In a recent poll women were twice as likely as men to say they don’t know who cares more about public services, Labour or the Tories. After record investment in schools, hospitals and early-years support women are still unsure that Labour is on their side, so the urgent questions must be: how can Labour convince women that we are still fighting for equality; and what exactly should we be prioritising in terms of furthering the cause?

Firstly, Labour needs to differentiate better between different needs. Women in Britain do not all speak with the same voice, have the same aspirations and use the same services. The difference in the well-being and life-chances of women and girls from different social backgrounds is striking. In addition to this, ‘Intersectionality’, or multiple discrimination, hits a huge number of women across the country; a shocking example of this is that 40% of ethnic minority women live in poverty, twice the proportion of white women. This isn’t to say that women’s characters are determined by their socioeconomic background, but certainly emphasises the fact that Labour needs to develop a greater understanding of the range of challenges faced by women in society.

While we should not underestimate the importance of fighting for policies which benefit women in the middle of the socioeconomic spectrum, for example by continuing and improving Sure Start, the tax credits system, and the rights of part-time and agency workers, Labour should prioritise the welfare of those most in need and battle for the representation of women at the top.

If you put together all the women who have ever sat as MPs since 1918, they would still be a minority in the House of Commons (today they make up less than 20%). Also consider the fact that 96% of directors of the UK’s top 100 companies are men, and we can see that there is simply not a powerful female presence in those spheres which make the decisions that affect us all on a day-to-day basis. Labour should continue its drive towards a more inclusive and gender-equal Westminster: not only by helping women get elected, but also by ensuring that those women, once elected, want to stay in Westminster, and are able to do their job effectively. Labour MPs should be actively working to redefine, in a gender neutral way, what it is to be a good leader, an effective speaker and powerful personality; setting the standard so that women are taken more seriously in their workplaces and communities. Reforming the practices of Westminster and Whitehall so that women are on a more equal footing with men will only enhance the quality of our democracy and our society.

Last, but by no means least, Labour needs to ensure that the Corston Report is not forgotten – the recommendations laid out need to be acted on ensure that the most vulnerable in society are protected. As it stands, the criminal justice system is set up for men and is consequently failing women. In January 2009, there were 4,199 women held in custody and around 77,000 men. Most women are in prison for theft or handling stolen goods- not for serious or violent offences- and nearly two thirds of women were sentenced to custody for less than 6 months.

Home Office research has found that 66% of women in prison have dependent children under 18 and that just 5% of these children remain in their own home once their mother has been sentenced. Women are, on average, less likely to re-offend if community based methods are employed, yet the government seem reluctant to act on the evidence put in front of it. Employing the recommendations in the report would go some way to lifting marginalized women and their families out of the trap of social exclusion; Labour should treat this as a priority and work harder to support those at the bottom.

Labour has worked consistently hard for women over the past decade and we should be proud to actively promote its record in the run-up to the general election. Yet to ensure that women still vote Labour, the party needs to have a vision for what it will do in the future to reduce gender inequality and improve the lives of women across Britain in the next decade.