Analysis provided by: Soraya Pascoe, Legal Expert on Gender.

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The United Kingdom is a signatory of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, which it ratified in 1986. It also is committed to the Beijing process. As such it is attempting to promote gender equality through its provisions of domestic law. Indeed the United Kingdom has positively legislated for equality since at least 1970, when it enacted the Equal Pay Act enabling employees to obtain remedies where employers failed to give equal pay for equal work in parity between men and women. In fact it is the field of employment law in which the United Kingdom can arguably be said to have legislated intensively for equality. The Sex Discrimination Act of 1975, which although has wide applications across the spectrum, is largely used in the employment field. Although there are many qualified exceptions to the Sex Discrimination Act, it still remains the fulcrum of equality legislation in the United Kingdom. More recently, the Human Rights Act of 1998 while not incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights, was enacted in order to bring domestic law and practise in line with Convention rights.

At a Governmental level the United Kingdom had most recently begun to take steps to promote gender equality in the public domain. To this end it has developed a cross Governmental body namely The Women and Equality Unit (WEU). This body plays a central supervisory role in policy, legislation and monitoring. It covers equality in a more comprehensive way than the Women's National Commission (WNC) set up as an advisory body more than 30 years ago. Another equality body is the Equal Opportunities Commission, which although funded by the state, is independent with powers to promote and review equality legislation nationally and individually. It has no powers however to legislate even on secondary level.

Anti discrimination legislation, in particular the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 has been positively adapted in the United Kingdom to promote public, career and educational advancement for women.

Shortcomings in UK legislation include the disadvantage faced by non-married couples in property matters, children's proceedings, fiscal discrimination and inheritance provisions. While conceding that this is in keeping with the European Convention, it falls short of the international initiatives particularly by the United Nations to promote parity and equality of opportunity throughout society at a national level.

One of the United Kingdom's greatest domestic law achievements outside the employment field and apart from the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act, is its approach to domestic violence provisions.

Especially important as emergency procedure for dealing with violence against women in a domestic setting, is the quickness and easiness of application for protection. The user friendly format of the legal procedure is empowering to the victim and compares favourably with other European emergency powers where the onus of seeking protection is on the state.

The United Kingdom benefits from its common law form of legislation. Whereas the codified civil laws of other European states, laws are adapted to progressive international legislation, the United Kingdom is able more flexibly to enact individual provisions, or amend existing legislation, or introduce provisions by statutory instrument. With its participation in the UN equality process and its membership of the council of Europe's steering committee for quality between women and men, it is expected that more gender and equality legislation will be developed in domestic law.

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