The DUP's leader, Arlene Foster, is the first woman to have been appointed First Minister of Northern Ireland, a position she held from January 2016 to January 2017. In the wake of the so-called "cash for ash" scandal, in which fundamental flaws were exposed in a renewable energy scheme she'd set up, critics called for Foster to step down as First Minister. She claimed this outcry was "misogynistic", but critics said this was a hollow and opportunistic argument from Foster, who has done little to advance women's rights in Northern Ireland. In the province, abortion remains a criminal offence unless a woman's health is in grave danger, and Foster's DUP has campaigned hard to prevent any reform of the law. Last year Foster told The Guardian : "I would not want abortion to be as freely available here as it is in England and don’t support the extension of the 1967 act." This means that, in Northern Ireland in 2017, even a woman who becomes pregnant through rape cannot have a legal abortion. Foster's DUP is also in favour of criminalising sex workers, another policy which in practice has an adverse effect on women.