Engender blog

Holyrood 2026 - Calling on candidates to invest in women

Ahead of the 2026 Holyrood Elections on 7th May, we’ve created a tool for you to use to contact candidates standing for the 6 main political parties in your area, to ask them if they’ll commit to investing in women to transform our communities. Enter your postcode to use the form below, where you can quickly send our template email to your local candidates (if their email addresses are available) or customise it to add any info you would like.To start, enter your postcode:

Building an intersectional feminist future for Scotland

Guest Post: Why we need an integrated health care strategy for women

Women and girls face significant barriers to good mental and physical health in Scotland. Health issues that disproportionately affect women, or affect women differently to men, have historically lacked funding and professional focus, meaning that women’s health needs are not equally prioritised and understood across health services and more broadly.

Free International Women’s Day Print

Guest Post: Gen Z, the promise of progress, and the persistence of patriarchy

Against the backdrop of the rise in online misogyny and far-right politics, young women are increasingly concerned about a regression in their human rights. In this guest blog, MSc student Matilda Fairgrieve interrogates Gen Z’s socially active image and shares her perspective as part of a digitally divided generation.

“We can’t win here with someone who looks like her”: How we’re working to tackle barriers and improve women’s representation in politics

As part of Engender’s work on equal representation, we’re sharing this look into our recent research on women’s experiences in politics and how parties in Scotland are using positive action measures.

A step forward for women’s equality as two-child limit set to be scrapped

After almost a decade of campaigning by Engender and other women’s and equalities groups, the UK Government has announced that the two-child limit will be scrapped from April 2026.

Engender launches report on how parties can take action to get more women elected

Today, Engender launches our new report “Beyond Promises: What works in getting more women elected”, exploring the use and impact of gender quotas and other Positive Action Measures (PAMs) in Scottish political parties. Find out more about the report below. 

Engender statement on the weaponisation of violence against women and girls

We are increasingly alarmed at the way women’s rights and safety are being weaponised to demonise minorities across the UK. This kind of distortion of the facts only causes harm to individuals and communities and does nothing to end violence against women and girls.  

As Engender, we want to add our voice to calls for action against the spread of hate and misinformation, and for protection and safe and legal routes to be provided for people fleeing war and crisis to the UK. We also want to express our solidarity with racialised and other minority communities who are being made to feel unsafe by hate speech, incitement of violence and far-right protests, including here in Scotland. 

Invitation to Tender: Equal Representation 2025/26 Candidate Research.

Engender’s Equal Representation in Politics Project aims to help create a Scotland where there is sustainable equal representation of women in all their diversity in politics, ensuring women’s perspectives shape decision-making, reducing gender inequality, and creating better outcomes for women and society.

Engender launches report on women’s experience of the election process 

Today, Engender has launched a new report: Women’s political journey: Exploring the election process and women’s experiences of abuse, exclusion and bias, including vital recommendations for improvement. Find out more about the report below.

 

29 Organisations Urge Police Scotland to Reject “Disgraceful” Abortion Investigation Guidelines

This week, we united with 28 other women’s rights, health, and human rights groups to condemn UK police guidance that subjects grieving women experiencing pregnancy loss to criminal investigation.

Guest Blog: Gender and precarity in the 21st century workplace – universities and beyond

Even before the pandemic, women’s employment was increasingly precarious. Work from our sisters at Close the Gap shows that women are more likely to be in insecure work, on zero hours or temporary contracts, and are two-thirds of workers earning less than the real living wage. Black and minoritised women are overrepresented in precarious work, and are more likely to be on zero hours contracts.  Today on our blog, researchers Dr Lena Wånggren and Dr Cécile Ménard share their work on the gendered impact of job insecurity and precarity, and why we need to make women’s unpaid, unrecognised work visible. Illustrations throughout are by Maria Stoian.

Guest Blog: Why do older women in Scotland experience further financial inequality?

Women experience high levels of pension inequality, due to women’s care responsibilities, part-time work, occupational segregation, the gender pay gap and maternity and gender discrimination at work, reducing women’s access to both state and private pensions. In this guest blog, Louise Brady from Independent Age explores the links between state pensions and gender inequality, what we can learn from the Older People’s Economic Wellbeing Index, and what needs to change.

Supreme Court Judgment

At Engender it will take us time to fully assess the implications of the lengthy and complex judgment released today by the Supreme Court. We will share further reflections in due course.

Joining Up Policymaking to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls

Free Feminist Artwork...

We’ve a wee surprise for you this International Women’s Day...

We’ll be sending out a stunning limited edition A6 print to every Engender member, created by fabulous local designer, Madeleine Leisk.

3 Steps to Achieving Primary Prevention in Housing

We’ve published the second in our series of mini-briefings shining a spotlight on how to achieve a primary prevention approach in different areas of public policy with this new briefing highlighting why ensuring women’s access to safe, secure and quality housing is essential for advancing women’s equality and preventing VAWG once and for all.

Why we need better data collection to improve women’s representation

We’ve written to the Minister of State for Women and Equalities, Annelise Dodds MP, calling on the UK Government to enact Section 106 of the Equality Act 2010.