Chamber and committees

That is no problem. I have a question for Mariam Ahmed. Your written submission argues that the key to prevention is community-based work, such as with peer groups and through awareness raising. How are you taking forward that approach and is there evidence that proves that it is effective?

I am immensely proud to be called to speak in this members’ business debate on international women’s day, and I congratulate Michelle Thomson on securing it and on everything that she contributes to the campaign for equality.

I stand with Ukraine and send strength, hope and love to the women of Ukraine.

I am contributing to this debate as the first female MSP elected for the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency. I feel a great sense of honour in carrying that achievement into the heart of our Parliament, and I hope that it sets an example to girls and young women in my constituency that encourages them to go for what they want to achieve and not be held back by bias and discrimination.

The theme of international women’s day 2022 is “Break the bias”. It challenges us to secure

“A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination ... A world that is diverse ... inclusive”

and unbiased, and

“A world where difference is valued and celebrated.”

We are urged to work together to “forge women’s equality”, as

“Collectively we can all #BreakTheBias.”

As the first female MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, I welcome the progress that has been made to secure equality by the Scottish Government and our Parliament. However, it is clear that there is much more to be done. We cannot let up our efforts to secure a gender-equal world. We also owe it to the brave and determined women who have gone before us never to give up. I pay tribute to those women for what they have done.

It is an honour to be led in the Parliament by the first female First Minister of Scotland. We do not have to cast our minds back too far to remember the courage and leadership that our First Minister showed in standing up to sexism and misogyny. She continues to show strong leadership every week in the Parliament when all the Opposition male party leaders line up to have a go.

I also pay tribute to Women’s Aid and the wider support groups in my constituency. They are a tower of strength to many women at times of greatest need. Quite simply, they have saved lives and supported women.

International women’s day challenges us to break the bias in our communities, workplaces, schools, colleges and universities. We must call out Government policy that discriminates against women. As a working-class woman who volunteered and worked in my constituency, I saw at first hand the inbuilt discrimination of the UK benefit system. When I was elected, I pledged to call that out at every opportunity. It is bad enough that those policies gave an inferior pension to women for many years and continue to withhold money that many female pensioners are due, but that discrimination has been turbo boosted by the so-called welfare reforms, such as the two-child policy and its abhorrent rape clause. In an appalling manifestation of bias, the policy forces women to have to declare the worst abuse by men. As Engender said to the Social Justice and Social Security Committee this morning, women are forced to expose trauma just to feed their children.

We also have the benefit cap, which denies families the basic subsistence rates, and they are already not enough. I could list many more examples. As we all know, the UK benefits system is biased against women, and I will continue to fulfil my pledge to call it out.

We must use the power of education to change attitudes to gender, and we must continue to support our schools, colleges and universities to do that. I recently spoke to a teacher, who told me of a time when they asked their pupils to draw a picture of a nurse and a pilot. The pupils proceeded to draw along gender lines, and the outcome was female nurses and male pilots. One pupil did not even know that a nurse could be male.

Although great progress has been made, that account illustrates the size of the challenge that remains. As the first female MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate and urge everyone to break the bias wherever it exists. It is not too bold to imagine a gender-equal world; it is a necessity.

That was helpful. I have a final question, if you do not mind indulging me.

If the UC approach means that kinship carers of looked-after children who want to work can be denied financial support for childcare through UC, there is surely a detriment to taking on employment. Can you quantify the financial loss in relation to childcare?

That is me finished, for now.

Good morning. My first question is for Laura Caven from COSLA and for anyone else who would like to comment. We have seen considerable variation in rates of support for kinship carers across councils. What are the main reasons for that, and is there concern that the needs of some kinship carers are not being met because of the variation in policies?

You touched on the benefit cap. Will you address the financial detriment that it can have when all that kinship carers are doing is stepping in to care for their family?

That would be helpful—thank you.

Thank you for that. I have a second question. There are different approaches across the 32 councils. What is being done to promote best practice? Is there a good approach that you are aware of that you would like to highlight to the committee?

That was helpful. I have a final question, if that is okay with the deputy convener.