Engender blog
All of Engender’s latest news. Reports, reviews, books, articles, and information from across Scotland’s women’s sector.
We would love to hear from other feminists around Scotland. Check out our guidelines for more information on how you can blog for us.
Incorporating CEDAW - what a new human rights bill could do for women in Scotland
Last week marked the start of Incorporation Fortnight – a two week campaign led by the Human Rights Consortium Scotland focused on human rights incorporation and a new human rights law for Scotland. In this blog, our Policy and Parliamentary Manager Eilidh Dickson explores incorporation of CEDAW and what it could mean for women in Scotland.
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Just before the May 2021 election, the then Scottish Government announced its intention to bring in a new human rights bill in the next parliament that would serve as a new human rights framework for Scotland.
Following years of work by the Taskforce on Human Rights and the Advisory Group on Human Rights, the Scottish Government accepted the recommendation that such a Bill should incorporate a range of international human rights treaties, including the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Most parties shared this commitment at the election and work on the bill is imminent.
Engender has long called for incorporation of CEDAW into Scots Law (read our report here) and we're excited to get to work on the bill process because of the opportunities we see for progressing substantive equality between women and men in Scotland. In this blog, we set out further what incorporation is and could mean for women in Scotland.
Tell us about your experiences of workplace sexual harassment
Over the past year, Engender have been thinking about what needs to change to eradicate sexual harassment at work. Now we are asking women in Scotland to tell us about their experiences of sexual and sexist harassment in the workplace.
We outlined our approach to this project in a blog post in April 2021, which has included convening an Expert Working Group to generate policy recommendations aimed at preventing and better responding to harassment; commissioning a literature review on anonymous reporting of sexual harassment; and engaging with women with lived experience of harassment.
Women’s experiences of sexual harassment in Scotland
Harassment tends to be normalised in the workplace and beyond, meaning that many women doubt that their experiences are serious enough to report, or that they happened at all. Behaviours constituting harassment tend to be minimised, with the suggestion being that women have invited it in some way or that it is harmless ‘banter’. Of course, this is never the case.
Supporting Political Parties to achieve Equal Representation in Politics
Political parties have a unique role in achieving equal representation at all levels of government. Engender have been working with partners on the Equal Representation Coalition to develop the Equal Representation in Politics Toolkit, a set of resources to support political parties to assess their current practice and to become as inclusive as possible. The ultimate goal is to see more women, minority ethnic, LGBTI and disabled people get involved, become candidates and get elected. Here, our Equal Representation Development Officer Jessie Duncan writes about representation in Scottish politics and how the Toolkit can support parties to be proactive within their own structures to increase diverse representation.
When it was formed in 1999, Holyrood raised the bar for gender equality in political representation in Scotland (and the UK) with women making up 37.2% of MSPs, reaching a high of 39.5% in 2003. Then followed three successive elections of decline and stagnation, with figures hovering in the 33-35% range.
The early promise of Holyrood as a place where politics can better represent the communities it serves feels alive again after the 2021 election. Significant strides have been made in some areas, with women making up a record 45% of MSPs including the first two women of colour and the first permanent wheelchair user. These are gains to be celebrated, however they did not happen by accident.
Free period products, when and where we need them
In this blog, Engender's Communications and Engagement Manager, Alys Mumford, talks about our continuing work to ensure access to free period products.
A common trope seen in film and TV is a woman being caught short in a nightclub toilet and being met with dozens of new friends proffering tampons and pads. And while I do have experience on both sides of this scene, I also have memories of sneaking a pad up the sleeve of my school jumper when going to the loo, wearing a hoodie tied round my waist on a freezing day in case I was leaking, using a code word to talk about tampons on holiday (‘cereal bars’ in case you’re wondering, and no I can’t remember why), and stressing out when a borrowed tampon had an applicator which I’d never used before.
Lack of access to appropriate period products can also lead to girls missing school, women having to take days off from paid work, people using unhygienic alternatives such as newspaper, and withdrawing from leisure activities.
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.
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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