For three decades, Engender has championed women’s equality in Scotland, using intersectional feminism to influence policy and empower marginalised voices. They’re collaborating with Migrant Women Press to spotlight the struggles of migrant and ethnically diverse women affected by gender-based violence.
Written by Isabella Lapadula
Engender, Scotland’s feminist member organisation, has a vision for a Scotland in which women have the same opportunities in life, equal access to power and are equally safe and secure from harm.
For 30 years, Engender has worked to dismantle structural sexism to increase women’s social, political and economic equality, enabling women’s rights through lobbying decision-makers and empowering women to campaign for change.
Engender is a policy organisation. Through research and analysis, they aim to make women’s inequality visible and persuade those in power to make positive changes to services, policies, regulations, practices and laws that negatively affect women.
Intersectional feminism is at the core of Engender’s ethos, recognising that overlapping oppressions impact women’s lives in different ways. Striving to represent the varying needs and experiences of all women, they approach their policy work through an intersectional lens which recognises the multiple discriminations that marginalised women, such as Black and minority women, disabled women, LGBTQ+ women, carers, refugee and migrant women face.
Speaking to Migrant Women Press, the organisation explained how their “reports, government consultation responses and research both include and emphasise these multiple layers of discrimination.”
In some of their recent work, Engender has analysed the multiple levels of discrimination and inequalities faced by migrant women through reports on violence against women and girls, decriminalising abortion and the housing crisis.
For example, Engender’s 8 Steps Toward Women’s Equality in Scotland outlines several important actions the Scottish Government should take to protect women’s rights and promote gender equality. In line with their intersectional and inclusive approach, the government should invest in the Scottish Welfare Fund and create targeted streams of the fund to support marginalised women, including migrant women.
As a member organisation, Engender welcomes all who identify as feminist women to join, accepting organisational members that include women’s and equality organisations, voluntary and campaign groups, as well as trade unions. They also seek to support organisations and local campaign groups, and they have strong links with networks of women’s organisations across Scotland, the UK and Europe.
With their collaborative approach, Engender is partnering with Migrant Women Press for the campaign “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.”
The 16 days campaign is dedicated to highlighting the significant challenges faced by migrant and ethnically diverse women who are victims/survivors of gender-based violence. The project aims to amplify underrepresented stories through journalistic, opinion, and first-hand pieces authored by migrant and ethnically diverse women.
For the campaign, Migrant Women Press organised a series of workshops to provide deep insights into the complexities of gender-based violence, informing journalists how to cover the issue responsibly, engage sensitively with victims/survivors, and equip them with essential trauma-awareness skills.
As part of our partnership, Engender supports this valuable training. They will also feature the work from the campaign on their website and social media to help amplify the work of the journalists even further.
“Our partnership with Migrant Women Press is meaningful and collaborative. Women need fair and equal representation in the media, particularly the global majority women and women from underrepresented communities such as migrant women,” Engender said.
Recently, Engender has also partnered with Amina, the Muslim Women Resource Centre, Ubuntu and Pass the Mic. Collaborations like these are “integral to our approach and output at Engender, and we hope to continue building on existing and forging new partnerships in the future,” the organisation affirmed.
“At Engender, we believe in the power of collaboration and working collectively to amplify messages. It’s hugely important that women’s groups and organisations come together to promote and share the 16 days campaign, as our voices are most powerful when used together. Together, we can make change.”
Learn more about Engender here.
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