Hansard

I recognise the work of the cabinet secretary, supported by his team, in introducing this important piece of legislation, as well as the work that has been done by members from across the chamber in supporting and strengthening the bill. I thank NSPCC for its support for my amendments this afternoon.

Domestic abuse is a stain on our society. In the main, it consists of men’s domination of women and children. It destroys lives and families, and our criminal justice system must be robust in dealing with its perpetrators. The bill is significant in creating a specific statutory offence of domestic abuse that includes coercive, controlling, psychological and emotional behaviour as well as physical assault. It makes changes to bail conditions and the use of non-harassment orders, and it recognises the impact of domestic abuse on children. It also re-emphasises the Parliament’s commitment to tackling domestic abuse and to not hiding from the problem but playing our part in bringing it into the light.

In 1999, when the Scottish Parliament was established, it was seen as a Parliament that was able to focus on issues of importance and that contained many more women politicians than we had seen before in our mainstream politics—a Parliament that was prepared to bring such issues to the forefront. This afternoon, we have heard thoughtful, challenging and impassioned speeches, which are the reason that this Parliament was created.

The bill is significant in showing an understanding of coercive control and emotional abuse and the impact that those behaviours have on women’s lives through the isolation and fear that come from living in such a situation. We must ensure that the law is effective and that victims have confidence in it. This afternoon, John Finnie described how that can be achieved through the work of the police and the Procurator Fiscal Service.

I recognise that funding has been announced for specialist training for the police and, this morning, for training by Scottish Women’s Aid. That is all welcome, but there will be challenges with the rolling out of the legislation, two of which I will highlight.

First, judicial training, which Liam McArthur touched on, remains an issue. Although there is training available, it is only voluntary. The measures that were outlined in a letter that the Justice Committee received from the Lord President are welcome, and I recognise his commitment in saying,

“I will continue to place a high priority on judicial education in this field.”

However, the current measures do not fully address the issue and I would like to see more progress on that.

Secondly, although the funding for training that has been announced is welcome, Scottish Women’s Aid, in its briefing, talked about the issues around funding as the “elephant in the room”. Some members have received a briefing from Perthshire Women’s Aid, which is in my region, that describes an experience of counselling services being heavily oversubscribed, children’s services being underresourced and all services running at capacity. We recognise the financial situation that many women’s support organisations around the country face and, although I know that the Government has a big commitment to that area, I call on the Government to do what it can to ensure that there is sufficient support. We also recognise that local authorities have borne the brunt of the cuts in recent years, but I ask all local authorities, even in such difficult times, to recognise the importance of those services and to prioritise them. John Finnie and Kezia Dugdale spoke about the need for funding for those organisations.

There are many issues that I want to raise, but we are short on time. Rhoda Grant made some important points on the contact system; perhaps the cabinet secretary will respond to those in his closing comments.

Scottish Women’s Aid has been tweeting artwork by children who are supported by the organisation, which brings home the impact of domestic abuse on children.

I want to mention the work that has been done by Zero Tolerance with Scottish Women’s Aid and the ASSIST—advice, support, safety and information services together—project in the publication of “What journalists need to know about the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill”. That document goes beyond the bill and describes what responsible journalism means. It is about changing the narrative and increasing public awareness of what abuse is and what it looks like—how somebody’s sister, neighbour or daughter might be living—so that we can all challenge it and not accept it.

I hope that that is a positive ending, because we can be proud of the legislation that will be passed today. Our firm hope is that it will improve the lives of women and children around Scotland.