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IMPROVING THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN SCOTLAND: AN AGENDA FOR ACTION

INTRODUCTION

On 30 January 2003, Minister for Social Justice, Margaret Curran MSP, announced the appointment of a small short life group to take a strategic look at the issues facing women in Scotland today and to suggest an agenda for action for the next Scottish Executive.

The Group

Aim of the Group

To recommend actions to improve the lives of women in Scotland and which promote and achieve equality between women and men.

Remit of the Group

• To consider the key issues facing women in Scotland;
• To identify what needs to be done to enable women in Scotland to benefit from the UK Government/Scottish Executive partnership;
• To identify the areas in which action could best ensure that women realise their potential; and
• To produce an agenda for action for consideration by the incoming Executive.

Members of the group

Research support: Esther Breitenbach, University of Edinburgh

Secretariat: Scottish Executive Equality Unit

The Group's work

The group was intended to bring together women with experience across a range of sectors and interests, though not necessarily to be representative of the interests of all women. The group met eight times over six months. It was charged with providing a strategic overview and therefore did not commission detailed research to investigate any particular premise or position. It did however commission briefing papers and seek to draw on relevant research already available. ¹ It sought to build on work already undertaken by women and women's organisations in Scotland. Thus, in making its recommendations the group has endeavoured to draw upon the work and experience of its members, on research on women's and gender issues in Scotland, and on the work of women's organisations in Scotland. The recommendations outlined in this report should therefore be seen as complementary to the work of women's organisations, and as a contribution to advancing gender equality in Scotland.

The scope of the report

This report is a contribution to the process of improving the position of women in Scotland. It aims to focus attention on key issues for women in Scotland for the Executive and others to address. The key issues that we discuss - employment and pay, childcare and other forms of caring, poverty and social exclusion, violence and safety, and influence and decision-making - are not new to debates on gender equality. Rather they are familiar issues, where changes have been taking place as a result of women's campaigning and action over the years, but where further change is still needed.

Our report makes some recommendations for immediate, medium term, and long term action. But it also recognises that many of the familiar issues are complex and the action plans to tackle them will need to be refined and developed as women's organisations, stakeholders and key institutions and organisations, including groups that work with men, consider how best to implement and deliver real change for the women of Scotland. The proposed Women's Convention will no doubt play a role in bringing these groups together to do this work. What we hope to do with our report is to help move forward debate and action on gender equality, by suggesting a range of objectives and action points for the Scottish Executive, and by identifying key bodies and organisations who must work together to achieve change.

We recognise, however, that our report does not cover every issue, nor can it do full justice to the variety of experiences in women's lives in Scotland. We cannot stress enough that attention must be paid to the specific experiences of different groups of women and women with different characteristics. As debates and thinking on gender equality have developed, and as more research and information is gathered on the experiences of different groups, it has become apparent that both the identities and experiences of individuals and groups are understood in complex ways. The discrimination that women encounter, when it is based on prejudice against more than one characteristic, may make, for example, ethnicity or disability a much more important factor than gender. The needs of different groups of women do not necessarily coincide, and each will have their own priorities. For instance, childcare, which is of key importance to many women with young children, is of less relevance where cultural norms and practices do not give rise to a demand for formal provision. Furthermore, even if childcare provision is increased, that of itself may not be adequate or appropriate to meet the childcare needs of mothers or children with disabilities.

If there is a new factor in the development of a strategy for women's equality in Scotland, it is this growing recognition of the diversity of women, and growing awareness of the problems faced by people suffering from multiple discrimination. Some aspects of this diversity of experience have not yet been the subject of widespread discussion or research, for example, the relationship between different faith groups and other aspects of community relations, the unequal treatment of women within their own communities, the inadequacy of current safeguards for women trying to establish their human rights against cultural misogyny, and how women see their prospects for empowerment within various faith groups and communities, and support for women trying to overcome traditional cultural restraints on their activities. This report in itself cannot give a full account of the different needs of women, based on their age, gender, faith, disability, ethnicity, sexuality, and where they live. However, we strongly recommend that those who mainstream gender into policy development and implementation require to engage with the specific issues that may face different groups of women and develop relevant action plans accordingly. Such action plans should also be arrived at after further dialogue with groups and individuals familiar with the needs and experiences of different groups of women.

The Group was not asked to consider gender inequalities suffered by men in Scotland, such as the lower attainment rates of boys as school, the higher rate of suicide amongst young men and men's lower life expectancy. These problems are important and are being addressed by others. However the Group would wish to see more dialogue and collaboration between agencies that work to address gender equalities, be that for women or men so as to enable best progress on gender equality in Scotland.

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