Engender blog

Cost of Living Crisis: How are rising costs affecting women in the arts?

As part of our blog series on the cost of living crisis, artist, writer and researcher Rosie Aspinall Priest explores the impact of the cost of living crisis on women in the arts in Scotland, and the need for more reliable, well-paid and flexible opportunities for those working in the arts.

Of the world’s ‘advanced economies’, the UK is amongst the most impacted by the cost of living crisis. The crisis has negatively impacted women disproportionately compared to their male counterparts. From rising rent prices to stagnating wages and increasing unemployment, more and more women are struggling to make ends meet. This burden is far from evenly distributed. Research from the Women’s Budget Group found that women were more likely to be living in overcrowded, poorly insulated, and poorly maintained homes than men. People from the global majority are almost twice as likely to be facing redundancy than white workers. It’s no wonder that 31 per cent of women highlighted the cost of living as a major source of financial stress, according to research from the Reward and Employee Benefits Association.

Women's sector calls on candidates to go further on gender equality

Yesterday, we joined with organisations from across the Scottish Women's Sector to write to the SNP leadership candidates, calling on them to commit to bringing about progressive change on gender equality that benefits not only women, but Scottish society. Read the letter and see a full list of signatories below.

As Scotland’s national women’s equality organisations, our ambition is for a Scotland in which substantive, intersectional gender equality is finally realised. To secure this, we need an approach to government that puts the experiences of diverse women, particularly marginalised and minoritised women, at the core of public policy development and implementation. This requires innovation, resources, and leadership to ensure that all women benefit equitably from public investment and services, that our safety and human rights are realised, that we can participate fully in culture and public life, and that our unpaid care and paid work are valued and compensated fairly.

GUEST BLOG: Pregnancy and parenthood in a pandemic

We've been working with the ALLIANCE and The Health and Social Care Academy to gather information about experiences of pregnancy and maternity services during Covid-19 from women across Scotland. Alongside our work, we're sharing a series of guest blogs reflecting on those experiences. Here, Madeline Cross explores her experience of becoming a first-time mum during the pandemic.

How can ICESCR impact women's human rights in Scotland?

Engender recently joined with women's, equalities, health and carer's organisations to submit our shadow report to the Seventh periodic report of the government of the United Kingdom on measures taken to give effect to ICESCR. In this blog, we take a look at our submission and how ICESCR can be a key tool for improving women's lives in Scotland.

For many years, Engender and other women’s equality advocates have been campaigning for the incorporation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (often known as the ‘women’s bill of rights’) into Scots Law, but CEDAW isn’t the only UN Convention which is essential when it comes to the protection of women’s equality and rights. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which ensures the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, was adopted in 1966.