Women@Work E-bulletin November 2009

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

 

·        W@W will be running some all day training sessions starting this month:

 

o       11 November: ‘Anxiety Busting’ with Kate Williams Mackenzie in Ross-shire

 

o       13 November: ‘Listening and Negotiation Workshop’ with Patsy Thomson in Lochaber

 

o       30 November: ‘Anxiety Busting’ with Kate Williams Mackenzie in Skye.

 

The events are free and include lunch. Further details on the W@W website Diary page. Training sessions in other areas are planned for the New Year.

 

·        ‘Looking Back with Pride: Women’s Work in the Highlands ’. Advance notice of a special W@W event on 17^th December on working women in the Highlands, to be held at the new Archives Centre in Inverness . The morning will feature talks on aspects of women’s work in the past, while the afternoon will have workshops showing how to find out more. Glasgow Women’s Library (soon to be the Women’s Library of ) and Highland Council Archives have both been involved in the planning of this interesting event. It is also no coincidence that the event will take place on a Thursday, late night shopping in Inverness !

 

·        The Stitches on the Bridge event, in part organised by Fiona MacEwan , our Skye & Lochalsh co-ordinator, has caught the imagination of public and press.

 

·        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 November:  Women and the Vote: Suffrage in the Highlands

 

·        Check it out entries for October: new Violence against Women websites; Autumn newsletter from the National Women’s Commission.

 

·        The WEA took a bus with 11 girls, 4 Soroptimists, and Sue and Susan from the office to the Gude Cause march in Edinburgh on 10^th of October. Over 2000 people attended, dressed in a range of outfits and carrying lots of banners in this commemorative march. Click here to see photographs and our banners!

 

What’s in the news and newsletters …

 

• 25^th September: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Scotland report for 2007-2008 showed that business start ups for women fell to the lowest levels since research began in 2000. This is not simply a factor of the recession: elsewhere in the start ups rose by 2%.

   

• 30^th September: The Website for the Pensions Service is now closed. All government information for citizens about Pensions, Retirement and Later Life is now available Directgov. All government information for employers about Pensions, Retirement and Later Life is now available on Business Link.

   

• October: Government Equalities Office (GEO) publishes Increasing Diversity on Public and Private Sector Boards, Part 1: How Diverse are Boards and Why?. The Women’s National Commission responds with dismay at the findings showing only a third of public appointments in 2008 were women.

   

• 3^rd October: Domestic Abuse figures for the Highlands and Islands show 179% increase over the past decade.

   

• 5^th October: Launch of European Network of Female Entrepreneurship Ambassadors

   

• 6^th October: What do MPs look like? According to children consulted in three primary schools in , they are mainly male, white and rich.

   

• 7^th October: Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) publishes report on Integration in the Workplace: emerging employment practice on age, sexual orientation and religion or belief. The report into how a range of organisations have established equality policies encouraging employees from diverse backgrounds to participate fully in the workplace.

   

• 10^th October: The Gude Cause March generated lots of press. Click here for a growing album of photographs.

   

• 12^th October: Elinor Ostrom is granted Nobel Prize for Economics, the first woman to receive this award, and the 5^th female winner of a Nobel Prize this year. Other winners this year are Ada Yonath (Chemistry), Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol Greider (Medicine) and Herta Müller (Literature).

   

• 12^th October: EHRC launches report on Beyond Tolerance: making sexual orientation a public matter.

   

• 13^th October: Report on International Conference on Arab feminism held at the American University of Beirut 4-7^th October.

   

• 20^th October: Court of Appeal case rules that companies will have to justify schemes linking length of service to pay if there is evidence that this is having a disproportionate impact on women. Such schemes affect women who take time off to have children.

   

• 20^th October: EHRC publishes report ‘Working Better - Fathers, family and work’ which concludes that many men fear that taking flexible working for family commitments may damage their careers.

   

• 20^th October: A Guardian investigation into trafficking for prostitution, based on a report produced by the police Human Trafficking Centre in Sheffield , concluded that the problem has been grossly exaggerated by politicians and the media, leading to a number of outraged responses.

   

• 22^nd October: The Speaker’s Conference on Parliamentary Representation was established by the House of Commons to look into the reasons why there are not more women, disabled people and people from ethnic minority communities in the House of Commons.   At the latest meeting David Cameron announced at Speakers’ Conference an intention to reverse Tory opposition to all women shortlists. This provoked a range of responses, including from the  Guardian, Conservative bloggers and a letter to the Times from Fawcett Society Chief Executive Ceri Goddard’s and MP Ann Widdecombe.

   

• 27^th October: The World Economic Forum has published its Global Gender Gap Report for 2009. The stands at 17^th, the fourth consecutive decline in rankings.

   

• 28^th October: Dept for Children, Schools and Families published Gender Equality: Nuts and Bolts Guide, one of a series of guides to support the delivery of diplomas, exploring ways to encourage both male and female learners to consider qualifications and careers that are not typical to their gender.

   

• 28^th October: Department of Work and Pensions publishes responses to a consultation on a package of measures in advance of introducing draft pension legislation into Parliament. Also launches a new consultation on the default retirement age.

   

• 30^th October: Equal Pay day. 30^th October is effectively the day that women receive their last pay cheque of the year, because the full-time pay gap – at 17.1% - is equivalent to men being paid all year round while women work for free after 30^th October. On Equal Pay Day individuals and groups across the country will be protesting against this enduring injustice.

   

• October: BBC launches Suffragettes archive

   

 

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

10^th/11^th Nov 09: STUC Women’s Conference, Caird Hall, Dundee , focussing on ‘Women and the Economy’. For further details contact Helen Carson at the STUC. Email: hcarson@stuc.org.uk Phone: 0141 337 8100.

 

 

11 Nov 09: International CEDAW Conference, London to mark the 30^th anniversary of the Global Bill of Rights for Women. Further information or to book a place from Marie Birchall or Kathrine Hilario at cedawevent@oneworldaction.org.

 

17 Nov 09 Focus on Opportunities Conference 2009 Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre.  For more information and booking please contact: Ruth Morrell or Liz Redpath on 0845 271 2345 or Email workfocus@grampianblind.org

18 Nov 09 Equal Opportunities in the Workplace: What can the Equality Bill Deliver  Symposium, London

 

18 Nov 09 Tackling Hate Crime and Harassment: responding to new responsibilities and building on best practice in social housing, criminal justice, schools and communities, conference, London

 

26 Nov 09 Women's National Commission event on The UN Women's Agenda, Glasgow.

28 Nov 09 Fair Trade Bazaar, Town House, Inverness , 10:30-3pm.

 

Various dates 2009 SAIF Training Programme 2009, Scottish Accessible Information Forum, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow .


Ongoing:   Highlands & Islands Equality Forum training and awareness raising throughout Highlands and Islands for 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
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