Women’s rights

Before the Ballot - Why Candidate Assessment is a crucial step on the journey to more equal representation in politics

Blog – Mar 26, 2024: With partners in the Equal Representation Coalition, Engender is launching a brand new chapter of the Equal Representation in Politics Toolkit focusing on Candidate Assessment.

Engender Parliamentary Briefing International Women’s Day 2024 - #InspireInclusion

Mar 7, 2024: Ahead of this year’s Scottish Government International Women’s Day debate, we ask all MSPs to #InspireInclusion by highlighting the action still required to achieve equal representation for women and all marginalised people in public, cultural and political life. In the majority of spaces where decisions are made, men remain dominant while women are excluded, and as a result, sexism is perpetuated across public life.

Engender submission of evidence to the Scottish Parliament Health, Social Care and Sport Committee call for evidence on the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill

Jan 10, 2024: Engender has worked on access to abortion care since 2016 and the devolution of this policy area to the Scottish Parliament. During that time, we have identified issues relating to abortion law, access and care that serve to undermine women’s experiences of abortion and impede the full realisation of women’s human rights in Scotland. As such, we recognise the increasing need for this legislation and are strong in our overall support for the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Bill. We want to ensure that the Bill provides women and healthcare workers with the strongest possible protections, whilst remaining human rights compliant.

Date of publication: January 2024.

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence

Nov 28, 2023: This is a briefing for MSPs ahead of the Scottish Government debate marking the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence in 2023. We welcome this debate as an opportunity for all MSPs to call for a primary prevention approach in all Scottish policymaking. A Scotland free from violence and abuse is possible. However, more strategic action and sustainable investment are urgently required to realise this.

An Overview of VAWG and the Role of Public Policy in Scotland in Prevention

Nov 28, 2023: This briefing paper examines the prevalence of VAWG and gender inequality in Scotland and highlights the urgent need for integration of a primary prevention approach within the Scottish policy landscape. VAWG is not only a justice or equalities policy issue, but one that all policymakers – regardless of their area of work – must play a role in preventing and ultimately eradicating.

Date of publication: November 2023

Making the case for decriminalising abortion

Blog – Oct 24, 2023: Regulation of abortion care in Scotland is in urgent need of modernisation, with the current framework acting as a drag on services and as a barrier to timely access.

Engender response to the Scottish Government consultation on A Human Rights Bill for Scotland

Oct 11, 2023: Engender welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Scottish Government’s consultation on a Human Rights Bill for Scotland. We have long called for the incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). While recognising the complex legal context, we are calling on the Scottish Government to incorporate CEDAW to the fullest possible extent, whilst being transparent in its decision-making regarding constitutional limitations. It will be critical for further detailed and meaningful consultation to be undertaken on many of the implications of this Bill and we would urge the Scottish Government to see this specific consultation as the beginning, rather than the end or entirety of its consultation process.

Date of publication: October 2023

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: The Two-child Limit

Oct 6, 2023: This is a briefing for MSPs ahead of the Scottish Government debate on reversal of the UK Government's Two-Child Benefit Limit. We fully support calls to scrap the two-child limit at the UK level, which harms women and children across Scotland, directly pushing many into deeper poverty. In Scotland, we support calls for the Scottish Government to invest in mitigating the UK Government’s policy on grounds of equality and human rights.

Date of publication: October 2023.

Sex & Power in Scotland 2023

Sep 27, 2023: Sex and Power 2023 sets out the extent of men's over-representation in positions of power in Scotland.

Date of publication: July 2023

Call for expert working group on decriminalisation of abortion accepted by Scottish Government

Blog – Jul 26, 2023

Engender response to the Scottish Government consultation on reforming the criminal law to address misogyny

Jul 26, 2023: Engender welcomes the opportunity to respond to this consultation on reforming the criminal law to address misogyny. Misogynistic behaviour, harassment and abuse continue to significantly constrain the choices and freedom of women and girls while violating their human rights. These types of behaviour, along with all other forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG), continue to occur at endemic levels in Scotland.

Date of publication: July 2023.

Draft Regulations for the Scottish Specific Duties of the Public Sector Equality Act

Jun 26, 2023: In preparing our response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the public sector equality duty in Scotland, Engender worked to develop a set of draft regulations with Nicole Busby, Professor of Human Rights, Equality and Justice at Glasgow University’s School of Law, and an expert in equality law.

This document compares the original Duty with our proposed recommendations, and sets out some information about why we are proposing this change. The full proposed Draft Regulations are available at the bottom of the document.

Date of publication: December 2022.

Women's economic, social and cultural rights in Scotland

Blog – Apr 14, 2023

Women's sector calls on candidates to go further on gender equality

Blog – Mar 8, 2023

Engender briefing on decriminalisation of abortion for the Scottish Parliament Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Feb 22, 2023: This is a briefing for MSPs ahead of the Scottish Parliament Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee consideration of a new petition to amend the law to fully decriminalise abortion in Scotland on 22nd February 2023. Women’s reproductive rights include the freedom and ability to decide if and when to have children and the right to high standards of sexual and reproductive health. However, women in Scotland currently have no legal right to end a pregnancy. That decision ultimately sits with doctors, two of whom must authorise a woman’s request for an abortion. We urge the Committee to seek further and fuller evidence regarding decriminalisation of abortion following its initial consideration of this petition.

Date of publication: February 2023.

Joint response to the Scottish Parliament Finance and Public Administration Committee Inquiry into Effective Scottish Government decision-making

Feb 10, 2023: Engender, Scottish Women’s Aid and Close the Gap welcome the chance to respond to the Committee’s inquiry into effective Scottish Government decision-making. All three of our organisations have extensive experience working alongside Ministers and civil servants in Scottish Government to create better policy for women’s equality across a broad range of issues. From our experience, we know that entrenched structural inequalities in our public institutions and biases in our decision-making architecture act as a major remaining barrier to equality. All policy and decision making by the Scottish Government and Parliament provide opportunities for us to either adequately address inequality, act in a neutral way, or further compound and entrench inequality. If we do not identify and root out these structural barriers and biases, then at best, the strength of our decision making is compromised, and at worst, we risk doing more harm than good.

Date of publication: February 2023.

How can ICESCR impact women's human rights in Scotland?

Blog – Jan 20, 2023

Seventh periodic report of the government of the United Kingdom on measures taken to give effect to ICESCR - Engender Shadow Report

Jan 20, 2023: This is Engender's shadow report to the 7th periodic report of the UK Government to the UN's Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This shadow report is supported by Back Off Scotland, Carers Scotland, Carers Trust Scotland, Close the Gap, Coalition of Carers in Scotland, Equate Scotland, Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland, Human Rights Consortium Scotland, Inclusion Scotland, National Carer Organisations, One Parent Family Scotland, Rape Crisis Scotland, Scottish Women’s Aid, Scottish Women’s Budget Group, Scottish Women’s Convention, Women’s Enterprise Scotland, YWCA Scotland - The Young Women’s Movement, and Zero Tolerance.

Date of publication: January 2023.

A statement from Scottish civil society organisations on the UK Government’s intervention on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill

Blog – Jan 17, 2023

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: Stage 3 Debate: Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill

Dec 19, 2022: This is a briefing for MSPs ahead of the Stage 3 debate on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill seeks to change the process by which an individual can obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). Engender strongly believes that the paths to equality for trans people and women are interconnected and dependent on shared efforts to dismantle patriarchal systems of oppression. It is only by working together, that we can build a society where we all experience equality and full enjoyment of our human rights.

Date of publication: December 2022.

Women's and Human Rights organisations restate support for Gender Recognition Reform Bill

Blog – Nov 30, 2022

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: Recognising the Vital Role Men Must Play in Challenging and Eradicating Violence against Women and Girls

Nov 30, 2022: This is a briefing for MSPs ahead of the Scottish Government debate marking the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence in 2022 on the theme of 'Recognising the Vital Role Men Must Play in Challenging and Eradicating Violence Against Women and Girls'. Without mainstreaming women’s needs across policymaking and budgeting in an intersectional way, we run the risk of entrenching gender inequality even more deeply and enabling VAWG in Scotland. Engender is calling on all MSPs to recognise their responsibility for stopping violence and discrimination against women across all settings. By embedding a primary prevention approach in public policy, we can achieve a Scotland where all individuals are equally safe and respected.

Date of publication: November 2022.

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: Stage 1 Debate: Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill

Oct 26, 2022: This is a briefing for MSPs ahead of the Stage 1 debate on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill seeks to change the process by which an individual can obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). Engender strongly believes that the paths to equality for trans people and women are interconnected and dependent on shared efforts to dismantle patriarchal systems of oppression. It is only by working together, that we can build a society where we all experience equality and full enjoyment of our human rights.

Date of publication: October 2022.

Engender response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the operation of the Public Sector Equality Duty in Scotland

Sep 13, 2022: Engender welcomes the opportunity to respond to this consultation on the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) in Scotland. For many years we have advocated for substantial reform of the Scottish Specific Duties (SSDs) to ensure that PSED is fit for purpose in bringing equality considerations to the heart of public sector work, and that public bodies are supported in fulfilling their obligations. In light of the re-entrenchment of women’s inequality that has been brought by Covid-19, particularly for women who experience multiple discrimination, this need for vastly improved equality mainstreaming is even more pressing.

We share concerns with many other equalities organisations that the current proposals are not ambitious enough to create the meaningful change that is badly needed. The duties currently in place have not resulted in notable progress for people with protected characteristics and therefore require fundamental revision. The various stages of the review to date have been somewhat superficial and lack the comprehensive analysis of these limitations that we have called for alongside sector colleagues. Stakeholders within the equality sector have extensive expertise to offer, but the engagement process so far has not been designed in a way that makes best use of our expertise. Given an appropriate process that enabled fulsome and thoughtful sharing of expertise, equalities organisations could support Scottish Government to create a set of duties which are both more effective and more enforceable than the current regulations.

In this submission we therefore urge Scottish Government to develop a revised set of duties in co-production with equality stakeholders; to strengthen proposals with a focus on outcomes for people with protected characteristics rather than simplifying the regime for compliance purposes; and to ensure that adequate time is now taken to undertake urgently needed research.

Date of Publication: April 2022

Engender’s shadow report to CESCR: a key tool for promoting a gender-sensitive incorporation of ICESCR and improving women’s lives in Scotland

Blog – Aug 26, 2022: This final blog from student Beatriz Morganti Brandão‎ sums up her work to explore how the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights can be used to protect women in Scotland.

Safe access to abortion services in Scotland

Blog – Aug 19, 2022

Engender response to the consultation on the Proposed Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill

Aug 12, 2022: Engender wholeheartedly welcomes the proposed Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Bill and the opportunity to respond to this consultation. Harassment of women seeking healthcare represents an egregious interference with women’s basic human rights. Engender unequivocally supports women’s autonomy over our bodies and our lives; access to abortion is fundamental to women’s rights and gender equality. Access to safe abortion healthcare is essential for the realisation of women’s economic and social rights.

Date of publication: August 2022.

Exploring legislation on buffer zones in Northern Ireland

Blog – Jul 14, 2022

ICESCR’s incorporation into Scots Law: challenges and opportunities from a women’s rights perspective

Blog – Jul 7, 2022: Engender is excited to be working with student Beatriz Morganti Brandão‎ to explore how the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights can be used to protect women in Scotland. Here she explains more about what she'll be working on.

Engender Response to Committee inquiry into the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill

May 27, 2022: Our views in support of the proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act remain unaltered. We have previously provided detailed feedback through consultation responses to the Scottish Government in 2020 and in coalition with several of our partners in the women’s rights sector in
2018.

We are responding to this consultation primarily due to the links that have been made in public debate, media and elsewhere, between reform of the application process for a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRCs) and women’s equality and rights. We will endeavour to address the Committee’s stated areas of interest in this response. However, beyond the potential intersection of GRCs and the realisation of women's equality and rights, we only have limited comments to make as many of the Bill's provisions and Committee's consultation interests relate to areas of law and policy that do not fall within our remit.

Date of Publication: May 2022

GUEST POST: “Warning” versus “claiming”: the subtle misogyny in media discourse

Blog – May 25, 2022

GUEST POST: Who says what? A breakdown of gender bias in news topics and reporting

Blog – May 19, 2022

GUEST POST: Looking Deeper: Black and Minority Ethnic Women in the Scottish Parliament

Blog – May 13, 2022

GUEST POST: Who are the conversation starters in the Scottish Parliament when it comes to marginalised women?

Blog – May 11, 2022

GUEST POST: Which women are visible in the Scottish Parliament?

Blog – May 10, 2022

GUEST POST: Supporting women to stand for political office

Blog – May 3, 2022

GUEST POST: Why we need diverse representation now

Blog – Apr 27, 2022

Public Sector Equality Duty: Equality Stakeholders' Submission on Common Concerns

Apr 11, 2022: Organisations in Scotland’s equality sector welcomed the Scottish Government’s intention to reform the Scottish Specific Public Sector Equality Duties. Many have been engaging with the Scottish Government on the Review for several years. Reform has the potential to create meaningful change for people with protected characteristics, and our organisations are therefore keen to ensure the Review process is as effective as possible.

We have serious concerns about the direction of the current consultation on the review of the effectiveness of the Public Sector Equality Duty in Scotland. We are keen to work with the Scottish Government in ensuring that any revised duties are as robust as necessary and will lead to real improvements in the lives of people with protected characteristics.

As such, we call on the Scottish Government to adopt a fully-fledged collaborative process, working with equality stakeholders in drafting the revised regulations.

Date of Publication: April 2022

Scottish charities ‘seriously concerned’ about ‘light-touch’ Scottish Government plans to reform equality rules for public bodies

Blog – Apr 11, 2022: Today, Engender joined organisations working for equality and human rights in Scotland, including specialist gender ,race and LGBTI equality organisations, in calling for a rethink in Scottish Government plans to change public bodies’ equality obligations.

GUEST POST: Young women's political representation

Blog – Apr 7, 2022

GUEST POST: Divorce and Women’s Rights in Scottish History

Blog – Mar 29, 2022

GUEST POST: Women and Local Council Elections in Scotland

Blog – Mar 23, 2022

Data & Equality in Politics

Blog – Mar 17, 2022: Engender’s Equal Representation Development Officer Jessie Duncan is kicking us off with an introduction to some of the key issues around data and elections, and why gathering data is vital to achieving equal representation.

Trapped: the call for a more flexible world

Blog – Mar 10, 2022

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: International Women’s Day 2022 - #BreakTheBias

Mar 8, 2022: Engender welcomes this opportunity to mark International Women’s Day 2022 with this briefing and the Parliament’s debate. This year’s theme - #BreakTheBias – aims to highlight conscious and unconscious discrimination against women in all walks of life. Preventing and eradicating violence requires serious action to secure women’s social, economic and cultural equality and the rights of women and girls. UN Women has estimated that the impact of Covid-19 for women’s equality could mean the loss of 25 years’ worth of progress, and Scotland is not immune. Measures to respond to the pandemic have disproportionately affected women’s access to paid work - especially younger women and women of colour - and the volume of care that women provide.

Breaking the structural bias that leaves women poorer, further from power and opportunities and more vulnerable to violence, abuse and harm demands urgent attention and action.

Date of publication: March 2022.

Engender Submission of Evidence to the Scottish Parliament Social Justice and Social Security Committee Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWAG) and Domestic Violence Thematic Session

Mar 2, 2022: Engender welcomes this opportunity to participate in a thematic discussion on violence against women and girls and domestic abuse and ahead of the meeting have outlined here our current work in this area for the Committee. Engender does not provide violence against women services but works across a number of relevant policy domains.

Date of publication: March 2022.

February 2022 - Policy Round Up

Blog – Mar 1, 2022

A Gender Audit for the Scottish Parliament

Blog – Feb 11, 2022: Following the announcement today that there will be a gender audit of the Scottish Parliament, our Policy and Parliamentary Manager Eilidh Dickson reflects on what this means.

January 2022 - Policy Round Up

Blog – Feb 1, 2022

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: Human Rights Day 2021

Dec 9, 2021: Engender warmly welcome this opportunity to mark Human Rights Day 2021 in the Scottish Parliament. Human Rights Day also marks the end of the 16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women, signalling that violence against women is a human rights violation.

As part of our work on women’s human rights, Engender has advocated for the incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), often known as the Women’s Bill of Rights.

Date of publication: December 2021.

Where are the women in Scottish Government plans for a National Care Service?

Blog – Nov 9, 2021

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: Abortion Clinic Buffer Zones

Nov 4, 2021: This is a briefing for MSPs ahead of the Member's Business Debate on Abortion Clinic Buffer Zones. Engender calls for a robust strategy to respond to protests as harassment and abuse towards women, including implementation of buffer zones around clinics, as part of the Scottish Government’s stated ambitions on abortion rights and access to forms of quality healthcare predominantly utilised by women.

Date of publication: November 2021.

Climate Change is a Feminist Issue

Blog – Oct 29, 2021

Engender submission of evidence to the Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland Working Group

Oct 1, 2021: Engender is grateful for this opportunity to submit our views to the Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland Working Group. These comments represent a summary of our existing work on hate crime and challenging misogyny, all of which is publicly available.

Engender, alongside other national women’s organisations, has practical concerns about including gender-based violence against women in the model of hate crime. The Scottish hate crime model protects women who experience crimes motivated by hatred towards them because of their membership of a minority group, including lesbian and bisexual women, disabled women, trans women, and Black and minoritised women. Violence against women is a human rights violation and a cause and consequence of women’s inequality. It occurs at endemic levels in both public and private settings. Misogynistic behaviour, harassment and abuse is a constraint on choice and freedom at significant scale, which demands a credible and appropriate criminal justice response. Simply put, women cannot live a good life while harassment rooted in sexism and misogyny is allowed to inflect our daily reality. Yet gender and ‘hate crime’ is substantially under-theorised and there are limited examples to learn from, including overcoming barriers to effective utilisation of the law to respond.

Date of publication: September 2021

CEDAW: how are the UK and Scottish Governments responding to the recommendations?

Blog – Sep 21, 2021

CEDAW: Follow-up to Concluding Observations 4 nations report

Sep 17, 2021: This submission follows a four-nations shadow report produced for the UK examination in February 2019,1 and draws on evidence submitted by civil society organisations to Engender, Northern Ireland Women’s European Platform, Women’s Equality Network Wales and the Women’s Resource Centre in England. This interim shadow report focuses on the areas of concern indicated by the Committee (at paragraphs 13, 21 and 25).

However, since the CEDAW examination, the Covid-19 pandemic and continued austerity measures mean that women’s lives are likely to have worsened. We have therefore highlighted the impact of COVID-19 and violence against women to assist the Committee evaluate progress reported by the UK Government. We must stress that the UK government did not engage with any of the contributing organisations in the preparation of its report.

CEDAW: Follow-up to Concluding Observations Scotland Report

Sep 17, 2021: This report follows Engender’s engagement with the eighth periodic report of the government of the United Kingdom on measures taken to give effect to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Committee requires the UK Government to report on their progress on four recommendations of particular concern (at paragraphs 13, 21 a) and b) and 25) concerning incorporation, the impact of the UK’s departure from the EU (‘Brexit’) and an oversight mechanism for women’s participation in CEDAW at UK level.

Since the Committee made its observations, however, Scotland like the rest of the world has faced the crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic. Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to control the spread of coronavirus were introduced from March 2020 and, while increasingly relaxed, continue to affect the daily lives of women in Scotland. We have therefore included an overview of the impact of the pandemic and concerns around violence against women.

Incorporating CEDAW - what a new human rights bill could do for women in Scotland

Blog – Sep 9, 2021

Marking 10 years since the Christie Commission

Blog – Jun 28, 2021

Engender submission to the Scottish Government on equality and socio-economic impacts of EU Exit (‘Brexit’)

May 20, 2021: This is Engender's submission to the Scottish Government on equality and socio-economic impacts of EU Exit (‘Brexit’). This submission looks at economic consequences, protections for migrant women, employment and equality protections, replacement funds, and criminal justice, and offers a series of recommendations covering funding for women's organisations and violence against women services, incorporation of women's rights, devolution of equality law, enhanced gender mainstreaming, and mitigation of No Recourse to Public Funds.

Date of publication: May 2021.

GUEST POST: Sex, Relationships and Parenthood – A Network Supporting Young Women and Girls with a Learning Disability

Blog – May 20, 2021

Engender response to the Scottish Government consultation on Abortion notifications and data

May 18, 2021: Engender unequivocally supports women’s autonomy over their bodies and lives and considers abortion access fundamental to women’s rights and reproductive justice. Women in Scotland must have a legal right to choices around family planning, as outlined by the Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which is supported by intersectional and gender-sensitive abortion services, adequate and culturally sensitive information, and support.

Engender supports the proposals to move data collection and notification of abortion to digital practices and to separate the formal notification to the CMO and data collection. In our view, this will reduce the administrative burden on providers of abortion care and on the CMO’s office and enable PHS to develop the most robust data collection possible. While we believe that personal information data collection is a vital component of service delivery analysis and improvement, provision of data should not be compelled or used to police or prevent women’s access to vital healthcare and the provision of this data should be anonymised, secure and freely given for outlined purposes.

Date of publication: May 2021

Engender UN Economic and Social Council High-level Segment Written Statement Submission 2021

May 6, 2021: Engender has submitted this written statement for the 2021 United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) High-Level Segment for non-governmental organisations in consultative status with ECOSOC. This year's priority theme is centred around sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that promotes the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.

Date of publication: May 2021.

GUEST POST: Equality Impact Assessments in Local Authorities

Blog – Apr 26, 2021

GUEST POST: Racism - We reject #NotAll, We demand #NotAtAll

Blog – Apr 16, 2021

Engender response to the Scottish Government consultation on Adult Disability Payment

Apr 7, 2021: Engender welcomes this opportunity to comment on the Scottish Government’s draft regulations for the new Adult Disability Payment (ADP). We have been engaged on work around gender and social security since the 2010 programme of “welfare reform” and over that period we have sought to highlight the ways in which women and women’s equality, safety, access to resources and human rights are all affected by the design and delivery of social security.

Date of publication: April 2021.

Vision for a Feminist Recovery: Engender Manifesto for the Scottish Parliament Election 2021

Apr 2, 2021: This is Engender's Vision for Feminist Recovery manifesto for the 2021 Scottish Parliament Election, including our 8 key asks for a more equal Scotland. Covid-19 pandemic have, and continue to have, significant impacts for women’s wellbeing. Lockdown and an as-yet-unknown scale of economic recession have disrupted women’s support networks, such as childcare, and made their livelihoods more precarious. This crisis will inevitably extend its reach across the next parliament. Reaching our 2030 vision for a gender equal Scotland is not impossible, despite Covid-19. Deliberate and urgent action is required now. We call on Scotland’s political parties to stop women’s equality being set back and support these ambitions to realise a more equal Scotland within this decade.

Date of publication: April 2021.

Our Bodies Our Rights in Lockdown

Blog – Mar 23, 2021

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: Scottish Government Debate: International Women’s Day 2021: #ChooseToChallenge

Mar 3, 2021: Engender welcomes this opportunity to mark International Women’s Day 2021 with this briefing and the Parliament’s debate, which this year coincides with a year since the introduction of public health restrictions in the wake of Covid-19. This year’s theme ‘#ChooseToChallenge”, urges people to call out and challenge gender bias and inequality. Women’s inequality with men demands structural and targeted responses with the aim of disrupting women’s subordination and exclusion in policy, practice, and everyday life. This means understanding the reality of women’s lives, the specific barriers to equality women face, and how multiple forms of discrimination intersect with one another. There is a need to go further and faster to challenge sexism and inequality, unpaid and invisible labour, gender-based violence and harassment, and the undervaluation of women’s work.

Date of publication: March 2021.

Engender response to “Sex and Gender in Data: Collection and publication”; guidance from the Chief Statistician to Scottish Public Bodies

Feb 24, 2021: We welcome the opportunity to respond to this consultation by the Office of the Chief Statistician. A year ago, we submitted “Sex/gender: Gathering and using data to advance women’s equality and rights in Scotland” to the evidence-gathering phase of this work. In it, we outlined the urgent need for public bodies to collect, analyse, and use data to advance women’s equality and rights.

This need for better gender-sensitive sex-disaggregated data has only been further highlighted by Covid-19. In the early phases of the pandemic, which foreshadowed profoundly negative effects for women’s health, careers, and volume of unpaid care, Engender published our own calls to Scottish Government officials on using data about men’s and women’s distinct experiences in shaping its response to Covid-19.

We reiterate these calls here, and comment directly on the guidance from the Chief Statistician.

Date of publication: February 2021

Engender response to the Scottish Parliament Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee consultation on Code of Conduct changes to give effect to the recommendations of the Joint Working Group on Sexual Harassment and Sexist Behaviour

Feb 1, 2021: Engender is pleased to respond to the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee consultation on Code of Conduct changes to give effect to the recommendations of the Joint Working Group on Sexual Harassment and Sexist Behaviour. We continue to support Parliament taking any step open to it to ensure that robust accountability and support systems are in place to prevent sexual harassment, support women who report sexist and sexual harassment, and enable widespread and lasting culture change to realise women’s right to participate fully in political and public life on equal terms with men.

Date of publication: February 2021.

Engender response to the Scottish Parliament Local Government and Communities Committee on the Fair Rents (Scotland) Bill

Dec 17, 2020: Engender welcomes this opportunity to respond to the Scottish Parliament Local Government and Communities Committee consultation on the Fair Rents (Scotland) Bill. We welcome the Bill and support its general principles; recognising that it represents a first step to make rent more affordable for women in the Scottish private rented sector. However, it is our view that the Bill could go further and address the widening gaps between women’s incomes and the amount women spend on rent.

Date of publication: December 2020.

Engender response to the Scottish Government Consultation on the Digital Strategy for Scotland

Dec 17, 2020: Women face myriad barriers to digital access, including possessing fewer digital skills and less digital confidence than men and being more likely to have insufficient resources to afford digital equipment. Where women and girls do have digital access, experiences of online misogynistic harassment and abuse severely impact freedom to make full and equal use of online spaces.

Engender therefore welcomes this opportunity to respond to the Scottish Government Consultation on the Digital Strategy for Scotland. Our view is that digital inclusion can and should encompass action to address the gendered barriers and inequalities that exist for internet non-users and users alike. A strategy that mainstreams these gendered issues will contribute to the advancement of women’s equality and rights

Date of publication: December 2020.

Engender response to the Scottish Government Equally Safe consultation on challenging men’s demand for prostitution, working to reduce the harms associated with prostitution, and helping women to exit

Dec 10, 2020: We welcome the opportunity to respond to this consultation by Scottish Government and particularly its explicit recognition of prostitution as a gendered phenomenon, which is rooted in women’s inequality. In November 2020, the UN’s CEDAW Committee published a general recommendation relating to Article 6 of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). In it, it recommends that states focus on the four root causes of sexual exploitation in women and girls: 1.Systematic gender-based discrimination; 2. Conflict and humanitarian emergencies; 3. Discrimination in migration and asylum regimes; and 4.Demand that fosters exploitation.
In line with Engender’s expertise, our response to this consultation focuses principally on the first of these root causes, which maps onto the primary prevention approach set out in Equally Safe.

Date of publication: December 2020.

Guest Post: Mainstreaming Spotlight - Close the Gap

Blog – Dec 1, 2020

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: Equalities and Human Rights Committee Debate: Valuing the Third Sector

Dec 1, 2020: This is a briefing for MSPs ahead of the Equality and Human Rights Committee debate on Valuing the Third Sector on 1st December 2020.
We welcome the opportunity to share a small glimpse of the impact the women’s sector has had in Scotland ahead of the parliamentary debate initiated by the Equality and Human Rights Committee on Valuing the Third Sector. We also highlight the role of the women’s sector in Scotland in delivering equality and human rights priorities and to reflect on issues raised by the Committee’s report in respect of sustainability and impact during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Date of publication: December 2020.

Guest Post: Mainstreaming Spotlight - Scottish Women's Budget Group

Blog – Dec 1, 2020

Guest Post: Mainstreaming Spotlight - CRER

Blog – Nov 27, 2020

GUEST POST: Mainstreaming ambition

Blog – Nov 23, 2020

What Works for Women: improving gender mainstreaming in Scotland

Nov 23, 2020: Gender mainstreaming is a strategic approach to tackling systemic gender inequality. It was the central recommendation within the UN’s ‘Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action’ in 1995,1 in response to the limitations of policy approaches that are specifically aimed at women. Gender mainstreaming stems from the understanding that gender inequality is socially constructed, and that the sexism inherent to our institutional structures and decision-making must be actively targeted. It aims to ensure that issues around women’s equality are incorporated into the design and delivery of all public sector activity, such that consideration of gender is routinely used to shape policy and practice throughout government and public bodies.

This paper reviews the history of legal mainstreaming duties in Scotland, implementation of its principal mainstreaming policy - the public sector equality duty - and international best practice in gender mainstreaming. It subsequently draws conclusions regarding reform of PSED and recommends new action on mainstreaming by Scottish Government.

Date of publication: November 2020

Engender response to the Scottish Government Consultation on Proposed Changes to Pre-Application Consultation Requirements in Planning

Nov 13, 2020: Engender welcomes this opportunity to comment on the Scottish Government’s proposals for Changes to Pre-Application Consultation Requirements in Planning. In order to ensure that planning processes result in places that are more inclusive, diverse and empowering, communities of women must be involved in planning processes.

Date of publication: November 2020.

F-words: Finn McKay on gender ideology

Blog – Oct 28, 2020

Engender submission of evidence to the Equality and Human Rights Committee call for evidence on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill

Oct 20, 2020: Women’s rights and children’s rights are closely connected, both because of women’s gendered social roles as mothers and caregivers as well as for the protection of the rights of girls and young women. Engender warmly welcomes the UNCRC Bill and the approach the Scottish Government has taken to the incorporation of children’s rights within it. However, we would restate that children’s rights and women’s rights go hand-in-hand, and that guidance and training must be sufficiently gendered in order to protect both girls and young women and mothers and primary caregivers.

Date of publication: October 2020.

Engender and Close The Gap joint response to the Scottish Government’s Proposal to Set Missions for the Scottish National Investment Bank

Oct 13, 2020: Close the Gap and Engender have been engaged in the development of the Scottish National Investment Bank for nearly three years. During that time we have worked with Scottish Government and MSPs to ensure the inclusion of important provisions which require the Bank to mainstream gender equality into all of its functions alongside accountability mechanisms to ensure the Bank prioritises equality in its lending and employment policies.

Based on the proposal document and consultation questions, we are unclear as to how the missions will further women’s equality in Scotland nor how the need to address women’s inequality was integrated into design of the proposed missions.

Date of publication: October 2020.

‘Knowing Me; Knowing You: Is this the best we can do for cohabiting couples?

Blog – Sep 24, 2020

F-words: Gendered language - the Maker movement and its technology narrative

Blog – Sep 4, 2020

Gender Edit of Scotland's Programme For Government 2020-2021

Sep 2, 2020: This gender edit of The Scottish Government’s Programme for Government compiles all references to women, gender and issues with implications for gender equality which appear in the document.

This year’s Programme for Government comes amid the Scottish Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and ahead of the Scottish Elections in 2021. Considerable focus is given to protecting jobs and adjustments or investments in the health and social care system. The Government announced four new Bills to be introduced and the continuation of Bills already introduced ahead of the dissolution for the election next year.

Date published: September 2020.

Engender response to the Scottish Law Commission Aspects of Family Law Discussion Paper on Cohabitation

Aug 27, 2020: This document is a submission in response tot he Scottish Law Commission Aspects of Family Law Discussion Paper on Cohabitation.

Engender’s primary interest is in ensuring that women are not disadvantaged by cohabitation. A system which presumed that equitable asset sharing, or independence of finances did not have long term consequence would not reflect the available evidence. We therefore suggest that any reform to the law be focused on the circumstances of the relationship and the ongoing intentions, responsibilities and practical finances of the parties throughout, with the aim of responding to advantages and disadvantages from the perspective of a fairness principle that allows for ongoing circumstances to be considered, in the same way that s.9 of the Family Law (Scotland) Act treats divorcing couples.

Date of publication: August 2020.

F-words: Beyond a buzzword

Blog – Aug 6, 2020

F-words: Words against stereotypes

Blog – Aug 4, 2020

F-words: Gypsy/Traveller women in Scotland

Blog – Jul 27, 2020

GUEST POST: A recovery plan which works for women also works for the planet

Blog – Jul 10, 2020

GUEST POST: Being a Black Woman in Scotland: A Unique and Complex Experience

Blog – Jun 19, 2020

Covid-19: Gathering and using data to ensure that the response integrates women’s equality and rights

Apr 28, 2020: Covid-19 demands an emergency response. Evidence tells us that in working at pace, governments, agencies, and other public bodies can overlook critical differences between men’s and women’s lives. In the Ebola, Zika, and SARS pandemics, this led to significantly worse outcomes for women and girls. In order to rapidly develop public policy and legislation that works for women, it is imperative that public bodies and agencies, including Scottish Government, analyse and use evidence that captures women’s experiences.

During Engender’s 27-year history, we have worked to advocate for better quality gender-sensitive sex-disaggregated data. We were formed with the purpose of ensuring that the detail of women’s lives was visible, counted, and understood in policymaking processes. In this short briefing we set out the key features of gender-sensitive sex-disaggregated data and what we think this should mean for the data gathered and analysed by Scottish Government and other public bodies at this critical time.

Data matters in our response to Covid-19

Blog – Apr 28, 2020

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: criminal trials during the Covid-19 outbreak

Apr 20, 2020: The Covid-19 pandemic represents a crisis for gender equality around the world and in Scotland. We have already set out in our paper Women and COVID-19 the ways in which Covid-19 places women at increase risks of violence, poverty and inequality and called for gender to by systematically and consistently mainstreamed into our responses to this crisis at every level.

Engender previously called on MSPs and Government to “[e]xplore innovative options to protect women’s access to justice, including juryless trials in the instance of rape and serious sexual assault.” We continue to believe that judge-only trials respect the dignity and rights of women who have experienced gender-based violence, minimises additional trauma of delayed and protracted attempts to seek justice and balance the rights of women and the accused in a proportionate way while our society experiences the present disruption. However, we also recognise that further options have been put forward for the duration of the outbreak and welcome the opportunity here to raise points specific to the possible continuation of jury trials. We are concerned that many of these options will exclude women from participation in jury trials and undermine women’s access to justice by rendering juries less representative of the experiences of Scotland’s population.

Date of Publication: April 2020

Engender submission to the Office of the Chief Statistician on: Sex/gender: Gathering and using data to advance women’s equality and rights in Scotland

Apr 16, 2020: In order to make public policy and legislation that works for women, and that can advance equality and realise women’s rights, it is imperative that public bodies, including Scottish Government, generate and use data that captures women’s experiences. During Engender’s 27-year history, we have worked to advocate for better quality gender-sensitive sex-disaggregated data. We were formed with the purpose of ensuring that the detail of women’s lives was visible, counted, and understood in policymaking processes.
.
In this short submission we are following up on our meeting with the Chief Statistician as part of the Working Group about a Person’s Sex and Gender. In the submission we:

- Set out the connection between gender-sensitive sex-disaggregated data and women’s equality and rights;
- Give our assessment of the key issues around women’s equality and rights and data gathering and analysis in Scotland; and
- Provide our recommendations for:
-- actions to improve data gathering and analysis, and
-- principles and approaches for inclusion in the working group’s statement of principles and guidance3; and
-- Asking questions about individuals’ sex.

Date of Publication: February 2020

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: Coronavirus (Scotland) Bill

Apr 1, 2020: This is a briefing produced by Engender for MSPs debating the Coronavirus (Scotland) Bill on 1st April 2020. It covers how the Bill should include a gendered response to the crisis, and includes a supplementary briefing note asking MSPs to support Amendment 54 which will ensure that decision makers must consider the impact of measures introduced under this Bill on women and other protected groups.

Date of publication: April 2020.

ON THE BASIS OF SEX: Protection against discrimination on the grounds of sex and gender reassignment under the Equality Act 2010

Mar 18, 2020: This paper was written by Professor Nicole Busby, Professor of Equality, Human Rights and Justice, University of Glasgow.

Is was commissioned by Engender for the purposes of setting out the legal provisions relevant to the protection against discrimination available to individuals on the grounds of sex and gender reassignment under the Equality Act 2010 (‘the Act’).

Nothing in this paper should be interpreted as legal advice. Only courts can interpret the law.

Date of publication: March 2020

Engender response to the Scottish Government consultation on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill

Mar 18, 2020: We welcome this opportunity to respond to a consultation on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, because of links that have been made between reform of the application process for a Gender Recognition Certificate and women’s equality and rights.

In this submission we will briefly outline the work that Engender has done in response to the two phases of consultation on reform; our analysis of the direct impact of reform on women’s equality and rights; and our work around some of the issues that have been associated with reform but do not form part of the Bill. In section 4 we respond directly to the questions in the consultation with information and analysis that is most relevant to our work.

Our headline finding is that the proposed reforms to the Gender Recognition Act will not negatively impact on women’s equality and rights.

Date of publication: March 2020

Engender's response to the Gender Recognition Act Reform Bill consultation

Blog – Mar 18, 2020

Our Bodies Our Rights - speech from Christina McKelvie MSP

Blog – Mar 10, 2020

CEDAW: a superhero for women in Scotland

Dec 18, 2019: Often referred to as the ‘women’s bill of rights’, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Violence Against Women (CEDAW) is the UN’s human rights treaty devoted to women; it spells out in detail women’s human right to equality and non-discrimination, which states that have ratified it must then act to realise. CEDAW contains 30 articles, which include minimum standards for women’s rights in work, politics, marriage, education, the economy, and other areas.

This report sets out what happened during the UK's 8th CEDAW examination, and what it means for women's equality in Scotland.

Date of Publication: Dec 2019

Gender Edit of General Election 2019 Manifestos

Dec 4, 2019: This document is a ‘gender edit’ of the manifestos published by political parties in the run up to the snap General Election on 12th December; it pulls out relevant commitments from the manifestos of each of the six largest political parties standing in the General Election in Scotland. The edit includes direct references to ‘women’, ‘sex’, ‘gender’ and ‘equality’, as well as manifesto commitments covering a wide range of policy areas and services of interest to women and which are highly relevant to women’s daily lives. This summary does not offer analysis or critique of policies and commitments.

Date of publication: December 2019.

#GE2019 - what's in it for women?

Blog – Nov 28, 2019

Making women safer in Scotland: the case for a standalone misogyny offence

Blog – Nov 26, 2019

GUEST POST: Brexit - a risk to women's equality, or an opportunity to reshape gender mainstreaming in economic development?

Blog – Nov 1, 2019

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: Charities, Scotland and Holyrood

Oct 30, 2019: This is a briefing ahead of the Scottish Parliament Member's Business Debate on Charities, Scotland and Holyrood on 30th October 2019. Scotland has a thriving and politically engaged women’s sector, comprising organisations that work both independently and collectively to call for substantive changes in policy and practice to advance women’s rights and equality. This briefing highlights just some of the major successes of our campaigning and advocacy work since the Scottish Parliament’s establishment.

Date of publication: October 2019.

Engender submission of evidence to the UK Government Scottish Affairs Committee inquiry on welfare policy in Scotland

Oct 23, 2019: This document is a submission of written evidence to the UK Government Scottish Affairs Committee inquiry on welfare policy in Scotland. This submission was originally made in September 2019, but was not published until mid-October owing to the possibility of prorogation of the UK Parliament.

The design of social security and ‘welfare reform’ has a disproportionate impact on women. Around 20% of women’s total income comes from the benefits and tax credit system, compared with 10% of men’s. Women also rely more on public services, and as a result, up to 86% of net ‘savings’ between 2010 and 2020 will come from women’s incomes, not accounting for additional cost savings sought as a result of upcoming economic changes. Disabled, BME and refugee women, lone parents, unpaid carers and other marginalised groups are at even greater risk of poverty and destitution. We therefore welcome this opportunity to highlight issues relating to ‘welfare’ and social security in Scotland which we hope will help inform the committee’s work.

Date of publication: September 2019.

Engender submission of evidence to the Scottish Parliament Equalities and Human Rights Committee call for evidence on delivery of national equalities and human rights priorities as part of its scrutiny of the Scottish Government’s Budget for 2020-21

Sep 26, 2019: This document is a response to the Scottish Parliament Equalities and Human Rights Committee call for evidence on delivery of national equalities and human rights priorities as part of its scrutiny of the Scottish Government’s Budget for 2020-21.

Engender welcomes the focus of the Equality and Human Rights Committee this year on ensuring that there is both adequate resource to deliver equality and human rights outcomes in Scotland and sufficient scrutiny of how revenue raising and spending relates to these outcomes within and outwith the Budget process.

Date of publication: August 2019.

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: Scottish National Investment Bank Bill Stage 1 Debate

Sep 25, 2019: This is a briefing ahead of the Scottish Parliament Stage 1 Debate on the Scottish National Investment Bank Bill. Engender welcomes this Stage 1 debate on the Scottish National Investment Bank Bill and this opportunity to highlight the potential for the Investment Bank (the Bank) to make a substantial impact on women’s equality. We emphasise the wealth of international evidence that gender equality is a necessary precursor to economic growth in our support for the creation of the Bank. However, for the Bank to deliver meaningful outcomes for women the Bill must enable it to translate Scotland’s ambitions for inclusive growth into gender-competent strategy and execution through firm requirements on its face.

Date of publication: September 2019.

Towards a New Common Chapter

Blog – Sep 24, 2019

Engender response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on incorporation of the UN Charter of Children’s Rights

Aug 29, 2019: Engender welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Scottish Government’s proposals relating to incorporation of the UN Charter of Children’s Rights (UNCRC).

We are fully supportive of intentions to incorporate the treaty into Scots Law and view the UNCRC as the first step in a human rights legal framework for Scotland, one which will include women’s rights both overtly and holistically. We are however concerned that some of the Scottish Government’s proposals would not lead to a comprehensive and rigorous system for the protection of children’s rights. While we recognise that children’s rights and women’s rights are frequently closely connected, we do not consider Engender to have any particular expertise in the UNCRC. We have therefore approached this consultation in its broad themes in order to highlight some key areas of support and concern.

Date of publication: August 2019.

Engender joins forces with over 85 civil society organisations to express concerns about no-deal

Blog – Aug 29, 2019

Guest Post: Exploring contraception as a feminist issue

Blog – Jul 24, 2019

Stay up to date with Engender's work in Europe

Blog – Jul 17, 2019

Engender response to the Scottish Government consultation on a new National Public Health body: 'Public Health Scotland'

Jul 12, 2019: Engender welcomes this Scottish Government consultation on proposals for Scotland’s new national public health body, Public Health Scotland.

Women and men have different experiences and needs when it comes to their health because of the interactions between biological differences, relative access to resources, power, and safety, and cultural norms and expectations. The ability to influence their lives, behaviours and experiences in order to maximise their physical and mental health outcomes is highly contingent on whether an understanding of these gender differences is well integrated into the work of the proposed body and those working in public health.

Date of publication: July 2019.

Guest Post: Contraception information and consent - two sides of the same coin?

Blog – Jul 4, 2019

Guest Post: Why contraception needs a Me Too moment

Blog – Jun 21, 2019

Menopause Matters: Share your experience in our survey

Blog – Jun 12, 2019

Engender Response to the European Commission: Public consultation on Gender equality in the EU – current situation and priorities for future

Jun 4, 2019: This is an Engender response to the European Commission's public consultation to gather opinions of different actors of the current situation of gender equality in the EU and priorities for the next five years.

Date of publication: June 2019.

Engender response to the Scottish Government consultation on disability assistance in Scotland

Jun 3, 2019: Engender has been engaged on work around gender and social security since the 2010 programme of Welfare reform and over that period we have sought to highlight the ways in women, who are twice as likely to rely on social security for their income, have been systemically and grotesquely disadvantaged by reforms.

We therefore welcome this opportunity to respond to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the future of devolved disability assistance within Social Security Scotland. In the UK, women are a small majority of disabled people and, as a group, disabled women are amongst the very hardest hit by welfare reform.

Date of publication: June 2019.

Scotland & the European Elections: What's in it for women?

May 17, 2019: This document contains a summary of commitments made in Scottish party manifestos for the 2019 European Elections that are relevant to Engender's work in advancing and enabling women's equality.

Date of publication: May 2019.

Scotland & the European Elections: What's in it for women?

Blog – May 16, 2019

Engender submission of evidence to the Scottish Parliament Economy, Energy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee Call for Evidence on the Scottish National Investment Bank Bill

May 6, 2019: Engender welcomes this opportunity to provide evidence to the Committee in relation to the Scottish National Investment Bank Draft Bill. We believe that the National Investment Bank (the Bank) can make a substantive impact on women’s equality, provided that it can translate Scotland’s ambitions for inclusive growth into gender-competent strategy and execution. There is now a wealth of international evidence that gender equality is a necessary precursor to economic growth, and Scotland’s economic strategy restates this. However, if the Bank is to address the structural issues underlying women’s economic inequality it must integrate gender equality into every element of its organisation and work.

Date of publication: May 2019.

Scottish women and the vote

Blog – May 2, 2019

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: Social Security Committee Debate on In-Work Poverty

Apr 22, 2019: This is a briefing ahead of the Scottish Parliament Social Security Committee debate on in-work poverty. The design of social security has profound implications for women’s capacity to be in paid work, and in their experience of poverty once they are employed. This is because women are twice as likely to be reliant on social security as men, and have very different experiences of both poverty and the labour market. In their evidence to the committee’s inquiry, Close the Gap highlighted in-depth the multitude of factors which ensure that paid work is not a route out of poverty for women in Scotland. Despite the policy intention behind Universal Credit (UC), its design contributes to trapping women in poverty and exacerbates inequality between women and men.

Date of publication: April 2019.

Engender Briefing: Pension Credit Entitlement Changes

Apr 2, 2019: 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 is concerned that the rule changes have attracted little attention and no gender analysis.

Date of publication: April 2019.

CEDAW: How the UN Women’s Bill of Rights creates possibilities for women and girls in Scotland.

Blog – Mar 29, 2019

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: Condemnation of Misogyny, Racism, Harassment and Sexism

Mar 28, 2019: 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.

Harassment and other forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG) are both a cause and a consequence of women’s inequality. Through our policy and advocacy work we have drawn attention to the multitude of ways in which women’s inequality persists in Scotland and without concerted action to address these, attitudes and actions which replicate sexism and create the conducive context for men’s violence will continue.

Date of publication: March 2019.

Celebrating Scotland's Gender Pay Gap Action Plan

Blog – Mar 14, 2019

CEDAW concluding observations: what do they mean for women in Scotland?

Blog – Mar 13, 2019

CEDAW UK Examination: annotated concluding observations

Mar 13, 2019: On March 8th 2019 the UN CEDAW Committee released their concluding observations following the UK examination in Geneva.

These concluding observations have been annotated by Engender with contextual information that may be of interest.

We have highlighted:

• Mentions of Scotland

• Concluding observation that reflects one of Engender’s key calls, either made through our Scotland shadow report or through the four-nations report produced with WEN Wales, NIWEP, and Women’s Resource Centre.

And added specific details which may be of interest.

Engender response to the Scottish Government consultation on Prisoner Voting

Mar 12, 2019: Engender welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Scottish Government’s Consultation on Prisoner Voting. Equal representation and participation in politics and public life is a key issue within feminist agendas. Given that women are far more likely to receive a short term sentence following a non-violent offence, the current law acts as an unnecessary barrier to women’s participation in public life. It is vital that the nature and gravity of women’s pattern of offending is taken into account in proposed reforms of Scottish election law.

Date of publication: March 2019.

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: International Women’s Day 2019

Mar 6, 2019: This year’s International Women’s Day adopts the theme of #BalanceForBetter and provides an opportunity to reflect on both the ways in which structural gender inequality continues to constrain women’s lives in Scotland, and the political will and action needed to tackle it. Women still carry out the majority of unpaid care and household labour as a result of traditional gender roles. This is one of the factors underpinning the fact that women are still chronically under-represented in elected office and public life, including leadership of private companies, public bodies, and in academia.

Date of publication: March 2019.

Engender response to the Scottish Government consultation on Scottish Hate Crime legislation

Mar 6, 2019: Engender welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Scottish Government’s consultation on how it might respond to Lord Bracadale’s recommendations following his Independent Review of Hate Crime Legislation in Scotland. We engaged substantively with the Independent Review, and took the opportunity it presented to consider the ways in which Scotland might respond to the gendered social phenomenon of misogynistic harassment and what might be characterised as ‘hate speech’.

Date of publication: March 2019.

Women's sector letter to Joan McAlpine MSP

Blog – Mar 1, 2019

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: Census (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill Stage 1 Debate February 2019

Feb 28, 2019: Engender briefing ahead of the debate on the Census (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill. The following briefing highlights our support for the general principles of the Bill at Stage One as well as the emerging consensus around amending the language of ‘gender identity’.

Date of publication: February 2019

4 nations shadow report: CEDAW

Feb 25, 2019: 4 nations of the UK shadow report to the Eighth periodic report of the government of the United Kingdom on measures taken to give effect to CEDAW, the UN Convention on All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Publication date: January 2019

Scotland shadow report: CEDAW

Feb 25, 2019: Scotland shadow report to the Eighth periodic report of the government of the United Kingdom on measures taken to give effect to CEDAW, the UN Convention on All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Publication date: January 2019

Gender Matters and #GenerationEqual: Shifting the needle on equality for women and girls

Blog – Feb 1, 2019

GUEST POST: Abortion Legislation in Latin America

Blog – Jan 29, 2019

What's in it for women? Scottish Government Budget 2019-2020

Blog – Jan 18, 2019

Engender Gender Edit of the Scottish Government Budget 2019-2020

Jan 17, 2019: This document is a ‘gender edit’ guide to the Scottish Government Budget 2019-2020. It provides excerpts which refer directly to women and gender, but also captures sections on equalities and social justice where women and girls in Scotland would be directly impacted.

Date of publication: January 2019.

Scottish Women's Sector Submission to the Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee on the Census (Amendment) (SCOTLAND) Bill

Jan 8, 2019: As a coalition of national women’s equality and violence against women organisations, we welcome the opportunity to submit information to the Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee in respect of the Census (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill.

Date of publication: December 2018.

GUEST POST: On Faith and Feminism

Blog – Dec 19, 2018

GUEST POST: The Unwelcome Feminist

Blog – Dec 17, 2018

Engender submission of evidence to the UK Government Women and Equalities Committee inquiry into abortion law in Northern Ireland

Dec 13, 2018: As Scotland’s representative member on the UK Joint Committee on Women, Engender unequivocally supports women in Northern Ireland’s autonomy over their bodies and lives, and considers abortion access fundamental to women’s rights and gender equality across the whole of the UK. The current law discriminates against and criminalises some UK women based upon their residence in Northern Ireland alone and places the UK Government in breach of its international obligations.

Date of publication: December 2018.

GUEST POST Feminism: Still a taboo?

Blog – Nov 21, 2018

Engender Annual Report 2017-18

Nov 15, 2018: This annual report sets out the work that Engender has been doing over 2017-18 to persuade politicians, policymakers, and those with power and influence across Scotland that gender matters. Our small and dedicated staff team have been working locally, nationally, and internationally to make women’s voices heard in the heart of government, at the UN, and in political and policymaking spaces across Scotland.

Date of publication: November 2018.

Engender Response to the Scottish Government Consultation Protecting Children: Review of section 12 of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 and section 42 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009

Nov 14, 2018: Engender welcomes this opportunity to respond to the Scottish Government’s consultation on proposed changes to section 12 of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 and to outline some of our current research relevant to the potential impacts.

The question of a correct approach to a legislative response to emotional neglect is outwith the scope of our expertise. We are generally supportive of updating the current offence in section 12 in order to better reflect more modern understandings of emotional harm in line with the views of Scottish Women’s Aid. However, we believe that without careful scrutiny and drafting there may be unintended consequences for vulnerable parents.

Date of publication: November 2018.

Our bodies our rights - Identifying and removing barriers to disabled women's reproductive rights in Scotland

Nov 6, 2018: Since 2013, Engender has been working with disabled women and disabled people’s organisations on a project to discuss the key issues facing women and girls in Scotland, and to enable a deeper and richer conversation about reproductive rights.

This report summarises what women have told us about their experiences of reproductive, sexual and parental rights, and makes recommendations to the Scottish Government and other bodies. Throughout the report you will see quotes from women who took part in project activities.

Date of publication: November 2018.

Disabled women’s reproductive rights routinely ignored

Blog – Nov 6, 2018

Our Bodies, Our Rights Easy Read Report

Nov 6, 2018: This is an Easy Read version of our Disabled Women: Our Bodies, Our Rights Report.

Since 2013, Engender has been working with disabled women and disabled people’s organisations on a project to discuss the key issues facing women and girls in Scotland, and to enable a deeper and richer conversation about reproductive rights.

This report summarises what women have told us about their experiences of reproductive, sexual and parental rights, and makes recommendations to the Scottish Government and other bodies.

Date of publication: November 2018.

Our Bodies, Our Rights: Research Report

Nov 6, 2018: Disabled women’s lives and lived experiences have received limited policy attention in the UK, limited visibility, and limited inclusion in mainstream feminisms and feminist projects. Despite increasing movement towards intersectionality and intersectional agendas, disabled people have remained hidden in myriad ways.

As the accompanying policy report ‘Our Bodies, Our Rights: Identifying and removing barriers to disabled women’s reproductive rights in Scotland’ details, there is a lack of robust research examining the lived experiences of reproduction and reproductive rights of disabled women in Scotland.

Date of publication: November 2018.

Visibly Invisible: Our bodies, our voices, our rights

Blog – Aug 24, 2018

Visibly Invisible: Meet the superhumans

Blog – Aug 23, 2018

Visibly Invisible: We are not all the same

Blog – Aug 22, 2018

Visibly Invisible: Where are we at now?

Blog – Aug 21, 2018

Visibly Invisible: Cultural representations of women with disabilites in contemporary scottish and uk media

Blog – Aug 20, 2018

Four things you need to know about CEDAW

Blog – Jul 19, 2018

European Women's Forum: For a feminist Europe

Blog – Jul 13, 2018

Disabled Women: Our Bodies Our Rights

Blog – Jul 11, 2018

CEDAW reports launched

Blog – Jun 28, 2018

Eighth periodic report of the government of the United Kingdom on measures taken to give effect to CEDAW - four nations report

Jun 28, 2018: Eighth periodic report of the government of the United Kingdom on measures taken to give effect to CEDAW.

This is a shadow report from the four nations of the UK. It was produced by Engender (Scotland), Northern Ireland Women’s European Platform, Women’s Equality Network Wales, Women’s Resource Centre (England).

Date of publication: June 2018

On The Engender - The Gender Recognition Act and Women's Equality

Blog – Jun 25, 2018

Should CEDAW be incorporated into Scots Law?

Blog – Jun 12, 2018

CEDAW: How can women's rights be better realised in Scotland?

Jun 12, 2018: The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women (CEDAW) is a UN Convention which was signed by the United Kingdom in 1981, and ratified in 1986. UN conventions are signed by member states only, and therefore Scotland is not a signatory to CEDAW, although many of the women's rights protected by CEDAW fall under legislation which is devolved to Scotland.

Engender comissioned Professor Nicole Busby and Professor Muriel Robison to compile this report to answer the following questions:

- Could CEDAW be incorporated into Scots Law? What would the impact of this be?

- What other legal mechanisms or duties could Scotland create to enable better realisation of CEDAW?

Date of publication: June 2018

Women’s organisations disappointed by Lord Bracadale’s recommendations, seek further dialogue with Scottish Government

Blog – May 31, 2018

Engender Submission of Evidence to the Scottish Parliament Justice Committee on the Management of Offenders (Scotland) Bill Relating to Electronic Monitoring (EM) and its Impact on Women

May 21, 2018: The imprisonment rate for women in Scotland remains one of the highest in Northern Europe. Although it has decreased, approximately 3,000 women are imprisoned each year in Scotland, almost two thirds of whom are detained while presumptively innocent. Though the number of women in prison is decreasing, there continue to be concerns over the criminal justice system’s response to women who offend due to diminished use of alternatives to custody, lack of trauma-informed services, and insufficient funding for community services.

Date of publication: May 2018.

On the Engender: Women in Scotland's criminal justice system

Blog – Apr 4, 2018

Engender Submission to the UN Independent Expert on Foreign Debt and Human Rights Call for Evidence on the Impact of Economic Reforms and Austerity Measures on Woman’s Human Rights

Mar 7, 2018: This is Engender's response to the UN Independent Expert on Foreign Debt and Human Rights call for evidence on the impact of economic reforms and austerity measures on woman’s human rights.

For years, Engender has worked with women and women’s organisations in Scotland to provide evidence on how the UK Government’s economic reform policies are breaching women’s human rights, and to lobby for policy change.
We are very pleased to present some of this evidence here. Our response mainly focused on social security policy, as well as provision of social care, violence against women and legal aid services in the UK.

Date of publication: March 2018.

Scottish Women's Sector Response to the Scottish Government Consultation on Proposed Changes to the Gender Recognition Act

Mar 7, 2018: This is a joint response from national women's equality organisations Close the Gap, Engender, Equate Scotland, Rape Crisis Scotland, Scottish Women's Aid and Zero Tolerance to the Scottish Government's consultation on proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act (2004).

In it, we express broad support for the Scottish Government proposals, confirm our view that the proposals won't undermine the safety and dignity of women accessing women-only services, and make some detailed recommendations around next steps

There will be an event on May 22nd at which all are welcome to come and discuss this consultation response. You can find out more information and book on our events page.

Date of publication: March 2018.

Frequently asked questions: Women’s equality and the Gender Recognition Act

Blog – Jan 29, 2018

Frequently Asked Questions: Women’s Equality and the Gender Recognition Act

Jan 29, 2018: Engender, along with Scottish Women's Aid, Rape Crisis Scotland, Zero Tolerance, Equate Scotland, Close the Gap and the Women 5050 Campaign, have produced a document with frequently asked questions about women's equality and the Gender Recognition Act.

Date of publication: January 2018.

Engender Submission to the Independent Review of Hate Crime Legislation in Scotland

Nov 29, 2017: Engender welcomes the opportunity presented by this independent review to consider the ways in which Scotland might respond to the gendered social phenomenon of misogynistic harassment and hate speech.

The aim of Lord Bracadale’s review is to consider “whether the law should be clarified and harmonised, and whether additional protected groups should be included” . Our submission attempts to reflect on the shape and impact of misogynistic harassment of women in Scotland, and to generate ideas about how this might be disrupted.

Date of publication: November 2017.

Statement in support of the Equal Recognition Campaign and reform of the Gender Recognition Act

Blog – Nov 8, 2017

Disabled Women's Reproductive Journeys

Blog – Oct 12, 2017

Women's and Equalities Sector Response to the Scottish Government Consultation on Socioeconomic Duty

Sep 19, 2017: As a coalition of national equalities organisations, we welcome the opportunity to comment on the Scottish Government’s proposals for the socio-economic duty and the principle of the socio-economic duty itself. We commend Scottish Government for giving serious consideration to addressing socio-economic disadvantage through its ambitions for the socio-economic duty.

Date of publication: September 2017.

Gender Matters in Disability Easy Read Briefing

Sep 1, 2017: Women’s issues are often overlooked by the disability movement. Disability issues are not at the centre of the women’s movement. How then, do disabled women get their issues raised?

Engender and Inclusion Scotland have been working together and with other partners to identify the particular issues of concern to disabled women in Scotland and how these could be addressed.

Date of publication: September 2017.

Gender Matters in Disability Briefing

Sep 1, 2017: Women’s issues are often overlooked by the disability movement. Disability issues are not at the centre of the women’s movement. How then, do disabled women get their issues raised?

Engender and Inclusion Scotland have been working together and with other partners to identify the particular issues of concern to disabled women in Scotland and how these could be addressed.

Date of publication: September 2017.

Engender Response to the Police Scotland Consultation on the ‘Policing 2026 Strategy’

Aug 16, 2017: Engender welcomes this opportunity to submit our views to Police Scotland on the Policing 2026 Strategy. The structure, roles and strategy of Scotland’s police force is of vital importance in both preventing and addressing violence against women and girls, and progressing gender equality in Scotland. In order to deliver actions and services that meet the needs of both men, women, boys and girls, it is vital that any policing strategy takes a gendered approach to how it thinks about the main risks, challenges, opportunities and demands in the Scottish context. We would like to see a police force that puts equality at the heart of its strategy.

Date of publication: August 2017.

Engender Submission to the Scottish Parliament Local Government and Communities Committee Call for Evidence on Homelessness

Jun 19, 2017: Engender welcomes the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government and Communities Committee study on homelessness in Scotland, and its aim to ‘explore the underlying reasons which can lead to a person seeking homelessness services, and whether homelessness prevention services are effectively tackling those underlying reasons for homelessness’.

A review of policy and practice quickly reveals that approaches to tackle homelessness remain ungendered. Women’s experience of homelessness, including their pathways into and out of homelessness, are different from men’s, but poorly studied and understood. As explained by researchers in the UK, while ‘literature has increasingly acknowledged the presence of women amongst the visibly homeless population, it has rarely explored their experiences in any detail or sought to unpack the experiences of visible homelessness through an explicitly gendered perspective’ .

Date of publication: June 2017.

Gender matters in the criminal justice system: 5 years of progress?

Blog – Jun 15, 2017

Postcard from Brussels: Feminist Economics and the European Women's Forum

Blog – Jun 13, 2017

Guest Post: #GE17 - Pam Duncan-Glancy, Scottish Labour

Blog – May 30, 2017

Engender Submission to the Scottish Parliament Social Security Committee Call for Evidence on the Child Poverty (Scotland) Bill

May 9, 2017: Engender welcomes the introduction of the Child Poverty (Scotland) Bill, which ambitiously sets targets to eradicate child poverty by 2030. The introduction of the proposed legislation signals a commitment by the Scottish Government to continue to implement measures to build a fairer Scotland. Though we welcome the Bill, we wish to highlight the importance of understanding the gendered dimension of poverty, as it is our firm belief that understanding and tackling women’s poverty in Scotland will be central to the success of the Child Poverty (Scotland) Bill.

Date of publication: May 2017.

UK General Election 2017: Priorities for Women’s Rights and Equality

Apr 27, 2017: This document details three key asks from Engender for the 2017 General Elections. We are asking all political parties and candidates in across the UK to include the commitments, which will protect and advance women’s equality and rights, in their manifestos.

Date of publication: April 2017.

Guest Post: Gender matters in refugee policy

Blog – Mar 23, 2017

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: International Women's Day 2017

Mar 7, 2017: This International Women’s Day Engender is drawing attention to two overlapping areas of women’s inequality: the persistent glass ceiling that has resulted in women filling only 27% of Scotland’s 3029 positions of power across political institutions, public sector, media and cultural bodies, and corporate world; and women’s persistently high share of unpaid domestic and reproductive labour.

Date of publication: March 2017.

Sex and Power in Scotland 2017

Mar 6, 2017: This report sets out the extent of men’s over-representation in positions of authority and influence in Scotland. In 2017, women still have unequal access to power, decision-making and participation throughout all areas of public life, with men holding 73% of the 3029 positions of power and authority identified.

Date of publication: March 2017.

Engender Response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission Consultation on its Measurement Framework

Feb 17, 2017: Engender welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) consultation on proposed amendments to its measurement framework. Beginning with an overview of the functions of the EHRC, this response proceeds with an overview of the EHRC’s previous framework and the rationale for developing the model under consultation. The response then provides an analysis of the proposed measurement framework and a set of recommendations to the EHRC.

Date of publication: February 2017.

6 reasons you should fill out the Scottish Government Consultation on Social Security (with musical accompaniment)

Blog – Oct 5, 2016

Engender Response to the Scottish Government Consultation on a Child Poverty Bill

Sep 30, 2016: Engender welcomes this opportunity to comment on the Scottish Government’s plans for a Child Poverty Bill for Scotland. We have consistently worked to highlight the inextricable links between women’s economic inequality and child poverty, and this consultation response is based on the need to mainstream gender throughout the development of any new legislation. Women are twice as dependent on social security as men, the gender pay gap persists at 14.8% in Scotland, 62% of workers that earn below the living wage are women, and pervasive violence against women undermines women’s access to resources and financial autonomy. Disabled women, black and minority ethnic (BME) women, lone mothers, unpaid carers, and refugee and asylum seeking women, amongst other groups are particularly at risk of poverty due to their gender and other forms of inequality and discrimination. Statistics show that a small majority of women in Scotland live in poverty, but these only take stock of figures for single-headed households and mask the extent of women’s poverty due to income inequality within many couple households.

Date of publication: September 2016.

Engender Submission to the European and External Affairs Committee Call for Evidence on the Implications of the EU Referendum Result

Sep 1, 2016: This paper sets out the need for effective gender mainstreaming and the inclusion of women’s voices as the Brexit process moves forward, briefly describes current gender equality law to which EU member states are bound under the terms of their membership and Scotland is therefore set to lose, and sets out the impact that this legislation has had on UK policy, and current EU programmes, policies and funding priorities that promote gender equality. In demonstrating what the EU has done and is doing for women, we highlight areas of concern and the need for action to protect women’s rights as the UK negotiates its exit.

Date of publication: August 2016.

Shared Statement of Ambition on Social Care launched

Blog – Jul 27, 2016

Guest Post: A letter to women of the UK from your European sister

Blog – Jun 16, 2016

Engender Briefing: The EU Referendum and Gender Equality

Jun 16, 2016: This briefing paper sets out the current gender equality law to which EU member states are bound under the terms of their membership, the impact that this legislation has had on UK policy, and current EU programmes, policies and funding priorities that promote gender equality. Women’s rights and equality have largely been missing from the EU referendum debate, and we hope that this information will be useful to those who are weighing their vote.

Date of publication: June 2016.

Doing feminism in Europe

Blog – Jun 10, 2016

Where does Scotland stand on women's equality?

Blog – Apr 28, 2016

Guest Post: Protection from harassment in the civil courts

Blog – Apr 20, 2016

Guest Post: 2016 - A new opportunity for Scotland

Blog – Apr 7, 2016

Guest Post: Social Care and Gender Equality: Independent Living in Scotland’s Dialogue on the Future Funding of Social Care

Blog – Mar 2, 2016

The call for a just, transformative & gender-responsive climate agreement

Blog – Dec 4, 2015

Engender Response to the Scottish Government Consultation on the Introduction of Diversity Succession Planning for Board Appointments and the Lowering of the Threshold for Publishing Gender Pay Gap and Equal Pay Statements

Nov 30, 2015: Engender's response to the Scottish Government consultation on the introduction of diversity succession planning for board appointments and the lowering of the threshold for publishing gender pay gap and equal pay statements.

Date of publication: November 2015.

5 Things You Should Know About The Scotland Bill

Blog – Nov 27, 2015

Challenge Poverty Week: Women's employment support

Blog – Oct 21, 2015

Engender calls for a progressive law for Scotland.

Blog – Oct 14, 2015

Guest Post: Scotland, a fairer and healthier nation?

Blog – Sep 22, 2015

Engender Briefing: Scotland Bill

Aug 28, 2015: A briefing on the Scotland Bill before report stage.

Date of publication: August 2015.

Engender Submission to the Devolution (Further Powers) Committee Call for Evidence on the UK Government's Scotland Bill

Aug 17, 2015: Engender welcomes the Devolution Committee’s focus on the contents of the Scotland Bill (the Bill), and the opportunity to submit our views. We have monitored the progression of the legislation from the publication of the draft clauses and UK government command paper, and due to undue speed, lack of transparency and lack of scrutiny, there have been limited avenues to raise our concerns.

Date of publication: August 2015.

Engender Submission to the Equal Opportunities Committee Inquiry on Race, Ethnicity and Employment

Jul 16, 2015: Engender's submission to the Equal Opportunities Committee inquiry on race, ethnicity and employment. Women’s disadvantage within the labour market is a key manifestation of gender inequality. Within this, women from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities face particular discrimination and challenges in accessing paid work.

Date of publication: July 2015.

5 things you need to know about equality and today's Scotland Bill debate

Blog – Jul 6, 2015

Women's and Equalities Sector Joint Statement to MPs on Proposed Amendment to the Scotland Bill: Abortion (NC56)

Jul 6, 2015: A joint statement from Engender, Scottish Women's Aid, Rape Crisis Scotland, Zero Tolerance, Close the Gap, NUS Scotland, Scottish TUC, Abortion Rights Scotland Committee, Abortion Rights, YWCA - the young women's campaign, Amnesty International, Human Rights Consortium Scotland, and Scottish Women's Convention on a proposed amendment to the Scotland Bill.

Date of publication: July 2015.

The Scotland Bill or How Not To Do Devolution

Blog – Jun 12, 2015

Women Thinking Equality: Summing Up

Jun 9, 2015: This paper represents the culmination of all our thinking over the life of the Women Thinking Equality project.

Date of publication: June 2009.

There’s more to Scottish sectarianism than the dominant narrative of ‘men behaving badly’

Blog – May 29, 2015

The 'S' Word: Screening Notes

May 25, 2015: For the last two years, Engender has been involved in an ambitious project to speak to women across Scotland about intra-Christian sectarianism, and its effect on their lives. Part of this work included the making of a participatory film, led by three young women. These are the screening notes for that film.

Date of publication: May 2015.

The 'S' Word: Toolkit

May 25, 2015: For the last two years, Engender has been involved in an ambitious project to speak to women across Scotland about intra-Christian sectarianism, and its effect on their lives. This toolkit summarises what women have told us about their experiences, and guides funders, public bodies, and third sector organisations working on anti-sectarian initiatives to include women, girls, and gender in that work.

Date of publication: May 2015.

The 'S' Word: Women's Experience of Intra-Christian Sectarianism in Scotland

May 25, 2015: For the last two years, Engender has been involved in an ambitious project to speak to women across Scotland about intra-Christian sectarianism, and its effect on their lives. This report summarises what women have told us about their experiences, and discusses ways that taking a gendered approach may change the way that anti-sectarianism initiatives are delivered in Scotland.

Date of publication: May 2015.

A Widening Gap - new report shows women bear the brunt of welfare reform

Blog – Apr 30, 2015

Scottish Women’s Rights Centre launched

Blog – Apr 22, 2015

What's Next? Women's Equality in Scotland 20 Years After the Beijing Platform for Action

Apr 2, 2015: It is twenty years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was negotiated at the fourth world conference on women convened by the United Nations in China. Governments committed to a global framework for women’s empowerment and a diverse agenda to advance gender equality. The UK is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and is obliged to report against the twelve ‘critical areas of concern’ identified in the Platform. 1 Equality and human rights also engage devolved issues and the Scottish Government is therefore accountable for aspects of the UK’s international commitments on gender equality and women’s rights.

Since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, successive administrations have worked to tackle the entrenched inequalities that persist in Scotland, as they do elsewhere in the world. We welcome the recent commitments that have been made by Scottish Government to move this agenda forward, and the renewed focus on some of the most intractable gender gaps.

This briefing paper sets out the current context in Scotland across ten areas of the Platform. It outlines recent progress, particular gaps and challenges, and courses of action that the Scottish Government must pursue to deliver on its ambitions. The recommendations that we set out relate to policies and initiatives that are either well-established or already under development by Scottish Government, rather than the new measures that will also be necessary to achieve gender equality in Scotland. The Scottish Government’s existing commitments must be implemented as a matter of priority, or else Scotland will continue to fall short of realising women’s human rights.

Date of publication: April 2015.

Engender Submission to the Scottish Parliament Justice Committee Call for Evidence on the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Bill

Mar 2, 2015: Engender's submission of written evidence to the Justice Committee on the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Bill.

Date of publication: February 2015.

Cracks in the Glass Ceiling or Just a Trick of the Light? New Report on Women on Boards

Blog – Feb 26, 2015

Engender Parliamentary Briefing: Welfare Reform Committee Debate on Welfare Reform and the Smith Commission

Dec 19, 2014: A briefing paper for MSPs in advance of the Welfare Reform Committee debate on welfare reform and the Smith Commission on 18 December 2014.

Date of publication: December 2014.

Smith Commission agreement a mixed bag for women

Blog – Nov 27, 2014

'Welfare' and women: an update

Blog – Nov 13, 2014

Guest Post: Trans and intersex equality voice grows louder as largest conference in Scotland is held

Blog – Nov 6, 2014

Engender Submission to the Smith Commission

Oct 30, 2014: Engender's submission to the Smith Commission on additional powers for the Scottish Parliament.

Date of publication: October 2014.

'Constitution Cafes' Activity Report

Oct 30, 2014: An activity report on three 'constitution cafe' discussion events on gender equality and the independence referendum, held between June and August 2014.

Date of publication: October 2014.

Constitutions work wrap-up

Blog – Oct 30, 2014

Smith Commission: problems and possibilities for women's equality

Blog – Oct 16, 2014

Engender Briefing on the Smith Commission

Oct 8, 2014: A short briefing paper on the Smith Commission on further devolution to the Scottish Parliament.

Date of publication: October 2014.

Engender's response to the indyref result

Blog – Sep 19, 2014

Guest blog: Women for Independence (Indyref Thursday #8)

Blog – Sep 11, 2014

Guest blog: Women Saying No (Indyref Thursday #8)

Blog – Sep 11, 2014

Women and indyref: lessons from a constitutional cafe

Blog – Sep 4, 2014

Guest blog: Women and work: what next? (Indyref Thursday #7)

Blog – Sep 4, 2014

Scotland's Futures: Women and the Referendum

Aug 28, 2014: This briefing is part of a series that sets out how power and responsibility to tackle critical gender equality issues are divided between Holyrood and Westminster.

Date of publication: August 2014.

Women and the referendum (Indyref Thursday #6)

Blog – Aug 28, 2014

Guest blog: Indyref, women and politics (Indyref Thursday #5)

Blog – Aug 21, 2014

Scotland's Futures: Women, Politics and Power

Aug 20, 2014: This briefing is part of a series that sets out how power and responsibility to tackle critical gender equality issues are divided between Holyrood and Westminster. It is part of Engender’s contribution to the independence referendum debate.

Date of publication: August 2014

Scotland's Futures: Violence Against Women

Aug 14, 2014: This briefing is part of a series that sets out how power and responsibility to tackle critical gender equality issues are divided between Holyrood and Westminster. It is part of Engender’s contribution to the independence referendum debate.

Date of publication: August 2014.

Guest blog: Indyref and violence against women (Indyref Thursday #4)

Blog – Aug 14, 2014

Guest blog: Childcare provision and the independence referendum (Indyref Thursday #3)

Blog – Aug 7, 2014

Scotland's Futures: Women and Care

Aug 6, 2014: This briefing is part of a series that sets out how power and responsibility to tackle critical gender equality issues are divided between Holyrood and Westminster. It is part of Engender’s contribution to the independence referendum debate.

Date of publication: August 2014.

Guest blog: Indyref, women and poverty (Indyref Thursday #2)

Blog – Jul 31, 2014

Scotland's Futures: Women and Poverty

Jul 30, 2014: This briefing is part of a series that sets out how power and responsibility to tackle critical gender equality issues are divided between Holyrood and Westminster. It is part of Engender’s contribution to the independence referendum debate.

Date of publication: July 2014.

An Abuse of Power: African Women’s Experience of the Asylum Process in Scotland

Jul 29, 2014: Engender worked with Umoja Inc, a network of African single mothers seeking asylum in Scotland, to explore some of the gendered barriers in the asylum process. Critical to these is a failure by UKBA and other Scottish and UK agencies to understand the patriarchies within the women's countries of origin.

Date of publication: July 2014.

Refugee Women's Strategy Group, Umoja Inc, and Engender launch reports on gender and asylum

Blog – Jul 29, 2014

Scotland’s Futures: Women and the Labour Market

Jul 24, 2014: This briefing is part of a series that sets out how power and responsibility to tackle critical gender equality issues are divided between Holyrood and Westminster. It is part of Engender’s contribution to the independence referendum debate.

Date of publication: July 2014.

Indyref, women and the labour market (Indyref Thursday #1)

Blog – Jul 24, 2014

Guest post: Indyref - why I'm voting No, thanks

Blog – Jul 17, 2014

Guest post: Indyref - why I'm voting Yes

Blog – Jul 17, 2014

Guest post: ‘Women and Children First?’ The reality of maternity care for Scotland’s refused asylum seekers

Blog – Jul 15, 2014

Guest post: Indyref discussion reveals enthusiasm for participatory decision-making

Blog – Jul 1, 2014

First all-female cabinet event a mixed bag on women's equality

Blog – Jun 10, 2014

Women and equality: 100 days until indyref

Blog – Jun 9, 2014

Common Weal: Eradicating Gender Inequality and Violence Against Women

Jun 7, 2014: This paper on gender inequality and violence against women was written by Lesley Orr, Emma Ritch, Marsha Scott, and Nel Whiting in May 2014. An edited version appears as part of the text of the Common Weal book. An expanded version will be published as a Common Weal paper later in the year.

Date of publication: May 2014.

Common Weal: Eradicating gender inequality and violence against women

Blog – Jun 7, 2014

Women and Sectarianism in Scotland: Beyond Football

May 14, 2014: In December 2012 Engender was funded to carry out a series of small workshops with women's organisations in Scotland. Working with existing partners, we held a number of short sessions to explore women's perspectives on intra-Christian sectarianism in Scotland. Women told us that their experience of sectarianism is different from men's. Our initial findings challenge some of the narratives around sectarianism in Scotland.

Date of publication: March 2014.

Referendum resources

Blog – Mar 31, 2014

A Gender Edit of Scottish Labour's 'Red Paper'

Mar 28, 2014: This document is a ‘gender edit’ guide to the Scottish Labour party’s ‘red paper’ which sets out its case for a ‘no vote’ in the referendum. It extracts passages that refer directly to gender and women, or where there are clear implications for women and girls in Scotland.

Date of publication: March 2014

Scottish Labour's 'red paper'

Blog – Mar 28, 2014

Gender equality and Scottish Labour's plans for more devolution

Blog – Mar 19, 2014: Engender responds to Scottish Labour's "Powers for a Purpose" report.

UK Joint Committee on Women Response to the 2013 National Reform Programme

Mar 18, 2014: Each year, the European Women's Lobby asks national co-ordinations to comment on aspects of the individual European member state's National Reform Programme. This is the UK Joint Committee's response to the process that concluded in March 2014, which was drafted by Engender.

Date of publication: March 2014.

We celebrated IWD by talking about women's equality & Scotland's futures

Blog – Mar 18, 2014

Gender Equality and Scotland's Futures

Mar 6, 2014: This policy report is Engender's contribution to the Scottish independence debate. It takes stock of the current context in Scotland across a spectrum of gender issues and outlines where power and responsibility for gender equality currently rest.

Date of publication: March 2014.

Engender launches a report on gender equality and the independence debate

Blog – Mar 6, 2014

Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women Concluding Observations 2013

Mar 5, 2014: The concluding observations (recommendations) of the CEDAW Committee, following its examination of the UK in 2013.

Date of publciation: July 2013.

Engender Shadow CEDAW Report

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's shadow report to the 7th periodic report of the UK Government to the UN's CEDAW Committee.

Date of publication: December 2012.

A Gender Edit of Scotland’s Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland

Mar 5, 2014: This document is a ‘gender edit’ of the Scottish Government's white paper, which sets out its case for a ‘yes vote’ in the referendum.

Date of publication: November 2013.

Engender CEDAW Pre-hearing Statement

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's statement to the pre-session working group, which took place in November 2012. This relates to the UK's examination by the CEDAW Committee in respect of its 7th periodic report.

Date of publication: October 2012.

Preparing to Care: Woman to Woman – A Guide to Becoming a Carer

Mar 5, 2014: This guide was prepared by women from the Inverness area who found themselves caring for their partners. They came together as a group to take part in Engender's 'Equality Counting' project funded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Date of publication: September 2012.

Multiple Jeopardy? The Impacts of the UK Government’s Proposed Welfare Reforms on Women in Scotland Background Paper

Mar 5, 2014: This policy paper outlines the multiple ways in which women are set to be adversely impacted by the UK Government's 'welfare reform' agenda.

Date of publication: January 2012.

Multiple Jeopardy? The Impacts of the UK Government’s Proposed Welfare Reforms on Women in Scotland Briefing Paper

Mar 5, 2014: This briefing paper outlines the multiple ways in which women are set to be adversely impacted by the UK Government's 'welfare reform' agenda.

Date of publication: January 2012.

Women in Scotland: Facts and Stats 2012 Calendar

Mar 5, 2014: Women in Scotland calendar 2012: monthly facts and stats on women's inequality.

Date of publication: January 2012.

Women Thinking Equality Series: Inequality of Access to NHS Services by Trans Women

Mar 5, 2014: This report is part of Engender's 'Women thinking equality' series on intersecting equalities issues. It outlines findings of participatory action research on the inequality of access to NHS services by trans women.

Date of publication: 2011.

Women Thinking Equality Series: Disability

Mar 5, 2014: This briefing paper on gender and disability presents findings from Engender's 'Women Thinking Equality' project.

Date of publication: 2009.

Women Thinking Equality Series: Race

Mar 5, 2014: This briefing paper on gender and race presents findings from Engender's 'Women Thinking Equality' project.

Date of publication: 2009.

Women Thinking Equality Series: Religion

Mar 5, 2014: This briefing paper on gender and religion presents findings from Engender's 'Women Thinking Equality' project.

Date of publication: 2009

Gender Audit Series: Crime & Justice

Mar 5, 2014: A summary and discussion of the implications of data from the Gender Audit of Statistics [Breitenbach,E. and Wasoff, F. Scottish Executive Social Research 2007] relating to care and caring prepared by S. Macpherson, Engender Associate and E. Thomson.

Gender Audit Series: Population, Households & Families

Mar 5, 2014: A summary and discussion of the implications of data from the Gender Audit of
Statistics [Breitenbach,E. and Wasoff, F. Scottish Executive Social Research 2007] relating to care and caring prepared by S. Macpherson, Engender Associate and E. Thomson.

Engender Response to the Public Consultation on the Proposed Criminalisation of the Purchase and Sale of Sex (Scotland) Private Members Bill 2

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's response to the public consultation on the Criminalisation of the Purchase of Sex (Scotland) Bill 2.

Date of publication: December 2012.

Engender Response to the Scottish Government Consultation on Integration of Adult Health and Social Care in Scotland: Partial Equality Impact Assessment

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's response to the Scottish Government's consultation on its partial equality impact assessment of the integration of adult health and social care.

Date of publication: October 2012.

Engender Questions for CEDAW Examination of the UK

Mar 5, 2014: NGOs can submit questions to the CEDAW Committee in advance of the examination of their governments. These are the questions that Engender submitted prior to the examination of the UK.

Date of publication: September 2012.

European Women’s Lobby General Assembly 2012 - Notes

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's notes of proceedings from the European Women's Lobby General Assembly in 2012.

Date of publication: August 2012.

Engender Response to the UK Government Equalities Office Consultation on 'Building a Fairer Britain: Reform of the Equality and Human Rights Commission'

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's response to the UK Government's Government Equalities Office consultation on proposed changes to the purpose and governance structures of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Date of publication: June 2011.

Engender Response to the Public Consultation on the Proposed Criminalisation of the Purchase and Sale of Sex (Scotland) Private Members Bill

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's response to the consultation on the private members' bill lodged by Trish Godman MSP.

Date of publication: February 2011.

Engender Response to the Christie Commission Consultation on the Future of Scotland’s Public Services

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's response to the Christie Commission on the future of Scotland's Public Services.

Date of publication: February 2011.

Engender Response to the Scottish Government Consultation on the Public Sector Equality Duty

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's response to the Scottish Government consultation on PSED.

Date of publication: November 2010.

Engender Submission to the Scottish Parliament Justice Committee Call for Evidence on the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill (Stage 2 Amendment 516)

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's submission of written evidence to the Scottish Parliament Justice Committee call for evidence on the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill (Stage 2 Amendment 516).

Date of publication: April 2010.

Engender Submission to the Scottish Parliament Justice Committee Call for Evidence on the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill (Stage 2 Amendments)

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's submission of written evidence to the Scottish Parliament Justice Committee call for evidence on the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill (Stage 2 Amendments).

Date of publication: March 2010.

Engender Response to the Scottish Government Consultation on Public Sector Equality Duty Specific Duties

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's response to the Scottish Government consultation on PSED Specific Duties.

Date of publication: 2010.

Engender Submission to the Scottish Parliament Jusitice Committee Call for Evidence on the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's written submission to the Scottish Parliament Justice Committee call for written evidence on the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill.

Date of publication: April 2009.

Engender Response to the Scottish Government Consultation on Civil Remedies to Forced Marriage

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's response to the Forced Marriage: Civil Remedies consultation from the Scottish Government.

Date of publication: March 2009.

Engender Submission to the Scottish Parliament Equal Opportunities Committee Call for Evidence on the Inquiry into Female Offenders in the Criminal Justice System in Scotland

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's submission of written evidence to the Scottish Parliament Equal Opportunities Committee Inquiry into female offenders in the criminal justice system in Scotland.

Date of publication: March 2009.

Engender Response to the Consultation on the Scottish Government Response to the 2008 Concluding Observations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's response to the consultation on the Scottish Government's response to the 2008 concluding observations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Date of publication: March 2009.

Engender's Submission on Extending the Public Sector Equality Duty Requirement to Give Due Regard to the Need to Promote Equality of Opportunity to Religion or Belief

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's submission on extending the PSED requirement to give due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity to religion or belief.

Date of publication: September 2008.

Engender Letter of Support for the EHRC Response to the Consultation on the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill

Mar 5, 2014: This is a letter of support from Engender for the Equality and Human Rights Commission submission of written evidence to the consulation on the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill.

Date of publication: December 2008.

Engender Response to the Discussion Paper on Tackling Poverty, Inequality and Deprivation in Scotland

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's Response to the Government Discussion Paper on Tackling Poverty, Inequality and Deprivation in Scotland

Date of publciation: June 2008.

Engender Response to the Scottish Law Commission Proposals for Rape and Sexual Offences

Mar 5, 2014: Engender Response to the Scottish Law Commission Proposals for Rape and Sexual Offences.

Date of publication: March 2008.

Engender Response to the Home Office Consultation on Marriage to Partners from Overseas

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's Response to the Home Office Consultation on Marriage to Partners from Overseas.

Date of publication: February 2008.

Engender Response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission Single Equality Scheme Consultation

Mar 5, 2014: Engender's response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission Single Equality Scheme Consultation.

Date of publication: February 2008.

Engender's Articulate project

Blog – Feb 19, 2014