Engender blog
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.
Women and equality: 100 days until indyref
It’s one hundred days until the referendum vote, and today more
than one hundred women will hear the female members of the Scottish cabinet speak
about their ambitions for gender equality in an independent Scotland.
Scotland can take pride in the fact that women occupy 40 per cent of the seats around the cabinet table in Bute House, and in the individual commitment of the female cabinet secretaries to seeing other women flourish. They will be hoping that their words inspire women inside Dynamic Earth, and across Scotland, to decide where to place their cross come September.
The event comes as focus on women’s voting intentions sharpens. Much digital ink has been spilled in an effort to interrogate women’s attitudes to independence, and to get underneath our current preference for straddling the fence and leaning towards a no vote. Some commentators have decided that women are just ineffably different, but certainly slower to make up our minds, and less likely to take risks.
Event on 'welfare reform' and gender
Last week we held an event at Holyrood to discuss our paper on ‘welfare reform’ and gender. This is a joint piece of work* that tells a story about why women are penalised by this agenda in so many different ways and turns to how we might address the gender impact.
Launching our joint paper on gender and 'welfare reform'
Today Engender is launching a joint position paper on gender and ‘welfare reform’, in collaboration with Close the Gap, Scottish Refugee Council, Scottish Women’s Aid, Scottish Women’s Convention and Zero Tolerance.
Guest post: Scottish Women in Sport
The statistics are damning. While 70% of boys participate in regular exercise, reports suggest that the figure for girls could be as low as 31%, with only 12% of 14-year-old girls taking the recommended amount of activity.
The knock-on effect on long-term health, self-esteem, education, and success in the workplace suggest that something has to be done to ensure there are more opportunities for females of all ages in Scotland to embark on a more active lifestyle.
That was why the Scottish Women in Sport charity was launched at the end of 2013, with the aim of educating young girls on positive life choices, breaking down media stereotypes, creating a strong voice to lobby and raise awareness, highlight positive role models, influence decision makers and encourage increased commercial investment into all sports that include women.
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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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