Council supports 16 Days of Activism

City Council supports 16 Days of Activism 2024

The City of Edinburgh Council is once again supporting the global 16 Days of Activism campaign.

This is an international movement aimed at raising awareness, driving advocacy, and sharing knowledge to combat gender-based violence.

Running from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, through to 10 December, Human Rights Day, the campaign calls for action on a global scale.

As part of its commitment the City Chambers was lit up orange in support of the campaign.

The Chief Executive and Leader of the Council are pleased to announce that the Council is participating in the Equally Safe at Work accreditation programme, further reinforcing its broader strategy to create safer communities for women and girls.

City of Edinburgh Council Leader Cammy Day and Chief Executive Paul Lawrence said: “We are pleased to announce that the City of Edinburgh Council is participating in the Equally Safe at Work accreditation programme as part of a wider programme of work in the City to promote gender equality and to prevent and eradicate discrimination and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). This falls within Edinburgh’s wider commitment to implementing Equally Safe.

“Gender inequality in society is a cause and consequence of VAWG, and women’s market labour inequality is one of the ways this is expressed in society. To prevent VAWG, we must tackle gender inequality in society. The Council as an employer is committed to addressing and eradicating the ways in which social gender inequality plays out in the workplace.

“As one of the largest employers in Edinburgh we are committed to progressing gender equality in the workplace, and the Equally Safe at Work Programme provides us with the tools to make meaningful change for all employees in the organisation, particularly women.

“We will be undertaking a number of activities to progress gender equality for our colleagues and better support victim-survivors of violence against women (VAW) at work. This includes reviewing our equality policy, introducing a specific gender-based violence policy, looking at recruitment and progression practices and pathways, and providing relevant learning and development opportunities.

“We’ll do more to raise awareness of gender equality and violence against women and work to address occupational gender segregation – undertaking pilot projects to change the workforce profile where roles are seen as traditionally male- or female-dominated.

“It’s important that all employees in the workplace feel safe and supported. While women and girls are at greatest risk of gender-based violence, we know that boys, men, transgender and non-binary people are also affected – the work we do will benefit everyone.

“It’s also important that we take an approach that recognises that women have different experiences of employment, and this is shaped by multiple, intersecting inequalities and discriminations that overlap to create different levels of inequality. We recognise that individuals face unique challenges and discrimination based on the intersection of their gender, race, ethnicity, disability, economic disadvantage, religion, sexual orientation and other social identities. 

“We’ll continue to work to address disadvantage including pay gap intersectionality through our commitments in our new Workforce Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2024 to 2028.

“Equally Safe at Work will enable the City of Edinburgh Council to develop initiatives and practices that better reflect the needs of all employees in the organisation and align with our Behaviours and our commitment to implementing the Equally Safe strategy across the City.

“We will ensure that the changes we make are sustainable, creating and maintaining a more inclusive culture where women feel safe at work and empowered to lead in their own careers and raise any concerns or complaints they may have.

“We will be working to embed this work throughout the organisation and consistently review the changes to ensure they still reflect the needs of the organisation and our colleagues.

“Making sure that women, who are the vast majority of City of Edinburgh Council employees are safe, supported and included in the workplace is not just a commitment- it’s common sense.

“We want all colleagues to have the tools, resources and support they need to perform their best and to feel fulfilled from their work within the Council.”