Glasgow Women’s Aid
The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-07773, in the name of Sandra White, on Glasgow Women’s Aid’s 40th anniversary celebration. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament congratulates Glasgow Women’s Aid, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary on 1 November 2013; commends this organisation, which provides information, support and refuge for women, children and young people who experience the many forms of domestic abuse; understands that this help can take the form of signposting to other support organisations, providing information about legal, housing and financial rights, supplying interpreting services and providing access to safe refuge accommodation; notes that it also provides a service that allows people to talk to its staff members confidentially; considers that its work with women and children, through group work and support, is hugely important in the recovery process from domestic abuse, and hopes that it, and its staff, enjoy every success in providing meaningful and lasting support to women and children across Glasgow who face some of the most challenging times in their lives.
17:03
It was a great privilege to secure this debate and it was also a privilege to attend Glasgow Women’s Aid’s 40th anniversary celebrations on Friday in St Andrew’s in the Square in Glasgow, which was attended by 160 people. I say 160 people because there were two men there, so 158 women and two men attended that fantastic event.
The event had lots of things in it, including outreach and breakout participation, and music from SheBoom, which was proud and energising, and from Karine Polwart, with enduring melodies that had a powerful message. There was a wild women writing event, which had spellbinding poetry that was wonderful, inspiring and very moving. There was also a choir at the end of the event. I think that we all went home in great spirits, feeling very positive. I apologise to those whom I unfortunately do not have time to mention, but I thank everyone for their participation in a great day.
It is amazing to think how far Glasgow Women’s Aid has come since its humble beginnings back in 1973, when the first refuge—a second-floor flat in the Gorbals—was handed over to Maura Butterly, a founding member of Glasgow Women’s Aid. From there, weekly meetings took place with the volunteers and the women and children who were staying in the refuge. The next year, the flat next door was added, doubling the capacity, and then in 1975 a house with seven bedrooms was secured. In the same year, a parliamentary inquiry into violence in the family was launched, and that is when the issue of domestic violence became much more mainstream, with recognition that it existed and discussion about how best to tackle it.
In 1979, in response to a growing demand for information, Glasgow Women’s Aid opened its first office, in the aptly named Hope Street. Now, it runs seven refuges and offers a wide range of other services. It provides information and support, supports children and young people, helps other support organisations, points people in the right direction, provides information on legal, financial and housing rights, and supplies interpreting services. It does fantastic work.
Last October, Glasgow Women’s Aid and advocacy, support, safety, information services together—or ASSIST—launched the children experiencing domestic abuse recovery—or CEDAR—programme, which is a therapeutic group work programme that aims to help both women and children to come to terms with the domestic abuse they have experienced or witnessed. That highly innovative approach is, to my mind, a huge success, and I understand that funding has been secured to expand it over the next two years.
I hope that the Scottish Government will look to and learn from the CEDAR model in its approach to other forms of intervention. As has rightly been said, it is clear that using a multi-agency approach and sharing information and resources is a successful way of working and that better outcomes can be achieved for everyone.
All that cannot be achieved without the hard work and dedication of the staff. I welcome in particular Angela and Marie from Glasgow Women’s Aid, who are in the public gallery tonight. I extend our heartfelt thanks for all the work that Glasgow Women’s Aid and others do. As Angela has said, their innovative, creative, multi-agency approach helps them to form lasting partnerships.
Glasgow Women’s Aid relies on donations to provide its services. As little as £5 helps to provide the materials for a child to take part in a children’s group activity, which helps them to regain confidence and involvement with others, and £10 provides an emergency pack for women who are fleeing domestic abuse. That seems a small amount to us, but it goes a long way. Donations help Glasgow Women’s Aid to provide services for the 5,000 women and children who contact it each year.
Funding is important for refuge places and outreach work with schools and young children. It is important that young children learn from an early age what domestic abuse is. Prevention is one of the most important things, and I hope that, if we have people in schools talking to young children about domestic abuse, we can prevent it from carrying on from generation to generation. I ask the Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport to update us, if she can, on work that is on-going in that important area, which has been raised with me and Glasgow Women’s Aid on numerous occasions.
There are issues in the justice system, which I have told Glasgow Women’s Aid I am happy to raise with the Cabinet Secretary for Justice. I do not expect the minister who is here tonight to address this, but there are important questions about, for example, access to children and sheriffs’ interpretations of the justice system. We have to talk about those things. Perhaps I will raise them in the near future while we are looking at the Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Bill. I give the cabinet secretary a heads-up on that.
We are all aware of the issue of domestic abuse, but we sometimes underestimate its extent. One woman in four will experience domestic abuse at some point in her life, and on average two women per week are killed by a male partner or ex-partner in the United Kingdom. In Scotland, we have, unfortunately, seen a rise in the number of reported cases of domestic abuse. That could be due in part to victims being more willing to come forward. People have said that women feel more confident about coming forward, and I hope that that is why more cases are being reported. I am sure that the support that Glasgow Women’s Aid and others offer is invaluable in ensuring that those who are suffering from abuse feel that they can come forward and report it and that they will be supported.
More work needs to be done to ensure that, where there is evidence of domestic abuse, the perpetrators are brought to justice. Recently, there has been much discussion in the Parliament about the requirement for corroboration and the need for it to be reformed, with one of the chief reasons being cases of abuse. There are arguments on both sides and the issue is contentious. However, if we are to send out a clear message to those who suffer from domestic abuse and those who perpetrate it, we have to have in place appropriate, accessible mechanisms to secure convictions and reassure victims that they will be protected.
Glasgow Women’s Aid and others—I note that Edinburgh Women’s Aid celebrates its 40th anniversary some time this year—all do a fantastic job, for which I commend them. I look forward to the day when domestic violence and abuse are no longer tolerated in any society.
17:10
I congratulate Sandra White on securing this debating time and on the subject of her motion. I also congratulate Glasgow Women’s Aid on its 40th anniversary. Sandra was right about Edinburgh Women’s Aid: one of her colleagues lodged a motion today that congratulates it on its 40th anniversary, too.
We have come a long way since those early days, but it is a matter of considerable regret that domestic abuse is very much still with us. Like many colleagues in this chamber, I have participated in many debates in which we hear people assume that domestic abuse is somehow caused by drink, drugs or stress. I am in no doubt that those factors can contribute, but let us be clear about the root cause. It is not exclusively a problem for women from poorer backgrounds; domestic abuse is not a respecter of class or income. At its root it is an abuse of power, and while men still hold more power than women in our society, unfortunately the problem will continue, as that disparity means that women are somehow viewed as having fewer rights than men. It is essential that our approach is about both challenging society’s view and that imbalance of power, as well as practically helping women and their children leave abusive partners.
I remember volunteering for Strathkelvin Women’s Aid a very long time ago indeed. At that point there was limited refuge accommodation, little dedicated support for the children and little follow-on support for the women themselves. The services were patchy right across Scotland. That experience has now been transformed. In Glasgow, for example, there is now practical support with benefits advice, access to lawyers, and support plans that consider emotional needs as well as practical and financial needs. There is also follow-on support to help women in new communities, so that the transition from the refuge to a new home is as smooth as possible.
Accommodation has also been transformed. Glasgow Women’s Aid now offers self-contained flats, shared accommodation and satellite flats. That is a long way from its starting point, which Sandra White outlined. I well remember our £10 million capital fund to increase refuge accommodation so that wherever in Scotland someone lived, they would have access to a refuge place. I credit all successive Governments, whether Labour or the Scottish National Party, because funding has increased year on year.
We need to continue to provide that level of support, because the incidence of reported domestic abuse is increasing. I hope that that is because more women feel able to come forward and that the numbers are not increasing overall, but we need to keep a close eye on things. Labour established domestic abuse courts in Glasgow in 2005 and there was a second pilot in Edinburgh and clusters elsewhere, but we need to be vigilant. The courts are becoming overloaded, particularly in Glasgow, and they must be afforded the capacity to deal with the volume of cases presented.
In 2012-13 there were 60,000 reported cases, which is up from 53,000 in 2008-09. Importantly, the number of cases then reported on to the Procurator Fiscal Service has risen from 51 per cent in 2003-04 to 78 per cent last year, so we see the pressure. Many of those cases—as much as 61 per cent of cases last year—involved repeat offenders, and that is the challenge.
Despite the hard-hitting advertising campaign and the success of women’s aid, the need for what it does remains to this day. When we look at the figures for repeat offenders, it is evident that we need to do much more to challenge the imbalance of power, and to challenge those in the next generation who think that it is okay in certain circumstances to hit a woman. Changing attitudes and culture is of critical importance to this agenda and we absolutely need to bring renewed focus to our work, particularly with young people, to bring about that shift in a generation’s attitudes. Sandra White was right to say that prevention is key.
Finally, I congratulate Glasgow Women’s Aid and all the women’s aid groups across Scotland. What they do is critically important but we need to look at what we can do to support them in their endeavours, and we need to increase the amount of support that we give them. Sandra White is absolutely right to say that we need to increase our focus on prevention.
17:15
I also start by welcoming Angela and Marie to the chamber, and I thank Sandra White for bringing the motion for debate, because it gives us the opportunity to debate and celebrate the great work that Glasgow Women’s Aid has done during the past 40 years, as well as, unfortunately to look forward to its necessary and continuing role in the coming years.
As we have heard, the first refuge in Glasgow was opened in 1973 and was underpinned by an ethos that had come from the Canadian Interval House model, which is based in Toronto. Glasgow Women’s Aid was set up mainly as a way of putting feminist theory into practice, and of positively affecting lives in a real and useful way.
As many of us will remember, the culture around domestic violence back then was totally different to what it is today. Domestic abuse was a behind-closed-doors issue and the police and wider society seemed to be willing to turn their heads away from it. Things were changing even then, but the pace was still glacial. It is my view that the change of attitudes that was brought about by Glasgow Women’s Aid and the wider Scottish Women’s Aid movement was its most effective work. Without the pioneering work of women’s aid groups, I doubt very much that Scottish society would have progressed as far as it has in terms of seeing abuse of all kinds as being simply unacceptable.
I was astounded to learn that the Glasgow and Edinburgh centres were open for almost a decade before spousal rape was made illegal in Scotland, and that it would be a further 10 years before it was made illegal in England. Against the backdrop of spousal rape then still being legal, it is no great surprise that when Glasgow Women’s Aid started, it was assumed by many—mostly males, I suspect—that the women who were involved just hated men and wanted to break up families, to ruin men’s lives, and to turn women against them. Although there was some support from the social work department, there was also unease among some social workers who, in the words of one of the contributors to the documentary that was made by Scottish Women’s Aid about its history, saw it all as “a bit odd”.
Of course, we now know that the work that Glasgow Women’s Aid has done is not “odd”; rather, it has been integral to our understanding of what domestic abuse actually is and how we can deal with it. As well as the fantastic assistance that women’s aid groups give to individual women and the families who come to them, Glasgow Women’s Aid has become the model that other organisations across Glasgow and, I am sure in the wider country, work to. It is clear that although the refuge part of the work that Glasgow Woman’s Aid does is important, the support network that it offers is just as crucial.
I was delighted to hear Sandra White mention CEDAR. I have met CEDAR a couple of times and have a member’s business debate scheduled for later this year or early next year on its behalf, in order to congratulate it on the good work that is doing and its good practice.
Testimony from the countless women and children who have been helped over the years by Glasgow Women’s Aid shows that its support has been integral to their recovery. It is clear that domestic violence can happen to any woman, at any time, in any part of Glasgow, at any age, and in any social class. The common thread that runs through all the women who have been helped by Glasgow Women’s Aid is their shared experience. Being able to talk things through in a supportive and understanding environment, and getting help to get a new job or a new home has allowed them to move forward with their lives.
The Glasgow Women’s Aid model is now used across Glasgow, with Women Against Violence, and the domestic abuse project that is based in Castlemilk in my constituency, which offers help and support to women and children who have fled domestic abuse. The Jeely Piece Club offers a play strategy to assist children who have difficult, chaotic and stressful home lives. The local housing associations also try to act sensitively when issues of domestic abuse are raised, and they do what they can to ensure that women and children are housed appropriately. Although all those organisations are crucial, on my visit to Glasgow Woman’s Aid I was delighted to hear about its aim to expand its work in the south of Glasgow. As I made clear at the time, I am keen to help where I can to ensure that that expansion comes to fruition.
Unfortunately, although the work of Glasgow Women’s Aid has helped countless women and children, we are not yet free of the scourge of domestic abuse. Attitudes are changing, but we still have a way to go with the message that the person who is being abused is never to blame for the abuse, regardless of whether they are drunk or have consented before. There is still a role for Women’s Aid educational outreach programs to ensure that the “The abused is not to blame” mantra is reinforced to young adults, because recent research shows that some young people continue to find certain forms of abusive behaviour acceptable within relationships. That attitude clearly needs to be challenged through education; curriculum for excellence offers an avenue for that to be explored.
Once again, I thank Glasgow Women’s Aid for all the work that it has done. I look forward to seeing it expand its services into the south-east of Glasgow and I will help in whatever way I can.
Thank you. I would be grateful if members could stick to their four minutes—that will allow me to take everyone. I call Alex Johnstone.
17:20
Having heard from the opening speech that only two men turned up at the commemorative event to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Glasgow Women’s Aid, I am keen that as many men as possible participate in the debate, and am glad that I am able to be one of them.
I am not a signatory to the motion—it is part of my party’s practice to ensure that we have someone come forward to speak in every members’ debate and I was delegated to do so, but it is a pleasure to do so and it is a pleasure to be able to congratulate Glasgow Women’s Aid on its 40th anniversary. If only it were not necessary—but it is such a vital service. I remember hearing about Glasgow Women’s Aid when it was first established in the 1970s and I am delighted to have learned more about it during the course of the debate.
One of the things that impresses me most about it is the fact that it is essentially a self-help approach to a particular domestic abuse problem, so I am delighted that it is an example of organisation that has allowed women to take control of their own lives and which has allowed them to build their self-confidence and security after such desperately disastrous domestic situations as domestic abuse have been allowed to take place.
I also want to talk about the rise in reported domestic abuse that we appear to be experiencing, which has been mentioned already. Like other members, I hope that it is a result of an increase in the willingness of individuals to report crime. I believe that we have seen a substantial change as regards the willingness of police and the justice system to be involved in domestic abuse issues. I hope that there is, as a consequence, more faith in the law and greater willingness among victims to come forward.
However, I believe that the key is the fact that the Women’s Aid approach is a self-help approach. Although there is much that we can do to encourage the justice system to work with victims of domestic violence and to ensure that justice is achieved, it is also important to encourage that self-help element.
I believe that although we have the opportunity to support such organisations in a number of ways, it is essential that they retain their autonomous status, because only by allowing individuals who have become victims of domestic violence to build their confidence and to regain their independence can we ever hope to ensure that we return them to a stable and predictable form of existence.
I believe that Glasgow Women’s Aid has set an example, which was copied very quickly in Edinburgh and has continued to be copied around the country. It is sad that we continue to require the support of organisations such as Glasgow Women’s Aid for women who have become victims of domestic abuse, so I hope that we can, with the aid of all the parties in the chamber, continue to progress towards a situation where we can give more confidence to women and children who have become the victims of abuse, and that we may avoid that in the future.
17:23
I, too, congratulate Sandra White on bringing this important motion to the chamber, and I join her in paying tribute to all the superb and—sadly—much-needed work that Glasgow Women’s Aid has been doing for the past 40 years.
I was struck by a statement on Glasgow Women’s Aid’s website:
“Abuse is a violation of your human rights. You are entitled to live your life free from abuse. It is not your fault.”
That is a clear and straightforward statement that is beyond dispute, as I am sure we all agree, but it was not so long ago when that would not have been a statement that was widely accepted by society. I think that there was a turning point 40 years ago. As it happens, Edinburgh Women’s Aid was started at more or less the same time. I think that there is a bit of a dispute about which one started first; in fact, Edinburgh Women’s Aid claims that prize, but I will not get involved in that debate this afternoon. It was an important turning point and, of course, it was not an accident that both groups were established at the same time because both grew out of the strong and growing feminist movement of the time.
Obviously, it is important that men have joined the campaign and are now an important part of it but—let us be realistic—it was women who brought the issue out of the shadows and, crucially, placed it within the context of unequal gender relations within society.
Our understanding of domestic violence has changed, but, as Sandra White reminded us, Glasgow Women’s Aid still receives, sadly, 5,000 contacts each year. That reminds us that domestic abuse is still a massive problem, which is why the prevention work that Glasgow Women’s Aid is doing in schools is important. However, the centre is most noted for the various kinds of support that it provides, including its refuge accommodation. We should certainly pay tribute to that superb work as well as to its multi-agency approach, which has already been mentioned.
I do not know all the detail of what happens on the ground in Glasgow, although I was pleased to visit some of the projects and initiatives a few years ago, but I remember that in the debate that I held on zero tolerance earlier this year, Anne McTaggart talked about a women’s aid centre in Drumchapel that is open 24/7. I vividly remember her description of that. Clearly, there are a broad range of important domestic abuse services in Glasgow, with Glasgow Women’s Aid very much heading them up.
I should not really talk about Edinburgh Women’s Aid—I am pleased that Marco Biagi has lodged a motion on it, so perhaps it will be up for debate soon—but, among other things, Edinburgh Women’s Aid provides the support service for the Edinburgh domestic abuse court. As Jackie Baillie mentioned, there have been problems in the Glasgow domestic abuse court, which was a great initiative that I remember well from when it started some time ago. If, in winding up the debate, the minister could say something about that and offer further support for the ASSIST service, that would be welcome.
In my remaining minute, I want to talk about Glasgow Women’s Aid’s services for children, which have been supported by the current Scottish Government as well as by previous Administrations. It is important to recognise that children and young people are also in need of support and refuge. I was struck by the animated video on the website that explains, through the eyes of a child, both what the real, lived experience of domestic abuse is and how young people can seek help. The ultimate goal, of course, is to ensure that young people have the necessary information and are given the tools to seek support whenever they feel capable.
As my time is up, I will mention that I agree with the motion that the Parliament wishes Glasgow Women’s Aid every success for the future, but I am sure that all members will join me in sincerely hoping that Scotland’s women and children will need such services less in the future. Once again, I congratulate Sandra White on lodging the motion, which I whole-heartedly support, and I say thanks from all of us to Glasgow Women’s Aid.
17:28
Like others, I begin by congratulating Sandra White on securing this important debate.
Domestic abuse can happen to anyone at any time—young or old, male or female, rich or poor, gay or straight. Some victims may not even realise that it is happening to them, because they are trapped in a controlling and abusive relationship, in which they live in fear and intimidation with no real idea of how to break free. At this point, I will say that I agree very much with Jackie Baillie that domestic abuse is, at its heart, an abuse of power. That is why organisations such as Glasgow Women’s Aid are so important, and that is why it is worth celebrating the invaluable advice and support that it has offered to women, children and young people over the past 40 years.
I was delighted to be invited along to the 40th anniversary celebration at St Andrews in the Square in Glasgow last Friday, so it was with much regret that I was unable to attend. I should explain that I was unwell, but I would have been the third man there if I could have managed it. I apologise for my absence—I had thought that it would have gone unnoticed, but there were only two men there, so perhaps it was noticed. I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak in this evening’s debate and to pay tribute to the fantastic work that is carried out by Glasgow Women’s Aid.
During the summer, I had the chance to visit the Glasgow Women’s Aid offices in Bell Street. I met the chair of the GWA board, Jennifer Cairns, and the manager, Angela Devine, to discuss the support and refuge services that the service offers to victims of domestic abuse in Glasgow and West Scotland.
I was particularly impressed with GWA’s children and young people service and its ambitions to improve links in the community through an outreach service in local schools. That is a reminder that not only adults are affected by domestic abuse. Such projects help to change the attitudes of young people and raise awareness that support and advice is available.
Back in 2008, as the then Minister for Communities and Sport, I helped to launch the national domestic abuse delivery plan, which was an approach to tackling domestic abuse that was informed by the experiences of children and young people who had witnessed, or who had been part of, abusive relationships. Since then, the Scottish Government has continued to make tackling violence against women a national priority and has committed to supporting the work of organisations such as Glasgow Women’s Aid.
Since 2007, the Scottish Government funding that is allocated to combat violence against women has increased by 62 per cent, with £34.5 million of investment committed between 2012 and 2015. It is a credit to the Parliament that the issue has cross-party support and that the political make-up of Governments has been of no relevance whatever; the attempts to tackle domestic abuse have been supported by all parties.
The Forced Marriage etc (Protection and Jurisdiction) (Scotland) Act 2011 and the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2011 are two important pieces of legislation that have helped to improve outcomes for victims of domestic abuse. However, domestic violence and abuse continue to blight the lives of too many women, families, children and communities in Scotland. There is no place in Scotland for violence against women, and I am confident that the Scottish Government’s new national violence against women strategy will help to move us another step closer to protecting women and children from all forms of violence.
The Cabinet Secretary for Justice has continued to highlight the need to modernise Scotland’s criminal justice system to ensure that it better serves victims of rape and domestic violence. I accept that ending the absolute requirement for corroboration in criminal cases is controversial, as Sandra White mentioned, but I tend to share the view of Scottish Women’s Aid and Victim Support Scotland that, on balance, it is the right step. We must do all that we can to give victims the confidence to come forward and engage with the criminal justice system. In the past, too many have suffered in silence, behind closed doors.
The appointment of Anne Marie Hicks as specialist procurator fiscal for domestic abuse is also welcome. She brings a wealth of experience to the role, having led the Crown Office’s domestic abuse unit in Glasgow after spending a number of years working as a prosecutor in the west of Scotland. Anne Marie is committed to ensuring a robust prosecution policy that supports victims and brings perpetrators to justice.
I conclude by paying tribute to the many staff, volunteers, supporters and fundraisers who have contributed over the past 40 years to making Glasgow Women’s Aid the organisation that it is today. As it advocates a multi-agency approach to tackling domestic violence, it would be remiss of me not to mention the partner organisations. Rape Crisis Scotland, Children 1st, White Ribbon Scotland, Barnardo’s Scotland, Zero Tolerance, the Scottish Refugee Council and many more support organisations work tirelessly to help to address domestic violence. I am grateful to Glasgow Women’s Aid for all its work over the past 40 years. I look forward to seeing it continue to go from strength to strength in the years ahead—while, unfortunately, it is still needed.
17:32
I, too, am glad to speak in the debate and to congratulate Glasgow Women’s Aid on its 40th anniversary. I thank Sandra White for holding the debate. As we have heard, Glasgow Women’s Aid has done groundbreaking work over the past 40 years in tackling an extremely sensitive issue with great care and diligence. I was especially interested to hear about the early history from Sandra White.
Although a great deal of work has been done in recent years to address domestic abuse, unfortunately, there is still a long way to go, as we have heard. It is simply unacceptable in this day and age for people, especially women and children, to be subjected to such disgraceful treatment in their homes. It is a human rights issue and an abuse of power, usually by males. It is vital that organisations such as Glasgow Women’s Aid exist to support women through their ordeals.
It is crucial that we continue to raise awareness of zero tolerance of domestic abuse in Scotland. For many years, the issue was not even talked about and, frankly, in some cases, it was accepted as part of life for women. Given that, I am encouraged that Glasgow Women’s Aid has taken a number of initiatives to raise awareness.
Domestic violence is not confined to our cities—it is also a rural issue. As Jackie Baillie stressed, it is an abuse of power by men, and I emphasise that it is a gender issue. It knows no boundaries. I worry about the isolation that victims in rural Scotland might feel, so I was heartened when I was recently asked by Police Scotland to open an awareness-raising event in my local town of Lanark. The event was an interagency morning that took the form of stalls from a wide range of relevant support agencies and was held on a wide walkway between the entrance, cafe and changing rooms of the South Lanarkshire Lifestyles Lanark leisure centre. Many people came through—men, women and children—just in that morning. The message was clear: nobody needs to suffer in silence.
Having looked at Glasgow Women’s Aid’s excellent website and through recent contact with its staff, I am clear that awareness raising is an integral part of its work. It uses avenues such as social media and preventative work in schools, about which we have heard from other members. Internet and phone access is important in rural Scotland, including in the South Scotland region, which I represent.
Through its child exploitation and online protection team, Glasgow Women’s Aid has been able to hold support sessions. Its children’s outreach team has been doing fantastic work teaching primaries 5, 6 and 7—the stage at which domestic abuse should be talked about.
Stewart Maxwell stressed the importance of education. In an ideal world, Glasgow Women’s Aid would like to expand its work to include the training of teachers but, unfortunately, it has not received adequate funding from the Scottish Government to support that. Might the minister comment on that at the end of the debate?
Concerns have been raised at the cross-party group on men’s violence against women and children—of which I am a deputy convener—about teenage perceptions of domestic abuse. Studies such as the recent one by the University of Manchester suggest that young girls can often have a skewed view of what is acceptable behaviour with regard to domestic abuse and that it is not treated with the seriousness that it demands. White Ribbon Scotland highlights the point that one teenage girl in three who is in a relationship suffers an unwanted sexual act. There is also evidence to show that some girls think that a slap does not matter, but it jolly well does.
At the CPG, we heard from young people who were working with Police Scotland’s violence reduction unit on peer mentoring in Portobello high school—apologies to Glasgow—and the wider community. I was most impressed by hearing from the young people themselves about peer group work that they are doing to help other young people to analyse and come to terms with their behaviour themselves and agree on what is, and is not, acceptable. I hope that similar mentoring initiatives, which are also happening in Glasgow, can be introduced throughout Scotland, including rural Scotland.
Let us be sure that we provide Scottish Women’s Aid and groups throughout Scotland with enough funding to support the work with the next generation so that we really can remove domestic abuse from our shores.
Finally, a brief contribution from Drew Smith.
17:37
More often than the external impression might be, we have consensual debates in the chamber, but it is still rare for us to have a debate in which it is possible to say that we have agreed with every single word that every other member said. That will allow me to be brief, Presiding Officer, and not repeat too many of the points that have already been made.
I thank Stewart Maxwell for his confession about not being able to attend the 40th anniversary celebration event. I was in a similar boat myself and was hugely disappointed not to go. I am hugely embarrassed to have to confess that in front of three Labour colleagues who do an awful lot of work on the issue.
I agree with what Sandra White said about Glasgow Women’s Aid because, like Stewart Maxwell, I had the opportunity to visit its premises earlier in the year and discuss more of the day-to-day work that it does. I congratulate her on securing the debate and ensuring that the Parliament has the opportunity to congratulate everyone involved with Glasgow Women’s Aid.
I do not want to repeat the points that others have made, but simply to agree with, and reinforce, what Jackie Baillie said about the issue representing a power abuse. It is an issue of gender relationships, gender roles and, ultimately, gender violence.
The debate offers us an opportunity to reflect on how far we have come since the establishment of women’s refuges throughout the country. We have made huge progress. We no longer regard an incident as being “a domestic” and, therefore, something that does not concern the rest of us.
As Sandra White said, 5,000 women and children still in contact with the service is a huge number, so we should not pat ourselves on the back too much that the work is finished.
However, there is a positive here that we can aim for, because there is another side to the issue. Stewart Maxwell and others touched on that aspect in relation to other crimes, particularly of sexual violence, where it remains a big job for us to challenge and change attitudes. I am talking about what young people—and others—say about non-domestic relationships between men and women, and the view that when a sexual crime is committed against a woman, it is possible that the victim is to blame for it. Jackie Baillie mentioned a few of the contributory factors, which include things as simple as the perception that the way in which someone is dressed gives people—predominantly men—the right to make judgments about them and therefore to commit behaviours that in any other circumstance would be beyond them. There is a story in what we have achieved through Scottish Women’s Aid, which should influence how we deal with that wider issue in society.
I congratulate Glasgow Women’s Aid on everything that it has achieved and look forward to the minister saying a bit more about the wider policy work that is going on. We sometimes get debates in which we celebrate the anniversaries of great things that are going on, and I hope that we get further such opportunities during this session of Parliament. Given the minister’s appointment, I am sure that she will be keen to debate these policy issues, and any associated issues, for other women’s organisations.
17:41
First, I congratulate Sandra White on securing this hugely important debate and welcome Angela and Marie from Glasgow Women’s Aid to the public gallery. It is absolutely right that Parliament should join in celebrating the 40th anniversary of Glasgow Women’s Aid and the huge contribution that it has made over the past four decades in supporting women, children and young people who are experiencing domestic abuse. I am in no doubt that its tenacity and support have given strength to many women who have been victims of domestic abuse.
On Friday, I had the pleasure of speaking at Glasgow Women’s Aid’s 40th anniversary event, which Sandra White also attended. I do not say that to make Drew Smith and Stewart Maxwell feel any worse. It was a fantastic event, and whether or not they were there, the support in this place, and among many men, for the work of Women’s Aid is well appreciated and understood.
I had the pleasure of speaking to Maura Butterly who, in 1973, was one of the pioneers in the establishment of Glasgow Women’s Aid. She is such a modest woman that she did not want to be in the limelight at all. Maybe that is the mark of the woman. She did all that work, having come back from America with the concept of refuge. As Sandra White laid out, she got on to Glasgow Corporation, which was initially loth to accede to her demands. However, she is a tenacious lady and eventually she got the support to develop the first refuge, which was a fairly small and basic flat. From small acorns, many important things have emerged.
In my address last Friday, I read out a quote from a friend of a woman who had been helped by Glasgow Women’s Aid. It said:
“I want to thank Women’s Aid for helping my friend today, you have helped to save her life, thank you so much, your organisation is amazing”.
That really sums up how important Glasgow Women’s Aid is—it literally saves lives.
From those small acorns, it has grown to provide a huge number of family spaces in the seven refuge bases throughout Glasgow. It employs 35 workers, who work with children and do outreach work, and family resource workers. It provides a huge amount of support.
As Sandra White laid out, the number of women who seek Women’s Aid’s support is huge. Its services are unfortunately very much in demand. I suppose that the flip-side of that is that, as members have said, part of the reason for the rise in demand for services is that women are feeling more confident about coming forward. That is welcome, but it is a sad reflection on our society that we still have huge challenges in dealing with this issue. I am very grateful to Glasgow Women’s Aid for being there for those women and children at one of the most difficult times of their lives.
As a nation we have made a journey since the early 1970s. It is undeniable that in the field of women’s rights a great deal of progress has been made. In 1975, the Sex Discrimination Act made it illegal to discriminate against women at work, although there are still many issues for women at work. Statutory maternity provision was introduced and it was made illegal to sack a woman because she was pregnant. Reference has been made to the law of no defence in respect of rape in marriage. At all those points in history, important things have been won by women. We should remember that women were at the vanguard of all those battles—many of them were battles indeed.
We have a lot of work still to do. Violence against women continues to be perpetrated. Girls and women around the globe face it on a daily and unrelenting basis. In Scotland, women, children and young people are still suffering domestic abuse.
The way in which violence is being perpetrated has changed and is changing. Earlier this week I spoke at an event organised by the Women’s Support Project and Rape Crisis Scotland about the sexualisation of culture and its impact on the relationships that our children and young people form. We know about issues such as sexting, sexual exploitation and online bullying, all of which underpin the power base and values within our society.
One of the things that we are taking forward with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and others is the development of a strategy for Scotland to tackle violence against women. That will include domestic abuse but will capture many of those other important issues as well. The strategy will be the first such document in Scotland and will shape the way in which we tackle violence against women in the years ahead. We will consult on it in early 2014, which might be the opportunity that Drew Smith talked about to have a wider debate.
We will also continue to recognise the need and demand for intervention services that provide support for women, children and young people who are experiencing domestic abuse and other forms of violence. We will continue to work with men who use violence through, for example, the Caledonian project to change behaviours and challenge violent men, which is important.
Our strategy will reinforce the links between all forms of violence against women, from domestic abuse, rape and sexual assault to honour-based violence and commercial sexual exploitation. It will emphasise the need for an increased focus on prevention and early intervention.
I reassure Sandra White and Jackie Baillie that Police Scotland has made domestic violence one of its top three priorities and there will be a real focus on repeat offenders, which is important.
I say to Malcolm Chisholm that ASSIST has been a really important partnership because of the intelligence sharing about where these men are and what they are doing. That is hugely important. We are funding a roll-out of the ASSIST programme.
It has been said, quite rightly, that we know that violence against women is rooted in gender inequality and the imbalance of power between men and women in our society. This afternoon I spoke at the women on board conference, which looked at the barriers to women’s representation on Scotland’s public boards. Why does that matter? It matters because it is about reducing and eventually eradicating the inequality in our society. It is that inequality and power imbalance that provide the breeding ground for attitudes towards women that can lead to violence against women. We must look at that in the round.
Let me leave members in no doubt that the Government is absolutely committed not only to ensuring that domestic abuse and violence against women are consigned to the past, but to achieving equality between men and women in our society.
Meeting closed at 17:50.