Joeli founded Pregnant Then Screwed after a charity she was working for fired her the day after she told them she was pregnant. After experiencing this discrimination first hand she saw just how common it was, and Pregnant Then Screwed was born. Pregnant Then Screwed houses thousands of stories from women who have experienced discrimination. They campaign 24/7 to abolish the motherhood penalty that women face in the workplace, seeking change at legislative level. They also run a very busy free legal advice line staffed by specialist employment lawyers, a mentor scheme to support women taking their employer to tribunal and a flexible working helpline.
The campaign
Their usual campaign efforts are all centred around their mumifesto which you can read on pregnantthenscrewed.com, however since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the UK, they have switched gears. They have been working around the clock campaigning for the Government to give clear guidance on the rights of pregnant mothers whose safety has been and is continuing to be compromised in the workplace. This work has included increasing and improving their free legal advice service, conducting research to better understand how many pregnant women are being forced to put themselves in harms way and where this is most likely to occur, working with barristers and QCs on letters to Government officials, creating legal templates for pregnant employees to demand protection and support from their employer, and they continue to raise awareness in the national press and media.
Their other current focus is childcare. The childcare sector was already on its knees before this crisis due to years of underfunding from the Government. We are very concerned that the crisis will ensure many childcare providers go bankrupt. This will have a longterm impact on gender equality.
‘Don’t think that if you don’t do anything about it someone else will.”