In 2015, Joeli Brearley, CEO of Pregnant Then Screwed, started a blog to provide a platform for women to anonymously share their experiences with pregnancy discrimination. Nine years later, this initiative has grown into a significant movement.
By 2023, Pregnant Then Screwed had offered tailored support to over 83,000 women and influenced Parliamentary discussions 29 times. The group secured £1.4 million for women who experienced discrimination and garnered extensive media coverage, with their campaigns appearing in the press over 2870 times.
“I’d love to say this was all well thought through, but it wasn’t – there was no plan,” Brearley told emPOWERED magazine at the Women in Data flagship event in London earlier this year.
Brearley chose the group’s name to reflect her anger and frustration. “I didn’t want to sugarcoat it; I didn’t want to pretend it was all fine and have a wishy-washy name,” she explained. Initially, she had considered a more provocative name but decided against it.
The idea for Pregnant Then Screwed originated from Brearley’s own experience with pregnancy discrimination. While working for a children’s charity, she was dismissed via voicemail by a female colleague. “People often pigeonhole pregnancy maternity discrimination as men pushing women out, but women are just as bad at it,” Brearley said.
GiveMeSix Campaign
Following her dismissal, Brearley discovered that her pregnancy was high-risk and learned of a three-month time limit to file a tribunal claim. This left her with a difficult choice between pursuing justice or protecting her baby’s health. Ultimately, she had to drop the case.
Motivated by her experience, Brearley launched the #GiveMeSix campaign to extend the tribunal claim limit for pregnancy discrimination from three to six months. The campaign gained the support of 56,000 women and 103 MPs from all political parties.
Research from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) indicates that 54,000 women lose their jobs each year due to pregnancy or maternity, and 77% of working mothers face potentially discriminatory treatment. Despite these figures, only 0.6% of affected women raise a tribunal claim.
The campaign argues that extending the time limit to six months for pregnancy or maternity discrimination claims is not overly complex, given that employment law already allows six months for equal pay or redundancy claims. Although extending the limit to 12 months would be ideal, any extension would be beneficial.
March of the Mummies
One of Brearley’s proudest moments came on October 29, 2022, with the March of the Mummies, a national protest demanding government reform on childcare, parental leave, and flexible working. Over 12,000 parents participated across 11 locations, including London, Glasgow, Manchester, and Birmingham.
“Childcare often feels like a soft and fluffy issue, but the reality is that it is hurting people, damaging their careers, and pushing them into poverty,” Brearley said. “There are women having abortions because they cannot afford to have that baby, and that is devastating.”
The protest sent a powerful message to policymakers and garnered significant media attention. “Seeing the noise that echoed through the corridors of Westminster and was covered by newspapers across the country was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever been a part of,” Brearley said.
Essential Spaces and Systemic Change
Events like the Women in Data event are crucial for providing women with spaces to discuss their challenges and support each other. “We see a difference in women doing that, not just at events like this, but within organizations where women are enabled to have groups where they can be honest with each other and know it’s a safe space,” Brearley said.
Brearley emphasized the need for groups that address specific issues faced by subgroups, such as Black women, Asian women, and disabled women.
Systemic change, Brearley believes, must start early. “It starts very young at primary school, and it starts by talking to pupils in a gender-neutral way,” she said. Employers also need to implement gender-neutral language in job adverts, which can significantly increase the number of women applying for jobs.
Zurich Insurance, for example, was the first UK company to advertise all vacancies with flexible working options, leading to a 16% rise in female applicants.
“We don’t want pool tables and free beer, we want childcare policies, proper parental leave policies, no gender pay gap, and women in senior positions,” Brearley said. “I think it’s key that companies ask women what they want, what they need, and then go and do it.”
