Engender blog

Guest Post: A letter to women of the UK from your European sister

Guest blog from Mary Collins, European feminist and social justice advocate

Dear Sisters of the United Kingdom

As D Day approaches, I appeal to you to vote YES to REMAIN in the European Union (EU).

The EU, with all its flaws, has been instrumental for women’s rights and gender equality since the treaty of Rome in 1957. From a very narrow focus on equal pay – which I concede has yet to be achieved – the feminists of Europe have successfully pushed the boundaries to ensure that all policies are designed and implemented through a gender lens (gender mainstreaming). And yes, I concede again that the gender revolution has yet to take place.

Doing feminism in Europe

I spent last weekend at the European Women's Lobby general assembly in Brussels.

The Lobby is the largest European umbrella of women's organisations, and its general assembly is an annual gathering of all of the national co-ordinations. Engender represents Scotland within the Lobby.

Some of you who follow European feminism or institutional feminist politics will have seen the Lobby pop up on Twitter, in our Friday Feminist Five mailers, but their work is much less familiar to other feminists in Scotland.

I thought I'd share five things about the Lobby (and Engender's involvement with it) that might be of interest.

1. What the Lobby's role is

The European Women's Lobby is a feminist policy and advocacy organisation that has two main roles. First, it lobbies European institutions, including the Commission and Parliament. Second, it supports feminist organisations in member states to participate in Europe-wide campaigning and lobbying.

2. How the Lobby is structured

EWL members fall into two categories: national co-ordinations and Europe-wide organisations.

The Lobby accepts one national co-ordination for each European member state, and leaves it up to the feminists in that state to create or select an organisation to be that national co-ordination. The UK's constitutional arrangements have posed a bit of a challenge to us in this regard, and I'll explain how we resolved it in just a moment.

Members vote at the general assembly for the EWL's board, and executive committee. All national co-ordinations are represented on the board, which meets physically twice a year. The executive committee meets more regularly.

There is also a secretariat, which is based in Brussels. The current secretary general of EWL is Joanna Maycock.

#Powertothebump - pregnancy and maternity rights for young women

Here at Engender we frequently get calls, tweets and emails from women facing discrimination due to pregnancy and maternity. Many folk think that the campaign for pregnancy and maternity was a fight won long ago, but in fact women still face major problems staying, or re-entering the workforce if they become pregnant. The fact that discrimination is illegal is, unfortunately, not enough to prevent some employers from taking advantage, so it’s really important that women are supported to know, and fight for, their rights.

That’s why we’re really pleased to see the EHRC’s new #PowertotheBump Campaign. Read on to find out more, from Helen Miller Policy Manager at the EHRC :

Sexism in advertising, what can we do?

Caroline, Engender's recently recruited Membership Engagement Assistant, explores the effects of sexism in advertising and looks at how we can challenge gender inequality within the media.

I like to think it is now no secret that marketing communications shape the way in which women view themselves and the way that society views women. Advertising agencies (and the media) dictate our perceptions of beauty; creating unobtainable standards and enabling the fashion and beauty industry to capitalise on our insecurities. Is there anything we can do to stop these damaging portrayals of women?