Hansard

I am privileged to be responding for the Executive on this significant day in the calendar for women activists throughout Scotland. I acknowledge, as have all members who spoke, Johann Lamont's contribution to initiating the debate and thank her for that. I also acknowledge all the different versions of her name that we have heard.

As we know, international women's day symbolises how far women have come in their struggle throughout the world for equality, peace and development. Donald Gorrie referred to the suffragettes and the suffragists. It is pertinent for those of us who are interested in the issue of political representation to look at the analyses of that period. It is good that historians do not talk only about the leadership of those campaigns, but about the contribution to them of ordinary working women from Dundee and many other places. They contributed to the achievement of fair and universal suffrage.

Appreciating that fact helps one to understand how long it took to deliver a fair and effective electoral system. We would have disappointed our mothers who took part in those battles if they had known how long it would take us—and continues to take us—to achieve political representation for women. Women quickly understood that they needed not only the vote to deliver fair and effective systems of justice, but political representation.

It is important to record the achievements of the Scottish Parliament. As many members have indicated, we are well up the league in terms of women's representation. We must acknowledge the work that our Westminster partners, who are so far behind us on that issue, will be doing. The Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002 will help them in that work.

It would be remiss of me to let the only Tory member who spoke in the debate alone pay tribute to Maria Fyfe and her efforts in getting women into the Westminster Parliament and assisting many of us to get into the Scottish Parliament. We must acknowledge the contribution that women such as Maria Fyfe have made to that process. It is important that we pay her respect for that. [Applause.].

All the achievements that I have referred to are the direct results of the efforts of women in previous generations. International women's day encapsulates the solidarity of women and the respect that we pay to the women who did that work. We acknowledge the genesis of international women's day. One hundred and forty-five years ago, women textile workers marched through the streets of New York demanding better wages and improved conditions, only to be met by violence and arrests. That was one of the milestones in the struggle for women's equality. Since then, much has been achieved but, obviously, the struggle continues.

In adopting its resolution in 1977 on the observance of international women's day, the General Assembly of the United Nations cited two reasons: to recognise the fact that securing peace and social progress and the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms requires the active participation, equality and development of women; and to acknowledge the contribution of women to the strengthening of international peace and security. For the women of the world, the day's symbolism has a wider meaning. It is an occasion to review how far they have come in their struggle for equality, peace and development. It is also, as many have said today, an opportunity to unite, network and mobilise for meaningful change. This debate will help to move that forward.

As Cathy Peattie and others observed, we must take the opportunity to recognise and celebrate the role of women in our communities in creating change for tomorrow and beyond. International women's day is about respecting past achievements but it should also focus our minds on what lies ahead.

All over Scotland, communities are organising festivals and events to celebrate international women's day. I am pleased that the Scottish Executive is playing its part in trying to facilitate that. This year, the Scottish Executive has developed perhaps its most comprehensive programme so far. Earlier today, the First Minister hosted a reception that recognised the excellent contribution made by women active in their communities. That was reflected in his announcement at the reception of £150,000 funding for the women's fund for Scotland. That new and innovative idea from the Scottish Community Foundation and Engender will help develop that fund to provide access for women's organisations to funding to promote social welfare and well-being throughout many communities in Scotland.

A host of other events are taking place this week. The Secretary of State for Scotland, Helen Liddell, will be at Edinburgh castle to host a celebration of the hidden heroines. Iain Gray will meet asylum seekers. Many of us will, of course, be working hard in our constituencies with women's organisations.

Johann Lamont asked that we continue our partnership working with women's organisations. We will do that this Saturday through the women in Scotland consultative forum, which will meet to determine women's priorities for the coming period.

The key part of international women's day is that it provides a focus on the need for the women's agenda and the key issues that we need to address. Women still have inequality in pay, are not represented in participating in public life and continue to suffer from domestic abuse and exclusion. We are determined to do all we can to address those issues.

As Elaine Smith said, the prevention of domestic abuse has been a key priority for the Scottish Executive. I can give Elaine Smith the reassurance that she was asking for: we understand that we have to embed the spectrum of male violence into our thinking about how we approach this matter. One of the first priorities of our national working group is to examine that factor. Such structural analysis will guide our work and help us to deliver on many of the aspects that we need to improve.

It is not possible in the time allocated here today to discuss all the work that is being done, but I take the opportunity to highlight some Scottish Executive initiatives that seek to address the difficulties facing women in our society. I was delighted to announce yesterday successful applications for the second round of funding under the domestic abuse service development fund. The Executive's advertising campaign is entering a new phase, reaching out to new audiences with the message that there is never an excuse for domestic abuse. I am pleased with the success of the helpline, which is averaging 500 calls per week, and of the website, which received 2,000 visits during the first month of the campaign. We are making progress on the prevention of domestic abuse but we accept that there is much to be done.

We are working in partnership with enterprise companies, employers and employees to close the pay gap between men and women, which stands at 17 per cent for hourly earnings but widens to as much as 45 per cent in some occupations. The gap is wider for older women and, for part-time workers, it is almost 40 per cent. If the pay gap continues to close at the current rate, women will not earn the same as men until 2036.

I inform Dorothy-Grace Elder that we are undertaking the audit that she referred to. Reducing the pay gap is an important priority for us. The situation has been allowed to remain stagnant for too long. Closing that gap is one of the major social changes that we need to bring about. It is about an end to low pay, alleviation of poverty for families and an end to the benefit trap and discrimination and segregation between women and men in the workplace. I am pleased that a close-the-gap co-ordinator has recently been appointed.

I have a variety of adverts for the work that the Scottish Executive continues to undertake. Many members have heard me go on about it endlessly before, so I will not focus on that. It is proper that we celebrate our many achievements. I will endlessly tell members about how successful the Scottish Executive is, but we should not be complacent.

We must understand the issues of discrimination more in a context of solidarity, as Rhona Brankin said, rather than in the somewhat ethnocentric approach of John Young. We must understand that there are many big agendas throughout the world. Nowhere in the world can women claim to have the same rights and opportunities as men. They continue to be among the poorest. The majority of the world's 1.3 billion absolute poor are women. Three quarters of the women over the age of 25 in much of Asia and Africa are illiterate. On average, women receive 30 per cent to 40 per cent less pay than men earn for the same work.

Everywhere, women continue to be the victims of violence. Rape and domestic violence are listed as significant causes of disability and death for women of reproductive age worldwide. In industrialised countries as well as in developing countries, women's political representation has lagged behind gains in other areas. Globally, women hold 14 per cent of seats in national legislative bodies, which is only slightly higher than a decade earlier.

We have much work to do. The UN had a 10-year commitment to try to tackle the inequality of women. Some have commented that the challenge is still with us. There was some comment at the end of those 10 years that, despite those years that had been devoted to bettering the lot of half of the world's population, the remarkable success stories coexist with blatant discrimination and huge advances are balanced by humiliating retreats. We can never be too complacent, nor can we be too self-congratulatory. We still have a big task in this and other countries to raise women's issues. The agenda is far from closed and equality is far from being achieved, but through solidarity and sisterhood, we can achieve a great deal more.