Meeting of the Parliament 16 April 2024
Let me reiterate what I said in my statement. I consider that the Scottish Government could have done more to communicate what the act is about and—crucially—what it is not about. I also have to accept that, even with better communication, there would still have been bad-faith actors. We should be united on calling that out. The legislation is there to protect vulnerable communities; it is not there to be weaponised by people, irrespective of what side of the so-called culture wars they are on.
I have been very clear that I will introduce legislation to tackle misogyny. The matter has been debated previously in Parliament. It was due to the representation of many women’s groups, which did not want sex to be captured, that sex was not included as a characteristic in the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021. There are many reasons for that. For example, women are not a minority; we make up 51 per cent of the population.
Helena Kennedy led excellent work in this area. The Government has consulted on her recommendations, on which we will introduce a bill this year. She said that the prevalence of misogyny in our country and in our society is shocking and shameful. There is no doubt that every woman the length and breadth of Scotland will have experienced misogyny in some shape or form. Therefore, we need to have stand-alone legislation that attempts to encapsulate the full range of offences that are motivated by misogyny.
I very much look forward to working with Ms Clark and other members on the bill.