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Equality Strategy: Working together for Equality

Underpinning the strategy

• Context

Tackling inequality is not new and, over the years, governments have addressed the issues through a range of measures. Progress has been made, but inequalities persist in Scotland and in the UK.

Women still earn less on average than men. Women are 52% of the population but they are under-represented in political and public life, in decision-making bodies, and in senior positions in the professions, management and business.

Women are more likely than men to experience poverty. They are economically disadvantaged in old age for various reasons, including the impact that their caring responsibilities made on their working lives.

Women-headed households are likely to live in a lower standard of housing. Women are less likely to own or have access to private cars, and they are more dependent on public transport. More women are in paid work, but women still bear a disproportionate share of caring and domestic responsibilities. Violence against women is a serious social problem, especially domestic abuse. Fear of crime prevents many women from actively taking part in social and civic life.

People in ethnic minority communities are more likely to earn lower wages on average, and to experience poverty, higher unemployment, and poorer housing conditions than the majority population.

There are differences between ethnic minority groups, and some groups have higher levels of educational achievement than the majority population. But this achievement is not reflected in professional success, where ethnic minority people remain under-represented in senior positions.

Racial discrimination and harassment are all too common an experience for ethnic minority people in Scotland today, ranging from verbal abuse to acts of extreme violence. Police recorded 2242 racist incidents in 1999/2000, up from 1271 the year before. Institutional racism has affected the response of public services, policing and the administration of justice
to the needs and aspirations of ethnic minority communities.

People with disabilities are far less likely to be in employment than non-disabled people, on average they are likely to earn less, and they are under-represented in senior positions.

Progress has been made in recent years in tackling barriers such as physical access, but too many barriers still exist that prevent people with disabilities from taking a full part in work and in public and civic life. In 1999 in Scotland, 779,000 people had health problems or disabilities that they expected would last for more than one year (Labour Force Survey 1999).

Many people with disabilities have specific housing needs and require caring services that offer adequate autonomy and choice. They can experience discrimination in employment, and in the provision of goods and services. They can also suffer verbal and physical abuse.

There is a wide range of disabilities and people's needs vary. These needs are not always understood. In particular, there is a great lack of understanding of the needs of people with learning disabilities or suffering mental health problems.

A range of groups in society experience discrimination on other grounds such as sexual orientation, age and religion. Travelling people also experience discrimination and harrassment.

Some may experience discrimination on several grounds (multiple discrimination). For the groups concerned, discrimination may result in social exclusion, restricted employment opportunities, and restrictions in access to goods and services. Discrimination may also result in abuse and violence.

While there are differences both within and between groups who experience persistent inequalities and discrimination, there are some common features:

• restricted access to employment, goods, services, and other material resources that are considered essential to the economic wellbeing of people in contemporary Scottish society
• under-representation in senior positions in work, professions and business
• under-representation in political and public life
• experience of direct, indirect and institutional discrimination
• experience of abuse and violence

For all these reasons, the issues must be addressed. The Scottish Executive wants an open, just and inclusive Scotland. This cannot be achieved while there is prejudice and discrimination, poverty and alienation, and while many people in Scotland's communities are disempowered.

The Executive's task is to

• work to foster respect and understanding
• encourage and enable everyone to live, work and take part in society to their full potential, free from prejudice and discrimination
• work to empower all our communities

• Legislative framework and concepts of discrimination

A legislative framework to outlaw discrimination and promote equality in the UK has been taking shape for many years. The pace of change has been influenced by factors such as membership of the European Union and by the degree of recognition given to the needs of different groups in society. Anti-discrimination legislation has not come into force at the same time for all affected groups and some groups are not covered by it.

European and international law also provide a framework for rights and remedies against discrimination, and for government commitments to promote equality. These frameworks and the forms of legal protection they offer are an important basis for promoting equal opportunity. (See Appendix 1 for a summary of key legislation, EU Directives and UN Conventions).

One of the major ways in which successive UK governments have tackled inequalities and discrimination is through anti-discrimination legislation. The Scottish Parliament has a duty to make sure this legislation is applied. It also provides a framework that informs the Scottish Executive's Equality Strategy.

There are key concepts that define discrimination and the appropriate action to take against it:

• direct discrimination is less favourable treatment on the grounds of membership of a particular equality group in circumstances which are the same or not materially different
• indirect discrimination is when an apparently neutral requirement or condition impacts adversely or has a disproportionate effect on a particular equality group
• institutionalised racism was defined in the Macpherson report on the inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence as "the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviours which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people"
• positive action by way of training and encouragement for under-represented groups can be lawful, but 'positive discrimination' where additional assistance or favourable treatment is given to one particular equality group is not. Although Article 141(4) of the EC Treaty allows Member States to adopt measures providing specific advantages to make it easier for the under-represented sex to pursue a vocational advantage.

• Development of policy and practice

Legislation is important in deciding the principles that should govern behaviour, in setting minimum standards and in fixing penalties for people who infringe the law. It provides a regulatory framework and it can signal social change.

But social change is also significantly influenced by measures to make sure that the principles of the law are accepted, and by the way in which practices evolve. There is significant scope for encouraging equal opportunities through developing appropriate policies and practices.

Development of practice and policies is crucial to the exercise of rights and the promotion of equal opportunities. The emphasis in this strategy is on what can be done through policy and practice.

• Approaches to equality

Equality is a complex idea. There is no single and simple definition. In developing policies and practices, the Scottish Executive assumes that it will need to consider:

• Equal opportunities

There was a range of definitions of equal opportunities in the responses to the consultation
on the strategy, including 'equality of opportunity', 'equality of outcome', 'equal treatment', 'equity', 'fairness', and 'justice'. The Scottish Executive recognises that equal opportunities
can be a broad term with a variety of meanings and that it can mean different things in
different contexts.

Encouraging equal opportunities does not always mean treating people the same. It can also mean considering and reflecting difference.

Promoting equal opportunities includes opposing institutional and other forms of discrimination, and promoting participation and inclusion.

Equality of opportunity in employment should be achieved by removing prejudice, bias, or irrelevant criteria that treat some groups of people less favourably than others.

Provision of goods and services should also be free from prejudice and bias. Equality of access and a proper appreciation of the needs and circumstances of particular groups are crucial to equality of service provision. For example, equality of access requires information about services to be produced in appropriate formats. It also requires reasonable adjustments to be made to make sure that buildings are accessible for people with physical disabilities.

For services to be delivered equally and fairly, differences between different groups also need
to be taken into account. Currently our knowledge about this differential coverage of service provision and differential impact of policies is relatively limited. As part of mainstreaming equality, mechanisms for analysing differential impact will be developed to reduce inequalities
in access to and distribution of services.

Mainstreaming equality means that equality issues should not be addressed as an afterthought or catered for only by specific programmes or initiatives. It means that equality considerations should be taken into account from the outset in all the work of the Executive.

• Social Justice

The Scottish Executive's programme to promote social justice targets poverty and injustice in each phase of the lifecycle. In this way, it intends to stop deprivation becoming a way of life to be passed on through the generations.

In Social Justice: A Scotland where everyone matters (published in November 1999), the Executive declared that it has a responsibility to tackle the root causes of poverty and injustice, and to challenge systems that promote injustice and stop people playing a full role in their families, their communities and Scotland.

This includes tackling the barriers of prejudice, discrimination and racial disadvantage. It includes tackling structural inequalities between groups such as women and men, people with disabilities and non-disabled people. The principles of equal opportunities should underpin social justice.

Work on social justice is at the heart of the Scottish Executive's Programme for Government and is delivered through initiatives and policies across the Executive. All initiatives and policies will be required to take account of the needs of different groups, and where possible make sure that there are no differential impacts that allow existing inequalities to continue.

• Recognising different needs

The Executive is aware of the diversity and complexity of needs among different communities in Scotland. There is also wide variation in the level and focus of existing concerns, policies and actions.

This diversity of need and approach has been highlighted in work by the Race Equality Advisory Forum, in contributions made by disability groups to the consultation on the Disability Rights Task Force Report, through the issues raised by women at meetings of the Women in Scotland Consultative Forum, the comments received from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities and through the work of the Advisory Committee on Scotland's travelling people and its 1998-1999 report.

The Executive's Equality Strategy and action plan provides both an overarching approach and specific and focused measures when required, that are consistent with the mainstreaming approach.

This approach will be reflected in the work of the Scottish Executive itself. Departments will be required to consider the specific needs of different communities in formulating policies and programmes, and the equality implications and impact of their work in more general terms.

Consultation on the strategy supported the need for a phased approach to work on equality. The Executive will build on the work currently under way on the three statutory areas of gender, race and disability. Over the next few months, the Executive will also publish action plans relevant to particular equality interests. Alongside that, it will develop its generic approach to the interests of all equalities groups and issues of specific concern to different groups. The Executive will address issues around age, religious beliefs and sexual orientation.

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