Engender blog

Stay up to date with Engender's work in Europe

Engender sits on the United Kingdom Joint Committee on Women, which represents the UK at the European Women's Lobby. In June our director Emma Ritch was in Brussels for the European Women's Lobby General Assembly and here, she talks about the importance of our work with our feminist sisters across Europe.

We know that Brexit is on the minds of women in Scotland at the moment. The Conservative leadership campaign that will select the next UK Prime Minister has brought a lot of fears to the surface about immigration, women’s rights, care, and the economy.

Brexit was also on the agenda of the European Women’s Lobby general assembly, which I attended along with colleagues from sister organisations in Wales, Northern Ireland, and England. Together Engender, Northern Ireland Women’s European Platform (NIWEP), Women’s Equality Network Wales, and England’s National Alliance of Women’s Organisations makes up the UK Joint Committee on Women. We are the UK representation to the Lobby, which is the largest umbrella body of feminist organisations in Europe.

Guest Post: Contraception information and consent - two sides of the same coin?

As discussions around schemes which offer women support on the condition they utilise long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) continue, we'll be hosting a series of blogs by Elspeth Wilson discussing her research into how LARC has historically been - and continues to be - used to control the fertility of marginalised people. Read Elspeth's previous blog here.

In her second blog, Elspeth discusses ideas around informed consent.

Guest Post: Why contraception needs a Me Too moment

As discussions around schemes which offer women support on the condition they utilise long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) continue, we'll be hosting a series of blogs by Elspeth Wilson discussing her research into how LARC has historically been - and continues to be - used to control the fertility of marginalised people.

In this first blog, Elspeth discusses ideas around contraception and consent.

I am being told for the third time in a row that there is no possibility that the coil I have fitted could be causing any of the repeated vaginal discomfort and infections that I have been experiencing for months. I explain, again, that I previously had a coil before and that this was the only other time in my life where I had consistent infections but that, because it was my first time using a coil, I had been more easily placated when told there was no possible link. Now, faced with the same difficulties (which ironically made the point of the contraception moot in the first place due to the severe irritation) my literal lived experience of my body caused me to suspect that the coil was the cause of my woes.

Scotland & the European Elections: What's in it for women?

As Scotland prepares to go to the polls in the European Elections on 23rd April (you can find out who the MEP candidates in Scotland are here), we've looked at the manifestos to create a gender summary of what's in it for women.

“Unexpected.” “The election that no one wants.” “The chance for Scotland’s voice to be heard.”

Britain’s last-minute decision (if it can be called a decision) to take part in the 2019 European Election has caught many of our political parties off guard. In the scramble to find candidates willing to fight an election on the key issue of our times and possibly take up a role as an MEP due to cease with the new Brexit date on 31 October, the elections on the 23rd of May still feel a rather distant prospect.