featuring pictures of women in a busy crowd, accompanied by the tagline “being a woman shouldn’t be a risk”?  

This recent campaign, spearheaded by insurance company AXA, highlights that all over the world, women are disproportionately affected by risks – either from over-exposure to risks, or due to insufficient protection from them. The core message is that we all have a responsibility to do more and play our part in driving change in this area, despite making up half of the world’s population, women are still faced with excessive risks - from health to business, sports to education.  

It’s clear just how detrimental this is, not only to women, but to society and the economy.   

Looking at the numbers 

83% of women experiencing women's health issues are impacted financially, with the cost of neglecting women's health at work totalling £20.2 billion annually. 

Studies found that the main consequence of women experiencing general health issues was lack of career progression, while the main consequence of women experiencing women specific issues was leaving the workforce altogether. Our newly launched Women in Aviation network is seeking to highlight the various issues women face across aviation, not just specific to health but the various reasons some women’s career progression is stifled. 

Parenting and motherhood tend to come to mind when it comes to caring responsibilities, there have (rightly) been a lot of discussion around enhanced maternity leave, encouragement of shared parental leave and the increase of flexible working. What can be more of a silent care responsibility is that women provide £50bn of unpaid care for adults.  Our firm is a strong supporter of flexible working and recently increased its paternity leave provision. By establishing the Women in Aviation network there is an opportunity for women across the aviation industry to share their experiences of juggling caring responsibilities within the world of aviation. 

Work related stress costs the UK economy £28bn a year and its female employees that are currently experiencing poorer mental health. With 38% of women, compared to 27% of men reporting having a mental health condition and 24% of women, compared to 18% of men reporting that they are currently struggling from it. 

Looking at the big picture 

There are many risks that women will be subject to in our lifetime. These stark statistics show that we should be striving for better for women in the workplace and acknowledging the risks and issues that they might be facing to understand how best to support them, not just for women themselves, but for the workplace as a whole. 

Thank you to Kathy Williams for co-authoring.