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.
Proxy voting and making politics work for women
-400.png)
In the week that a year-long proxy voting pilot scheme was launched in the House of Commons, our Policy and Parliamentary Manager Eilidh Dickson reflects on what the move means for women and considers whether it's time for Holyrood to do the same.
Just this week Tulip Siddiq became the first MP vote by proxy in the House of Commons while on maternity leave following the birth of her second child. So aware of the importance of the moment, her colleague Vicky Foxcroft wrote ‘Tulip’ across her hand to make extra sure she wouldn’t slip up and forget to cast her colleague’s vote.
What's in it for women? Scottish Government Budget 2019-2020
Our Policy and Parliamentary Manager Eilidh Dickson has collated a gender edit of the Scottish Government Budget for 2019-2020, released at the end of 2018. You can read the gender edit here, and in this blog she breaks down the implementation of new budget processes and the potential impact of Brexit:
This year’s Scottish Budget is a little different. For one thing, it’s the Budget that’s come at the Brexit crunch point, where constitutional and economic uncertainty is at its peak. The Finance Minister, Derek Mackay, has been clear that in the event of ‘no deal’ he’ll have to take another look at the spending plans to respond to contingency costs and possibly deliver a supplementary budget.
Guest post: Reflections on the Intersection Between Race and Gender in Public Life
Briana Pegado is the Founder and Director of the Edinburgh Student Arts Festival. During Black History Month she appeared on a panel to discuss the film Confirmation, which tells the story of Anita Hill's testimony against Supreme Court Nominee Clarence Thomas.
Here, she reflects on the themes raised by the film.
Guest Post: Bold with Banana Foams, Fragile like Terracotta
-400.png)
Today on the blog we are marking #16daysofactivism and hosting an anonymous piece, reflecting on the writer's lived experience of emotional abuse and coercive control. This piece is a response to a recent workshop for survivors at the Glasgow Women's Library. You can find out more about Glasgow Women's Library and view their upcoming programme of events here.
They told me to make a balloon, to colour with all the shades of dawn, to draw the smells of a forest in autumn, to go ice-fishing, to set up my own household. But you’d punctured that balloon and deflated my life: deprived me of the smells of the forest, melted the ice in case it might bring me joy, and I’d already wasted six months designing our household, except I didn’t realise that household was only meant for you, that it was built on eggshells, shaped exactly for you and your moods – a room specifically for those, even. A room for your heavy breathing and stern frowns and eyes that will cut right through a person. A room I would have once used for my paintings (but you told me you’d never want one of those so I threw away the one I was secretly working on for your birthday).
Guest post: #MeToo: just how tedious can it get?
-350.jpg)
In the year since #MeToo became the most talked about hashtag on the internet, we've seen high profile men exposed as abusers, and women shamed for speaking the truth.
This guest blog from an Engender member who wishes to remain anonymous explores the legacy of #MeToo and the reality of violence against women in Scotland.
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.
Newsletter
Sign up to receive our newsletter here:
Sign up to our mailing list
Receive key feminist updates direct to your inbox:
