Have your say on gender and disability inequality

The First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls (NACWG) is calling on Edinburgh residents to get involved in the national conversation on tackling gender inequality.

NACWG is encouraging the local community to join the movement and lend a voice in the latest discussion surrounding disability.

Disabilities affect more women and girls in Scotland than any other group. Women continue to face equality disadvantages resulting in negative impacts on their everyday life.

NACWG welcomes individuals of any gender and those who don’t identify within Edinburgh to bring real experiences and new voices to the Circle to help shape recommendations to the First Minister.

Areas the Council wish to examine include independent living, access to services and information, and participation in society.

Established in 2017, the Advisory Council was formed to drive action and play a leading role in raising gender inequality in Scotland. The Council aims to bring people together focusing on a new spotlight every two months to share ideas and opinions on different gender equality issues. The NACWG is putting a spotlight on disabilities until the end of February, outlining the barriers faced by disabled women.

To get involved, people can come together to form a ‘Wee Circle’ with family, friends or colleagues discussing ideas and views related to inequality for women and girls with disabilities, and submit their feedback online at onescotland.org/NACWG.

Alternatively, they can share their thoughts on social media using the hashtag #GenerationEqual.

The NACWG Chair, Louise Macdonald OBE, said: “Disabled women are often faced with double discrimination because of their gender which adds further challenges to their day to day lives.

“We encourage people across Edinburgh to share their views and experience, whether they themselves or someone they know is affected by these issues. Every opinion we gather contributes to shaping our recommendations to the First Minister, so we want and need to hear from as wide a range of people as possible. It is an opportunity for the people of Edinburgh to play a part in real and lasting change for everyone in Scotland.”

This call for input follows the publication of the NACWG’s second Report and Recommendations, in which it found that step change is necessary in Scottish policymaking to tackle gender inequality.

Over the course of 2019, the Advisory Council consulted a range of stakeholders of all ages and genders, and those that don’t identify, across the country, including businesses and third sector organisations in order to gather the evidence needed to develop the second report which focused on Policy Coherence.

These recommendations build on those made by The NACWG in its 2018 Report and Recommendations – of which, all eleven were subsequently accepted by Nicola Sturgeon – with the recommendations devised to work in tandem to drive forward the gender equality movement.

The NACWG 2019 report and recommendations can be found at: https://onescotland.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/NACWG-2019-Report-and-Recommendations.pdf

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davepickering

Edinburgh reporter and photographer