Women@Work E-bulletin January 2010

Happy New Year and welcome to this month’s Women@Work e-bulletin! It contains information about the W@W programme, together with links to newsletters, press articles and other information which may be of interest to W@W members. As usual, if you have information or links to share, please get in touch with Susan on s.kruse@weascotland.org.uk.

Women@Work information

·        A W@W Argyll network hosts a special one day event on the 22^nd of January. ‘Getting Involved: A special event supporting women to speak out and make a difference’,  will take place in the Argyll and Bute Council Chambers in Lochgilphead. For details, see the W@W website diary pages.

·        W@W is also continuing to offer all day training sessions. This month it is Moray, where Patsy Thomson will lead a one day workshop on Negotiation and Listening Skills. There are still a few places left: contact the W@W office if you are interested.

·        The one day event on Women’s Work in the Highlands: Looking Back with Pride held in December in Invernesswas a great success, with over 50 women and men braving the elements. Pictures and report will be put on the website later this month.

·        Women@Work network members who wish to promote their own business or services across the network can have a page on the W@W website – for details see member's page on the W@W website or contact us by email on womenatwork@weascotland.org.uk

New on the W@W website

·        Topic of the Month for January:  Women Asylum Seekers

·        Check it out entries for last month: Womensphere

What’s in the news and newsletters …

·        24^th November: House of Commons publishes Speaker's Conference 
(on Parliamentary Representation) - Second Interim Report. The Speaker's Conference looks into the underrepresentation of women, BME and disabled people as members of the parliament.

·        25^th November: Scottish Gov’t publishes statistics showing an 8% rise in domestic violence in .

·        26^th November: Rights of Women launch their legal handbook Seeking Refuge? A handbook for asylum-seeking women.

·        December: Asylum Aid launches its Every single woman campaign which focuses on the disparity in the treatment of women who are seeking asylum compared with women settled in the UK.

·        December: The Scottish Government has launched its first Scottish Community Empowerment Newsletter.  The quarterly publication will share good ideas on how people can make their voices heard to improve local communities.

·        December: 3 Reports have recently been published into 's Disability organisations. One report identifies, categorises and maps disability organisations across . A second report  looks at the capacity of disability organisations to engage with public authorities and what impacts on that capacity.  And a third report  provides a resource guide.  

·        December: Just Aging? – new website launched, a joint venture between the EHRC (Equal and Human Rights Commission) and Age Concern and Help the Aged.

·        December: If you are a woman working in the finance sector, the EHRC are keen to hear from you and have a short survey for you to complete.

·        3rd December: A new bill submitted to the French parliament would require half of all board members of leading companies to be women by 2015.

·        3rd December: The Equality Bill passed through the House of Commons with 2 amendments. It now goes to the House of Lords.

• 9th December: Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland (OCPAS) publishes annual report, which describes the role, work during the year and impact. It contains encouraging news about the progress made in implementing Diversity Delivers, the first equal opportunities strategy for ministerial public appointments. It also describes how the appointments process is changing to attract a wider and more diverse group of applicants for positions on the boards of ’s public bodies.
• 9^th December: Crofting Reform Bill introduced.

·        15^th December: The EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission) with the charity Age Concern and Help the Aged presented a report Just Aging? to Government and shadow ministers outlining recommendations for tackling disadvantage in later life. It showed, amongst other things, that differences in life-outcomes between the genders persist throughout life.

·        15^th December: Parliament at long last to provide a nursery for MPs, staff and Westminster Passholders.

·        17^th December: The Canongate wall outside the Scottish Parliament building will finally have a quote by a woman - lines from Lines from Oh Dear Me (The Jute Mill Song) by the Dundee songwriter Mary Brooksbank (which coincidentally was featured by Margaret Bennett at the W@W Working Women in the Highlands conference in December. The previous 24 quotes have all been by men.

·        18^th December: CEDAW (The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women) launches an anniversary website to commemorate 30 years, focussing on the difference CEDAW has made to women and girls around the world.

·        18^th December: A report into conditions at Tinsley House Immigration Removal Centre for children and single women concluded they were wholly unacceptable, leading to further calls for changes.

·        18^th December: Communities and Local Government publishes 2007-08 Citizenship Survey: Race, Religion and Equalities Topic Report which presents statistics on: people's expectations of how they would be treated, compared to people of other races, by public service organisations; perceptions of racial and religious prejudice today relative to 5 years ago; views on the extent to which the Government protects the rights of people belonging to different religions; perceptions of religious discrimination by various public service organisations; whether people feel able freely to practice their religion; racial and religious harassment; whether people feel treated with respect in public spaces and using various public services.

·        7 January 2010: The Centre for Women & Democracy is keeping a website Candidate Watch to monitor women candidates, as well as occasional reports on particular aspects of the election. They are also investigating how women fare in internet campaigning (which is expected to increase in the next election), and invite comments and views.

EVENTS  (see also W@W Diary on the website)

13^th January 2010: Women and Islam workshop ( Dundee).

6 March 2010: Million Women Rise March and Rally, Hyde Park, London. Calling all women in the to join together in one voice to say there are no excuses for male violence against women.

24-25 March 2010: SURF, 's independent regeneration network, will be hosting its 2010 annual conference in Edinburgh.

Ongoing:   Highlands & Islands Equality Forum training and awareness raising throughout Highlands and Islandsfor further details contact HIEF.

Scottish Rural Equality Network seminars and workshops

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The WEA Women@Work project sends this bulletin to those who are listed on our database to enable you to be informed about topical issues relating to women. While we try to ensure that the information in this bulletin is accurate and appropriate, we cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy, content or information provided in the hypertext links. Please send any comments or feedback to womenatwork@weascotland.org.uk

If you wish to comment in any way - please contact Susan Kruse at womenatwork@weascotland.org.uk

Women@Work Project
WEA Scotland
David Whyte House
57 Church Street
Inverness IV1 1DR
Tel: 01463 710577
Fax: 01463 713671
E-Mail womenatwork@weascotland.org.uk
Website www.weawomenatwork.org.uk