Hansard

On Friday I will visit Grampian Women’s Aid, which is having an open day as part of the 16 days campaign and which has recently relocated to an office in my constituency that was previously occupied by Home-Start Aberdeen. I look forward to discussing with Grampian Women’s Aid the work that it does locally. Ahead of today’s debate it advised me that it is working with 390 women and 250 children—a figure that has doubled since last year. It attributes that to increased awareness, which has led to more women getting in touch. I suspect that that is replicated in other parts of Scotland and it indicates that the focus that the Scottish Government and the First Minister are placing on tackling the scourge of domestic abuse is having an impact, in that more women are seeking the support and help that they require.

However, there are still barriers in the way of those women being able to make contact. Grampian Women’s Aid notes:

“a high percentage of women that approach the service ... don’t have recourse to public funds. ... Welfare Reform has had a big impact on women who have experienced domestic abuse. Women experiencing domestic abuse face considerable barriers when trying to leave an abusive partner, including financial abuse. They are denied access to independent income, are prevented from working and are encumbered with debt. Access to financial support, provided by the social security system is therefore crucial in supporting women to be able to leave an abuser. The cumulative impact of reforms to the welfare system have acted to ... reduce women’s financial autonomy, resulting in ... insecurity for women and their children.”

We also have to consider the fact that women and their children are often forced to leave the security of their home environment, although the home might not be secure because abuse is taking place there. They no longer have a fixed abode and find themselves having to rely on homelessness services to find somewhere else to stay. That can be a difficult time for them.

I welcome the introduction of Clare’s law. The pilot took place in Aberdeen and Ayrshire but the scheme has now been rolled out across Scotland. Evidence from the pilot projects showed that it is an extremely important change to the law around the support of women who were at risk of domestic abuse from partners who had a history of abuse.

Nanette Milne talked about one domestic abuse incident taking place every nine minutes in Scotland. I figured that Stewart Stevenson would have done the sum, so I decided to check and that equates to 17 to 18 incidents of domestic abuse taking place in Scotland during today’s debate. It is quite a sobering thought that more people will have been abused during the time of the debate than members of the Parliament will have spoken. That should give us cause for reflection.

I speak in the debate as the father of a young daughter. I look at the world that we occupy and the one that we are creating and wonder what lies ahead for her. I also think about what I want to see changed. Newspapers and magazines on newsagents’ shelves will, on the one hand, lambast a woman for her appearance by saying that she is carrying too much weight and has let her figure go, while on the other hand, they carry stories and opinion pieces that say that women who dress in a provocative fashion or carry themselves in a certain way are opening themselves up to abuse and assault. Those are the kind of mixed messages that are coming out of every outlet at women and girls in our society.

I look at a society in which the people who take offence at rape jokes are somehow considered to be the ones who have a problem rather than those who think that it is okay to make jokes that are centred around rape. I also look at the effects that such jokes can have on those who have been victims of rape. Many such people have not disclosed the fact that they have been raped and can find themselves in an audience full of people who are laughing at the concept of rape.

I noted Elaine Murray’s comments about ZOO magazine no longer existing. Danny Dyer from “EastEnders” wrote a column in ZOO magazine in which he advised a reader that he should cut his ex-girlfriend’s face so that nobody else would want to date her. That kind of thing is being put out there.

I fear that we are creating a society that is becoming desensitised to such issues and does not see them for the horrors that they are. We are talking as much about changing people’s mindset as about removing such things from existence.

I support the campaign to end page 3 images. I support efforts to remove things like the Daily Mail website’s sidebar of shame, which regularly sexualises girls who are way under the age of consent and regularly puts out other mixed messages. I support removing rape jokes from comedy acts and television shows. I support removing the idea that we should idolise singers and artists who objectify women in their lyrics. The point is that those things will always find a home and an audience as long as there are people who think that way. Until such time as we tackle head on the projection of such images and the pervading attitude that all this is acceptable, we will not be able to get to the heart of the matter.

I welcome the approach that is being taken to legislate in these areas, but this is as much about us taking a stand against those who do and say the things that we should object to. That will be just as important in the fight to prevent violence against women.