Equally Safe: final report

Key Achievements: Priority Two

Achievements in Relation to Priority Two

Women and girls thrive as equal citizens: socially, culturally, economically and politically.

Objectives

• Women and girls are safe, respected and equal in our communities
• Women and men have equal access to power and resources.

We recognise that gender inequality is a root cause of violence against women and girls, and despite advances, there remains a persistent inequality between men and women. Many of the actions being delivered under this priority are intended to place women on a more equal footing with men, with access to the same power and resources. Key highlights are summarised in this chapter.

In education and training

• Education Scotland is leading on the commitment to extend and embed the Improving Gender Balance and Equalities (IGBE) Programme nationally. This commitment, to help address unconscious bias, gender stereotyping and tackle inequity, is set out in the national STEM Education and Training Strategy.^[14] Officers are working with schools and early learning and childcare (ELC) settings, providing professional learning and ongoing support in planning and delivering actions to tackle gender bias and improve gender imbalances in participation, subject choice and learner pathways from the early years onwards. To date, officers have engaged directly with over 50 school clusters, and have had over 2200 engagements with practitioners. The officers are also engaging with local authorities, RICs and wider local and national partners to build capacity and to ensure a coherent, joined-up approach. A self-evaluation framework designed to support schools/settings to reflect, discuss and plan for an ongoing and sustainable approach to improving gender balance for all learners has been developed and will be tested over autumn 2020.

In the workplace

• Equally Safe at Work is an employer accreditation programme developed by Close the Gap, to enable local authorities to progress work on gender equality; prevent violence against women (VAW); and better support employees who are victim-survivors. The pilot of the programme was launched in January 2019 in seven local authorities lasting 12 months, concluding in January 2020. Throughout the pilot, qualitative and quantitative data was collected to measure whether the programme has been effective in progressing work on gender equality and VAW. Key findings from the evaluation data included line managers' improving their ability to recognise the signs of VAWG and more gender sensitive employment practices. Close the Gap have continued to support councils and have produced guidance for early adopter councils on violence against women, work and Covid-19, and are currently working on guidance to support early adopter councils to prioritise gender equality in plans for recovery and returning to work.
• The new expanded £800,000 Scottish Government Workplace Equality Fund for 2019/2020 is continuing to focus on supporting older workers, women, disabled people, and those from a minority ethnic background. The fund now also supports women transitioning though the menopause, victims of domestic abuse and workers who are experiencing social isolation and loneliness (such as unpaid carers). It is also encouraging businesses with innovative projects to embed fair work dimensions in the workplace. A total of 22 projects, involving a range of employers, are receiving funding totalling £800,000.

Gender pay gap in median hourly earnings^[15]

2015
7.7% full time workers
17.1% all workers

2018
5.6% full time workers
15% all workers

2019
7.1% full time workers
14.3% all workers

In politics

• In November 2018, COSLA President Cllr Alison Evison hosted the 'Achieving Gender Equality in Local Politics' conference. This conference brought together women in politics and public life who are in a position to help remove barriers to participation. It provided a platform for networking and idea sharing, encouraging participants to set their own goals for how they personally can contribute to achieving positive change. Following the conference COSLA launched both a story sharing campaign and a safe online space, 'Women in Local Government', which aims to provide peer support both for women considering entering Local Government and those already active within it. The Group has continued to meet virtually since the outbreak of Covid-19, seeking to deliver on its action plan and consider how emerging issues impact or potentially impact on gender equality in elected office. Areas of work have included raising the profile of female members, development of guidance on the menopause, peer mentoring and safety.

Proportion of MSPs and councillors elected who are women

2017
local elections
29%

2018
Scottish Parliament elections
36%

UK Local Government Associations: Joint Statement on Civility in Public Life

The intimidation and abuse of Councillors, in person or otherwise, undermines democracy; it can prevent elected members from representing the communities they serve, prevent individuals from standing for election and undermine public trust in democratic processes. These harmful behaviours, whether occurring towards, between or by elected members are entirely unacceptable. Across our four nations COSLA, LGA, NILGA and WLGA commit to promoting Civility in Public Life, positive debate and resultantly supporting the wellbeing of our elected members

In the community

• Police Scotland has worked with the Scottish Women's Rights Centre and Rape Crisis Scotland to release of the FollowIt app for victims of stalking. This app provides a safe platform to safely record and store incidents of stalking. Police Scotland has also worked with on the launch of a Scottish version of the Brightsky app which provides information and advice on a wide range of gender based violence matters.

Examples of good practice locally

• Clackmannanshire has updated their domestic abuse policy for employees of Clackmannanshire council, ensuring that the policy sets out expectations for all employees. They are also working with partner agencies to design and implement a wider domestic abuse policy to detail a minimum standard of care for all women who are or have experienced any form of gender based violence, including making it mandatory that every employer has a supportive domestic abuse policy in place. At a strategic level, tackling gender inequality and improving outcomes for women and girls is embedded into strategic guidance for all community planning partners across the local authority area.
• Dundee City have developed a new post of Gendered Services Project Manager which is funded through CORRA foundation for 2 years. The work of this post aims to ensure that the objectives set out in Equally Safe Priority Two are fully embedded in the local authority's work over the next 2 years. The VAW Partnership has also recently strengthened links with council leads for mainstreaming equalities who now link with the Gendered Services Group.
• North Lanarkshire Council has developed a GBV policy for the organisation as well as embedding Gender Based Violence Support Officers in a wide range of roles and services across the Council to offer support and guidance to employees who may be affected by gender based violence. The service is promoted in the public protection newsletters, regular email communication and information placed on the council's intranet.
• North Ayrshire is working to ensure that all employees who may have been affected by VAWG are able to access appropriate support and assistance.
  A Gender Based Violence Advisor role has been introduced within North Ayrshire, to support staff to bypass their line manager should they not feel comfortable approaching them around this subject.