Question reference: S5W-12947
- Asked by: Ben Macpherson, MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 23 November 2017
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Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 December 2017
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking in the next 12 months to tackle violence against women and girls.
Answer
Equally Safe is the national strategy to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls, which was developed by the Scottish Government and COSLA. A delivery plan for this strategy over 2017-21 was published on Friday 24 November and sets out our plans to tackle violence against women and girls. It includes a total of 118 actions under 4 priority areas, which are focused on preventing violence from happening, strengthening services for victims and survivors, and ensuring that perpetrators receive a robust response.
In the next 12 months, the Scottish Government will work with partners to progress actions, including the development of an ‘Equally Safe’ accreditation scheme for employers to promote best practice in tackling gender-based violence in the workforce, including sexual harassment, and an expansion of Rape Crisis Scotland’s sexual violence prevention programme in schools, to at least 11 local authorities. We will also continue to invest significant resources in front-line services to support women and children experiencing violence and abuse. Furthermore, we will continue to work with the Parliament as it considers the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill, which seeks to strengthen legislation around coercion and control.
The delivery plan can be found at http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/11/5647.