Meeting of the Parliament 08 March 2023
I, too, associate myself with the comments from the First Minister and Meghan Gallacher about the inspiring event here on Saturday afternoon with the Scottish Women’s Convention.
On behalf of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, I welcome the First Minister’s announcement of a consultation to reform criminal law to address misogyny, and I trust that the Scottish Government will have an effective awareness campaign about the consultation and how to respond to ensure that as many views as possible are voiced.
This year’s international women’s day theme is “embrace equity”. Equity is about recognising that people are in different circumstances, which can make it more difficult to achieve the same goals. Inequity most commonly affects marginalised communities such as women, people of colour, disabled people and the LGBT+ community. Engender notes that, in advancing work to end men’s violence against all women and girls, we must prioritise the needs of marginalised women at every step. In simple terms, equality is giving everyone shoes; equity is giving everyone shoes that fit.
Patriarchal norms often block women from exercising their right to participate fully in economic life without discrimination. Globally, women and girls do the majority of unpaid care and domestic work and are overrepresented in poorly paid, precarious work.
Eradicating inequality requires an overhaul of the inequitable structures that prevent women from fully participating in the workforce. Research from Scottish Widows shows that, on average, women are retiring with £123,000 less in their pensions than men. Gender imbalances in pay, working patterns and time away from work for caring responsibilities are driving that gap. When talking about women and retirement, we cannot forget the long, on-going fight against state pension injustice by the 1950s WASPI women—women against state pension inequality. The ombudsman found that there had been maladministration on the part of the Department for Work and Pensions. Sadly, many of those women have since died without receiving any compensation. I declare an interest as a member of the WASPI cross-party group.
Age Scotland found that women over 55 are more likely to have a long-term health condition and that one in three women aged 55 to 64 are unpaid carers. We should recognise the valuable contribution that older women in Scotland make to our society, while challenging the inequality that too many experience. Across work and education settings, we need to understand the different challenges that women face and work to remove those systemic barriers. Globally, girls face additional barriers to education. Recent media reports highlighted the suspected poisoning of schoolgirls in Iran, while women and girls in Afghanistan continue to be systemically excluded from education. Funding feminist movements and women’s rights organisations is essential for the delivery of women’s and girls’ rights. Those groups are grounded in communities, are able to identify the needs of women and girls and deliver services. Women’s rights groups also have a vital advocacy role. However, the leadership of women and girls is consistently undervalued. The Scottish Government has committed to establishing a women and girls fund and to mainstreaming gender equality across its international programmes. I echo ActionAid and Oxfam in calling for more details on that work.
Women belong in politics and in Parliament. We still have a long way to go until the make-up of society is reflected in the make-up of our democratic institutions. In the chamber, women make up 45 per cent of participants, compared to 37 per cent in 1999, so we are seeing progress. The Scottish Parliament’s on-going work through its “A Parliament for All” report will, I hope, continue that progress.
UN Women highlights that only 11.3 per cent of countries worldwide have female heads of state. Full democracy needs equal participation of women in all its processes. A recent local event stands out in my mind when I reflect on just how far we have come and how far we have to go. During the signing of the islands growth deal in Kirkwall in January, representatives from three island groups, Orkney, the Western Isles and Shetland, were sitting together. I was there with Shetland’s political leader and council chief executive, who are both women. That is a sign of changing times and a shift in gender representation. All others around the table were men.
Finally, I take the opportunity to say thank you to Shetland Women’s Aid, which is celebrating 40 years of delivering specialist support services to women who have been affected by domestic abuse in Shetland. I pay tribute to the hard-working staff and trustees who provide such an important service.