Hansard

Tomorrow, 25 November, marks the international day for the elimination of violence against women.

This date was designated by a resolution of the United Nations in 1999. It might interest members to know that it was no arbitrary date plucked from the international calendar, and many women’s rights groups used that date prior to the resolution of the United Nations.

It is on that day 55 years ago that three sisters were brutally murdered for standing up to an oppressive regime in the Dominican Republic. The murder of the Mirabal sisters has become symbolic of female resistance and, in particular, resistance against violence towards women. Sadly, the Mirabal sisters were not the first women murdered for standing up against an oppressive regime, nor will they be the last.

We must be aware that women, and men, across the world are still fighting today to create gender-equal societies. When we remember the price women from all walks of life and from all corners of the globe have paid to try to deliver equality, we must also be reminded that the struggle is on-going.

Today, we discuss the 16 days of activism campaign that runs from tomorrow until 10 December—human rights day. The purpose of this campaign, which is also launched by the United Nations, is to raise public awareness of violence against women and girls, and to increase the political will and the resources available in order to prevent and end such violence.

I put it to the chamber today that we use the debate not only, and very importantly, to raise the issue in Parliament and discuss the topic, but to take that further step to form a united political desire, across all parties, to do all that is within our powers to eradicate violence against women and girls.

On that note, I would like to express support for the Scottish Government’s campaign on the back of “Equally Safe”, Scotland’s strategy on preventing and eradicating all forms of violence against women and girls. However, I would like to reiterate concerns over the delay in the implementation and funding of the strategy. Government delays in implementing a strategy of this level of importance are unacceptable. I was pleased to hear the minister, in her opening remarks, talk about some progress that has been made recently, and I hope that that momentum will be continued.

The cross-party support for the strategy shows a united political front for tackling violence against women, and we cannot let bureaucracy stand in the way of such progress. There is no place for gender-based violence in 21st-century Scotland, and we must work alongside all nations on earth to ensure that there is no place for gender-based violence anywhere on this planet.

It is staggering that, globally, one in three women and girls experiences some form of physical or sexual violence at some point in her life. That figure is not reserved to some distant notion of women living in gender-repressive nations. It could be women we encounter in our everyday lives—grandmothers, mothers and daughters. It is women beaten behind closed doors by family members in their own homes. It is women harassed on the street for the way that they dress. It is women assaulted at work by the hands of their employers. It is women who receive death threats and intimidation on the internet.

We still live in a world where violence against women is commonplace and campaigning against such violence will not stop until what is currently the commonplace becomes the obsolete. This is why collaborative international work with an agreed agenda is essential.

I welcome the newly launched sustainable development agenda, which has replaced the millennium development goals. In this post millennium development goals world, it is important that we do not lose sight of the original aims set out in those goals.

I am glad that the new sustainable development agenda has goals that, for the first time, include specific targets and indicators on ending violence against women. I highlight the importance today of working on the sustainable development goals as a key method of reducing inequality and, in particular, violence against women.

I call on the Scottish Government to consider the implementation of further legislation to ensure that Scotland meets all the targets that are set out in the goals. We must join up existing legislation and ensure that Scotland provides a firm legislative framework that tackles violence against women in all its forms and does not allow anything to slip through the cracks.

The UN resolution that I mentioned earlier agreed the international day for the elimination of violence against women and recognised that violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, which have led to domination over and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of their full advancement. It also recognised that violence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into subordinate positions compared with men. That historically unequal power has dissipated somewhat in many western nations over the past century, and I believe that the key to that shift towards a more equal society has been driven largely through education.

We are privileged in the west with our enviable educational facilities. One of the main problems throughout the world is a lack of access to education and, in particular, a lack of access to education for women and girls. That is why campaigns such as a world at school, which was set up by the Office of Gordon and Sarah Brown, are essential to raise awareness of the challenges that many children face in obtaining education. Around 31 million girls are denied their right to an education. That cannot continue. It is no surprise then that, this year, 16 days of activism campaigners have called not only for an end to gender-based violence but for an end to violations of the right to an education.

While poor access to education for women helps to drive inequality, poor education for men helps to reinforce patriarchal notions of male superiority over women. It is essential, then, that men around the globe are challenged and educated on their attitudes to and treatment of women. We must challenge stigmatisation where it is evident, and we must work with societies and cultures from every walk of life in order to broaden horizons and challenge concepts of male dominance. The issue of violence towards women is not unique to any one nation or culture. To varying degrees, differing attitudes are prevalent in every nation on earth. Tackling that violation of human rights requires a global solution.

I am proud today to speak in support of the 16 days of activism campaign. Since its inception in 1991, it has seen involvement from around 5,500 organisations, policy makers, UN agencies and countless individuals from more than 180 countries. I appreciate the symbolism of connecting the international day for the elimination of violence against women with human rights day. We must all be aware that any violence towards women is not just a women’s issue; it is a violation of human rights. It is shameful that, in 2015, we must still campaign on violence against women.

I have the utmost respect for the dedication of the campaigners who work tirelessly to put an end to such violence. I would also express solidarity with every woman and man who is working to challenge the status quo and push for a gender equal world in which violence to women is no longer an issue.