Batley and Spen MP Kim Leadbeater celebrates ‘how far women have come’ on International Women’s Day

In her capacity as chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Sport, Ms Leadbeater hosted a parliamentary reception, which celebrated ‘Women in Sport’, alongside Paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, England International Netballer Ama Agbeze, and a packed room of women and girls involved in sport and physical activity from across the country.

The Member of Parliament for Batley and Spen also attended a powerful reception organised by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), which responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, calling for the UK to stand with women leading in crises.

Ms Leadbeater said: “Women and girls bear the brunt of every global crisis. They make up around half of any refugee, internally displaced, or stateless population, and face a disproportionate amount of discrimination and violence, and I was proud to attend the IRC’s powerful reception in Parliament.”

Back in her constituency Ms Leadbeater hosted an event at her office in Heckmondwike, which covered a wide range of subjects including barriers to sport and physical activity, education, violence against women and girls, and domestic abuse and violence. The day ended with a short yoga session.

The speakers at the event held in Ms Leadbeater’s constituency of Batley and Spen included Alison Lowe, the West Yorkshire Deputy Mayor for policing and crime, Sam Vickers, the CEO of Batley Multi Academy Trust, Rashida Salloo, director of Ready Steady Active, Shamsa Qureshi, headteacher at Warwick Road Primary School in Batley, and Alida Gulamhussein of the Kirklees, Calderdale and Wakefield Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre.

Ms Leadbeater said International Women’s Day was both “a really important celebration and an opportunity to reflect on how far women have come.”

But she added that it also represented the chance “to stop and discuss how far we still have to go in pursuit of equality.”

Women of all ages, backgrounds and ethnicities were present to hear Ms Leadbeater and the other speakers, and to feed into the debate with their own experiences, comments, and advice.

After the event, held on Thursday, March 9, Ms Leadbeater said: “We have got some amazing female leaders in Batley and Spen, and our community is full of inspirational women from all backgrounds with many powerful stories to tell.

“I was delighted to be able to bring some of them together for what was an extremely informative and enjoyable event.”