Hansard

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak in this debate, Presiding Officer.

On Saturday, I attended the international women’s day event in the Parliament. Women from throughout Scotland sat in these seats and talked about issues that women face in our nation. That was great to see. There were lots of inspirational speeches on the day, and it was an opportunity to meet various groups and discuss the work that they do. It was the first time that I met the force of nature that is called Agnes Tolmie, who is the chair of the Scottish Women’s Convention and a very inspiring and motivating woman. I am sure that I will hear from her again. The message that I took loud and clear from the event was that gender inequality not only makes our society poorer in equality terms but impacts on our ability to grow our economy. Gender inequality is economic inequality.

Like Kaukab Stewart, I will quote Maya Angelou. She said in “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”:

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

Too many women in our society have an untold story inside them that they want to tell and share, to highlight what they can do. Our job as parliamentarians is to break the bias and give equal opportunities to women.

In Scotland, we are making progress, but much work needs to be done. In 2018, the full-time equivalent employment rate for women was 42 per cent, compared with 58 per cent for men. Eighty-five per cent of people aged 16 to 64 who were inactive due to caring were women; men made up the remaining 15 per cent. Eight per cent of women in employment aged 16-plus were self-employed, compared with 16 per cent of men. The median hourly earnings were £2 less for women than they were for men.

Last year, the Scottish Women’s Convention highlighted some key issues in its manifesto asks document, “Scottish Parliament Elections 2021: What Women Want”. I will touch on some of those, because it is important that we remember them.

On housing, the SWC called for

“An increase in funding for women to access help for housing costs”,

including as much flexibility as possible around

“the Scottish Welfare Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments.”

It also highlighted that,

“Ensuring safe accommodation for women that accounts for their unique personal experiences is of the utmost priority.”

I saw that when I met Women’s Aid East and Midlothian. On childcare, the SWC called for

“A commitment to high-quality working conditions for staff within the childcare sector, including working benefits”,

and for

“adaptability and flexibility for childcare”.

The importance of those issues came through strongly in the forum on Saturday. On social security, the SWC highlighted the need for

“Placing emphasis on the need for greater food security for many families living in poverty”.

That is even more important than ever now, as people face a choice between whether to heat or eat. The SWC also called for

“a commitment to universal strategies such as free school meals”,

which needs to continue. It went on to highlight that we need to ensure

“funding for advocacy organisations to ensure women are aware of their rights around the social security appeals process and other financial issues.”

On health, Scotland’s “Women’s Health Plan: A plan for 2021-2024” is very welcome, but the SWC points out that we need to encourage

“uptake and recruitment of Community Link Workers.”

We also need to grow the Scottish prescribing network, which is key to

“Increasing the use of community hubs in less populated areas where women can go to access information and support around health.”

On employability, the SWC highlights that we need

“A commitment to work with businesses and trade unions to further promote the real living wage across all sectors”,

with

“Designated return to work and retraining programmes that account for all age groups, including older women and digital skills abilities.”

Secondly, I want to talk about what we men need to do more of in tackling violence against women, because we are not doing enough. We need to lead and drive change, not only in this place but in society in general. We need to challenge misogyny every single time we hear it, and we need to take women’s safety concerns even more seriously. The only way to change that is by changing men’s behaviour.

Next week, I am hosting a round-table session, and I have invited MSPs to discuss that issue with Engender, Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre, Scottish Women’s Aid, Zero Tolerance, White Ribbon Scotland and others. As of today, more than 40 MSPs have accepted the invitation.

Graham Goulden, formerly of the violence reduction unit in Glasgow, has called on us men to define violence in a way that would help us, individually, to prevent it. I have mentioned that in the chamber previously, and I mention it again, because it is important. In a blog for the “Don’t be that guy” campaign, he said:

“When I see the term violence, I look at it as more an attitude, a behaviour, rather than a physical act. When we do this we can start to address behaviours and attitudes that can, if unchallenged, lead to other acts of violence like murder, sexual assault and rape.”

He went on to say:

“When we don’t focus on these behaviours, when we remain silent about what we see and hear, we give permission for abuse and violence to take place.”

The struggle for women to achieve gender equality is for every single one of us to take part in. As men, we have had privilege for far too long.

I will close with a quote from an amazing woman, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who said:

“For both men and women the first step in getting power is to become visible to others, and then to put on an impressive show ... As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we’ll all be better off for it.”

Let us all ensure that we work together to achieve that goal for the women of Scotland and worldwide.