Engender blog

Engender launches a report on gender equality and the independence debate

Today we are launching our report 'Gender Equality and Scotland's Constitutional Futures', to coincide with International Women's Day.

Every year Engender members, colleagues from the women's sector, and feminists from different walks of life celebrate IWD at our annual conference.

This year the focus of discussions will be around two key questions:

• What does the current heightened focus on how we do politics in Scotland mean for gender equality and women's rights?
• And how can feminists in Scotland use the platform of the independence debate to make progress on a diversity of issues, come what may on 18 September?

The report considers these questions in terms of economic, political and cultural life in Scotland, sketching out the policy landscape and looking at whether power and responsibility currently lie with Westminster or Holyrood.

Within this, a spectrum of issues are covered and while hardened policy types may well care to read from cover to cover, the policy chapters also aim to be something of a reference guide on key gender perspectives over the coming months – whether on employment, violence against women, social security, stereotyping or women’s representation in politics.

The final chapters look at the implications of the status quo and independence for gender advocacy and offer some commentary on the politics of the debate.

At Engender, we want to use the opportunities that the referendum presents to get women’s voices heard, and to balance the overwhelming spotlight on macro issues that many women in Scotland find alienating and even tedious.

The debate has recharged our thinking about how we might effectively tackle inequality and discrimination, and achieve the change we want to see – now we want to encourage the campaigns, commentators and the public to join in and to keep pushing for more attention to social issues that relate to communities and to the day to day.

Download the report

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