Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 04 March 2021
I recognise the work that Neil Findlay has done on that issue over many years. As he knows, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport is looking at that closely. She wants to be able to work with the women and across the chamber, as she has done, to bring those events to a satisfactory resolution. I am sure that she will continue to work with Mr Findlay and the women and deliver that as she—or her successor; whoever will be the health secretary after the election—goes forward.
The pandemic is not impacting just women’s ability to take on paid work. During the pandemic, referrals to services for women and girls experiencing violence and abuse rose. I am deeply concerned by that and make it very clear that violence against women and girls will not be tolerated. We are working to ensure that front-line services continue to support adults and children who are experiencing gender-based violence. That is why, last year, we allocated an additional £5.75 million to organisations including Scottish Women’s Aid and Rape Crisis Scotland to ensure that services could meet increased demand.
Those are just a few of the ways in which women have been particularly impacted by the pandemic. More impacts are emerging and we are working closely with stakeholders to identify and mitigate them as quickly as possible. We cannot be content with simply mitigating inequality. This year’s international women’s day theme is choose to challenge gender inequality. We must challenge the systems and biases that enable gender inequality to persist.