A Friendly Country

Racism in Scotland

Scotland prides itself on being a friendly country, welcoming of strangers. In reality however, alongside this culture of hospitality, there has also existed a long history of racism in Scotland.

Racism has often been related to particular economic and social circumstances when migrants have been perceived by the resident population to represent some form of economic or social threat.

Racism today is experienced by many communities, both visible and non-visible minorities. During the 18th and 19th centuries, and even still in the 20th century, hostility and prejudice was expressed towards migrants from Ireland, Italy and even the Highlands of Scotland.

Source: http://www.scotlandagainstracism.com/onescotland/8.1.2.html

International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day (IWD) falls on 8 March every year and is a day of global celebration of women’s achievements. 2011 is the centenary year.

Many organisations and governments observe IWD by holding large and small-scale events that honour the advances made by women and also provide a reminder of the continued action needed to ensure these advances are maintained and built upon to achieve women’s equality in all aspects of life.

 

 Source: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Equality/18500/17603

Equal Rights for Both Men & Women

The Equality Act 2006 created a “general duty” on public authorities to:

• Eliminate unlawful sex discrimination and harassment, and
• Promote equality of opportunity between men and women.

The gender equality duty came into force on April 6, 2007.

The UK Government’s Equality Act 2010 replaced previous equality legislation. The gender equality duty was replaced with a new single equality dutycovering age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. This new duty came into force in April 2011.

Division of Labor by Gender. Women are beginning to outstrip men as a percentage of total employees. Scottish machismo, bolstered by laborism, Calvinism, militarism, and soccer is adjusting to a

A view of Braemar Castle. The Scottish aristocracy agreed in 1707 to join England’s and Scotland’s parliaments.

world where the association of women with domesticity and reproduction and men with public life and paid employment are weakening. However, life chances are far from equal. Men far outnumber women in elected political offices, the legal profession, and managerial and administrative positions in business. Women earn 72 percent of what men earn on average, and are concentrated in certain economic sectors (shops, hotels, financial and business services, education, health, and social work) and the voluntary sector. Subject choices by sex in education suggest that gendered work expectations endure, with construction, engineering, manufacture and production, and transport being over-whelmingly male and personal care, office and secretarial, and social work overwhelmingly female.

The Relative Status of Women and Men. Men and women are notionally equal, but there is still room for reform. The feminist movement has opposed sex discrimination, fought to ensure greater participation by women in the new parliament, and had some success heightening awareness about violence against women. Still, many young men and women consider it acceptable to hit a woman or force her to have sex in certain circumstances. Women, especially as single parents and pensioners, are more vulnerable to poverty than men are, and the vast majority of single parents with dependent children are women.

Source:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Equality/18500/20506

http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/Scotland.html#b

Get to Know Scotland

Capital	Edinburgh
Largest City	Glasgow
Official Language(s)	English, Gaelic, Scots
Government	Constitutional monarchy
Queen (of the UK)	Queen Elizabeth II
Prime Minister (of the UK)	David Cameron MP
First Minister of Scotland	Alex Salmond MSP
Area	78,772 km² (30,414 sq mi)
Population	Around 5.2 million (National Records of Scotland)
Population Density	64/km² (167.5/sq mi)

source: http://www.scotland.org/about-scotland/facts-about-scotland