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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Guest post: Indyref - why I'm voting No, thanks
By Talat Yaqoob
What does it mean to be a feminist and be involved in the independence referendum? Well, much like all avenues when you have had the feminist light switched on, you view it through the lens of social justice for women. It is easy for the independence referendum to become all things to all people, the reality of course being that on the ballot paper there is not a question asking whether you want action for women yes or no? It is asking only the question; should Scotland be independent? But naturally for campaigners across Scotland, we want to know whether a yes or a no can get us closer to our campaign aims and a positive future for Scotland. For me, that positive future comes from remaining part of the United Kingdom – and put simply, for the problem of inequality, the solution is collectivism.
Across the UK; every week 2 women die at the hands of a current or ex partner, every 10 minutes in Scotland a woman reports a domestic abuse incident and there is a painfully low representation of women in our parliaments. These are not Scotland specific issues nor are these issue which exist only in the rest of the UK. These statistics and these cases exist across the United Kingdom and I firmly believe the solution is one that will take campaigning efforts and ambition from across the United Kingdom.
Guest post: Indyref - why I'm voting Yes
By Kirsty Connell
A Yes vote in the referendum opens the door to a more equal society for Scottish women.
In deciding to vote Yes on the 18th of September, I’m under no illusion that we will suddenly have a Scandinavian-style democracy with decent childcare, lots of bicycles, and someone like Borgen’s Birgitte Nyborg as our First Minister by the 19th of September. But I do believe choosing independence gives us the tools to start building a society that addresses and strives to end gender inequality in Scottish workplaces, wider society and its power structures.
Affordable, world-class childcare is one of the central tenets of Scotland’s Future, the White Paper on Scottish independence. We desperately need a fairer and more affordable childcare system in this country. But childcare is not just an issue for women, and it’s certainly not the only issue for women in this referendum.
Guest post: ‘Women and Children First?’ The reality of maternity care for Scotland’s refused asylum seekers
By Vicky Glen
For mothers in Scotland (and the world over), experiences of maternity care are key in influencing the overall experience of motherhood. Health policy has been a devolved matter since the creation of the NHS. As such, asylum seekers (including refused asylum seekers) are entitled to free primary and secondary health care in Scotland (in contrast with England and Northern Ireland, where refused asylum seekers may be required to pay for secondary health care, which can include maternity care). But do asylum seeking women experience a level of maternity care equal to that of other women living in Scotland?
It was this question that Sylvie Da Lomba of University of Strathclyde Law School and Nina Murray, Women’s Policy Development Officer at Scottish Refugee Council, sought to answer. While work had previously been conducted into the quality of maternity care for asylum seeking women in England and Wales, there was no primary focus upon the experiences of refused asylum seeking women. Previous work had already identified the severity of the health needs of asylum seeking women, with these needs exacerbated during pregnancy.
In light of the then proposed changes to access to healthcare under the Immigration Act 2014 (now a sad reality), and the challenging of asylum support levels by various third sector organisations (now perfectly exemplified in the case of Refugee Action v Secretary of State for the Home Department), the project aimed to assess: whether female asylum seekers were accessing free maternity care in Glasgow as ordinarily resident UK citizens (in line with Scottish government guidance); the extent and nature of any barriers to this access; and whether the access and quality of this care was in line with statutory, governmental and international human rights obligations.
Guest post: Indyref discussion reveals enthusiasm for participatory decision-making
By Juliet Swann
As the date of the referendum draws ever nearer, and the gender gap in the polls shows no sign of closing, there seem to be more events targeting women and their opinions. Which is great, women’s voices should be heard in the referendum debate.
One such event held last week was organised by ACOSVO and the ESRC funded Future of UK and Scotland programme.
It began with four short presentations from Professor Kirsten Rummery, Audrey Birt, Ann Henderson, and Professor Nicola McEwen, each addressing gender issues in the debate about Scotland’s constitutional future. Thus inspired, we were then invited to talk between ourselves at our tables.
Guest post: Panic in a crisis
By Clare McFeely
A critique of BBC Panorama’s reporting of the Jimmy Savile case recently appeared as part of the moral panic seminar series. This project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and is hosting events across a number of UK academic institutions. The Savile post is problematic beyond its inappropriate title: “Lunatics taking over asylums”. Its author relates falling journalistic standards to creation of a modern moral panic, but the actual target of its ire appears to be something else altogether.
Media coverage of Jimmy Savile and other high-profile men accused of historical abuse has uncovered a profound resistance to the notion of the well-documented prevalence of child sexual abuse. Throughout the critique of journalistic standards the post insinuates that false allegations of abuse are an everyday occurrence, that statutory agencies respond immediately and fully to disclosures of abuse, and that believing disclosures is “a bad thing”. So far, a typical reactive rant, but the author of this post is a lecturer in social work who is responsible for preparing social workers for practice, writing for a publication funded by an august funding council.
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Engender 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 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 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 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 Women
Joint briefing paper for the UN Rapporteur on Violence Against Women.
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