Break the Silence – The Problem is Not Too Big to Fix
The PR Cavalry
Yesterday saw the launch of the Break the Silence report.
To quote the intro to the report itself “In March 2025, Socially Mobile, with support from the CIPR, launched the groundbreaking Missing Women report that revealed that over 4,000 women have left the PR industry mid-career. It generated significant conversation within our industry alongside collective frustration at the need for more action.”
The Break the Silence report itself can be downloaded here https://lynn.global/break-the-silence/
Industry commentator Stephen Waddington has published a pithy summary on his blog
- 63% of women report unfair treatment based on gender.
- 75% of women say parenthood harmed their career, compared to just 25% of men.
- Only 53% of women believe leadership opportunities are equal, versus 79% of men.
- And 90% of all respondents agree: senior men championing gender equality could transform workplace culture, but few are stepping forward.
https://wadds.co.uk/blog/2025/6/6/why-public-relations-must-break-its-silence-on-gender-inequality
This is a well mapped problem and change has been glacial, so what can be done, today, to start fixing it more rapidly?
The answer lies in the problem itself and is within the grasp of any employer reading this.
The problem isn’t Missing Women. They haven’t vanished, they’ve gone freelance.
At our recent Independent Impact 50 awards (co-created with Rod Cartwright Consulting) Maja Pawinska Sims, associate editor Provoke Media stood up and, observing a room largely made up of female freelancers in the second half of their careers, said “well, I think we’ve all found all the missing women”.
Her recent article on why PR freelancers deserve centre stage is a great rallying call
The talent pool of The PR Cavalry is currently about 2300 PR freelancers. We don’t ask people to state their gender but at a guess probably 80% identify as women.
That’s about half the “Missing Women”, all in one place.
Don’t wait for the problems documented in Breaking the Silence to solve themselves. It won’t happen. Don’t think the problems are too deep rooted in society for any company to fix. That is despair. Nor will the problem be solved by writing or re-writing hiring policies. That is kicking the can.
Just pick up the phone and we’ll connect you with talented women who are perfectly suited to the brief you’re looking at.
Being freelance, they’ll come in and bring fresh perspectives, networks of contacts and generally give a campaign that “new car smell”. They will also impact workplace culture, giving younger team members role models and the benefit of wisdom that is hard to value.
Break the Silence is a great start which we have been pleased to support, but don’t now go quiet because the problem seems too big to address.
