BRITAIN -WOMEN HARDEST- BREXIT

BREXIT may hit women hardest. Experts fear an erosion of E.U. measures that protect gender equality. 

IF all goes to plan, Jan 31, at exactly 11.p.m. [midnight in Brussels], after almost four years of bitterly divisive negotiations, three failed withdrawal plans and two general elections, Britain will formally end its 47-year relationship with the European Union.

An ending, yes, but in many ways just the beginning as Britain dives headfirst into negotiations to secure a trade agreement with the European union over the next 11 months.

The new president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has insisted that the time frame is unrealistic.

And experts worry that the hurried negotiations will set up a scenario in which Britain either faces another cliff's edge and leaves abruptly with no deal in hand or ends with a bare-bones deal, the shape of which no one quite knows.

Both options are expected to drag down the economy and, some experts say, may end having disproportionately negative impact on women.

''Women and men are differently situated in the economy,'' said Mary-Ann Stephenson, director of the Women's Budget Group, an independent research organization. In 2018, a majority of part time or temporary workers in Britain were women, according to the group's research, and women more likely to be living in poverty than men.

When the economy slows as the government expects it will,'' those jobs tend to be the first to go,'' Ms. Stephenson added.

Also at stake are long-established social protections and workplace policies - such as parental leave and vacations, sexual harassment regulations, and anti-discrimination laws. Many of these laws have  ''a foundation'' oin European Union Law, said Roberta Guerrina, a professor and researcher of European Union gender politics at Bristol University.

As a member of the bloc, Britain has been compelled to implement European Union-level directives and resolutions as domestic law, and any violations could be - and have been - challenged in the European justice system.

In 1992, for example, the European Union proposed a package of protections for pregnant mothers in the workplace and set a minimum for maternity leave known as the Pregnant Workers Directive, forcing Britain to crystallize them in its domestic laws.

In 1998, under former Prime Minister Tony Blair, Britain adopted the Union's Working Time Directive, which guaranteed workers at least 20 days of paid vacation.

The honor and serving of the latest operational research on Brexit and Women, continues. The World Students Society thanks author Alisha Haridasani Gupta.