Engender blog

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

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We need a #GenderEqualityBill because...

Action on equality for women has stalled

Today people are using social media to tell us why they need a Gender Equality Bill.

A Gender Equality Bill would enshrine a high-level strategy to tackle gender inequality in law, to hasten the pace of change. The specific content of the bill would be developed in collaboration with women and women's organisations, but could, for instance, commit to deliver against the Istanbul Convention, establish a Women's Commissioner for Scotland, or set targets for delivery of key public services that are vital for women's equality, such as childcare and social care. There's a more detailed briefing about the Gender Equality Bill here.

Roosh V, and how we respond to hatred towards women

This has been a good week for self-promoting controversialists who boast about the rapes they have perpetrated. It’s been an exciting week for the million plus followers of their grooming how-to sites, who have found themselves the focus of the global and Scottish media. It’s been less of a good week for the women with experience of the rape, sexual harassment, and everyday sexism that flow from their toxic notions of women’s place in the world.

Celebrating the past year and welcoming the new

It’s been a great year for Engender, with fantastic events, projects, and research work happening throughout 2015. We’ve supported our amazing #FeministFest bloggers, held inspiring conferences with sister organisations, and chatted to folk around Scotland about why gender matters. We’ve seen increased public interest and political will for women’s equality, recognition of the importance of gender mainstreaming, and our work on women and welfare reform has ensured that decision makers know that women bear the brunt of cuts. You can see details of these things and more in our annual report, along with some pictures from the past year (see if you can spot yourself!)

The call for a just, transformative & gender-responsive climate agreement

As world leaders and activists descent on Paris for COP21, the latest set of talks to agree solutions to the climate crisis, the European Women's Lobby have created a list of demands for those taking part in the discussions.

5 Things You Should Know About The Scotland Bill

As the House of Lords begins to debate the Scotland Bill, this seems as good a moment as any to pause and provide an update on our thoughts about what happens next. The press coverage of the Lords’ reflections over the past couple of days has principally focused on the fiscal framework. The Lords is almost palpably frustrated at being asked to debate some of the detail around the transfer of powers without sorting out the money stuff first.

The Lords’ plan is to push the Bill back to the Commons and demand that the UK Government and Scottish Government sit down together and reach agreement on all things fiscal before the Bill can go any further.

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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