Hansard

This coming Sunday is international women’s day—a day on which to celebrate women’s achievements and to celebrate progress towards gender equality. This year’s theme is each for equal, which recognises that we each have our part to play in making gender equality a reality, because while significant gains for women’s rights have been fought for and won, gender equality remains an unwon cause.

This is a significant year for the women’s movement because it is 25 years since the fourth United Nations world conference on women. In September 1995, when I was just a tiny wee woman—I am still a wee woman, probably—with the world looking towards the beginning of a new century, thousands of Government representatives and activists gathered in Beijing to talk about women’s rights. The conference is often remembered for a speech by Hillary Clinton, who was then first lady of the United States of America, in which she famously declared that

“women’s rights are human rights.”

The outcome of the conference was the “Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action”, which was a progressive blueprint for advancing women’s rights that was negotiated and was, at times, the subject of heated debate, but ultimately agreed by 189 Governments. The declaration is a remarkable feat when we think that women’s rights would have varied considerably among all the countries.

I would like to read a short section from the declaration. It beg

ins:

“We, the Governments participating in the Fourth World Conference on Women ... Gathered here in Beijing in September 1995, the year of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations ... Determined to advance the goals of equality, development and peace for all women everywhere in the interest of all humanity ... Acknowledging the voices of all women everywhere and taking note of the diversity of women and their roles and circumstances, honoring the women who paved the way and inspired by the hope present in the world’s youth ... Recognize that the status of women has advanced in some important respects in the past decade but that progress has been uneven, inequalities between women and men have persisted and major obstacles remain, with serious consequences for the well-being of all people ... Also recognize that this situation is exacerbated by the increasing poverty that is affecting the lives of the majority of the world’s people, in particular women and children, with origins in both the national and international domains ... Dedicate ourselves unreservedly to addressing these constraints and obstacles and thus enhancing further the advancement and empowerment of women all over the world, and agree that this requires urgent action in the spirit of determination, hope, cooperation and solidarity, now and to carry us forward into the next century.”

Those words united countries towards a common cause, and much has changed for the better.

Sadly, however, women and girls around the world still experience hardship, poverty, violence and inequality. We must continue to change that. The platform for action that underpins the Beijing declaration helps us. It sets out 12 critical areas of concern that align closely with the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Those areas include poverty, health, education, armed conflict, the economy, human rights, media, the environment, power and decision making, violence against women, and the girl child. Each area is broken down into strategic objectives and actions. If the declaration provided the vision, the platform for action is a guide through which to realise it.

I would like to provide members with an update on the work that the Scottish Government is progressing in some of those areas. The Forensic Medical Services (Victims of Sexual Offences) (Scotland) Bill was introduced in Parliament last November. It clarifies the legal basis on which health boards can deliver forensic medical services, and will ensure that people have consistent access to services whether or not they choose to report to the police. That is known as self-referral. We want to give people control over what happens to them at a time when their ultimate control has been taken away.

I was pleased to confirm last week that funding for services that deal with violence against women, including Rape Crisis Scotland and Scottish Women’s Aid centres, will be increased to £13 million per year from 2020-21. I thank all Rape Crisis’s services for their kindness and compassion, but especially the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre for the warm welcome that it gave me last week at the launch of that very welcome piece of information about funding. The money will also help to support projects that target prevention and early intervention, which is a core part of “Equally Safe: Scotland’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls”.

We are strengthening the law. The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 came into force in April 2019 and addresses the full spectrum of domestic abuse. It covers not only physical abuse, but forms of psychological abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour. Recent figures show the success of the legislation. We have also introduced the Female Genital Mutilation (Protection and Guidance) (Scotland) Bill, which will create a new type of protection order for women and girls who are at risk.

We are taking action on women’s health through our commitment to develop a women’s health plan. It will tackle women’s health inequalities, raise awareness of women’s health conditions and improve access to appropriate services and care. The plan will target access to postnatal contraception, abortion and contraception services, menopause services—something that I have a particular interest in—and endometriosis and heart disease outcomes.

Scotland is leading the world on period dignity, for which we are very proud of the Parliament. Since 2017, we have invested about £15 million to make period products available free in education settings and community locations across the country. I welcome Monica Lennon’s having introduced her Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill, and I congratulate her for getting the support that was required for the bill to pass stage 1.

However, we do not need to wait for legislation, welcome though it is, to build on the good work that we are already doing, which is why we are taking further action, including developing regulations that will place a duty on local authorities to provide period products in schools from the next academic year, and exploring how we can support women who have medical issues such as endometriosis to access period products.

In relation to women and work there is another important anniversary this year. It is 50 years since the Equal Pay Act 1970 was passed. It was a milestone for women’s rights in the 20th century; it made it unlawful to pay a woman less than a man for doing the same work or work of equal value. In March 2019, the Scottish Government published “A Fairer Scotland for Women: Gender Pay Gap Action Plan”, and we will publish a report on our progress later this spring.

As we know, the drivers of the gender pay gap are complex, and equal pay is one part of the jigsaw. The gender pay gap exists in part because men and women are not doing the same jobs at all—segregation still exists. Women are still concentrated in lower-paid sectors and still assume the majority of caring responsibilities in households, which is why our transformation of childcare provision is so vital, because it is promoting family-friendly workplaces.

We must also continue to challenge gender stereotypes, including in early years and education settings, in relation to the kinds of jobs that men and women do, and in terms of who cares for children and family members. That was at the heart of one of the recommendations of the First Minister’s national advisory council on women and girls, which recommended the introduction of two daddy months—additional paternity leave for dads.

The Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills, Jamie Hepburn, wrote to the United Kingdom Government in January to urge it to improve the package of support that is offered to all parents, and suggested an additional 12 weeks of paid leave for fathers on a non-transferable “use it or lose it” basis. He also recommended an increase in maternity pay for all women workers over a 52-week period, and a review of eligibility for maternity allowance. Increasing the level and length of statutory provision to parents will promote uptake of shared parental leave by fathers, support a more gender-balanced approach to parenting and offer financial support to mothers and fathers at the time of the birth of their child, which is crucial to our collective ambition to eradicate child poverty.