Engender blog

All of Engender’s latest news. Reports, reviews, books, articles, and information from across Scotland’s women’s sector.

We would love to hear from other feminists around Scotland. Check out our guidelines for more information on how you can blog for us.

Abortion Rights in Colombia

Katherine Ronderos, Directora de Limpal Colombia

This week we hosted an event exploring abortion rights around the world, as part of the Edinburgh World Justice Festival. At this event, we were really pleased to be able to share this short video from sisters in Colombia working for abortion rights.

The video was made as a result of the work of Anne Scott (1951 - 2018), who was a long-term member of Engender, of Abortion Rights Edinburgh, and of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Anne had been in contact with WILPF in Colombia and asked them to produce an article discussing the situation there. The article, discussing really exciting community initiatives for abortion rights, can be accessed here.

The article and video is a fitting tribute to Anne, who is much missed by us all.

What's in it for women? Programme for Government 2018-19

Last month we were thrilled to welcome Eilidh Dickson to the Engender team as our new policy manager on maternity cover. As her arrival coincided with the return of parliament to session, she has collated a gender edit of the Programme for Government 2018-19. Here, in her first blog post, she gives us a handy overview.

Personally, I always secretly enjoyed the start of a new school year – with the new stationery, bigger shoes and fresh start that came with it. And now as a grown-up working in Scottish policy, I can never quite shake the same feelings that the end of the long recess brings in September.

Media, power and violence against women

It's been a difficult few weeks (months? years?) for everyone who cares about speaking truth to power, and ending violence against women. We know it can be tough to wade through so much coverage about the stories which have been dominating the press recently, so we've pulled together some of the writing we've found.

Celebrating the history of the women's movement in Scotland

In the late 80s and early 90s, women in Scotland came together to create an organisation which would advocate for women's equality through research and campaigning. Today, 25 years on from its official registration as a charity, Engender is excited to launch a project exploring the history of this movement.

On the Engender: Gender Matters Online

In our final episode examining gender and public space on On the Engender, our panel discusses the internet as a gendered space and why gender matters online with host Alys Mumford.

Here she shares some personal reflections on women's experiences of online abuse and the relationship between gender and the internet as a public space:

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine posted on facebook that she had been sexually harassed on the way home from work. As you might expect, we all rallied round to leave sympathetic messages and check she was ok. One of the comments on the original post used the phrase ‘men are trash etc’. My friend who posted this comment was bemused to receive, seconds later, a notification telling her that it had been deleted as it contained hate speech.

Downloads

Engender Briefing: Pension Credit Entitlement ChangesEngender Briefing: Pension Credit Entitlement Changes From 15 May 2019, new changes will be introduced which will require couples where one partner has reached state pension age and one has not (‘mixed age couples’) to claim universal credit (UC) instead of Pension Credit.

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: Condemnation of Misogyny, Racism, Harassment and SexismEngender Parliamentary Briefing: Condemnation of Misogyny, Racism, Harassment and Sexism Engender welcomes this Scottish Parliament Debate on Condemnation of Misogyny, Racism, Harassment and Sexism and the opportunity to raise awareness of the ways in which women in Scotland’s inequality contributes to gender-based violence.

Gender Matters in Social Security: Individual Payments of Universal CreditGender Matters in Social Security: Individual Payments of Universal Credit A paper calling on the Scottish Government to automatically split payments of Universal Credit between couples, once this power is devolved to the Scottish Parliament.

Gender Matters Manifesto: Twenty for 2016Gender Matters Manifesto: Twenty for 2016 This manifesto sets out measures that, with political will, can be taken over the next parliamentary term in pursuit of these goals.

Scottish NGO Briefing for UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against WomenScottish NGO Briefing for UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women Joint briefing paper for the UN Rapporteur on Violence Against Women.

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