NIKI KANDIRIKIRIRA

As the new executive director of Engender, I am watching the unfolding 2007 elections with obvious interest. Engender works on an anti-sexist, social justice agenda that aims to challenge gender bias in systems, structures and institutions, and gender relations that impact unfairly on women and their families and create problems for the wellbeing of Scotland.

Since devolution, Scotland has been one of the world leaders in women's representation in parliament. But as these elections evolve it appears that we are at risk of losing the gains we have made, with fewer women candidates standing in safe seats. Academics watching the electoral process fear we will drop from 39% to 25% women in these parliamentary elections.

This is not just about percentages and numbers for the sake of political correctness. Research in Scotland has shown that having women in parliament changes the focus of the debate and the way business is done. There has been significant progress in bringing to the fore the issue of domestic violence and its impact on women, their families and society; there has been some progress on the criminalisation of people who buy sex; and an increasing investment in the equality and social justice agendas.

The threat of a reduction in women MSPs is real and brings with it the threat of a reduced focus on issues that concern a large proportion of the population: equal pay, fair pay, the cost of caring, violence against women and children and poverty.

Women still provide the majority of care in Scotland today. Some 66% of Scotland's estimated 650,000 unpaid carers are women, providing a service that saves the NHS millions. Whether as unpaid carers of the sick or the elderly or as mothers taking time out to deliver and care for their children, women pay a very heavy price. They sacrifice their income, opportunity and often their independence.

Two-thirds of women in the UK are in employment but, to manage their family and work balance, many have to trade down, accept lower rates of pay and lose out on career opportunities. The choice is often lower-paid, part-time work or leaving employment altogether and being dependent on a partner or the state. Women are, therefore, more likely to be poor and to face increasing poverty in old age. Owing to lower National Insurance contributions, less than 12% of women receive the full state pension and their average retirement income is only 53% of that received by men. This is an outrage and one that Scotland cannot allow to continue.

We are very aware of the relationship between poverty and an increased vulnerability to violence. This not only affects women but also their children and society more generally.

For 20 years I worked for British "development" agencies in Africa, where international governments insisted that international aid could only be delivered if its impact had been assessed for its effect on gender, on women's and men's lives. Strangely, in Scotland, this is only just coming into force with the impending Gender Equality Duty that demands that public bodies assess everything they do for its gender impact. About time.

This does not mean only measuring the impact that public bodies' policies and practices have on women, because it is clear that sexism has negative impacts on men, too. Many men would also like to be able to work more flexibly so that they can care for their children or relatives. But sexist social norms and economic expectations disable them, and few will sacrifice their careers and economic security.

We like to think that in 21st-century Scotland, men and women are equal. After all, it is 100 years since women fought for the right to vote and 32 years since the Sex Discrimination Act came into force. Sure, things have changed, but are we equal yet? I can only answer "no, not yet", when we have reducing numbers of women in public office, only 10% of private companies led by women, more than 45,000 cases of domestic abuse reported yearly and worrying trends suggesting that 43% of teenage girls think it is acceptable for their boyfriend to be aggressive; no, not yet, when only 3.9% of reported rapes lead to conviction and thousands of women from poor countries are trafficked into sexual slavery to serve the desires of our men.

These elections are so important for women, for their families, for men, for Scotland's social and economic prosperity. It is crucial that we vote women into the parliament and into local government. It is crucial also that the men we vote in understand how sexist systems, structures and institutions disempower and disable the majority of the population from contributing fully.

So, ask your political candidates how they plan to address the issues of gender inequality, and don't vote for them unless they can show you that they understand the issues.

If in any doubt about how you'd test them, Engender, Scottish Women's Aid, Zero Tolerance and the Rape Crisis Centre have jointly published a pocket guide with some facts, figures and questions that you can use; contact any of our offices for a copy.