The Guildhall building will be lit up in purple from 7-9pm on Monday 8 March to mark International Women's Day 2021.

Councillor Alison Holt, Member Sponsor for the Women's (+A) Network at Kingston Council, said: "We are proud to be part of International Women's Day. Almost 60% of our workforce is female, and there are many women in senior leadership positions throughout the council.

"We are working hard to embed equality into everything we do and we have already made amazing progress around decreasing the gender pay gap at Kingston. Our mean gender pay gap is now 2.96%, down from 3.8% last year.

"This is lower than an average of 3.4% across London councils, and significantly lower than the average UK gender pay gap of 17%. We have a year long diversity and inclusion awareness events calendar, and we will continue to work toward pay parity for all.

"Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day. We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women's achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world."

International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women - while also marking a call to action for accelerating gender equality. The campaign theme for 2021 is #ChooseToChallenge.

In addition, the council will be launching a new Staff Policy, Procedure and Guidance in responding to domestic abuse, as well as an e-learning training that will be accessible to all staff.

The e-learning provides information on what domestic abuse is, how to spot signs, case studies and how to provide support when a disclosure is made.

The aim of the policy is to signpost employees to support available in respect of their health and well-being and to provide advice and guidance to managers on the implications of domestic abuse in the workplace.