Glasgow Women's Voluntary Sector Network
Glasgow Women’s Voluntary Sector Network (GWVSN) was set up in 1996 to ensure that projects working with women in Glasgow had a method of responding to and influencing Glasgow City Council’s Equality Agenda through their nominated members attending the Equality Networks Forum.
The Network aims to bring together women from across Glasgow to provide a forum for the sharing of information and mutual support, to raise awareness of and advocate for the alleviation of social exclusion and discrimination faced by women in Glasgow. The Standing Group on Violence Against Women was set up as a sub-group of the Network, originally to look at funding for Violence Against Women organisations, and continues to date, with representatives sitting on the Board of the Glasgow Violence Against Women Partnership.
GWVSN Objectives:
Provide a mechanism for identifying gaps in information and services to women in Glasgow.
Seek to influence the policy and practice of Glasgow City Council and other appropriate bodies delivering services to women in Glasgow.
Monitor the Council’s and other appropriate bodies’ progress on women’s issues.
Consult on relevant issues and act as a point of contact for external consultations.
Promote anti-discriminatory practice and advocate for such practice to be the norm by challenging racism, homophobia and disablism by proactively working to end violence and discrimination towards black women, lesbians and disabled women and by drawing connections between different types of discrimination (e.g. sexism, racism, homophobia, disablism and classism).
Act as a united voice for women’s organisations and organisations that provide a service to women.
Monitor and evaluate the funding and resource allocation to women’s organisations that provide a service to women in Glasgow.
We meet every 6 weeks, alternating business and information sessions. Business meetings coincide with the Equality Networks Forum quarterly meetings and allow us to discuss the ENF agenda ahead of the meeting, as well as to progress our work on the aims and objectives outlined above. Our recently established information sessions have been successful and have been a useful way of involving women and engaging with organisations who do not necessarily attend our Business meetings. Information Sessions cover areas such as: Women Seeking Asylum; women and Addiction; Child Sexual Abuse; Women and Mental Health issues; Presentations from new and existing projects.