Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day highlight council’s support for women and girls

 

Tower Hamlets Council is putting on a range of events to celebrate the contribution of women and girls

Free swimming for women and girls

The opening of the Nari Centre for women

The opening of a dedicated youth centre for girls

A positive gender pay gap in favour of women at the council

A host of events for WHM and IWD

Tower Hamlets Council is putting on a range of events to celebrate the contribution of women and girls, to complement a range of dedicated support available for them to use.

March is Women’s History Month, and this Sunday 8 March is International Women’s Day. They celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The International Women’s Day 2026 theme is ‘Give to Gain’, emphasizing the power of reciprocity and support.

The council is putting on a month long programme of events and activities including Tower Hamlets Women’s Spring Open Exhibition opening this Friday 6 March at the Brady Centre in Whitechapel; a day of celebration at the Town Hall on Saturday 7 March, to mark International Women’s Day; the Women in Business Festival at the Town Hall running from 6 to 8 March; and a programme of sport and physical activities for women and girls including swimming, cycling, boxing, self-defence, badminton, basketball and football tournaments.

In terms of wider services, the council has increased its support for women and girls in the borough. Last month, it opened the Nari Centre in Aldgate East and a girls youth centre in Bow.

The Nari Centre provides a safe, women only environment where women and girls of all ages can access essential services, activities and events. It features classrooms, an IT suite, creche facilities, a community kitchen, and dedicated spaces for one-to-one support.

The Young Tower Hamlets youth centre in St Paul’s Way is a new, dedicated youth centre for girls strengthening the council’s commitment to creating safe, inclusive spaces for young people. Currently around three quarters (74 per cent) of young people attending youth centres in Tower Hamlets are boys.

Last year, the council introduced free swimming for women and girls, along with men over 55. Since then, more than 20,000 people have signed up, with women making up over 90%.  In total, 37,277 memberships have been taken up with the council’s Be Well leisure centres with 82% being female.

Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman said:  “I am proud that we have introduced a range of services dedicated to women and girls in Tower Hamlets. We have created these with our residents, and we are seeing the difference they are making, from an incredible 18,000 women and girls already benefitting from free swimming, to opening the Nari Centre for women and youth centre dedicated to girls and young women. Our work has not only closed the gender pay gap but has even resulted in a positive gender pay gap favouring women Council employees.

“Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day is another opportunity to hold events celebrating the invaluable role women in Tower Hamlets play in all areas of life across our borough, as well as promoting the work that is being done to tackle gender inequality and the support that is available to benefit more women and girls across Tower Hamlets.”

Positive gender pay gap

The council is also creating more opportunities among its employees to support women. Its most recent Workforce Pay Gap report shows a positive gender pay gap for the first time. The council’s gender pay gap has been reducing year on year, with the aim to get it as close to zero per cent as possible.

The council’s mean gender pay gap has changed from a negative gap of 0.60% in 2024 to a positive gap of -2.03% in 2025, which means that women are now paid 2.03% more than men.

Nationally, women in English local authorities were paid 3% less than men according to mean pay. Tower Hamlets also has the smallest mean gender pay gap compared to neighbouring boroughs.

Women make up 54% of the council workforce. In terms of their distribution by earnings, 55% of employees in the top quartile of earnings are women, that figure is 58% in the second quartile, 59% the third quartile, and 42% of employees in the lowest quartile of earnings are women.