Woman of the North Summit: A Call for Equity, Action, and Empowerment
In 2024, Health Equity North released the Woman of the North Report, shedding light on the deep-rooted inequalities faced by women living in the North of England. From health disparities to economic hardship, the report paints a sobering picture—but also highlights the resilience and leadership of Northern women.
The Report Revealed:
- Worse health outcomes for women in the North, including higher rates of chronic illness and mental health issues.
- A widening gender pay gap, intensified by regional economic inequalities.
- Greater unpaid care responsibilities, often without adequate support.
- Cuts to public services that disproportionately affect women.
- A need for greater representation and visibility of women in leadership roles.
Despite these challenges, the report also celebrates the strength of women who are often the glue holding communities together.
The Summit in Durham
On May 7, 2025, Health Equity North, in collaboration with Leigh Day Solicitors and the Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA), hosted the Woman of the North Summit at Durham University Business School. The event brought together policymakers, researchers, VCSE leaders, and allies to reflect on the report and co-create solutions.
Opening Remarks
The summit opened with a speech from Kim McGuinness, Mayor of the North East, who acknowledged the systemic challenges Northern women face. She also celebrated their resilience to ‘hold communities together’, and the need for woman role models ‘If you can’t see it, you can’t be it.’
Contributions
- Professor Clare Bambra, Academic Co-Director of Health Equity North, presented the report’s findings and their implications and what it means in real terms for women living in the North.
- Professor Louise Kenny, Pro Vice Chancellor at the University of Liverpool and Chair of the NHSA, introduced the Woman of the North Charter—a roadmap for change. Louise reiterated the need to use this report to bring more awareness to health inequalities and to push for meaningful action.
- Suzanne White, Partner and Head of Medical Negligence at Leigh Day, offered legal perspectives on health justice exploring the rights of women and how to ensure they are upheld.
- An ‘in conversation with’ session with Mayor McGuinness and later in the day Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, explored leadership, representation, and regional investment.
Afternoon Workshops
The afternoon featured nine workshop options with themes such as health equity, economic justice, and women’s rights.
Represent Women member HerCircle, led a session exploring ways to present the voices of marginalised women to policy makers. Amy Van Zyn shared how HerCircle uses art and poetry to tell the stories of marginalised mothers—engaging funders and policymakers while protecting participants’ privacy and respecting their journey.
Reflections
Erin Parker Leonard, Director of Policy and Advocacy, reflected:
‘The morning session was packed with powerful data and insights from the report. We couldn’t let the day go by, without highlighting the valuable work of the women and girls sector during the Mayoral Q&A. Those on the frontline tackling the disadvantages women face, often underfunded and overstretched.’
Mayor McGuinness echoed this, praising the strength of the North East and the tireless work of the VCSE sector.
Hannah Davies, CEO Northern Health Science Alliance Ltd, Executive Director Health Equity North, said of the event,
‘The Woman of the North summit was a powerful and impactful day, we were blown away by the strength of feeling in the room and the ambition and drive to work together to improve the lives of all women across the North of England.
‘Hearing the commitments from both of our female northern mayors to our charter and a range of measures from tackling child poverty and violence against women and girls was fantastic, as was their determination to keep on pushing and working with Westminster on behalf of the region.
The facts from the Woman of The North report are sobering – women in our regions are being short-changed and let down. What the summit showed is that there is an appetite to make a difference, and a passion to change things for the better in challenging circumstances.
Health Equity North are already following up on a huge range of actions following the summit, and continue to our commitment to do what we can to improve the lives of women in the North and beyond.’
Sector Representation: How Represent Women advocated for the sector
Hosted a table with flyers from member organisation, and a link to the directory and membership page of Represent Women’s website.
A summary of the points raised by Represent women in the following workshops:
- Representing Marginalised Women’s Voices to Policy Makers– RW highlighted the work that Represent Women are doing to advocate for the sector by building relationships with policy makers.
- Tackling Violence Against Women in the North- RW highlighted how important women and girl’s organisations are when a woman has experienced violence by men. They are trusted safe space for women to get holistic support and help navigating services.
- How Should Women Fit in the Child Poverty Strategy?– RW highlighted that women and girls’ organisations often take on extra work to tackle child poverty—work that goes beyond their usual services, is usually unpaid, unrecognised, undervalued and often isn’t recorded in official statistics.