Hansard

I acknowledge the work of women’s groups and communities across Scotland and the world to tackle women’s inequality. The work that they do is important, often unpaid or underpaid and, sadly, frequently undervalued by some, but it makes a difference and is in many cases life saving. Thank you, sisters.

I especially mention North Ayrshire Women’s Aid and the North Ayrshire violence against women partnership, which will gather with the wider community for a reclaim the night march in Irvine this evening. I am sorry that I cannot join them.

Our debate takes place against a background of conflict and bloodshed around the world. We know that women and girls are disproportionately affected by war. Given this year’s focus on bias, it is worth reflecting a little on our collective response, on the rhetoric and action of Governments and Parliaments and on media coverage in regard to global conflicts and injustice.

In Afghanistan, there remains a devastating humanitarian and economic crisis. More than half the population is suffering extreme levels of hunger, and the UN has stated that an increase in child labour, child marriage and the sale of children has been observed. As Gillian Martin laid out eloquently, for Afghan women and girls, the de facto authorities have taken actions to curtail fundamental rights and freedoms. Women have been excluded from the workplace, and limitations on freedom of movement are negatively impacting other aspects of their lives, such as access to health services.

I do not think that war can be anything other than grotesque and unfair but in Yemen, for nearly seven years, a grossly asymmetrical war has seen Saudi bombs pummelling the country, sinking it into widespread famine and pushing it to the cusp of collapse. Instead of hearing widespread condemnation, Yemeni women who are struggling for their survival have heard very little from the rest of the world. That war has caused an estimated 233,000 deaths, including 131,000 from indirect causes such as a lack of food, of health services and of infrastructure because of a Saudi-led blockade.

In Palestine, ordinary Palestinian women and their families who are resisting state seizure of their homes in Sheikh Jarrah and other occupied territories are conflated with armed militants, which means that they are labelled and treated as terrorists. The recurrent killing of civilians in Gaza by Israeli air strikes is defended with the same excuse as Putin’s propaganda has adapted for Ukraine’s invasion—that women and children are being used as human shields, which justifies striking civilian targets. A shameful lie is just that, no matter who is telling it.

Those global events can feel entirely overwhelming when the Parliament has no powers over foreign affairs or immigration, but we are not powerless. As a nation, could Scotland direct resource to one of the countries that are doing the humane thing and opening their borders to provide sanctuary? Europe’s poorest country, Moldova, now has the largest proportion of refugees of any nation. Tens of thousands of people fleeing the Russian invasion have crossed its border from Ukraine, according to the country’s Prime Minister. As of Monday, of the 250,000 Ukrainians who had crossed the border since the war began, 120,000 have remained in Moldova.

Although our Parliament in Scotland does not yet have the power do something about the UK Government’s pitiful response to the refugee crisis, we can raise our voices and say that Scotland stands ready to accept those who are fleeing conflict. I am very grateful that our First Minister and her Government do just that. Refugees are welcome here.

We must maintain pressure on the UK Government to step up and do the right thing. I saw a clip yesterday of the Home Secretary seeming to say that the reason for not letting folk in was that there were trafficking gangs operating in Calais. Yes, Home Secretary, there are and there will be—and the direction of travel of your Government, with the Nationality and Borders Bill, plays right into their hands. Pushing displaced, traumatised women to the edges of society makes them even more vulnerable to traffickers—something that, according to Maria, a Ukrainian feminist activist, is already happening. In an interview with Julie Bindel that was published this morning, she speaks of

“Organised gangs ... trying to abduct young women on the Ukrainian Polish border”

and of girls being abducted by pimps from German refugee camps.

Sex trafficking is of course most prevalent in nations with legalised prostitution regimes. That is another thing that we can do right now: Scotland can ensure that there is no market here for the criminal gangs and sex traffickers to profit from by getting on with the job of adopting laws against sexual exploitation that are fit for the 21st century, making it a criminal offence to enable or profit from the prostitution of another person, tackling and ending male demand by criminalising paying for sex, and decriminalising and supporting victims of sexual exploitation.

With no home, no money, no job, no resources and a very limited legal framework protecting them, those displaced women are the most vulnerable in the world. From our position of safety here, we owe it to them, as well as to all the women and girls who are at risk of harm here, to take every action that we can and to use every power that we have to make the changes that are needed.