Engender (Scotland)

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Engender (Scotland)

For more than 25 years Engender has worked to make Scotland a fairer, safer place where women can flourish and contribute to all areas of life with dignity

24/09/2026

We need to see strong leadership on gender inequality & tackling violence against women & girls.

Last week our Executive Director Catherine Murphy gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament Equalities, Human Rights & Civil Justice Committee, where she spoke about our work on primary prevention approaches that can stop violence against women & girls before it happens.

To tackle this problem, decision-makers must address the root cause: gender inequality. This means looking at all the levers available to make women & girls lives safer - from transport & housing to the physical & digital environments.

Find out more about our work on primary prevention here: https://www.engender.org.uk/primary-prevention/

22/09/2026

💡Could you work with us to assess the potential impacts of AI on the primary prevention of VAWG in Scottish Government policymaking?

As the use of AI tools becomes more common in government policymaking & in wider society, there are important questions to answer about its impact on primary prevention & gender mainstreaming. Various teams within the Scottish Government & wider public sector are already using AI tools. At the same time, there is growing evidence that AI systems can reinforce harmful structural & social biases.

We're seeking a consultant (or consultants) to work alongside our Delivering Equally Safe project to:
🔹 map the use of AI in Scottish Government policymaking
🔸 identify potential risks & opportunities AI might pose to embedding primary prevention & wider gender mainstreaming in Scottish Government policymaking
🔹 consider how AI could affect policy development in areas relevant to women's inequality
🔸 produce recommendations for the Scottish Government & other relevant stakeholders on the use of AI in a way that is compatible with the Equally Safe Strategy, the Equalities & Human Rights Mainstreaming Strategy, & PSED

All proposals must be submitted by 10am on 19th October.

You can see more details & access the full Invitation to Tender here: https://www.engender.org.uk/news/blog/invitation-to-tender-ai--the-primary-prevention-of-vawg-in-scottish-government-policymakin/

14/09/2026

Our recent 'Part of the Job?' report exposing the endemic scale of violence against women in local politics in Scotland has been recognised with a motion in the Scottish Parliament. 90% of women surveyed experienced sexism, misogyny or violence.

Katie Hagmann MSP has lodged a motion welcoming the report & noting calls for urgent action ahead of the upcoming 2027 local elections.

If you've got a couple of minutes, we'd love it if you could email your local MSP & ask them to support Motion S7M-00990.

In our research, women councillors described cancelling constituent surgeries due to safety concerns, withdrawing from social media, & attending council meetings online to avoid in-person contact with perpetrators. Local councils make decisions that shape all of our lives, & women’s voices at that table are vital.

We cannot afford to lose women from local politics, or to deter others from entering, because we have failed to take this seriously.

See what women councillors told us about their experiences & read our recommendations for action here: https://www.engender.org.uk/news/blog/nine-in-ten-women-councillors-have-experienced-sexism-misogyny-or-violence-in-scottish-loc

03/09/2026

📢What's in the Programme for Government for women in Scotland?

This week saw the launch of the Scottish Government's first 5-year Programme for Government 2026-31. There were plenty of welcome commitments, but key areas of women's equality weren't addressed.

The expansion of childcare provision by the end of parliament is a particularly welcome move. We are also pleased to see a strong focus from the First Minister on ending violence against women & girls, but this commitment needs to be backed up by investment in primary prevention of VAWG to drive long-term change. Similarly, we welcome the announced £13m investment to reduce gynaecology waiting times, but we still need further funding to implement the full list of actions in the Women's Health Plan.

There were some concerning gaps. There was no mention of abortion care or abortion law reform in the Programme. Scotland is now the only part of the UK where women & pregnant people can be criminalised for ending a pregnancy & we need urgent action to reform the law. Unpaid care is a major barrier to women's financial equality & we saw no new commitments to invest in & better support Scotland's unpaid carers. Lastly, there was no mention of work to reform the Public Sector Equality Duty in Scotland, which we have long-campaigned for alongside many other equalities organisations.

This is the first 5 year Programme for Government, & more detail will emerge, so make sure you follow us to stay updated on our work for a feminist future in Scotland.

05/08/2026

We live in an age of crisis, which impacts women hardest.

It's outrageous that women still do not have equal access to resources in modern Scotland. Gender inequality, combined with socio-economic crises & public service cuts, have deepened women’s poverty.

Women’s financial inequality has been accepted by our politicians & by our society more broadly. Disabled women, women of colour, migrant women, lone parents & unpaid carers are some of those most acutely harmed by this inequality. Enough is enough.

We need solutions that are designed for all women. We need decision-makers to confront women’s poverty in a practical, transformative way.

Women's poverty is preventable. Head to our website to read our report & see why we're calling for the new Scottish Government & Scottish Parliament to adopt a 5 point plan to eliminate the gender income gap & prevent destitution for women & their children: https://www.engender.org.uk/cwp-reports/

03/08/2026

📰 Did you catch the exclusive coverage of our new Confronting Women's Poverty work in The Scotsman last week?

Our Executive Director Catherine Murphy highlighted how women in Scotland are suffering financial inequality caused by biased political decision-making, saying:

"It’s easier to make positive gestures towards equality than actually invest the time & the money in the systems change that is needed in redesigning these systems. But it's worth doing because it ultimately means that you're getting much more value for money from public services because they're actually designed in a way that meets people's needs.”

To close the gender income gap, decision-makers need to do much more to better understand & respond to the root causes of women’s financial inequality.

Read the full piece here: https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/women-in-scotland-suffering-income-crisis-caused-by-misogynistic-political-choices-8826762

29/07/2026

📢 It's time to confront women's poverty in Scotland.

Women’s poverty is preventable - it's a political choice that women & their children continue to experience a gender income gap in Scotland.

Today, we're launching our new series, Confronting Women’s Poverty, outlining our 5-point plan of action to eliminate the gender income gap & prevent destitution for women & their children.

Ineffective policy, decision-making, & responses to crises like the Covid-19 pandemic & rising cost of living have entrenched women’s poverty, with disabled women, women of colour, migrant women, lone parents & unpaid carers among those most acutely harmed by this inequality.

We need decisive action from Scottish Government & others to break this cycle by:
1️⃣ Creating a Taskforce on women’s poverty
2️⃣ Creating a Women’s Equality Fund offering crisis support for marginalised women
3️⃣ Introducing a Minimum Income Guarantee for unpaid carers
4️⃣ Designing a roadmap to a universal childcare system for all
5️⃣ Overhauling of the public sector equality duty

See our Confronting Women's Poverty series & read our intro paper here: https://www.engender.org.uk/cwp/

23/07/2026

How the rising cost of living is affecting older women in Scotland

New on the blog, we're pleased to publish a guest post from Independent Age exploring the links between access to pensions & gender inequality, what we can learn from the latest Older People’s Economic Wellbeing Index, & what needs to change.

Women experience high levels of pension inequality, due to women’s care responsibilities, part-time work, occupational segregation, the gender pay gap & maternity & gender discrimination throughout their working life, all of which reduces women’s access to both state & private pensions. This leaves women particularly vulnerable to the impacts of rising costs.

Head to our blog to find out more about the urgent need for action to improve the economic wellbeing of older women in Scotland: https://www.engender.org.uk/news/blog/guest-blog-how-the-rising-cost-of-living-is-affecting-older-women-in-scotland1/

06/07/2026

Women’s participation in local democracy & critical decision-making about our public services is being undermined or blocked by frequent incidents of sexism, misogyny & violence.

Our latest report shows that almost 1 in 3 women councillors (30%) would not recommend being a councillor to other women, with this figure rising to 45% among those under 55.

Many councillors told us that their experiences of sexism, misogyny & violence had forced them to become quieter or less prominent, had led to other forms of exclusion or had resulted in them leaving politics altogether. This is deeply concerning, especially because women are underrepresented in local politics, making up just 35% of all councillors elected in Scotland in 2022.

Existing procedures often fail to adequately address the complex nature of the gendered violence women councillors experience, especially when the perpetrator is another councillor.

As we move towards the 2027 local council elections, it's vital that the gendered power imbalances, lack of accountability & inadequate support systems we heard about in our report are addressed if we want to encourage more women to enter politics & retain those already there.

See what women councillors told us about their experiences & read our recommendations for action here: https://www.engender.org.uk/news/blog/nine-in-ten-women-councillors-have-experienced-sexism-misogyny-or-violence-in-scottish-loc/

25/06/2026

Some of the Engender team took part in the annual Pride March in Edinburgh last weekend, & we're sharing a few reflections as we near the end of Pride Month.

As the political context grows more complex & threats to equality increase, it's more important than ever that we show up in love, strength & solidarity with Scotland's LGBTQIA+ community. The rise of far-right & divisive political rhetoric is a threat to women's equality, but also to the dignity & safety of our wider communities.

We're committed to building an intersectional, feminist future for Scotland, & we're proud to stand with the LGBTQIA+ community in celebration & solidarity. ✊🏻🏳️‍🌈

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