Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 26 November 2020
I declare an interest as a current board member of Shetland Women’s Aid. The Scottish Liberal Democrats will vote for the motion and both amendments.
I, too, pay tribute to Scottish Women’s Aid, Rape Crisis Scotland and other services across Scotland. I look forward to taking part in the #WisToo walk at the weekend—although I hope that the weather is better than it was last Saturday. Marking the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence and the annual international day for the elimination of violence against women, gives us an opportunity to reflect on the global problem of violence against women. The event began in 1991 and, although it demonstrates that things have improved, we also have a long way to go.
Street harassment of a sexual nature is experienced the world over. In too many countries, women and girls are not just undervalued but not valued at all. Closer to home, there have been reports of women being too scared to go outside and exercise in the dark during the Covid lockdown. No one should live in fear. The societal mindset needs to change. How violence against women is reported in the media is also important. Men can help by calling out other men’s misogynistic behaviour.
Domestic abuse is a hideous, controlling and often life-threatening crime. There will be many statistics read out in the course of today’s debate, and I will add a few more. Across the UK, three women a week are killed by men. In Scotland, one in four women will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime. Over 60,000 domestic abuse incidents were recorded by Police Scotland in 2018-19—84 per cent of the victims were women. In 2019-20, we saw the highest number of domestic abuse charges for the past five years. The high number of charges recently may partly be a result of the new legislation that put controlling and coercive behaviour on a par with physical abuse. The effects of such behaviour can be just as damaging, and that must be properly understood and recognised. The impact is not only on the abused woman, as children and young people who experience domestic abuse against their mother are not simply witnesses—they are harmed by it and that harm can be lifelong, impacting on their ability to form relationships and concentrate at school and, ultimately, on their life chances.
Domestic abuse is a major cause of women’s homelessness in Scotland. A violent or abusive dispute within the household was given as the main reason for homelessness by more than 4,000 applicants. Of the applications in that category, 78 per cent were made by women, more than half of whom noted on their application that they had children. More women make an application for homelessness under that category than for any other reason, yet experts still believe that the real figures are likely to be higher.
Women who have had to scoop up their children from their beds and flee their homes in the middle of the night to escape an abusive partner give up everything, but why do they have to leave the family home? Staying in the family home should not mean staying with an abuser. The Scottish Liberal Democrats have long sought policy changes that would address that blatant inequality through the provision of emergency protection orders. The last thing that victims need is to be inundated with paperwork to prove that they are homeless or to be left to fend for themselves in finding a new place. I am glad that legislative moves are now being made to make that policy a reality. Scottish Women’s Aid describe such orders as a natural progression to follow the groundbreaking recent Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018. People need legislation to back them up. The Scottish Liberal Democrats and I look forward to continuing the work that will help to make the orders a reality.
In Shetland, there are no firms that offer the legal aid service. Equity of access to the legal system for domestic abuse survivors, wherever they live, is essential, as lives are rebuilt on the road to recovery.
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