But black and ethnic minorities had to contact agencies 17 times.The report also found they were more likely to go to prison than white counterparts and that "race relations in the criminal justice system remained a serious problem for BME women offenders." In 2002, BME women made up less than 8 per cent of the total female population but 29 per cent of the female prison population.The report found that there were very few ethnic minority women at senior levels in the police and the judiciary.In 2004, Linda Dobbs became the first black woman to be appointed to the High Court. The report found that women of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin earned only 56 per cent of the average hourly wage of white men.Rates of suicide among young women from south Asia were double that of the general population and black women who were being beaten up by their partners have to wait longer for help from the authorities than white women. They also had a higher chance of being a single parent, of earning less and of going to prison than white counterparts."Our report reveals the terrible impact that multiple discrimination on grounds of sex, race, religion or age can have on BME [black and ethnic minority] women, who continue to be excluded from positions of power," said Dr Katherine Rake, director of the Fawcett Society. She has sold 1,500 cots, which come with an electric pump, and is talking to retail chains about having them stocked.Mrs Bradford, from Shropshire, believes women have advantages over men when designing products."They are more sensual than men. Black and ethnic-minority women in Britain are "powerless, poor and passed-over" according to a report which found that they were excluded at every level of society. In a damning analysis, the research found women from ethnic minorities were "almost entirely absent from the rank of decision-makers in the UK" and face "massive inequalities in education, health, employment and pay, levels of political engagement and treatment by the criminal justice system".The report by the Fawcett Society, which promotes and supports women in public life, found ethnic-minority women were "struggling against multiple discrimination on grounds of their sex, race and/or religion". She said: "It is interesting that there are more and more women inventing teams, particularly in the drugs industry and the car industry But it's still fairly tough for the lone female inventor. People I spoke to for the book and who should know better told me, 'women never invent anything'."There's a 50-50 mix at art school but when you go on from that it changes.

I wonder if women are being fobbed off and told, 'you go into fashion'. There's a huge amount of untapped talent out there."OFF THE DRAWING BOARDJOANNE BRADFORD, The Holi-DozeA blow-up cot weighing 4kgCELIA GATES, Handl cookwarePans with ergonomic handles that slope to make them feel less heavyANNE HELEN LLOYD, Instant FloristCreates hand-tied bouquets. They put more effort into the style and ergonomics of the product Men are more interested in the practicalities," she said. One of the show's previous star exhibits is Mandy Haberman's Anywayup Cup, which stops toddlers spilling their juice. It has become a commercial hit.Deborah Jaffe, the author of Ingenious Women, a history of female inventors, believes they still have a tougher time than their male counterparts. Liz Williams has conjured up the Redweb Persona, an alarm that marks an attacker with a harmless, highly visible dye.

A forensics box made by Deborah Leary protects evidence at crime scenes, while Dick Moby boxer shorts use Nasa technology to keep men cool - good, its inventors say, for maintaining fertility.Speaking at the two-day fair, which ends today, Mrs Bradford, who has three children, said she had picked up orders for the Holi-Doze from Brazil, Switzerland, France and Germany.Armed with a degree in computer-aided product design from Wolverhampton University, the 36-year-old travelled to China to find a manufacturer. It promotes the ingenuity of women and seeks to redress the imbalance of the sexes in the discovery of new things. Perhaps because of the traditional absence of women from male-dominated industry, many of the products on show are for the home - for babies, cooking, even flower arranging. Celia Gates, from Colchester, Essex, created pans with ergonomic handles sloping at 45 degrees to make them feel lighter.A pushchair designed by Ngozi Place, from Wales, folds down telescopically to fit in a rucksack. Anne Helen Lloyd's Instant Florist creates hand-tied bouquets, while the Bodyflik by Wendie Brodie sweeps water off the skin after a bath to save on the use of towels.There are other, less homely ideas too. Weighing just 9lb- a quarter of the weight of the average travel cot - parents are happily acquiring the vivid blue or pink £50 baby beds.By thinking of an idea and turning it into a practical product, Mrs Bradford was following in the footsteps of the great inventors - George Stephenson, whose Rocket transformed the railways; Thomas Edison, the American behind the light bulb; Alexander Graham Bell, who came up with the telephone; and John Logie Baird, the Scotsman responsible for television.Mrs Bradford's work is on show at The British Female Inventors & Innovators Exhibition at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. His show yesterday, staged in a former church in east London, included voluminous taffeta capes and balloon-shaped black panne velvet cocktail frocks reminiscent of the mid-century designs by Hubert de Givenchy, who retired in 1996.

"I wanted it to look as though it had been made 50 years ago It was all about construction and technique," said Deacon.. When Joanne Bradford saw a woman struggling outside a hotel trying to carry a baby, her luggage, a child car seat and a travel cot, she had a flash of inspiration that would change her life: why not design something to make life easier for the travelling mother? When Joanne Bradford saw a woman struggling outside a hotel trying to carry a baby, her luggage, a child car seat and a travel cot, she had a flash of inspiration that would change her life: why not design something to make life easier for the travelling mother? After a year of perspiration and frustration, Mrs Bradford's blow-up cot, the Holi-Doze, has moved from the drawing board to the shops. Peter Jensen lit up London Fashion Week with a Scandinavian-style catwalk show featuring a headdress of flaming candles, part of the Santa Lucia costume traditionally worn by Swedish girls at Christmas. Jensen, now in his eighth season at fashion week, said his Fair Isle sweaters, hand-knitted bonnets and patchwork dresses were inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Fanny and Alexander . The Danish-born designer also said his collection, shown yesterday, was a reflection of his roots. "I felt it was appropriate to do something very cosy and Scandinavian now," he said backstage after the show held in a disused office in Victoria, London.