Hansard

I, too, am pleased to speak in the debate after so many serious and affecting contributions from throughout the chamber.

I start with a quote from article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, penned in 1948. It says:

“Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms ..., without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”

On paper, rights for men and women are equal. However, nearly 70 years on from UDHR, and 20 years on from the fourth world conference on women in Beijing, where Hillary Clinton gave her famous “Women’s rights are human rights” speech, it is clear that the reality on the ground does not match the rhetoric. Although it can be easy to think of that as a problem for developing countries, it is true across the globe.

Some of the figures close to home are stark. For example, domestic abuse is still a huge problem here in Scotland, affecting an estimated one in six women in our society. Last year, nearly 60,000 incidents of domestic abuse were recorded by Police Scotland—that is one incident recorded every 10 minutes. What we must bear in mind is that those are likely to be conservative figures, as many domestic violence incidents go unreported.

The importance of eradicating violence against women is summed up by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who said:

“Violence against women continues to persist as one of the most heinous, systematic and prevalent human rights abuses in the world. It is a threat to all women, and an obstacle to all our efforts for development, peace and gender equality in all societies.”

What lies at the heart of violence against women, in all societies, is gender inequality. Systematic exclusion from all levels of the decision-making process has led to the continued subordination of women as a consequence of stereotypes and traditional practices. As other members have said, in order to eradicate violence against women, we must first eradicate that inequality.

I am proud that the work that the Scottish Government is doing is aimed at tackling all forms of violence against women and effecting systemic change that will overcome historical inequalities.

For example, “Equally Safe” is the strategy through which the Government aims to provide a framework to create a Scotland where women feel safe and equal. The strategy recognises that men and boys also experience violence, but it aims to highlight that simply being female can lead to discrimination and disadvantage. As other members have said, the framework encompasses the full spectrum of violence against women and girls, including domestic abuse, rape, commercial sexual exploitation and female genital mutilation. The national health service, local authorities and the criminal justice system are all called upon to align their work with the goal of creating a country where women live free from violence and the attitudes that perpetuate it.

The review of the justice system that has been brought about under the strategy has led to reform of the law relating to sexual offences through the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Bill. The bill is very important, as it will not only strengthen the power of the police and the courts to take action against perpetrators of abuse, harassment and sexual offences, but create a specific offence that will allow us to tackle the rise of so-called revenge porn.

The Government has announced that £20 million will be invested in a range of measures to tackle gender-based violence, with £2.4 million allocated to the Scottish Court Service to ensure that domestic violence cases are heard more quickly, and £1.85 million awarded to Rape Crisis Scotland, which is particularly welcome as it will allow it to expand its advocacy services over the next three years. The funding will see rape crisis services in Orkney and Shetland for the first time, which highlights the fact that the issue affects women who live in every corner of the country. Women who live in rural areas historically have not been afforded the same access to services as those who live in more urban parts of the country. Patriarchal culture exists in every community and can make it difficult for women to speak out and report incidents of violence, because of fear of repercussions.

If we are to tackle the issue across society, we require long term social, cultural and attitudinal change. Measures taken by the Government, such as appointing a gender-balanced cabinet, expanding childcare and campaigning for gender equality in the boardroom will all contribute to that change in attitude.

I will repeat Alison Johnstone’s point: violence against women can also be economic. It is worth repeating that welfare reforms are having such a disproportionate effect on women. That will be debated in the Parliament this week, when we consider the Welfare Reform Committee’s report on the topic. The Fawcett Society reported that 74 per cent of the money that has been saved through benefit and tax changes since 2010 has been taken from women.

Globally, the economic crisis that began in 2008 has had devastating consequences for women. During times of economic pressures, more women and girls—in our country and in low-income countries—are likely to suffer as a result of having less work. They are also more likely to be taken out of school, and they are first to lose out when there is less food for the family and in terms of access to medicine. Often they are in such precarious positions that they enter into prostitution, which of course puts them at more risk of violence and exploitation.

It is worth remembering that we are behind on the millennium development goals because of the global recession. The goals are particularly important to women, which is why I appreciate the global aspect of this debate on violence against women.