Kim Young will champion women's rights in the expanded Environment brief after moving from covering health issues.

She denied the Environment was a demotion but claimed it was an extension of health, because the whole population was affected by the air they breathed and the wider environment.

But she admitted: "I have been in health all my life and it's my first love."

She said women were still being paid less than men, missing out on promotions, and silently suffering workplace sexual harassment but she questioned whether bodies addressing gender issues were effective.

She said: "We had a Women's Advisory Council, this was changed to the Family Council but we have heard nothing from them over the last three years. There's a department of women's issues that comes under Health and Family Services, or did, and they have money in the budget and two staff I think, but we heard nothing.

"You have to wonder what they are doing. We have no idea."

Mrs. Young renewed her call to have monitoring of women's workplace progress logged in the Commission for United and Racial Equality statistics which currently log racial demographics.

She said the House of Assembly was itself a sexist place, mirroring the wider environment.

"We had a female Premier and a female Leader of the Opposition people thought because we have two women at the helm everything's okay in Bermuda. But just because those particular women were doing okay? There are a lot of women who are not doing okay who need the support of others and changes to make sure they are doing okay, that there's equality.

"Women's issues are really family issues and community issues."