Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 04 March 2021
It is a privilege, as a father of three daughters, for me to join in this debate and celebrate the important, upcoming event of international women’s day next week. It is indeed fortuitous that this is also fairtrade fortnight, given that women are a large part of the workforce in the developing world and, indeed, the British Commonwealth, in which I have an interest through the Scottish Parliament’s branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
This year’s international women’s day campaign theme speaks of the responsibility that each of us shares to celebrate women’s achievements by doing all that we can to promote greater visibility and opportunity, and by choosing not only to recognise but to challenge the stereotypes and limitations that we see in society. International women’s day is a collective drive, resting on all our shoulders, to call for greater inclusion. Not only should we challenge others in highlighting women’s equality, but we should also prepare to be challenged ourselves—whether at home, in the workplace, in public or in private—to tackle gender bias and inequality, no matter how subtle or small.
Although progress has been made, it is clear that there is still a long way to go. According to Close the Gap, most low-paid work, which is often also precarious, tends to be taken up by women, many of whom need to balance earning and caring responsibilities. Instances of racism, prejudice and discrimination remain worryingly common and continue to disproportionately impact women.
Internationally, we continue to hear appalling reports of young schoolgirls being kidnapped in northern Nigeria. We hear about the issues facing women in other parts of the world, such as countries in the Arabian peninsula. In my time spent working overseas in countries recovering from civil war, such as Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo and Afghanistan, I have seen on the ground, for real, the hardship that women have endured simply to keep their families together, fed and watered. In Afghanistan in particular, women were denied education in past years.
At home, the impact of Covid-19 has been far reaching, but we cannot ignore its effect on women. Disruption to work has been widespread, and has affected women more keenly. The vast majority of front-line workers are women, who face greater risk to their physical and mental wellbeing as they continue to deliver essential services in the most challenging of circumstances.
The sectors that tend to be dominated by female workers, such as the retail, tourism and hospitality sectors, have suffered heavy losses that have resulted in damaging knock-on effects for women. Through the many months of home schooling and increased childcare responsibilities, the pressure on women to reduce their work hours has been more pronounced.
It is vital that the gains that have been made in furthering gender equality are not reversed. Global data from UN Women contains the warning that the pandemic could be responsible for wiping out 25 years of progress.
I believe that there is a renewed urgency to this year’s international women’s day. We need to challenge the barriers that women face and answer those calls with real, significant and lasting action. The pandemic has spotlighted the real risk in undervaluing women and the obligation on all of us—whether policy makers or not—to ensure that ground that has been gained is not lost.
Finally, I wish all our lady members who are leaving Parliament well. We shall miss their style, flair, good humour and intellect. Put simply, we shall miss them all.
17:02