Will the member take an intervention?

I am proud to open our debate to mark the annual 16 days of activism against gender-based violence campaign, which calls for everyone to imagine a Scotland that is free from violence against women and girls.

Last year, Zero Tolerance worked with a group of women who were asked to imagine just that. The film that they created was full of words such as “respected” and “free”. They thought that Scotland would be busy because so many more women and girls would be in public spaces, laughing, talking and having fun.

Sadly, as 2024 draws to a close, violence, abuse and misogyny remain an everyday and detrimental reality for women and girls in Scotland and internationally.

I am proud of our contribution to tackling this global issue and I am pleased to announce the launch of the new phase of our Police Scotland partnership programme with the police services of Malawi and Zambia. Through our international development fund, the new programme will continue to tackle violence against women and children.

Although we have our differences across the chamber, I am sure that we can be unanimous in recognising the importance of the global 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.

Violence against women and girls has no place in Scotland. As Taylor Swift sang in her song “Starlight”,

“Don’t you dream impossible things?”

A Scotland without violence against women is not an impossible thing, but it is a bold and ambitious goal. As parliamentarians, we can demonstrate through our collective voice that we are united in our ambition to end that blight on our society.

A significant message from a recent debate in the Scottish Youth Parliament was the importance of respectful dialogue and the recognition that young people’s voices are an integral part of the movement to tackle the issue. I welcome members of the Scottish Youth Parliament who are present in the chamber and I thank them for eloquently voicing the concerns of young people on this topic during their debate. As I promised them, we will use their debate to inform the debate on today’s motion by emphasising the importance of meaningful engagement with children and young people.

The Scottish Government has a bold ambition to make Scotland the best place in the world in which to grow up. An act that was fully commenced in July 2024 incorporates into Scots law, within the limits of our devolved competence, the rights and obligations set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The right of children to have their views heard and taken seriously is a guiding general principle of the UNCRC, and we are committed to ensuring that children and young people are at the heart of decisions that affect them. That is why a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament, Olivia Brown, has a representative voice on the equally safe joint strategic board, which oversees and supports the work to tackle violence against women and girls through our equally safe delivery plan.

The issues raised in the Scottish Youth Parliament debate, including technology-facilitated abuse, are reflected in many of the deliverables in the plan. Online abuse is a key issue affecting young people, and we recognise the harm and distress that it causes those who are targeted. I saw that for myself on a recent visit to Glasgow and Clyde Rape Crisis, where young people had been supported to develop an awareness-raising exhibition that focused on mainstream and social media handling of violence against women.

Keeping children and young people in Scotland safe from online harm is a priority for the Scottish Government. Although the regulation of the internet is a reserved matter, we will continue to engage with the United Kingdom Government and Ofcom on the implementation of the Online Safety Act 2023 and ensure that there are improved protections to keep children safe online.

I want us to lead from the front. That is why our equally safe delivery plan has a commitment that I convene a media summit to bring together key players from across all forms of media, including social media, to formulate a progressive and united approach to challenging violence and abuse.

Furthermore, in collaboration with Education Scotland, we have ensured that digital literacy, including internet safety and cyber resilience, is an integral part of the school curriculum. The Parent Club website also provides information and advice to parents on how to keep children safe online.

On 18 November, the Minister for Victims and Community Safety attended the launch of a sextortion campaign. It was launched to respond to the growing incidence of sextortion over the past 12 months in Scotland. The campaign was a collaboration between fearless, which is a Crimestoppers service, Police Scotland and the Scottish Government. Importantly, it has been co-designed with teenagers, the group most affected by the issue. The collaborative model is one that I am keen to see replicated in other areas of our work.

In recognition of the prevalence of harmful sexual behaviour for young people, we continue to implement the equally safe at school project. Developed by Zero Tolerance and Rape Crisis Scotland, the project works to prevent gender-based violence and to increase confidence and skills in order to respond accordingly.

Will the member accept that, under the Equality Act 2010, single-sex spaces are absolutely a right?

I agree, and I am glad that the member has given me the opportunity to re-emphasise my point and celebrate the important work of Education Scotland and our teachers up and down the country.

Our mentors in violence prevention Scotland programme addresses gender stereotyping and harmful attitudes that condone violence against women and girls. In addition, the gender equality task force in education and learning focuses on eradicating systemic gender equality in education.

I pay tribute to the role that the sector has played in supporting women, children and young people who have experienced violence, abuse and exploitation. I witnessed at first hand on a visit to Monklands Women’s Aid at the start of the 16 days how its work saves and transforms lives. I am fully aware that these are challenging times for the sector and the services are under enormous strain. I want the sector to know that I am committed to continuing the Government’s support for the vital work that it does. That is why I am pleased that, earlier today, I was able to confirm my commitment to the delivering equally safe fund and advise current recipients of our intention to extend the fund until March 2026.

I want the Parliament not just to imagine a better future for women and girls but to be the driving force for change and the elimination of violence against women and girls.

I move,

That the Parliament recognises the international 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign 2024; further recognises the vital contribution that the sector has made this year to tackle violence against women and girls, in particular the role that it has played in supporting children and young people who have experienced violence, abuse and exploitation; welcomes this year’s debate at the Scottish Youth Parliament, which challenged politicians to ensure that the youth voice is central to action to address gender-based violence; recognises the importance of working with young people to ensure that their experience and expertise are harnessed to build a future that is equally safe; further recognises and champions the importance of education as an early and ongoing strand of prevention; condemns misogyny and all forms of violence against women and girls, and acknowledges the significant harm that they cause to individuals and wider society.

I reassure the Parliament and the member that I have extensively engaged with disabled people’s organisations and that I am in regular contact with them. We have taken the time that was needed to genuinely engage with disabled people’s organisations, and to fully consider their feedback and make changes wherever possible. We have heard their concerns loud and clear. That is what meaningful co-operation requires, which reflects my commitment to ensuring that the plan can and will be delivered. Collective leadership, accountability and disability competence underpin every action in the plan. We are undertaking dedicated cross-governmental work in order to achieve that.

I agree with Clare Adamson’s comments. Our £5 million equality and human rights fund is helping to tackle inequality and discrimination. The forecast spend for 2024-25 on the disability portfolio that is included in the fund is £2.1 million, which is inclusive of core grant funding to disabled people’s organisations—Glasgow Disability Alliance, Disability Equality Scotland and Inclusion Scotland. The fund also includes a range of projects that deliver vital services to disabled people across Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of tackling Islamophobia while ensuring equality and inclusion for everyone. In September, I wrote to ministers across Government to remind them of their legal duties under the public sector equality duty. I am now undertaking one-to-one meetings with them and continuing to work closely with those who hold shared portfolio interests, including the Minister for Victims and Community Safety, who has responsibility for hate crime. That will help us to explore what actions can be taken to improve equality and human rights and to reflect our collective agenda to tackle all forms of religious prejudice, including Islamophobia.

The Scottish Government is clear that it is not for us to seek to dictate or influence whether an individual should have a child or how many children they should choose to have. However, a key aim of the family-friendly strand of our population strategy is to ensure that we are creating the right conditions for people to have the number of children that they wish to have. The task force brings together relevant ministers from across the Scottish Government to ensure that we take a joined-up cross-portfolio approach to delivering on the ambitions that the strategy sets out.

Our on-going work on tackling hate crime and the causes of Islamophobia is incorporated in our key priorities, which include delivery of the hate crime strategy, as well as wider cross-governmental activities. Our approach is supported by equality stakeholders, and there are regular opportunities to review priorities for tackling all forms of hatred and prejudice, including Islamophobia. The United Kingdom Government is considering the issue, too, and we will consider any decisions that it makes with implications for our own approach to adopting a definition in due course.

I recently met Jeremy Balfour, other members and disabled people’s organisations to discuss the plan. It will take a collective effort and investment over several years to deliver equality for disabled people. This first publication is one step on that journey and does not represent the full extent of our ambition.

Due to the challenging fiscal situation, difficult decisions had to be made to ensure that this first stage of our plan is deliverable. The plan lays important foundations around improved accountability and collective leadership, and future phases can build on that to deliver impactful change.