The STUC campaign against the cuts 'There is a Better Way' is holding a demonstration in Glasgow on 1st October.  Look out for the Engender banner and join us!

Women are bearing the brunt of spending cuts and welfare reform programme and it's not going unnoticed as the New Statesman reports support for the coalition parties falling sharply among women.  Read more 

Engender will be submitting a shadow report to the UN Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) next year and our roundtable events  will feed into this report.  We also want to let women in Scotland know the story behind CEDAW and how it's provisions offer us an opportunity to challenge some of the economic decisons made on grounds of gender discrimination.  

Our new postcards highlight the govt policies affecting women and give an overview of our CEDAW work.  If you would like to take some to distribute round your networks please give us a call on 0131 558 9596 

Wednesday 21st September was World Peace Day and it was celebrated in Edinburgh with and event in the Scottish Parliament hosted by the Nuclear Disarmament Crossparty Group.  Kerstin Grebäck, Vice President of the Women's International League for Peach and Freedom spoke at the event and also popped into the Engender office to meet us.  

On the theme of Peace, the Centre for Women's Global Leadership published an interesting report this month into the Intersections of Violence Against Women and Militarism.  Read the report

Engender have signed a letter from Object to the Prime Minister calling on an end to sexualized images of women in newspapers.  The letter points out that images which could not be put up in workplaces under the Sex Discrimination Act and could not be shown on TV pre watershed, are seen daily in papers and magazines which are not-age restricted.  Read the letter

If you are part of another women's organisation why not ask them to sign too? 

Interestingly, the letter refers to the Lib Dems passing a motion at conference this week on Tacklilng Violence against Women which included a pledge to restrict 'sexualised images in newspapers and general circulation magazines to the same rules that apply to pre-watershed broadcast media.'

The next Women's Dinner in the Scottish Parliament will be held on Thursday October 6th, meeting from 6pm for dinner at 7.15. The evening is an opportunity for women to meet female MSPs and other women from a variety of organisatons. Baroness Stern, who carried out a review into the way rape complaints were handled by public authorities in England and Wales, is the guest speaker and women from the Irish, Welsh and British TUC will attend.    

All women are welcome at the dinner which costs £26.  Please contact Ann Henderson at ahenderson@stuc.org to book a place.