Hansard

The theme of international women’s day this year is “break the bias”. The very foundation of discrimination against women is a negative bias, whether in the workplace or the home, in design, in wider society or even in the health service. I will touch on some of the issues.

In a letter I received recently from the Lord Advocate, she told me that, at the end of March 2020, 2,978 summary trials were scheduled that involved domestic abuse-related offences. However, at the end of September 2021, 6,889 summary trials were scheduled that involved domestic abuse-related offences—an increase of 131 per cent. That is shocking. Just when we think that we have moved forward in dealing with violence against women, we appear to fall back even further.

The reason for my approach to the Lord Advocate was to push for an increase in virtual trials in which domestic abuse is involved. I understand that the virtual trials national project board presented its report to the cabinet secretary in January, and I wonder when we can expect a response to that report. Virtual trials are especially necessary in rural areas, where public transport is limited and the abuser and their ex-partner often use the same public transport to reach court, which is often some distance away. That is intimidating and can lead to a reluctance to give evidence.

In a report in 2019, Scottish Women’s Aid stated that

“the Scottish Government needed to pay more attention to the experiences of women who live in rural and remote areas”.

The report made a series of recommendations, including about ensuring

“that the safety of women and children is paramount when planning and promoting participation.”

Women in the Highlands and Islands are particularly vulnerable due to close-knit communities, geographical isolation and distance from services. That is why I pushed for the roll-out of domestic abuse courts throughout Scotland. I am now asking that they be virtual.

Another aspect of violence against women is commercial sexual exploitation. For decades, we have been aware of the damage that commercial sexual exploitation causes, yet it takes place unchecked—indeed, it is growing throughout Scotland. We hear of men offering to be sugar daddies in return for sex, to fund young women through university. We hear of men offering accommodation in return for sex. That is all exploitation and violence against women. Way back in 2009, a Public Health Scotland report on commercial sexual exploitation stated:

“The key risk factor for being abused through commercial sexual exploitation is being female.”

Nothing has changed since then.

The cross-party group on commercial sexual exploitation carried out an inquiry into websites that are used to sell sex. It was clear to us that those websites were not only profiting from sexual exploitation and trafficking but were encouraging it. They offered account managers to those who placed a large number of adverts. They offered deals that involved changing where a woman was based, with promotions such as “on tour”, which is trafficking by any other name.

The same Public Health Scotland report in 2009 talked about prostitution, pornography and other involvement in the sex industry, and it found

“that the exploitation of women through these forms of ‘entertainment’ legitimises negative attitudes towards women and is inextricably linked to gender inequality and sexual violence.”

Nonetheless, we know that many young people get their sex education from that same pornography, hence the changing attitudes that have led to an increase in sexual violence.

I will touch quickly on health services and their bias against women. Let us take, for example, maternity services throughout my region. Communities in both Caithness and Moray have campaigns to reinstate local maternity services. If men gave birth, would they be expected to travel 100 miles in an ambulance, in labour? I really do not think so.

Beatrice Wishart talked about harrowing experiences of endometriosis and the length of time that women wait for a diagnosis of the condition. Women have been told that it is all in their heads. They have been ignored and belittled and have had their health concerns ignored. Engender’s briefing tells us that

“For many women pain, especially that associated with gynaecology, is normalised or dismissed in interactions with healthcare professionals.”

We often hear that women experience heart attacks differently from men and that they are less likely to ask for help and are therefore more likely to die. I look forward to hearing more about the Scottish Government’s commitment to establish an institute for women’s health, as was promised in its 2021 manifesto.

I also look forward to the day when, in an international women’s day debate, I can stand here and simply celebrate women and our equality. However, I sometimes lose heart.

Last year, this Parliament protected many groups of people from hate crime. Labour members believe that women should have been protected, too. That stance is borne out today by Baroness Kennedy’s report, which tells us that women and girls should be protected from hate crime. A year has already passed and women and girls still have to wait for new legislation to get that protection. Again, women are being left behind. How much longer will women have to wait to be equal in every respect?