“The way women are portrayed in the media needs a thorough overhaul. And to do that we have to pass more new laws. From now on, we must work to make the media portray women in a modern and appropriate light. For instance, It would be no bad thing if females are consistently shown on television as strong and independent, and certainly never in need of men’s help.”

Those are the words of Harriet Harman, Minister for Wimmin and Equallitty, speaking at this year’s Lesbian Convention held at London’s Women’s Centre & Refuge in Hackney, east London.

She went on,

“For years now we’ve used the media to get government policies and propaganda across to the population by leaning on the scriptwriters and story editors of leading soaps. Why else do you think the storylines of Coronation Street and Eastenders so often mirror what’s going on and hammer home what happens if you don’t obey the law? Why else do you think there are so many ethnic minorities in the soaps and why they’re always shown in a positive light? In short, this is what we need to do for women and I’m in contact with both the BBC and ITV right now”.

Outlining her proposals, she also touched on the vexed question of women who make false accusations of rape.

“It is scandalous that women who wrongly report to the police that they have been raped always end up with custodial sentences, while the men they have accused go free. I intend to make it the law that women found to have made false or malicious accusations will never have to face a criminal court, but will instead receive counselling, together with additional Social Security benefits”.