Gender Audit 1997

Engender

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• Publié par: Zolot
• Nombre de lectures: 94
• Langue: English

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GENDER AUDIT 1997
This is the fifth report on the position of women in Scottish
life, compiled on behalf of ENGENDER, an information,
research and networking organisation for women in
Scotland.
Editors: Fiona Mackay and
Chrisma Bould
Contributors: Esther Breitenbach, Alice Brown,
Jill Brown, Chrisma Bould and
Elspeth Hosie, Megan Ciotti,
Sarah Coleman, Lorna Guthrie,
Fiona Mackay, Gill Scott,
Connie Smith, and Jan Webb.
Published by ENGENDER, 1997
ISBN: 0 9523593 4 0.
Print version by Edinburgh University Reprographics Unit
Web version also available on Engender site: http://www..engender.org.uk
PDF version by Lesley Duff, Quine Online, http://www.quine.org.ukCONTENTS
A call for action 3
Introduction 5
Overview 10
PART ONE: COMMENTARIES
Party Politics and the 1997 General Election 25
Women, Equality and a Scottish Parliament 32
Poverty 40
Violence 52
PART TWO: UPDATES & STATISTICAL TABLES
Arts 72
Business 80
Childcare 83
Education 88
Employment 102
Family Trends and Family Law 111
Health 118
Housing 131
Law 135
Local Government 140
Media 145
Poverty 149
Public Bodies 155
Trade Unions 163
Violence 164
Voluntary Organisations 172
End note 176
What is Engender 177A call for action
ENGENDER has long argued that the development of accurate data on women’s lives is essential
if action to empower women is to work, if targets are to be set and if progress is to be monitored. has demanded that the production, collation and publication of statistics which ‘put
Scottish women in the picture’ becomes a priority of the government as a necessary precondition to
the effective monitoring and promotion of positive change.
Women and girls in Scotland still experience considerable inequality and disadvantage in economic,
social and political life as compared to men and boys. This disadvantage is further compounded by
their relative exclusion as a focus of research and the unevenness in the collection and availability
of statistics disaggregated by both country/region and gender. Many other organisations in Scotland,
notably the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities,
have argued similarly.
The government does, of course, produce a large volume of statistics, and some of those statistics
are gender disaggregated. Indeed many of the statistics used in the Gender Audit come from various
government publications. However data collection about women is uneven; good in some areas and
poor in others. Furthermore not all information that is gathered is necessarily published; relevant
statistics are not always easy to locate; and are seldom collated in ways which present a comprehensive
picture.
A related issue is research. In-depth research is vital to fill gaps in knowledge, to explore complex
issues beneath headline statistics, to provide different perspectives; and to potentially offer
explanations and pointers for change. However Scottish women face a double deficit: firstly, because
little research is done on women as a group; and secondly, because what research is carried out
tends to focus upon women in England although purporting to be British. A recent research review
carried out for the EOC in Scotland highlighted the lack of research which is both gender and
country specific. Research which addresses the multiple discrimination faced by certain groups of
women within Scotland, for example, black and ethnic minority women, lesbians, disabled women
and rural women, is still rarer (Brown, Breitenbach and Myers, 1994, currently being updated).
This information deficit in relation to the position of women in Scotland, and their diverse experiences
and needs, matters in a number of key ways.
• Policy makers and politicians at British, Scottish and local level may be making decisions
which affect the daily lives of women on the basis of poor and partial information.
• A lack of information presents real difficulties for women, as individuals and in groups, in
their campaigns for greater equality.
• The obscuring of the position of women in Scottish society frustrates or limits the ability of
women’s groups, the government and other organisations to monitor change - either positive
or negative.
ENGENDER has done its best to fill the information gap for half a decade. Since 1993 we have
produced an annual Gender Audit; it has been produced on an unpaid basis, with tiny resources by
a small group of volunteers. Our key aim in producing the Gender Audit is to make information
about women in Scotland accessible to as wide an audience as possible. We hope that readers will
find the information contained in the 1997 Gender Audit useful. We stress that the contents do not
represent a comprehensive analysis of all available sources. ENGENDER does not have the financial
Gender Audit 1997, © Engender, http://www.engender.org.uk Page 3and other resources required for this type of exercise.
We note Labour’s commitment, prior to the election, to improve the collection and collation of
gender statistics; and the monitoring of the gender impact of government legislation. We also note
that the production of good, transparent gender data was a priority action area agreed by the UK
government as part of the Beijing Platform of Action which emerged from the UN Fourth World
Conference on Women in 1995. In a number of other countries, gender statistics are produced by
government departments as a matter of course, and are published annually to allow for the monitoring
of progress across all government policy areas. For instance in Sweden, the annual gender report is
Statistics Sweden’s best seller!
ENGENDER believes that the time has come to move beyond words. We call upon the Scottish
Office as a priority to produce its own annual Audit, disaggregated by gender, region, and where
appropriate, race, disability, sexuality and age; and to chart the progress each year towards gender
equality between women and men in Scotland.
Gender Audit 1997, © Engender, http://www.engender.org.uk Page 4Introduction
This is the fifth annual Gender Audit - the latest stage of a major project to research and map the
position of women in all areas of Scottish life and society - produced by ENGENDER, the
information, research and networking organisation. Drawing from varied sources, ranging from
government statistics and academic research to annual reports from voluntary organisations, the
Gender Audit pulls together available information and statistics on a range of areas and offers
commentary on key points. The Audit is essential reading for all individuals and groups who are
interested in the position of women in Scottish society - and who want positive change.
In 1996 ENGENDER was awarded a European Commission Scottish Equality Award. In announcing
their decision, the judges said that the Award for the Promotion of Gender Equality was made
“in recognition of the unique and comprehensive body of work the Gender Audit represents and
of the contribution it makes to raising awareness of gender issues.”
ENGENDER published its first Gender Audit in 1993 largely as a response to the demand from
women for more information. To date there has been very little relevant research on women in
Scotland; and the statistics that are available are often inaccessible, insufficiently detailed, or out of
date. This means that the full picture remains hidden. The aim of the Gender Audit is three-fold:
• to make information about women accessible to women - as a resource and a campaigning
tool.
• to campaign for better information.
• to monitor change over time.
The General Election of May 1997 and the landslide victory by the Labour Party has radically
changed the political landscape. A record number of women MPs, both Scottish and British, has
been returned to the British Houses of Parliament; and prospects for a Scottish Parliament look
their brightest yet. The Gender Audit 1997 highlights the representation of women in party politics
after the General Election; provides an update on the campaign for ‘50/50’ representation; and
previews some of the potential opportunities that any Scottish Parliament might present for positive
change for women.
This year’s Audit also provides a detailed commentary on the issue of women and poverty, and
reports on developments in the field of violence against women, two of ENGENDER’s other priority
areas. In addition, there is an overview essay, and information on Arts, Business, Child Care,
Education, Employment, Families and Family Law, Health, Housing, Law, Local Government,
Media, Public Bodies, Trade Unions and Voluntary Organisations.
The Gender Audit is a valuable resource for campaigning, lobbying and teaching purposes. It is
deliberately produced in a format that is easy to photocopy. The Gender Audit is available on the
Engender web site. Find us at:
http://www.engender.org.uk
Gender Audit 1997, © Engender, http://www.engender.org.uk Page 5As always we are keen to hear readers’ views on the Gender Audit. Please send any comments or
suggestions to Fiona Mackay or Chrisma Bould at:
ENGENDER
13 Gayfield Square
c/o One Parent Famlies (Scotland)
Edinburgh
EH1 3NX
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
e-mail: [e-mail]
web: http://www.engender
Acknowledgements
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