Women for Independence 

Statement for International Women’s Day 2021 

This International Women’s Day, we continue to live in unprecedented and challenging times. Scotland and the whole world attempts to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. Lockdown and physical distancing separates us from the routines, cares and pleasures of ‘normal’ life. We are concerned for our loved ones, anxious about the dangers for vulnerable groups, and contending with an underlying existential dread about what this means for the future – for ourselves, our communities, for a just and sustainable global order. 

Food is at the heart of so many issues for women in Scotland.  For this reason, and in response to input from women all over Scotland, Women for Independence has identified food and food policy as one of the 4 pillars of our developing womanifesto.  

Our focus on food emerged from National Council meetings held all over Scotland.  We invited women—members and non-members—to tell us about what matters to them, to their families and communities, and to independence for women.  This reflects our commitment to listen first, to talk about what matters to women, and to do politics differently.

We are living in unprecedented and challenging times, as Scotland and the whole world attempts to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. Lockdown and physical distancing separates us from the routines, cares and pleasures of ‘normal’ life. We are concerned for our loved ones, anxious about the dangers for vulnerable groups, and contending with an underlying existential dread about what this means for the future – for ourselves, our communities, for a just and sustainable global order. 

Women for Independence was contacted by BBC News to ask us if we could send two women to analyse the election results as they unfolded as part of the BBC's election night coverage.  They were to travel to London to participate and provide comment through the night and into the next day.  The women concerned were not to be members of a political party.  Our National Committee member Lesley Orr and former National Committee member Kim Nicoll agreed to go along and Kim writes about her experience below.

WFI National Committee member, Maggie Lennon (below) travelled to Brussels to represent Women for Independence at a major conference on Internal Expansion of the EU. The event was run by the Coppieters Foundation who are a European Political Foundation think tank.  As well as asking questions (6 key ones), she offered solutions and discussed ideas, and the event posed many questions of its own . But just because the issue is tricky and complex isn’t a reason for not engaging fully. Below is her blog based on her main presentation.

Photo: 2019 © Delmi Álvarez

National Committee member Maggie Lennon has been involved in our work on women's justice since its inception.  Here, she outlines current issues being discussed (June 2019) and asks important questions about the lack on media coverage for voiceless women.

WFI National Committee member Cathy Ratcliff (pictured below) is an expert in international development and regularly visits Malawi so when she raised the issue of work that women were doing in Malawi on their own version of a similar document to the WFI Womanifesto, we were keen to learn more and to see where we could make international connections.

Cathy writes below about the work Malawian women have undertaken and the links that we are building with them.

Caroline McDonald was asked to participate in the #AskHerToStand event at Westminster by her local MP.  Here, she writes about her experience and where she is going next.

Lee-Anne Menzies joined our National Committee in 2018 and has written about how her personal experiences have informed her political beliefs. 

Note: Contains references to domestic abuse which some people may find triggering. For support on this issue please click here.