Chamber and committees

I think that this will make sense. [Laughter.]

Vivienne Sutherland and Lynne Binnie also want to come in on that.

It is helpful to make that distinction and have it on the record.

We have heard evidence from some parents who told us that some local authorities have been a bit dismissive of their understanding of their children’s needs. At last week’s meeting, May Dunsmuir said that masking is not being properly addressed by local authorities. Some young people can mask behaviours in the educational environment but, when they get home, can become very challenging. What are local authorities doing to tackle that? We have heard loud and clear evidence about it. How do you work with parents and carers to identify needs that are not necessarily apparent in the school setting?

Before I bring in other members of the panel, what do you do in Fife when a parent comes to you with an assumption of masking?

Thank you, Lynne. Would Vivienne Sutherland or Kerry Drinnan like to add anything on that?

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I could not get the app to refresh. I would have abstained.

I am delighted to close the debate on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives. As we have heard, not only was the first female member of Parliament a Conservative; the first three, and only, female Prime Ministers to lead the UK Government were Conservative. We will always stand up for the rights of women and girls.

Today, however, is about talking about inspiring inclusion, so let us do some of that. The UK Government has passed the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, which covers England and Wales. I am proud to be in the same political party as my colleague Pam Gosal, who is bringing forward a similar bill on a domestic abuse register in Scotland.

I will swing back to talking about the global perspective. We have heard a significant amount about that today from colleagues on all sides of the chamber. Jamie Halcro Johnston spoke about how we must confront the persistent challenges that women face both in Scotland and globally, and the grave injustices around the world. Meghan Gallacher quite graphically described some of the images to which we were exposed following the atrocious terrorist attack on 7 October.

We also heard about the repressive measures that are enforced by the Taliban in Afghanistan, including the denial of education to women. However, I was delighted to hear from Beatrice Wishart about the Linda Norgrove Foundation, which is bringing Afghan women to study medicine in my home city of Edinburgh.

International women’s day celebrates the achievements of women and has done so for more than 100 years. As I said, this year’s theme is to inspire inclusion and create a better world by promoting the inclusion of women. We have heard at length today about the struggles that women face in accessing health services, particularly in those areas where there is global conflict and particularly if they are pregnant, given some of the horrific challenges—which we have heard about today—that arise from giving birth without proper medical supervision and without a sterile environment in which to do so.

Women bear more of the impact of global conflict than men do. Since 2017, there has been an increase of 50 per cent in the number of women who are living in areas of global conflict. Basically, women bear the brunt of war, and that should be a wake-up call for us all.

I want to pivot to more home-inspired things. Ruth Maguire said that the root causes of inequality across the world are the same ones that we face closer to home. Maybe it says something about my choice of television, but we have been exposed to some high-profile TV documentaries of late about women who have tragically lost their lives in the UK, including close to home. We heard about Emma Caldwell in the statement prior to this debate. We have heard about Fawziyah Javed, who lost her life very close to here when she was pushed off a cliff in what can only be classed as horrific domestic violence. Then there is Sarah Everard. We have to think about things that are going on close to home as well as globally when it comes to violence against women.

No one has spoken about the following yet, so I will try my best to do so—I promise that I have my eye on the clock, Presiding Officer. Having women in science, and all STEM fields, is a way to drive equality, give women a place on the global stage in terms of innovation and make changes to our own lives. That subject is important to me, given my background in medicine and healthcare and my degree in biochemistry from the University of Edinburgh. Despite significant strides, women remain underrepresented in those fields, facing barriers ranging from societal stereotypes to systemic biases—as members can hear, when you have to speed up to finish your speech in seven minutes, you can stumble over your words.

However, countless pioneering women have defied the obstacles and serve as role models for future generations—from Marie Curie, whose groundbreaking research earned her two Nobel prizes, to Dr Frances Arnold, a Nobel laureate in chemistry, for her work on the directed evolution of enzymes. Those trailblazers exemplify the immense contributions that women make to scientific discovery and technological advancement, which can help every single person in the world, including, most importantly, women. By celebrating their achievements, fostering mentorship opportunities and advocating for inclusive policies, we can inspire women to pursue careers in science and STEM, ensuring that their voices and talents continue to shape the future of innovation and exploration.

From a personal perspective, I was delighted to see that Caritas Science Solutions, a business in my region, recently won the small business of the year award at the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce annual business awards. It is a clinical research organisation that puts people before profit, with a fantastic female chief executive officer, Leigh Fell, who I am unashamedly proud to call one of my very good friends.

However, work must still be done to ensure equality. We have heard the troubling statistics that Jamie Halcro Johnston and Sharon Dowey spoke of when they highlighted the violence that we face across Scotland and mentioned a justice system that is stacked against victims.

I want to say something else briefly. The minister mentioned Ukraine and the Ukrainian families that we have taken in in Scotland, and she said that we need a national system that works for everyone. I would like to bring it to the minister’s attention—it is convenient that the housing minister is in the chamber, too—that the system is not quite working right now. Fifty Ukrainian families and households are now being assessed as homeless in our capital city. We have had a slashing of budgets, and the City of Edinburgh Council faces considerable financial risks in helping our Ukrainian families live their lives well in Edinburgh. I would like to hear some comments on that.

Even though the status of women in Scotland and in the rest of the UK has generally improved, it is clear that more work needs to be done to achieve absolute equality across the sexes. We are calling on the UK and Scottish Governments to work together to support women’s rights in Scotland, the rest of the UK and abroad. International women’s day 2024 provides an opportunity to raise awareness and promote an inclusive and equitable society. It is a time to celebrate the achievements of women while also recognising the work that needs to be done to achieve greater gender equality. Whether it is through advocacy, activism or simple acts of kindness and support, we can all contribute to a world in which every person has equal opportunities to thrive and succeed, regardless of their gender.

Before we bring in Stephanie Callaghan, I just want to mention that next week we will have witnesses from My Rights, My Say, the Govan Law Centre and the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, so all of that information will be very useful to us as we get ready for that meeting.

I am afraid that you are straying into a question that has been allocated to another member for later.

We certainly heard questions in some of our informal sessions about whether that presumption is good either for the person who has the additional support for learning need or for other children. We have been hearing lots of evidence about that, but I am not sure whether you can respond on that point.