Hansard

I thank all the members who have spoken in the debate. We have heard some fantastic, powerful and moving speeches from around the chamber. As Katy Clark described it, it has been a day for sisterhood.

Before I get into my speech, I congratulate Meghan Gallacher and her partner on their wonderful news. Perhaps I might also give them some advice. When I had my daughter nearly 20 years ago—I can hardly believe that it was 20 years ago—I put enormous pressure on myself and came back to work far too soon. I strongly encourage Meghan Gallacher to take her maternity leave—it is her entitlement and she should take it. [Applause.]

I begin, as other members did, by offering my unqualified support to the people of Ukraine. It is, as others have said, shocking and appalling that, on international women’s day, we again see women and children fleeing their homes from war and violence. Our thoughts are with all the people of Ukraine. Scotland stands ready, with open arms, to welcome those who have been displaced by that terrible war.

Tess White talked about women being the main casualties of war. We of course accept her amendment.

Other members talked about the atrocities that women have faced. Gillian Martin talked about the plight of Afghan women, with their rights being removed, schools being closed, their removal from their jobs and a return to dark days at the hands of the Taliban. She talked about toxic masculinity and the worst of humanity being made heads of state. That is absolutely true.

Ruth Maguire talked about women in many other countries, including Yemen, whose plight is sometimes out of sight. She talked about the pressures on Moldova, which is one of the poorest small countries in the world, yet is taking in many refugees.

We in the Scottish Government will continue to work at pace with our key partners, including the Refugee Council and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, to put in place the necessary arrangements to ensure that people from Ukraine who want to come to Scotland receive the support that they require.

The theme of this year’s international women’s day is “break the bias”. Sadly, every woman and girl in Scotland and around the world will be touched by gender bias in some form during their lives. That point was made by Kaukab Stewart, Pam Duncan-Glancy and Pam Gosal. Some women and girls experience that more acutely and often, including for example disabled women, women living in poverty, women from minority ethnic communities, and refugee and migrant women. The pandemic has shown that and it has exacerbated the deep-seated inequality that has been a feature of our society for too long. To return to the status quo as it was before the coronavirus is simply not good enough, which is why gender equality must be at the heart of our pandemic recovery.

Women have been disproportionately impacted by Covid-19. The challenges of balancing childcare, paid work and caring responsibilities with the stresses and uncertainties of the pandemic have without doubt been unprecedented. Women were more likely to lose work or hours during the pandemic and to care for those who have been ill with Covid. We are now—we hope—moving step by step out of the pandemic, and we are starting to look ahead. Many members mentioned those pressures, including Natalie Don and Pam Duncan-Glancy. We need to learn the lessons and, as we move forward, make sure that we tackle those fundamental inequalities.

We have much to do. However, as others have said, this Parliament has already taken important steps to break the bias. We have raised awareness, changed policy and passed legislation that we can all be proud of. We have world-leading legislation to make free period products accessible to every woman and girl who needs them. We have legislation, which was developed directly with women’s organisations, that reflects the reality that domestic abuse is more than physical violence and is, in many instances, an insidious pattern of coercive, controlling behaviour and psychological abuse. Natalie Don mentioned that.

We have legislated to ensure that women are more fairly represented on our public boards—an issue that Pam Gosal mentioned. In December 2020, we unanimously passed the bill that became the Forensic Medical Services (Victims of Sexual Offences) (Scotland) Act 2021, which established a legal framework to ensure that victims of sexual violence can access healthcare and request a forensic examination without having to make a report to the police.

Work continues apace. We are delivering more childcare and we have published our women’s health plan, as Beatrice Wishart mentioned. The plan reflects the importance of recognising women’s healthcare needs, listening to women and responding appropriately. Since the plan was launched, we have developed a platform for women with information on the menopause, including information on symptoms, options for care, treatment and support. For too long, the impact of the menopause on women, including in the workplace, has not been taken seriously enough. We want to change that.

Through “Equally Safe: Scotland’s strategy to eradicate violence against women”, we are working with partners to eradicate violence against women and girls in all its forms. The work in schools on consent is vital. It is so important that young people including, importantly, boys understand the issue of consent.

We are consulting on a new human rights bill that will incorporate four international human rights treaties into Scots law including, importantly, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. That demonstrates the Scottish Government’s commitment to upholding human rights and promoting and enhancing the current framework.

I join the First Minister and others in thanking Baroness Kennedy and the working group on misogyny and criminal justice in Scotland for their excellent report, which was published this morning. Rona Mackay mentioned the importance of that and how it will help to move us forward. The Scottish Government will take the report and look at moving forward with the recommendations in due course.

I said that the Parliament should be proud of the actions that it has taken to break the bias. I am grateful to our male allies around the chamber, who have made some powerful contributions during the debate. It is clear, though, that that progress would not have been possible without women standing here in our Scottish Parliament and speaking up about and championing the many issues that women and girls face and which are important to them. I do not think that we would have reached the position that we have reached on the issues that I have highlighted, whether through policy or legislation, without women in this Parliament moving them forward.

Christine Grahame talked about the importance of education and the story behind how many of us got here. Thank goodness Christine Grahame’s ancestors made the decisions that they made, otherwise we would not have her here among us to give us lovely, amazing and powerful speeches. One thing that we have in common is the power of education. My late mum used to drum home to me the importance of education. I was the first person in my family to get a degree, which was ground breaking. Education has been absolutely critical for many generations of women, and I really relate to that. We need to encourage the next generation of girls to recognise the importance of education to go into any roles, to go into science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and to break through some of the barriers that, unfortunately, still mean that women are underrepresented in the workplace.

Last year, the Scottish Parliament came closer to the goal of equal representation, with women making up 45 per cent of MSPs. That is the highest proportion of women MSPs that we have ever had. However, as Katy Clark said, we are not there yet. There has been progress, but we are not there yet. The Parliament has to strive to reflect the people whom we serve. Although, as others have said, we are not there yet, we are closer than ever before. I acknowledge the presence among us of Pam Duncan-Glancy, Kaukab Stewart and Pam Gosal as women in the Parliament who are breaking barriers, breaking the bias, and making the Parliament look more like Scotland. That is absolutely fantastic.

The progress that we have made cannot be taken for granted. We have to strive to do more. As the First Minister highlighted in opening the debate, the misogyny and harassment that women and girls experience are harmful for all, including for women in visible positions, such as in politics. Being an MSP, an MP or a councillor is a privilege, and misogyny, abuse and harassment should not be seen to be, and must never be accepted as, part of the job.

I urge all political parties to keep taking action to ensure that more women, more disabled women, more women from minority ethnic communities and other women who are not represented as they should be in the Parliament are supported through our parties’ selection processes to make our Parliament and, indeed, our town halls, more equal.

In conclusion, I know that one could be disheartened by the fact that we still need an international women’s day to acknowledge that women and girls around the world still face the inequality and violence that we have heard described across the chamber, but I am not disheartened because, as long as we do that, we can highlight that inequality and violence and collectively, as parliamentarians, show our resolve to back the day and its intention to end gender inequality across the world. We have done much, but there is more to do. That is a goal around which political parties can find common ground, as we have this afternoon, and that has been true of the Parliament going back many years. We can be proud of that, and I am absolutely optimistic that that will continue. I can give members my commitment to keep working to break the bias and make Scotland a fairer, safer and more equal country for all women and girls.