Engender blog
5 things you should know about the Fairer Scotland Action Plan
The long-awaited Scottish Government Fairer Scotland Action Plan was launched yesterday, following extensive engagement with the public in 2015. It commits to fulfil 50 ‘Fairness Actions’ by the end of this parliament, across 5 thematic ‘ambitions’. Here are 5 points of our own.
1. 50 actions
There are 50 actions in the 100 page document. Some of them are clear-cut and targeted towards a particular outcome, like the Domestic Abuse Bill (#25) and the Scottish Baby Box (#27). Along with many others, these have been announced previously, with much of the document repackaging a slate of commitments from the SNP manifesto for Holyrood 2016. In this sense, given the time that has elapsed since the initial exercise, much of Fairer Scotland simply (and helpfully) draws together Scottish Government policy related to social justice in one place.
Guest Post: Will 2016 be a high point for women’s representation at Holyrood?
It's polling day today for the Scottish Parliament election. Juliet Swann, Associate Consultant at McNeill & Stone, predicts what this will mean for women's representation.
Will 2016 be a high point for women’s representation at Holyrood?
The Scottish Parliament won plaudits in 1999 for electing 48 women out of the 129 MSPs, (37.2%). Since then however that percentage has fallen, indicating that the stance Labour took to balance the winnable seats between men and women in that first election was neither replicated by the other parties nor was there a consistent application of the principle of gender balance in the subsequent elections and selection processes.
Of late this complacency has been challenged. The election of Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland’s first woman First Minister, and her making a strong commitment to gender equality from the outset, as well as two other women leading the opposition parties, and both SNP and Labour appointing a 50:50 cabinet has caused women’s representation to become a talking point.
Equal Voice, Equal Power: the case for gender quotas in Scotland
Today we've released our report making the case for gender quotas in Scottish Politics. We are calling for the Scottish Government to push for the devolution of electoral and equalities law to the Scottish Parliament, and for political parties to make equal representation a priority.
Engender joins call for political parties to support equal representation measures
Engender joined other equalities organisations calling for equal representation for women, LGBTI, BME and disabled people yesterday to meet with representatives from Scotland’s political parties to discuss measures to improve diversity in politics.
Time to drive gender equality home with robust legislation
This blog first appeared in The National
It is now three months until the Scottish Parliament elections. Elections which, we hope, will see manifesto pledges made for women’s equality, and a record number of women MSPs elected. Engender will be working up until the election to call for parties to commit to our “20 for 2016” – 20 asks which we think could see real progress towards women’s equality in Scotland. We’ll be supporting groups across the country to hold “Gender Matters” hustings events, and we’ll be writing in The National about a different ask each week.
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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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