Hansard

How fortunate I am today to stand in the chamber for the third time to address international women’s day. The first time was for a members’ business debate that was led by Michelle Thomson and the second was on Saturday, when many diverse women came together here.

This is a subject that I am extremely passionate about in my capacity as a mentor for women, as a politician and as a volunteer for women’s organisations. I recognise that a major glass ceiling was shattered in the Scottish Parliament in May 2021, with Pam Duncan-Glancy, Kaukab Stewart and me being elected to a Parliament with 45 per cent women. Although that is a great achievement—and we celebrate it today—there is still much to be done. It is just not good enough.

Sadly, this international women’s day takes place against a backdrop of conflict and bloodshed in Ukraine. When the world descends into chaos, women’s rights are disregarded. Far too often, women are deserted or become targets of sexual violence. Progress is made, but conflict emerges and women are again robbed of their education, their liberties and their safety.

Just last year, I stood here to address 20 years of progress in Afghanistan, which had been torn apart, with women forced to give up their rights. Today, I stand here again with a heavy heart as we think of women in Ukraine: those women who have been displaced, those women who have stayed behind and those women and girls who now face an uncertain and daunting future. Until 2016, women in Ukraine could not officially join the military, but today they make up 10 per cent of Ukraine’s military, with many more staying behind to fight for their country. I salute their bravery and wish them all safety.

The theme of this year’s international women’s day is “break the bias”. The problem with bias is that it is deep rooted in traditional stereotypes that continue to inhibit the progress of women and women’s rights. Bias has a multitude of outcomes, so it is right that we do not look at international women’s day as an event in isolation but look at it in concurrence with other events.

This week is also “no more” week—a campaign to say “no more” to domestic violence and abuse. The pandemic saw many women being trapped with abusers due to an increased reliance on a partner’s income, with some struggling to access support services due to entrapment, a lack of faith in the system or a multitude of other reasons. Today is an opportunity to address many of the root causes.

Domestic abuse is a vicious circle and, sadly, it is worsened by many of the biases that we are discussing today. We should all keep in mind that by eliminating biases in the workplace and barriers to education, we can, in turn, eliminate inequality.

During the pandemic, women—particularly BAME women, disabled women and lone mothers—were disproportionately affected. That influenced financial insecurity, isolation and mental ill health. The striking commonality among those women is that they simply felt misunderstood by mainstream services due to either cultural barriers, accessibility or other differences.

It is imperative that public boards and decision making are representative of women and the subsequent intersectional groups. How can we expect policy and services to reflect the needs of women if the people who make the policy do not understand the plight of those women? We cannot continue to take a one-size-fits-all approach to women; it is clear that it does not work.

I cannot emphasise enough that education is of paramount importance to women and girls globally. Education encourages independent thinking, is a key tool in women’s economic empowerment and is of the utmost importance to women’s future progress.

This week is apprenticeship week, and the Scottish Conservatives rightly recognise the importance of apprenticeships and the role that they will play in our economic recovery and our future economy. However, the gender gap continues to grow in modern apprenticeship starts. Companies such as Scottish Power recognise the need for female apprentices and the benefits that they bring. As a result, they have altered entry requirements to suit female subject choice. It is such decision making that will encourage women to be part of the technological evolution and the future job market.

I will repeat three key points. First, education is paramount. Female education is imperative to our future economy, the continued advancement of women and the economic empowerment and independence of women. Secondly, if we are truly to see a change in the support of policies that affect women, we must advocate for more women on public boards, in leadership roles and in policy making. Last, but not least, if we are to truly progress, we must not treat international women’s day in isolation—women’s rights and progress must be continuously in our line of vision.

I will leave members with a quote from Mother Teresa:

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples”.