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All of Engender’s latest news. Reports, reviews, books, articles, and information from across Scotland’s women’s sector.
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Honouring Emma’s Legacy
We’ve been overwhelmed, and so touched, at the tributes which have been left for our Executive Director, Emma Ritch.
From the Turkish Women’s Lobby who worked with Emma on protecting the Istanbul Convention, to people who attended Rape Crisis Scotland volunteer training with her many years ago, it’s clear that Emma’s impact on feminism went far beyond her (incredible) feminist policy work with Engender.
We're relieved that Emma’s wit, her love for stationery, and her strategically deployed eyebrows also didn’t go unmentioned in people’s messages of condolence.
But by far the clearest message throughout the tributes left for Emma, though, was the need to continue her legacy. Emma was an inspirational woman, but she would be the first to say she was just one small part of a broad movement for change. Everything she did, she did standing on the shoulders of our feminist mothers, aunts, and big sisters.
Many people have been in contact asking about memorial services, commemorative awards, and other ways to honour Emma’s memory, and the Engender board will be discussing these with Emma’s family in the coming months. For now, though, Emma’s legacy will be that we continue, with compassion but a steely intent, her work for women’s equality and rights.
There is still so much to do. The commitment to incorporate CEDAW into Scots Law, surely one of Emma’s greatest achievements, needs to be seen through. Supporting intersectional feminism in Scotland, to ensure that no woman is left behind. And the vital work of gender mainstreaming, of making sure that Equality Impact Assessments have teeth, and the constant fight for good data gathering.
But one of Emma’s last acts at Engender was to speak to journalist Karin Goodwin at the Ferret about the future of democracy in Scotland, and we thought it was fitting to end on Emma’s own words:
"Advocates for women’s equality have to be optimists.
Complacency is one of the biggest things standing in the way, but we know that there is huge appetite for doing things differently among the women of Scotland. Change takes time, but movements like Me Too, Black Lives Matter, and Say her Name, are chipping away at the pillars propping up our unequal society.”
We will continue the fight for justice in honour of, and spurred on by memories of, our brilliant Executive Director Emma Ritch.
Love and sisterhood,
Engender's staff team and Board of Directors
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Emma’s tribute page will remain open for people to leave their memories and words of condolence, and you can share yours here: engender.org.uk/rememberingemma
Donations:
If you would like to leave a donation in Emma's memory, details of the two charities chosen by Emma's family are:
Glasgow Women's Library
Donations can be made via the donations page on the GWL online shop. People will be able to donate via PayPal, and Emma can be named in the 'order notes' field.
British Heart Foundation
Donations can be made in memory of Emma online, by phone or by post. Full details are here.
Covid-19 and Mental Health
Engender has been working with Close the Gap, and other women's organisations across the UK, to carry out some polling work to see how Covid has impacted on women's lives. We published the our first findings from this study - focusing on the impact on women with childcare responsibilities - back in March and you can read it here. Our next report looks at the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on women's health.
This week marks Mental Health Awareness Week, in a year which has seen women's mental health be challenged like never before. The bereavement, trauma and isolation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, combined with the massive increase in unpaid work done by women including home-schooling, stepping in where social care visits were stopped, and emotional support for friends and family, has impacted on all of our mental wellbeing.
As part of our work for a gendered recovery, we carried out a survey on the impacts of COVID-19 developed alongside Close the Gap, the UK Women’s Budget Group, Fawcett Society, Women’s Equality Network Wales, and Northern Ireland Women’s Budget Group. The survey was carried out by Survation between 18-27 February 2021 across the four nations in the UK.
Engender recommends 2020
Over the past years we've had to privilege of chatting to some brilliant women for our On the Engender podcast. This year, we asked guests to leave us with a recommendation - from further policy reading, to must-follow twitter accounts.
Here's what's been recommended in 2020:
F-words: The Many Languages of Transfeminism
Harry Josephine Giles is from Orkney and lives in Leith. Their latest book is The Games (Out-Spoken Press), shortlisted for the 2019 Saltire Prize for Best Collection. They have a PhD in Creative Writing from Stirling, co-direct the performance platform Anatomy, and are touring the poetry-music-video show Drone internationally. Here, they write about the history of 'transfeminism' as a word, and as a movement. Find out more about Harry Josephine at www.harryjosephine.com.
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Like so many of the best things, there’s no definite answer as to when the term “transfeminism” was first coined, and it’s gone by many names before and since. After all, transness — the experience and politics of deviating from social gender norms — has long been part of feminism, since before either “trans” or “feminism” had a name. Emi Koyama’s Transfeminist Manifesto, which was published in 2001 and did much to popularise the term, argues that transfeminism’s primary principle is bodily autonomy, the idea that each of us has the right to make decisions regarding our own bodies, identities and expressions. Through this, Koyama says, “transfeminism embodies feminist coalition politics in which women from different backgrounds stand up for each other, because if we do not stand for each other, nobody will”.
F-words: Words against stereotypes
Juliana da Penha is a freelance journalist and founder of Migrant Women Press, an independent media organization about women’s experiences with migration. Here she blogs for us about the stereotyping of migrant women, and the power of words to challenge that. Follow Migrant Women Press on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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What is the first word that comes to your mind when you think about migrant women?
If you are used to the mainstream media coverage about migration, while reading news about this topic, you will probably find the prevalence of some words. What are the implications of these words on the collective understanding of migrant experiences? More importantly, what is the impact of these words on women’s experiences with migration?
It’s a fact, exposed mainly by organizations focused on gender and migration, that the issues migrant women face are underreported. Although many scholars and migration specialists emphasize the phenomenon of “feminization of migration”, migrant women stories are invisible in the mainstream media coverage. Though, when we see news about them, what words are related?
In a quick Google search, I found words like “vulnerable”, “problem”, “difficult”, “exploited”, “crisis”, struggle”.
RSSDownloads
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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