Engender blog

ICESCR’s incorporation into Scots Law: challenges and opportunities from a women’s rights perspective

For many years women's equality advocates have been campaigning for the incorporation of CEDAW into Scots Law, but that isn't the only UN Convention which is key for the protection of women's equality and rights. Engender is excited to be working with student Beatriz Morganti Brandão‎ to explore how the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights can be used to protect women in Scotland. Here she explains more about what she'll be working on.

In March 2021, the Scottish Government announced its plans to adopt, by 2025, a landmark human rights bill that will incorporate four United Nations human rights treaties into Scots Law. Among these treaties is the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which establishes the rights to work, housing, health, education, social security, and many others covering basic needs.

June 2022 - Policy Round Up

Each month we share a summary of the policy work Engender has been doing . You can find all of our latest briefings and publications here, or in the links below.

Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill

On Tuesday this week our Executive Director Catherine Murphy gave evidence to the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament alongside Rape Crisis Scotland, Amnesty International and JustRight Scotland about the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Across several years of extensive consideration, our headline finding is that the proposed reforms will not negatively impact on women’s equality and rights. Polarisation and inaccuracies in some of the public discourse around the Bill have unfortunately led to a perception that the Bill, and trans inclusion and rights more broadly, are fundamentally in conflict with the aims of women’s equality. Engender does not share or uphold this view. We are confident that reform will not have adverse effects on the capacity of the Equality Act 2010 and CEDAW to protect women from discrimination and advance women’s equality and rights.

We do not believe trans equality and women’s equality are in competition with each other. We see the paths to equality for women and trans people as being deeply interconnected and dependent on ongoing shared efforts to dismantle intersecting patriarchal systems of oppression that impose barriers to full equality. We therefore broadly support and welcome the provisions set out in the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. You can read our recent submission to the committee online here.

What do women need from a Scottish Carer's Assistance?

This week marks Carers Week, and it comes after two years which have shown, more clearly than ever, the vital role that unpaid carers play. The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted what half of the population already knew – that women take on the vast majority of unpaid care work, and that without them our society and economy could not function. Throughout the spring, we've held focus groups and surveys with women who provide unpaid care around Scotland to inform our response to the Scottish Government's recent consultation on a proposed Scottish Carer's Assistance.

You can read some of their responses highlighting why unpaid care is key issue for women's equality on our blog here. Unfortunately, like we see far too often, the Scottish Government consultation on how a Carer's Assistance might operate lacked analysis reflecting the gendered nature of care. Some of the proposals, in fact, reveal that far from recognising the importance of unpaid care, future plans from the Scottish Government will continue to take unpaid carers for granted. You can read our full response to the consultation online here.

Update from the European Women's Lobby

Last weekend saw women from across Europe meet (virtually) for the General Assembly of the European Women's Lobby. Engender was represented, as part of the United Kingdom Joint Committee on Women, by Jonna Monaghan from our sister organisation the Women's Platform in Northern Ireland. The General Assembly is a chance to hear what the European Women's Lobby has been working on, and to make key decisions about its strategic direction.

We heard more about the EWL's strategic plan for 2022-2026 which was launched earlier this year. The strategic plan sets out how the lobby will work to achieve its vision of "a Feminist Europe, in which all women and girls enjoy equal rights and participation in power and decision-making structures across all levels of society. Liberated from all forms of oppression and exploitation, women and girls have true freedom of choice, and live lives free from sexism and all forms of violence. Women’s contribution to all aspects of social, political and cultural life is recognised, rewarded and celebrated.", and you can access it here. We also got an update on the work the Lobby has been doing to increase women's representation on public boards, which will be discussed at the EU later this year - this wee video explains more.

Of course Ukraine was at the forefront of people's minds during the General Assembly, and we were pleased to support a motion expressing solidarity with women in Ukraine and Moldova. The motion to show our support by inviting Ukrainian and Moldavian Women’s Rights organisations to join EWL as members was passed overwhelmingly.

Abortion Rights Round-Up

What's been happening with reproductive rights over the past month? Engender members are kept up-to-date with this news through our weekly Friday Feminist Five newsletter, but in this post we've collated an update for non-members too. If you'd like to receive the weekly newsletter you can join Engender as a member here.

News from the US continues to cause alarm for defenders of women’s reproductive rights, as we wait for the decision on whether or not Roe v Wade will be effectively overturned by the Supreme Court. While it’s been heartening to see protests, rallies and other actions to defend the right to choose (we particularly liked the New York Magazine’s state-by-state guide to accessing abortions, and the creative legislation in Austin, Texas), the reality of what may happen across the US in a couple of months is really scary.

In the last 25 years, 50 countries have moved to amend their laws to improve access to abortion, and this would represent a significant step backwards.

Why the proposed Scottish Carer's Assistance must do more to value unpaid care

This week marks Carers Week, and it comes after two years which have shown, more clearly than ever, the vital role that unpaid carers play. The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted what half of the population already knew – that women take on the vast majority of unpaid care work, and that without them our society and economy could not function.

The Scottish Government has been consulting on their proposals to replace Carer's Allowance with a Scottish Carer's Assistance, as part of the devolution of some social security payments to Scotland. The provision of unpaid care, and its interactions with social care, are closely interlinked with systemic and harmful gender roles that constrain women’s lives, with women’s access to paid work, leisure time and power remaining heavily constrained by the provision of care and gendered expectations around its value and delivery.