Power and Participation

 •Out of our 129 MSP’s, 45 are women (34%). Scotland fell from 4th to 13th place in world league tables of women in parliament
•Only 22% of local councilors are women
•Women account for only one third of all public appointments

‘The significant number of women missing from positions of power is indicative of our failure to meet the economic and social challenges that confront us. Representatives in political and public life need to reflect the communities they serve. Our economic success and social wellbeing are being undermined.’
Sex & Power, EOC Scotland , 2007

The issues surrounding womens under-representation and participation in politics and public life are complex.
Engender has been active in this field for many years and while women's representation in parliament has been a significant priority, we address the wider aspects of women's representation and participation in all aspects of public life and decision-making. Therefore we address the issues of women's participation and capacity to engage in representative politics at all levels - local/regional/national/European - but also in key decision-making arenas - for example, in public bodies - as well as in industry and the economy, and society more widely.

The 2007 elections for the Scottish Parliament and for local councils, with the new electoral system, were a main focus for Engender. The lack of progress in increasing women's participation in councils was very disappointing, even more so was the reduction in the level of female representation in the Scottish Parliament. That has reinforced our view that work on researching, analysing, facilitating and promoting women's participation needs to be continuous and not just confined to the period immediately before elections.

Our current work around Power and Participation is with the campaigning group Women and The Vote with partners The Electonal Reform Society, Unlock Democracy, Centre for Women and Democracy,The Hansard Society and The Fawcett Society.  See http://www.engender.org.uk/pages/37/

Future  plans for us include celebrating the women who have been MSPs over the first decade of the Scottish Parliament with an audio-visual media project. 


Engender Supports

• Positive action measures to ensure that political parties select equal numbers of female and male candidates
• The right to request flexible working to be extended to all and at every level of every workplace
• Work that empowers women from across the diversity of Scotland to participate equally in public life

Scottish Government launch public appointments website 

The new public appointments website has been set up to encourage a diverse range of applicants to apply for roles in public bodies.  The website aims to raise the awareness of the work of public bodies and the need for them to relect the make up of the public they serve.   See http://www.appointed-for-scotland.org/

New Project -  Women in Public Life

Through the EU Interreg programme, Engender will be working with women’s organisations in Northern Ireland on a project aimed at encouraging women living in rural areas to become involved in the political process at local, national and European level. Working with women in the North West of Ireland and the West coast of Scotland, the project will offer training and support to enable women to become involved in the decision making process which will have a positive effect on the delivery of public services.
See here for the projects Aims and Objectives

European Women's Lobby 50/50 Campaign

Find out about the campaign for equal representation in the European Parliament and sign the petition at http://www.5050democracy.eu/

Engender at the Festival of Politics 2008

Lesley was a member of the panel at a debate called 2008: Women and the Vote as part of the Festival of Politics in the Scottish Parliament.  The event was hosted by Cathie Peattie MSP and also on the panel were Bill Butler MSP and Beatrice Barleon speaking on behalf of the 2008: women and the vote campaign that Engender is supporting.

Following opening remarks from the panel questions were taken from the floor.  Amongst others,  the panel were asked about positive action, if parties did enough to encourage women to stand for election and how to interest young women in politics.