Hansard

As the minister said in her opening speech, we have made progress towards male and female equality, but we are nowhere near it yet. With no amendments to the Government’s motion having been lodged, it seems that we have cross-party consensus on upholding and protecting the rights of women and girls. Good. The rights of women and girls are fundamental human rights that have been fought for long and hard and should be defended vigorously.

That fight is not over. There is still so much to do on things such as female genital mutilation, prostitution and sexual slavery. Globally, women and girls are being refused access to education and they are trapped in conflicts in which rape is used as a weapon of war. Domestic violence is still a terrifying, terrorising reality for far too many. Around the world, the number of sex-selected abortions is rising, the number of deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth is needlessly high, and women and girls are prevented from making deeply personal choices about their reproductive healthcare.

In 2020, women and girls in Scotland should be under no illusion that the fight for women’s liberation is won. I would go as far as to say that, in some ways, the world feels less equal and more dangerous for women and girls, not safer. Of course, progress has been made in many areas, and I whole-heartedly welcome that. At a time when the spectrum of men’s violence against women seems to be at epidemic proportions, I am glad of the Scottish Government’s action in relation to both funding of front-line services and legislation. I am very proud of the groundbreaking legislation that criminalises psychological abuse, recognising the reality for victims and that the terror inflicted on them is not just physical and certainly not one-off events but a continuum of coercive and controlling behaviour. That legislation will protect many women and girls.

We also have to talk about the increase in the number of women and girls who are being killed or injured in violence that is claimed to be consensual. I agree with the We Can’t Consent To This campaign, which does not believe that women can consent to their grievous injury or death, and believes that they certainly do not invite the male violence that kills them. The claim of “Sex game gone wrong” must not become the new “She was asking for it” defence. There is work to be done there.

At a time when girls and women in this country are at risk of undergoing the unnecessary and painful procedure, which has lasting health consequences, I am glad that we have political consensus on the Female Genital Mutilation (Protection and Guidance) (Scotland) Bill, which, when enacted, will provide the option of protection orders, which female survivors have told us will help to keep girls and women safe from that particular affront to their human rights. We also have to talk about the fact that the women and girls affected need more than just protection orders. They need healthcare in a dignified, culturally appropriate setting—and not just for their maternity care—and they need housing and support. There is work to be done there.

As long as female bodies are objectified, commodified and reduced to something to be bought and sold, used and traded, we will not have equality or justice, and women and girls will continue to suffer violence. At a time when Teen Vogue suggests to girls and young women that prostitution is a job like any other, when the most common search criteria on a porn site are about abuses of women, abuses of girls, violence and rape, and when sex for rent adverts are still seen, I am grateful that the Scottish Government is clear on its position on the violence of prostitution and, importantly, is considering a more robust approach to tackling male demand for prostituted women and girls. I also welcome minister Ash Denham’s announcement this morning of a fund to challenge demand.

Welcome as that is, there is further work to be done around the sexualisation of culture and the joining of the dots on the continuum of commercial sexual exploitation and violence. There is still work to be done.

Women as a sex class do not have equality and the fight is not over—not in this country and not globally. The rights of women and girls must be upheld, protected, advanced and defended vigorously. All humans have human rights, and, as parliamentarians, we have a responsibility as human rights defenders—a responsibility that I know we all take seriously.

To do the work that we all agree needs to be done, much of which must be done outside this chamber, women must be free to gather, talk and organise, free from the threat of violence, and free from threats to their livelihoods.

Talking about women’s rights, and prioritising women and girls, does not mean disregarding or not caring about the rights of others; however, it may well mean difficult conversations. We have to be honest that, sometimes, rights might appear to come into conflict. Pretending otherwise does everyone a disservice and brings us no closer to the equal society that we all want to see.

I acknowledge all the work that is being done, and I am willing to play my part in the much more work that still needs to be done.