Engender blog
Guest blog: Women Saying No (Indyref Thursday #8)
This week's final indyref Thursday is a double page special from two former politicians who have been out on the campaign trail. They describe what they believe their vote will mean for women.
Maria Fyfe is a former Labour MP for Glasgow Maryhill
I know women who are voting Yes because they want a fairer and more equal society. I completely agree with their aim, but where is the capacity to achieve it? It doesn’t happen just because enough people put a cross against Yes on a ballot paper. We can all be emotionally aroused by stirring speeches. But one of the wisest pieces of advice I ever heard was, “Never mind what politicians say. Look at how they spend the public’s money and then you know what they really care about.” I could add to that, what they tax and who gets tax cuts.
Women and indyref: lessons from a constitutional cafe
It has become received wisdom that the independence referendum has provoked a public discourse so febrile and uncontained that some kind of peacebuilding will be necessary through September and October this year.
You wouldn't know if from our latest constitutional cafe, which took place last Saturday in the Scottish Youth Theatre in Glasgow. The event brought together women from both Women for Indy and Better Together with practitioners from Scottish Women's Aid, Electoral Reform Society, and Scottish Women's Aid to talk about women's equality and indyref, and where we go afterwards in realising women's equality.
Guest blog: Women and work: what next? (Indyref Thursday #7)
In the run-up to the referendum, we'll be publishing views on women's equality and Scotland's constitutional futures. This week, Close the Gap development officer Lindsey Millen writes on the implications of the referendum for the women and work.
After months of campaigning, discussion and debate, what is arguably the biggest political event of a generation is almost upon us. With just over two weeks to go until the referendum, Close the Gap launched a new working paper ‘Women and work: What comes next in a post-referendum Scotland?’ at a Constitutional Café event with Engender, Electoral Reform Society Scotland, and Scottish Women’s Aid last Saturday. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the implications for women and work in the context of the independence debate, to describe what needs to happen to effect positive change, and to identify the levers that are available in the event of either outcome.
We already know women face a multitude of barriers and inequalities in the labour market. The gender pay gap remains stubbornly high at 13% in a labour market characterised by persistent occupational segregation, with women clustered into low-skilled, low-valued, and low-paid work at one end of the scale, and denied access to the top roles at the other. Women overwhelmingly shoulder the burden of care, for children, older people and disabled people, and often find themselves faced with downward occupational mobility on returning to work after maternity or other care leave.
Women and the referendum (Indyref Thursday #6)
In the run-up to our event on 'gender equality, the referendum and beyond', we'll be publishing a weekly blog to correspond with our 'Scotland's futures' briefing papers series. This week, Engender policy manager Jill Wood writes on the implications of the referendum for the women's movement .
The referendum context has generated much thinking about alternative visions of society across civic Scotland, and the difference that constitutional change might make for marginalised groups. Engender has not taken a position on a preferred outcome, but we have been analysing the implications from women’s rights and gender equality angles, providing platforms for debate and consulting with our membership and wider stakeholders for over two years.
Guest blog: Indyref, women and politics (Indyref Thursday #5)
In the run-up to our event on 'gender equality, the referendum and beyond', we'll be publishing a weekly blog to correspond with our 'Scotland's futures' briefing papers series. This week, guest blogger Ann Henderson considers gender implications in terms of politics and power.
When reviewing the statistics for political representation for women in the UK and in Scotland, we have rightly been proud of the progress made when the Scottish Parliament was established. In 1999 our Parliament sat 4th in the world rankings on parliamentary representation, with 37.2% of our new Parliamentarians being female.
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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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