 The next item of business is a debate on motion 8.1.3.7, in the name of Nicola Sturgeon, on International Women's Day 2023, Embrace Equity. I would ask those members who would wish to speak in the debate to please press the request-to-speak buttons, and I call on First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to speak to and to move the motion around 13 minutes, please First Minister. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and happy International Women's Day to everyone here. International Women's Day is a moment of celebration, but it is also one of reflection. We rejoice in the achievements of women and women's organisations here in Scotland and, indeed, across the world. We mark progress towards gender equality, but we also on this day remind ourselves of how much more still needs to be done. This is, of course, the last International Women's Day that I will mark as First Minister. I recall the day I became First Minister speaking in this chamber with my eight-year-old niece looking on from the public gallery. I said then that I hoped my election as the first woman to hold the office of First Minister would help to open the door to greater opportunity for all women and also help leaders to appoint when girls no longer even question the fact that a woman can hold the highest political office in the land. We have a way still to go, Presiding Officer, to achieve true gender equality, but I believe that we have also come a long way in these last eight years. One of my first acts, as First Minister, was to appoint a Cabinet that was gender balanced. I got lots of emails in the days after that asking how I knew that all the women in my Cabinet were there on merit. I was struck by the fact that I did not get a single email asking me how I knew all the men in my Cabinet were there on merit. At the time, the Scottish Cabinet gender balance was one of just three gender balanced cabinets in the world. There are many more now, and if I may take this opportunity to say that I hope future First Ministers will continue that practice. Unless we believe that women are somehow less qualified than men, it stands to reason that any Cabinet not gender balanced is not properly reflective of all the talents at our country's disposal. Alongside many others, I have also campaigned throughout my life for equal representation more generally, not least here in our national Parliament. We are not quite there yet, but we are closer than ever before. As of now, 46 per cent of us elected to this chamber are women. In addition, and perhaps partly because of that greater representation, this Parliament has taken important steps to protect, promote and improve women's rights. We were the first Parliament in the world to legislate for the provision of free period products. We have ensured gender equality on public sector boards. We have passed vital legislation to give better, stronger protection to victims of domestic abuse. We will soon consider further measures to safeguard the right of women to access abortion services, in other words to access healthcare free from harassment and intimidation. As I will say more about before I leave office in relation to forced adoptions, I hope that in the interests of building a better future, we will also continue to address and help heal the past injustices that women have suffered. We have also made childcare and support for families integral to our economic and social policies. Policies such as the baby box, the expansion of childcare, extra support for carers and perhaps the policy I am most proud of, the Scottish child payment. Clearly, these policies do not just benefit women, but they do benefit women disproportionately. These are achievements that our Parliament as a whole can be proud of. Achievements that all parties across the chamber have contributed to. Of course, some of our policies to support families are made necessary by UK Government policies that do not have the interests of women at heart. For example, we are ensuring that no one loses out financially as a result of the two-child cap and the abhorrent rape clause that is part of it. Too often there are steps to improve parental leave, for example, or to address the injustice suffered by waspy women that we cannot take because we do not yet have the powers in this Parliament to do so. Indeed, the power to improve the rights and the lives of women and promote equality more generally are among the many reasons that I support Scotland, this Parliament becoming independent. That said, I truly believe that the record of this Parliament is one to be proud of, but we must build on it in the years to come. That is why my focus today is on the future rather than the past. In particular, I will highlight two policy areas—enterprise and criminal justice—where I believe that we now have an opportunity, indeed a responsibility to make more progress. Two weeks ago, I visited the Roslyn Institute with Anna Stewart, the entrepreneur and investor who authored the landmark report on women in enterprise. That report lays bare the reality that, although women make up more than half of our population, right now just one in five businesses in Scotland are founded by and led by women. That inequality is unjustifiable first and foremost from the perspective of fairness and equal opportunity. The current position, as the review itself says, represents a denial of opportunity on literally an industrial scale. It is also economically counterproductive. If women are supported to set up businesses at the same rate or anything like it, as men already do, the benefits to our economy will be immense. The report therefore calls for better integration of entrepreneurial education across our system. It recommends that Scotland should create new sources of support for women-led businesses at the start-up stage and, again at the point, seek private funding. It makes the case for establishing Scotland as a leader in FEMTECH technology designed to address women's health issues in an area of enormous economic and scientific potential representing a particular opportunity for women entrepreneurs. It recommends that business support and incubation services should be available closer to nursery schools, supermarkets and GP surgeries so that primary carers, more likely to be women, find them easier to access. Those are powerful recommendations, and I very much look forward now to seeing them implemented. One of the really interesting and really important truths that underpin the recommendations is that the gender gap, whether that is in enterprise or anywhere else, is a consequence as well as a cause of the deep-rooted, often systemic sexism and inequality that still exists across our society. It is why the review does place a strong emphasis on education. It is also why, perhaps unexpectedly in a report about enterprise, it supports the creation of new criminal offences to tackle misogyny. Misogyny, which continues to constrain the ability of too many women to contribute fully to our economy, our politics and our wider society. Sometimes even just to live our lives without fear. Something particularly true in the toxic online culture that we unfortunately live in today and which too often spills over into our daily lives. That brings me to the second issue that I want to touch on. It was a year ago today on International Women's Day last year that Helena Kennedy's report, commissioned by the Scottish Government, was published recommending new criminal offences for misogyny. Today we have published a consultation paper on draft legislation to implement the recommendations of that report. The reforms entail five new laws to give police and prosecutors new powers to tackle the pernicious impact of misogyny. I strongly encourage everyone with an interest to read and respond to the consultation. That draft legislation is just one of a series of forthcoming changes designed to make our criminal justice system work more effectively for women. By helping free women from the scourge of misogyny, it ensures that more of us can reach our full potential. In recent years, the Domestic Abuse Act and Action to Improve Access to Forensic Medical Examinations have made a difference. Despite real progress, there is still too much evidence that the criminal justice system is failing too many victims of sexual crime. Of course, most of them are women, yes. Richard Halden Thank you for taking the intervention. I just wondered if she would consider supporting my colleague Pam Goswell's bill, which creates a domestic abuse register. First Minister I think that I have said in this chamber before to Pam Goswell that we will consider those proposals sympathetically when we see more detail of them. I give that commitment again today. Of course, it is the case that most victims of sexual crime are women. In 2020-21, the overall conviction rate for all crimes and offences in Scotland was 91 per cent. For rape and attempted rape, that is just 51 per cent. Of course, we know that only a minority of rapes are ever reported to the police in the first place. Obviously, it is not appropriate for any Government to seek a blanket increase in the conviction rate. Convictions are matters for independent courts, but we have a duty to address systemic barriers to justice and the many challenges women face at each stage of a criminal justice process that was designed by men and to a very significant extent designed for men. In last year's programme for government, we committed to a new criminal justice reform bill to be introduced before the summer. That bill, which I am pleased to say is on track for introduction before the summer, will propose far-reaching reforms to the criminal justice system. It will address, among other proposals, the not-proven verdict, on how rape trials should be conducted and seek to implement key recommendations from Lady Dorian's review of the management of sexual offences. I will not be in government when Parliament considers this bill, but I will be a strong advocate for it from the backbenches. I cannot go into detail of its provisions today, but I want to highlight one important aspect linked to an announcement that I was pleased to make this morning at the University of Glasgow. One especially intrusive aspect of criminal procedure arises when requests are made to lead evidence about a victim's sexual history, or so-called bad character. As a result, Lady Dorian in her review highlighted the importance of victims having access to automatic independent legal representation in these circumstances. Scottish Government is supportive of that, and I can confirm that the forthcoming bill will propose that women in these circumstances have access to free independent legal representation. I just wanted to wholeheartedly welcome that. We welcome the Government to bring that forward. She will know that there have also been calls for this right independent representation to go further. Indeed, some argue that it should be granted to victims of sexual crime at all stages of the criminal justice process. Any move of that nature would require significant change, which would need to be considered very carefully. However, I want to make it clear that the Scottish Government is sympathetic to the basic principle that victims should have better access to legal support. That is why we announced today support for a new dedicated law clinic based at Glasgow University. I visited the university law school this morning, always a very happy trip down memory lane for me, to hear more about the clinic, which will be the first of its kind in Scotland and offer services to victims of sexual offences from across Scotland. As well as offering advice and representation, it will teach students and do research. Perhaps most poignantly of all on this international women's day, the clinic will be named the Emma Rich law clinic after the late and much mist head of engender. Emma was a Glasgow University alumni and is fondly remembered by all of us as a titan of the feminist movement in Scotland. The clinic will be a fitting tribute to her and to her formidable legacy as a fearless advocate for women's rights. I hope that it will make an important and transformative difference to women and girls' experience of the criminal justice system in years to come. To conclude, I spoke in the chamber on Saturday to mark the 20th anniversary of the brilliant Scottish Women's Convention. I referred then to gender equality as an unwon cause. All of us know, and as some evidence I have cited in this speech shows, we have a huge amount still to do to fully win gender equality. It can be easy to get frustrated and perhaps angry at the slow pace of change, but we do have a lot to be proud of. When I look back across my own career, examples of progress are not hard to find. The world today is a different and in many ways a better place than when I was starting out in politics. But in some other ways, I am sorry to say, it is also a harsher and more hostile place for girls and young women. Abuse, harassment, sexual threats and violence are not new phenomena, but sadly the modern world offers more opportunities for that kind of behaviour to reach and to harm women. We must tackle that, not just for women's sake but for the sake of society as a whole, which needs to harness the talents of all of our population to thrive and to prosper. Let me end on a more positive note. For all the challenges that we still face, we can take pride and hopefully inspiration in the very real achievements of this Government and Parliament across recent years, whether that is in our social policies, promoting equality in the workplace, improving the criminal justice system. In all those areas and others, our Parliament has made real progress for women. I remain optimistic that we can continue that progress in the months and years ahead and that we can do so inclusively and with common cause. As we do so, I will be in a new seat a bit further back in the chamber, but no matter how hard it can sometimes feel in these times, I will always be the strongest possible advocate for women's rights as this Parliament seeks to win the cause of true equality for the next generation of women. I am very proud today on International Women's Day to move the motion in my name. Thank you First Minister. I now call on Megan Gallagher to speak to and to move amendment 8137.2, around nine minutes please, Ms Gallagher. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Last weekend, I joined the First Minister and MSP colleagues as we gathered in this chamber to celebrate International Women's Day. The event was organised by the Scottish Women's Convention and I would like to put on record my thanks for such an enjoyable afternoon. A personal highlight of the day was the contributions from Grace and Zara from our ladies high school in Cumbernauld. The quality of their speeches was outstanding. Grace and Zara are an asset to their school and fantastic role models for other young women. It made me proud to be a central region MSP to have the next generation of talent afforded the opportunity to speak in this chamber and hopefully we will see them elected perhaps to the Scottish Parliament or another chamber in the future. Presiding Officer, I would like to start my contribution this afternoon by talking about opportunity. After all, the theme of this year's International Women's Day is embrace equity. However, it is crucial that we recognise that we are still living in an unequal country. Despite it being over 100 years since women first received the vote, we still earn 11 per cent less on average than our male colleagues, run just 4 per cent of Scotland's top businesses, fill just 13 per cent of senior police Scotland posts and represent just 6 per cent of Scottish newspaper editors. Our journey towards achieving equality is far from over. Even with all the progress that has been made by generations of feminists, gender still plays an important role in how we are seen and the life opportunities that we enjoy in Scotland today. We cannot, in any debate about equality, ignore the inequalities that persist in our society for more than half of the population. It is vital that we continue to strive towards ending those inequalities. As a Parliament, we must be ambitious when looking at the progression of women's rights and, of course, protecting those rights that have been the hard-won over the years. We cannot afford to go backwards and we must continue to ensure that the voices of women are heard and not vilified. Presiding Officer, this side of the chamber agrees with the premise of the Scottish Government motion. I would like to associate myself with the First Minister and her calls to end discrimination, harassment and abuse that women and girls face both in our country and across the world. If I can start by looking at some of the statistics here in Scotland, sexual crimes are at their highest level on record. Domestic abuse incidents are at their second worst level on record. In 2021-22, there were more than 32,000 charges of domestic abuse cases that were reported to the Crown Office. Threatening and abusive behaviour offences were recorded as the most common types of offence related to domestic abuse. Only yesterday, we heard of the intimidation and harassment women receive on public transport. That is not the Scotland that I want my daughter or any young girl to grow up in. I hope that we can all agree that we can and we must do better. However, the issue of abuse and discrimination is not isolated to one country, and sadly, that is an all-too-common theme across the world. One newspaper story that I had hoped that I would never read was about Masa Amini, who was beaten to death by Iranian authorities for not wearing hijab properly. The law enforcement command of the Islamic Republic of Iran claimed that she had a heart attack at a police station, collapsed and fell into a coma before being transferred to a hospital. But I witnesses alleged that she was severely beaten and died as a result of police brutality. The case shed renewed light on the country's treatment of women with a growing number of female Iranians choosing to flout the law to wear the hijab. I applaud the brave women who have stood up against their oppressors but worry about the severe consequences many will face for doing so. It is times like these that we need to be thankful that throughout our united kingdom we have the right to freedom of speech and expression. In Afghanistan, the Taliban have banned women from attending university, leaving future generations of women unable to choose their own future. In Ukraine, the on-going conflict has severely impacted women and girls. From maternity hospitals being bombed to human trafficking and gender-based violence, the horrors of war are a daily reality for Ukrainian women. The violation of women's rights must stop. We must always stand together against those who seek to remove basic human rights from women. The reason for the Scottish Conservative amendment today is to highlight the violation of women's rights globally, and I do hope that it is something that the Government and opposition parties will support at decision time. I hope that one day we will be able to use international women's day as a cause for celebration because we have achieved equity, not to talk about the progress or the mountains that we still need to climb. I would like to finish in a positive note, since we are celebrating women today. We have achieved many things together, from free period products being rolled out across the country to supporting the introduction of the Domestic Abuse Scotland Act. We support women best when we work together, across political divides and across different parliaments. If we are serious about embracing equity, we must continue to do so. I will finish with this quote, Presiding Officer. There is always light only if we are brave enough to see it. There is always light only if we are brave enough to be it. Thank you. Thank you, Ms Gallacher. Could I please ask you to move your amendment formally, please? Move the amendment in my name. Thank you. Thank you very much indeed. I now call on Pam Duncan-Glancy to speak to and to move amendment 8137.1 around seven minutes, please, Ms Duncan-Glancy. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I move the amendment in my name. Presiding Officer, speaking on International Women's Day is one of my favourite moments in the parliamentary year. It is an opportunity to celebrate women and the contribution they make, to be proud of the progress that we have made on women's equality and to be hopeful about the changes still to come. There is much to celebrate. Scotland is rich with talented, inspirational and fantastic women. Just this morning, Glasgow's very own Jamie Genevieve was added to the Forbes 30 under 30 list following the global success of her Veeve make-up brand. Last week, runner Eilish McCallgan broke the 10,000-metre record beating Paula Radcliffe's time. Young girls across the country are looking on as Scotland's women tear down barriers, reach new heights and give us reason to celebrate every day. Today is an opportunity to be proud not just of the women making the headlines, but of those whose achievements often go unnoticed, too—women who are unpaid carers, women who keep the family wheels turning, and the women in the NHS and in social care who give their all every single day no matter how hard things get. Last night, I was grateful to have the opportunity to hear from unpaid carers at the event on a Scotland that cares. The women we heard from shared their experiences of giving up careers, making sacrifices in education and going without, so that they were able to properly look after someone they loved when help from the state just wasn't there. Some of their contributions were harrowing, but they also gave us reason to hope. We don't need miracles to improve the lives of these women, we just need to listen to what they're telling us they need. Rest by it so that they can take time for themselves, less bureaucracy so that they're not overburdened with unnecessary administration, and an end to unfair rules and carers benefits such as the full-time study rule, so that they can participate fully in education and work without fear of losing their support. I want to take this opportunity to thank them all for all they do, and for being so candid with us, because it's only when we're listening to lived experience that we can truly deliver the transformative change that so many women need to see. I want to reiterate I and my party's commitment to fight for that change today. Our Labour movement has a long history of supporting women's rights and pushing the march towards equality forward. It was the Labour Government's that introduced the Equal Pay Act and the Equality Act, and in Scotland it was Labour's Monica Lennon that helped to change the law on period poverty. We have always embraced equality, not just in our words but in deeds. Together we've come far, the progress can't and won't stop here. We will continue to embrace equality. I'm pleased to see the First Minister here today leading what I believe could be one of her final debates as First Minister. We may have our political differences, of which there may be many, but I know that she's in the chamber today because she cares passionately about women's equality. As Scotland's first female First Minister, she's been an inspiration to many young women and girls across the country, and I've spoken many times about the importance of representation and seeing someone just like you in a room to know that you can be there too. The First Minister was that woman in the room for many of the young women entering politics today. I'd also like to take the opportunity to thank her personally for the support that she helped me and my husband when she was a MSP a number of years ago to access the care and support that we needed, without which I wouldn't be here today. I sincerely hope that whoever the next First Minister is, they will protect and progress women's equality. That will mean supporting women at every turn, embedding gender analysis into our policymaking and spending decisions, and making the changes that women tell us they need, because in the words of Cher, women are the real architects of society. Some of that means bold, structural but necessary change, but we're not just talking about big tickets or expensive items. This is about making the smaller and societal changes needed to tear down the barriers that women still face and that are still restricting their ability to reach their full potential. As we heard in yesterday's debate, women too often can't feel safe on going from work to or from work for fear of being harassed, intimidated or threatened on transport, but we can make decisions here in this Parliament and in local authorities to stop that and the disadvantages women face right across Scotland by making sure councils aren't having to scramble for funding to properly light streets and parks, by delaying the implementation of low-emission zones in Glasgow to protect the black cab trades and by making public transport more accessible for disabled people. We can give women and low-paid households their financial independence by introducing split payments for universal credit and other household benefits. We've had the power in Scotland here to do that for a number of years now. The next First Minister must use the powers we have to end the outdated and punitive system of paying universal credit to households, leaving far too many women trapped and financially powerless. I hope that the Government will support our amendment to its motion on that today. We can defend women's right to choose by supporting Gillian Mackay's buffer zone bill to protect them from harassment and intimidation outside abortion clinics. I welcomed the victory in Westminster yesterday for people accessing and providing abortion services in England and Wales. It means that Scotland is now officially lagging behind the UK nations in bringing forward buffer zones, so I hope that we will pick up the pace on that soon. We can pull women out of poverty too by growing the economy and driving up wages in low-paid sectors. We all know that women are disproportionately in low-paid work, often in jobs that are dreadfully undervalued like care, so our future progress on equality relies on changing that too. We must rebalance the economy by addressing the disproportionate number of women in those sectors by investing in STEM, properly resourcing STEM education and preparing women for jobs for the future. In closing, there is no magic wand that we can wave that means that we will wake up to a more equal world tomorrow. We cannot just expect policy to catch up by accident either. We need to fix it by design and take action everywhere. It is the little stuff that adds up to the big stuff. Listening to where women tell is changes needed, working out was not working and fixing it, making changes across every single area of government. That is how we can continue to progress women's equality. I now call on Beatrice Wishart. I also associate myself with the comments from the First Minister and Megan Gallacher about the inspiring event that was saturday afternoon here and with Scottish Women's Convention. On behalf of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, I welcome the First Minister's announcement of a consultation to reform criminal law to address misogyny. I trust that the Scottish Government will have an effective awareness campaign about the consultation and how to respond to ensure as many views as possible are voiced. This year's international women's day theme is embrace equity. Equity recognises that people have different circumstances, which make it more difficult to achieve the same goals. In equity, most commonly affect marginalised communities such as women, people of colour, disabled people and the LGBT plus community. In gender, note that in advancing work to end men's violence against all women and girls, then we must prioritise the needs of marginalised women at every step. In simple terms, equality is giving everyone a shoe, equity is giving everyone a shoe that fits. Presiding Officer, patriarchal norms often block women from exercising their right to participate fully in economic life without discrimination. Globally, women and girls do the majority of unpaid care and domestic work and are overrepresented in poorly paid precarious work. Eradicating inequality requires an overhaul of inequitable structures that prevent women from fully participating in the workforce. Scottish widow's research shows on average that women are retiring with £123,000 less in their pension than men. Gender imbalances in pay, working patterns and time-out-of-work for caring responsibilities are driving this gap. When talking about women in retirement, we cannot forget the long on-going fight by 1950s women, the waspy women, of the state pension injustice. The Ombudsman found malad administration on the part of the department for conventions, and sadly many of those 1950s women have since died without receiving any kind of compensation. I should declare an interest as a member of the waspy CPG. Age Scotland statistics found women over 55 are more likely to have a long-term health condition and 1 in 3 aged 55 to 64 are unpaid carers. We should recognise the valuable contributions older women in Scotland make to our society while challenging the inequality that too many experience. Across work and education settings, we need to understand the different challenges faced by women and work to remove the systemic barriers that they face. Globally, girls face additional barriers to education. Recent media reports highlight suspected poisonings targeting school girls in Iran, while women and girls in Afghanistan continue to be systemically excluded from education. Funding feminist movements in women's rights organisations is essential for delivery of women's and girls' rights. Those groups are grounded in communities and able to identify the needs of women and girls and deliver services. Women's rights groups also have a vital advocacy role. However, leadership of women and girls is consistently undervalued. The Scottish Government is committed to establishing a women and girls fund and mainstreaming gender equality across its international programming, and I echo action aid at Noxfam in calling for more details on this work. Women belong in politics and in Parliament, and we have still a long way to go until the makeup of society is reflected in the makeup of our democratic institutions. Here in this chamber, the makeup is 45 per cent women compared to 37 per cent in 1999, so we are seeing progress while the on-going work of the Scottish Parliament with a Parliament for all report will hopefully continue that progress. UN women highlighted that only 11.3 per cent of countries worldwide have women heads of state. Full democracy needs equal participation of women in all its processes. One recent event stands out in my mind in reflecting just how far we have come and how far we have to go, and it is a local aspect. During the signing of the island's growth deal in Kirkwall in January, representatives from the three island groups, Orkney, the Western Isles and Shetland, were sitting together. I was there with Shetland's political leader and council chief executive, both women. A sign of changing times and a shift in gender representation, everyone else around the table were men. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Shetland women's aid, which is celebrating 40 years of delivering specialist support services to women affected by domestic abuse in Shetland. I pay tribute to the hard-working staff and trustees who provide such an important service. We now move to the open debate. I advise members that we have some time in hand and there is some latitude in that regard, and time indeed for interventions. I now call Julian Martin to be followed by Sue Weber. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I cannot be the only one who gets very reflective on International Women's Day. I have a ritual. I reread my parliamentary speeches from the previous years. Today will be my seventh consecutive International Women's Day speech in this Parliament. That yearly ritual tells me that things are still not good enough, things are not improving anywhere near fast enough. In fact, during Covid—I read my Covid speech from a couple of years ago—things got worse for women. The same issues are stubbornly there year on year, and reports on economic gender parity back that up with data. Yesterday, I had a look at this year's Women in Work Index published by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Their report entitled Closing the Gender Pay gap for good focus on the motherhood penalty said that it would take 50 years to close the gender pay gap—50 years—if things stay at the same rate. An 18-year-old woman at the start of her career today will not see the gender pay gap close in her working lifetime unless policies, attitudes and compulsions on employers change dramatically. In fact, the UK position on the World Women in Work Index has gone down five places since 2020, but there is no silver bullet, some will say. It is complicated. It is too difficult. I disagree that the heart of improving women's lives and prospects is this open goal, childcare. The cost and accessibility of childcare prices women out of work, it forces mature women as grandparents into early retirement to help their daughters to go back to work, and it leads to huge pension gaps. I tell this story all the time. The former in our region Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg, was interviewed by the Washington Post in 2011, and the interviewer asked him what the secret of Norway's economic success was. The journalist was, I am sure, expecting a reply about oil and gas, but Stoltenberg simply replied that it was their woman. He said, in one Norwegian lesson, that if you can raise female participation, it helps the economy, birth rates and the budget. Norway, of course, has universal free childcare. Childcare is a national infrastructure. The Government is investing in it with 1140 hours provision. That is why Scotland's gender pay gap is starting to come down. It is the lowest in the UK, but we need to get ourselves into a position to do much more to augment the ground-breaking policy. Yes, increasing the hours is an obvious route. Being in a fiscal position to provide universal free childcare like Norway, that is the ultimate goal, with all the tax increases and the tax receipts from female participation effectively funding the infrastructure. However, there is more. Let us look back to the index that I mentioned. Who are the current leaders? It is Luxembourg first, followed by New Zealand. In Luxembourg, addressing the gender wage gap and all other forms of gender inequality have become a priority for the public policy agenda. In 2015, Luxembourg established the ministry of equality between men and women. Unlike any other ministry in the EU, it is so focused around gender equality. That is all it does. That is what it concentrates on, and it has largely used employment law to get to the point where it can now celebrate that position in that table. It has made targeted interventions in high-wage private sectors in particular. Iceland also has a very good story to tell. Its strategy is highly subsidised and accessible childcare, as well as a high-take-up of shared parental leave by men. There are small independent countries that are able to make all their own tax, social security and employment law decisions. Genuinely, that is my core reason for being in the independence movement. The impact of having all those levers at our disposal could have on the prospects of women in particular. That is what drives me. The gender pay gap in Scotland sits at 12.2 per cent in Scotland. UK-wide is 14.9. The UK does have gender pay gap legislation, but as another international women's day rolls around, I repeat my off-herd criticism of the legislation, having no compulsion on those reporting to provide an action plan to reduce the gap if it is wide. Still, in the absence of that compulsion, I commend the organisations that analyse the yearly reports and call the companies with the biggest and most persistent gaps out. This year, I recommend the gender pay gap bot, the Twitter account. I do not really like Twitter bots, but I like this one. It automatically responds to any organisation or company that tweets about International Women's Day—a nice little graphic, a picture of someone working in their organisation. It fires back the gender pay gap statistics at them. It is illuminating, and for some of those companies, many of them are operating in Scotland, I hope that it is thoroughly embarrassing. In the current energy and engineering sector, the gap is stubbornly wide. On the cusp of massive Scottish expansion of renewables, let us change that by targeting more girls into that sector now. There has been a 70 per cent increase in students of renewable technologies in Scotland, but only 28 per cent of them are women. I am keen to meet with the further and higher education minister, Jamie Hepburn, to discuss how we can really improve them on that. Closing the gender pay gap could add £17 billion to Scotland's economy. If we close the enterprise gap with targeted female-led business support, we would be looking at £6.7 billion influx into the Scottish economy. As convener of the cross-party group in women's enterprise, I was really pleased to hear the First Minister concentrate a great deal of her speech on that, and I, of course, extend an invitation to join the cross-party group in four weeks' time. Economic gender parity is not just good for women, it is good for all of us who want to end poverty and inequality. Serious targeted work in economic gender parity is the key to reaching that goal. Presiding Officer, if we prioritise that, we will not have the MSP for Aberdeen Shiees giving the same speech in 20 or 30 years' time. Thank you, Ms Martin. I now call Sue Webber to be followed by Claire Adamson. I am genuinely delighted to have the chance to speak in this debate this afternoon. As a Scottish Conservative MSP, I am proud that our party is a party for women. Not only was the first female member of Parliament a Conservative, the first three and only female Prime Minister were Conservative. We know what a woman is, and we will always stand up for the rights of women and girls at home and abroad. International Women's Day is an annual global event that is celebrated on 8 March to recognise the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, as well as to advocate for gender equality and women's rights. International Women's Day has celebrated the achievements of women for over 100 years. Despite significant progress in past decades, women still face discrimination and inequality in various aspects of lives, including access to education, employment and political representation. This year's theme is embrace equity and encourages people to talk about why equal opportunities are not enough. I want to focus on sport, because at one point I was quite fit and active. As a former hockey player and a hockey umpire, I want to touch on some of the remarkable and recent achievements of British women in sport. To contextualise that, I want to recognise that hockey is a sport that has parity and equality of gender at all levels of the game. In fact, in the lead-up to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014, it was the women's team that had greater support and investment with players being paid. The players were paid as professionals in the run-up to that tournament. The Scottish Hockey Union had limited funds and they had to choose, as many sports do, what their priorities were, and they actively chose to support and back the women's side. Far more recently at the weekend, there was great success for our women athletes at the European indoor championships in Istanbul. Firstly, Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson retained her 800-metre title in style despite the loss of her lifelong coach the previous week. She dedicated her win to him. Just as Keely crossed the finish line, the GB captain Jasmine Sawyer won a sensational long-jump gold when she jumped exactly seven metres. That was an unexpected win by many, but not by Jasmine. She had been inspired by her teammates and she was absolutely thrilled to complete her winning jump. Seeing Keely Hodgkinson on the track at that same time, there then ensued massive support, congratulatory hugs and tears, as you can imagine, because that is one thing that separates women's sport from men's. We are far more team-focused, supportive of our teammates at every single level of the game. We had further success when Laura Muir won a record fifth European indoor championship title at the weekend when she claimed victory in the women's 1500-metre final, becoming the most successful Britain in the history of competition and breaking down barriers as Pam Duncan-Clatton said about Moor Soul hurdles. She is now surpassing Colin Jackson as the British athlete with the most indoor European titles. She spoke of coming to that same tournament 10 years ago and how much progress she had made since then. That is a bit of an understatement. Something else where women differ from men. Then, at the other side of the world, we had Ailish McColgan, as she set a new British 10,000-metre record in California, where the 32-year-old Scott beat Paula Radcliffe's time that had been set back in Munich in 2002. Our most successful British tennis player, Andy Murray, has been a champion for women's sport and tennis for as long as I can remember. Wimbledon is a great example of male and female athletes receiving equal pay. I really hope that other sports and competitions will follow suit. However, as we celebrate successes, we have in so many supports, we cannot ignore the fundamental differences in biology. I want to look at one specific example. Dr Marshall M. Garrett is an independent medical expert and has recently authored a report entitled, The Overview of Concussional Injuries in Female Rugby from a Medical Legal Perspective, and that was undertaken following instructions received in August in 2022 from Aberdeen Rugby Limited. The objective of this review was to provide an evidence-based opinion as to whether concussional injuries in female rugby players occur with greater frequency than males and whether symptomology in the female cohort is more severe and or persistent. The report goes on to indicate evidence of significant anatomical and physiological differences as regards head and neck function between men and women, resulting in a lower ability to withstand abrupt head blows and neck acceleration. There are significant advantages in neck strength and head support ability between appropriately height and body weight matched males and females. Therefore, when it comes to contact sport in particular, it is unfair and even unsafe if men were to be taken part in women's sport. You cannot escape from biology when it comes to support. From head and neck anatomical differences to bone density and muscle volume, they make a difference to performance and we cannot pretend otherwise. Even though the status of women in Scotland and the rest of the UK in general has improved, there is far more work that needs to be done to achieve absolute equality between the sexes. International Women's Day 2023 provides an opportunity to raise awareness about these issues and promote a more inclusive and equitable society. Whether it is through advocacy, advocacy activism or simple acts of kindness and support, we can all contribute to building a world where every person has equal opportunities to thrive, succeed, regardless of their gender. I now call Claire Adamson to be followed by Monica Lennon. International Women's Day should be a day of celebration, a day of empowerment. We take stock and mark the immense achievement of women in the face of systemic barriers to those achievements. However, I am not in a celebratory mood. Undoubtedly, there has been much progress, but the very notion that feminist ideals have become mainstream in our discourse is testament to that. Taking that wider view, I understand the case for optimism, however, there is no room for complacency. We should think to the brave women in Iran systemically subjugated, denied the equity of status, denied basic rights to the basics of education. I thank Megan Gallacher for raising the case of Masa Zahine Amine last year, for minted a wave of rebellions for women and the wider population rising up against the tyranny in that country. Women around the world remain subject to profound inequity and in some cases state-sanctioned barbarism. We in Western Europe can become all too complacent in that discussion. Many in liberal democracies blithly assume that women's equality is fact. What started as a rights movement has become an executive, normative principle, and a belief in that can be a grievous mistake because a liberal and populist thinking is rising in countries across Europe. Only yesterday in this chamber, a debate was held on the safety of women and girls in public transport. Tomorrow's debate focuses on reforming the criminal law to address misogyny. Every woman you meet will have experienced misogyny. Prejudice and misogynistic attitudes are thriving. Some men on social media pervade their toxicity. Saving the knowledge that these behaviours are still enjoyed, a level of social acceptability. Harassment, sexual assault and rape remains commonplace. I thank Beatrice Wishart for raising Scottish Women's Aid. My office has helped a number of constituents dealing with domestic abuse, and we regularly work with our local Motherwell Women's Aid group. Their vital specialist support services are experiencing unprecedented demand, and their finances are strained almost to breaking point. If we are to truly embrace equity, we must recognise that it is not a static fact, but a shifting ideal that demands our vigilance and our protection if we are to make any progress. The aim of the 2023 embrace equality campaign is to get the world thinking about why equal opportunities are not enough. People start from vastly different circumstances. True inclusion, true progress therefore, demands equitable action. That often means positive intervention. I thank Gillian Martin for raising the statistics on the gender pay gap. In my office, I have a poster from Mind the Gap stating, Prepare your daughter for working life, pay her less pocket money than her brother. Every single young person who visits my office is perturbed and annoyed. That is not fair, is the cry. What happens between young primary school children to adolescence to adulthood blinds us to that simple injustice? The UN is calling for more action to highlight and solve the persistent gender pay gap. In digital access, the underrepresentation of women and girls and other marginalised groups in STEM, education and careers, there is a threat of online gender-based violence and to highlight the achievements of women in science and technology are all things that we should be doing. We have outstanding leaders in Scotland, Dr Silver Parachini, Professor Damon Glover, Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Professor Muffy Calder, Professor Leslie Yellowlees, all pioneers in their fields and Professor Sheila Round, leading the way on the experiments in gravitational waves. In my own field of computing science, Gillian Docherty is chief commercial officer at the University of Strathclyde and is a former CEO of Datalab. There are also outstanding companies such as Antibody Analytics in my constituency co-founded by women that are succeeding in initiatives to address gender imbalance in their company. The First Minister is an inspiration to many of us, not least in her love of literature. I am reminded of one of my literary heroes, Ursula Llygane, who on being asked to write a forward to a collection of new fantasy short stories, said, I cannot imagine myself blurbring a book, the first of a new series and hence presumably an exemplary of the series, the tone of which is so self-contentedly, exclusively male, like a club or a locker room. That would not be magnanimity in my part, but foolishness. Gentlemen, I just don't belong here. She said that in 1987, but as the First Minister said, she did belong and all young women deserve to belong in their endeavours in life. I used to think that the stoping novels of Llygane and Margaret Arkwood that shaped my perceptions of the world were just fiction and not portents of what my life experience might be. For all too many women, the realities of the handmaid's tale are close to their reality. Last year, I led a book called The Shining Girls by Lauren Lucas. Part of the book is set around the underground network supporting women expressing their reproductive rights in the 1960s. The chapter ends whimsically with a message, don't worry, a court case is coming soon that will enshrine those rights, and I quote forever. It was published in 2013. At that time, Roe versus Wade seemed unassailable, but look what is happening in the USA today. In this international women's date, it is more important ever that we recognise where we are feeling and together resolve not just to achieve equality for women but equity for women across the world. I now call on Monica Lennon to be followed by Jenny Minto. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and happy international women's date to everyone celebrating. I also want to place on record my best wishes to Nicola Sturgeon as she counts down the days and hours to leaving the office of First Minister. She is our first woman, First Minister, but hopefully not the last. That is in no way a comment about the current leadership contest underway, but I do hope that, regardless of political beliefs and party affiliations, women and girls across Scotland, the UK and indeed beyond will have taken inspiration, courage and confidence from the First Minister's commitment to public service. I think that we all agree that leadership is for women and girls, regardless of their background. Colleagues today have been reflecting on the collective progress that has been made towards achieving equality and equity for women and girls. There is a lot to celebrate, but, as the First Minister and others have said today, there is much more still to do. There is a hell of a lot still to do. I want to turn to historic forced adoption. Last week, at First Minister's Questions, I received a positive indication from the First Minister that the Scottish Government has been listening carefully to the women and families that are affected by historic forced adoption. I am pleased that that was referenced in reinforcing the First Minister's speech today. We all know that an apology is due, and I hope that that will happen very soon in the time that the First Minister has left. In the gallery today, we are joined by Marion McMillan. Marion's son was taken from her in 1967 simply because she was an unmarried mother. It is really hard to talk about that as a historic injustice when Marion and her family and thousands of others who have gone through a similar experience are still living with this trauma today and its life-changing impact. Marion is a survivor of multiple injustices and adversities, forced adoption, DES or still best all, the drug given to women to dry up their breast milk as their babies were snatched from their arms. A drug that we now know increases the risk of cancer and other diseases. She is a mesh-injured woman. It is really a medical that Marion is here because she is also living with cancer. I am looking now at Marion. She is not a victim, she is a survivor and she is a warrior woman who has supported and championed countless women not just in Scotland but right around the world. Marion could not be here with us in the public gallery in June 2001 when this Parliament spoke with one voice on the need for a formal apology, but I am pleased that she is here today supported by her husband George and sitting with another phenomenal woman who also happens to be called Marion, the award-winning journalist Marion Scott, who is a political editor of The Sunday Post, who has frankly been fighting for justice for those women and families when so many others in the media were simply not interested. We need warrior women in our media too. Forced adoption has left emotional scars on mothers, fathers, adoptees and extended families. None of us can change what happened, but we can acknowledge the harm caused through a formal apology alongside a plan for access to specialist trauma informed support and better access to adoption records. Esther Robertson describes herself as a mixed-race black girl growing up in a white adoptive family during the 1960s and 70s. She was taken from her mother, Ann Bruce Lindenberg. I know that the First Minister might have more time, but I recommend to her and all colleagues to listen to the looking for Esther podcast on Spotify. It was written and produced by Esther's partner Gail Anderson. That is about Esther's 50-year search for answers on her birth parents, her background and her identity. It is a really important perspective. Although I am name-checking women, I have a gift for the First Minister because I know that she likes books. This is adoption and lost by Evelyn Robinson, a Scottish woman who left her nation in 1970 after her son was taken. Evelyn has been instrumental in the Australian adoption apology. I have other copies of other colleagues who want to come and speak to me afterwards. I have some in the office, but there is so much that we need to learn from these women and I feel that we are finally getting there. I have mentioned the drug that was given to Mary and colleagues know that I am very passionate about women's health. We had a round-table discussion a year ago, and we heard from Caitlin McCarthy, who is an American educator and award-winning screenwriter of an upcoming feature film about the DES drug disaster. She was inspired to write about that because she is a DES daughter. There are so many more women to mention, and I know that I have a few seconds left. I also want to talk about period dignity, because others have mentioned it. I had the privilege of being at Cambridge University at the weekend. The work that we are doing collectively in Scotland on period equality is creating waves around the world, but I heard from Dr Zareen Rwy Amed, who has been inspired to set up a charity and a business to get free period products to as many people as possible, but particularly to women in refugee camps. Inspired to do so because her daughter had a dream and a vision, but her daughter was abducted and murdered when she was 19. I did not want to dwell on violence against women today, but we should not have to turn to these dark times to find a way forward for gender equality. I am running out of time, and there is so much more to say, but I want to ask all colleagues, if you have not done so, to download the Pickup My Period app and get it on your smartphones all your devices, because Shora Robison and I had a really good meeting last week. There is excellent work happening in local government around period product, but we all have to tell our constituents how they can access the product. I want to finish with a very short quote from Dolly Parton, because Shair has a name check, and I do not want to leave Dolly out. We want all women to believe in their shells, so all I want to say is to find out who you are and do it on purpose. I now call on Jenny Minto to be followed by Maggie Chapman. It is a pleasure to follow Monica Lennon, perhaps another warrior woman. In my contribution for today's International Women's Day, I want to look forward with ambition, but I am also going to begin by looking back for inspiration. I can find that aplenty in my constituency of Argyll and Bute, such as Ella Carmichael, born on Lismore in 1870, who was an editor and scholar and remembered as a supporter of the Scottish Gaelic language. Eliza Maria Campbell, born in 1795 in Inveraria, a skilled painter and keen horticulturalist who took up the study of fossils. Margaret McKellar, born on the Isle of Mull in 1861, became a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and went to him as a medical missionary to Central India. I am also going to mention quickly another person who has an island connection in my constituency, Lady Aster, whose family has an estate there. I want to point out that she was the second woman elected to Westminster after Connie Markowitz, an Irish nationalist in 1918. Those women opened the door and gave others a glimpse of what could be achieved. I am very much a believer that looking back and learning is essential to moving forward. On Saturday, I was in this chamber with more than 200 women, all representing the many colours and aspects of life in Scotland, organised by the wonderful Scottish Women's Convention. That was, as others have said, the 20th anniversary of this gathering, so there was much celebration of what had been achieved in Scotland for women. For example, the baby box increased free childcare provision, legislation to improve representation on public boards and Scotland being the first country to make period products free and many more. However, we were also challenged as to what still needs to be done to achieve and maintain equity, to maintain the momentum, and that challenge came from two directions. Outlining the first was Dr Radhika Govinda, senior lecturer in sociology at Edinburgh University. She spoke about the importance of recognising that everyone has their own unique experiences of discrimination and oppression, and therefore we must consider everything and anything that can marginalise people, whether that be gender, race, class, sexual orientation, physical ability. Dr Govinda suggested that our challenge is understanding and addressing all potential roadblocks to an individual's or group's wellbeing. Only by seeing them as a whole can they be overcome. The second challenge was outlined by Zara Dillmeade and Grace Lennon, both senior students at our ladies high school in Cumbernauld, as Megan Gallacher has already mentioned. Not only did they speak of their admiration of women who they knew, their mums, teachers and friends, they also spoke of women who they respected for what they had achieved, Malala Yusafudzi, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and our own First Minister. They challenged everyone in the chamber to imagine what they wanted to see in 20 years' time, creating a better future by imagining it now, setting high ambition. Both who attended International Women's Day in Parliament last year and, as a result, they took part in road shows organised by the Scottish Women's Convention. They work closely with women in Scotland to ensure that their voices are heard as part of the decision-making process, and I want to thank them for this incredibly important work. Zara and Grace were both clear that they felt included and listened to. They said that it was refreshing that they had a voice, that they were not being ignored. They felt that they were being seen and were part of an invaluable community. Their clear message was that, in 20 years' time, women, all women, would be equal and desired fairness. Normality should be expect respect. I have paraphrased their wonderful contributions and certainly not delivered this with the poise and confidence that they both showed on Saturday. Colleagues, I think that the future of women in Scotland and across the world is safe in the hands of these young women and many others like them. They will certainly work together to ensure that the equity that is necessary for society and the economy to thrive will be delivered. As legislators, we must not let them down and must work with them to fulfil that dream. However, I would like to return to Ireland but to mention one fantastic young woman who is daring to be different, Jodie Sloss. Jodie grew up on a croft in Tainult and is now setting the motor racing world alight. She started her racing career on horseback and has swapped to the horsepower of motorsport. Competing against an international field of over 1,000 entrants, Jodie competed in the 2022 Formula Women Competition in the UK, making it down to the final 70 who took part in ice driving. It was here on a frozen lake in Sweden that Jodie's raw talent shone through, and she was chosen to be the first Scottish driver in the Formula Women GT Cup Championship team. Jodie puts her success down to driving on Argyll and Bute's tight narrow roads. I am pleased that Jodie will be joining me in Parliament tomorrow to meet with Sports Minister Marie Todd. We will be discussing Jodie's experiences in motorsport and the benefits that her journey has given her and how those might be spread around Scotland. Who knows? She may even give me some tips on how to negotiate those tight narrow Argyll and Bute roads. The women that I have mentioned are hugely varied, but they all share at least one thing—burning ambition to be the best they can be. Those wonderful women have shown us the way. Let us all share that ambition. I would like to begin, as others have, by recognising that this is, I think, the last debate that the First Minister will take part in in this chamber as First Minister. It is appropriate that this happens on International Women's Day. I would like to thank her for her leadership, especially on the issue before us today. While we still have work to do, Scotland is better able than it might otherwise have been to tackle the variety and varied issues of gender inequity that we face because of Nicola Sturgeon's leadership. I would also like to thank the women across Scotland who work so hard to support other women as paid or unpaid work, as family members or friends, as colleagues or strangers. I would like to thank the community groups and organisations that work every day to further gender equality and support women. I know some of those very well, and I refer members to my register of interests. Embrace equity says this year's International Women's Day theme, and we have the opportunity this afternoon to ask ourselves exactly what that means. For equity, it is not just a synonym for equality—a way to ring the changes on a well-worn tune. Equity is something different, asking more of us, offering more to those for whom we speak. In some legal traditions, equity has long been understood and recognised. It is a fairness that goes beyond the common law, addressing the ways in which simply adhering to standard practice does not bring about justice. It is about situations where equality is not enough, illustrated by that familiar drawing of children behind a fence, where, to see what is happening on the other side of the fence, the littleist needs the largest boxes to stand on. It is about situations when we do not know exactly what justice requires. It is no coincidence that we speak not of intergenerational equality, but of intergenerational equity. For the needs of future generations, the women and girls of the future depend on the decisions that we make now. We know, as Action Aid and Oxfam have reminded us this week, that all our overlapping crises of cost and climate, food and fuel, housing and habitats, these all carry brutally gendered impacts. Unless our choices now are informed by equity, those disparities will widen into unbridgeable gulfs of suffering and despair. Equity is demanding of everyone involved. Demanding honesty, integrity, attention to nuance and granular detail. Whoever comes to equity, says the old legal adage, must come with clean hands. It is not an easy option, not a weapon, for playing political games or constructing moral panics. If we are indeed to embrace equity as feminists, we must be clear about what it requires from us and from the communities that we help to build. It needs, first of all, to be intersectional, remembering the visceral force of Kimberley Crenshaw's original metaphor. For the women who stand in those junctions, heavy traffic thundering towards them from all sides, misogyny, racism and transphobia, equity is not a nice idea, but a life-saving necessity. There are many intersections that we do not know enough about. Age Scotland has highlighted, for example, the lack of data about older disabled women, older women of colour and older LGBT QIA class women. Unless we know who we are talking about, where they are and what they need, our strategies will be mere well-meaning hopes. For secondly, equity must be grounded in the particular, recognising that no women's experience is the same as others and that each bears her unique story. Hearing those stories must not be an afterthought, a colourful illustration of the narrative that we have already decided to tell. As representatives, policy makers and legislators, we must listen, not merely hear. Thirdly, equity must also be collective, recognising our shared experiences of the particular, standing in solidarity as allies for as long as it takes. Our equity cannot come from the top-down but must be nurtured and grown by those who need it most. Processes of equity must be truly participatory and truly iterative. We will not always succeed but we can definitely fail better. Fourthly, and finally, the equity that we seek to embrace is inclusive, building on the best of all that has gone before. It does not need to choose between justice and care. Indeed, it must not choose between them but be deeply imbued with the ethics of both. The giving of care is central to the daily lives of thousands of women in Scotland, millions across the world, but so is the experience of injustice. There is no incongruity between recognising the deep human value of the care, paid or unpaid, that so many women give and in saying that they and their daughters and granddaughters deserve better. We can do better and do differently, not just here in Scotland but as we take our place on the global stage in developing and enacting a genuinely feminist foreign policy. War, climate change, conflict and forced migration exacerbate all oppressions, precarities, social and gender disparities. Only the meticulous care, the most radical justice, can address them. We embrace these, we embrace equity. To close, I share Rebecca Bastion's words on gender equity with due apologies for what some might consider an inappropriate word. Race, religion, identity, nationality, age, ability and sexuality. There is no one-size-fits-all strategy to empowering women equitably. We need to remember women's many identities and then create systems that work towards equity. This is more than a list or some boxes to check. We have multi-dimensional matrices to inspect. To break down the 50% into stories and understand women in all of their glory. However, the hard work is worth it, without a doubt. We have too much and tap talent just waiting to come out. We are all here right now because we give a shit about gender equity, and this is it. Thank you, Ms Chapman. I now call Marie McNair to be followed by Rose McCall. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I welcome opportunities to speak in this debate on International Women's Day. This year's theme is embracing equity. This brings a focus to the fact that people start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging bring equitable action. The theme is clear, that equity just isn't nice. It's a must-have. This was very well articulated by the First Minister and her contribution, and I must say that I was pleased to see her opening today's debate. I believe that, must be acknowledged, she has done a great deal leading the Scottish Government and making significant progress in achieving equity. I pay tribute to everything she's done and achieved in becoming Scotland's first female First Minister. As I've already mentioned, she brought in Scotland's first gender-balanced Cabinet 2. Her leadership has been strong and determined, but I say this. Perhaps she won't miss First Minister's questions every week when all the Opposition male party leaders line up to shout. So just a reminder that it is, of course, not just up to women to achieve equity. This morning, I met with community representatives at Clifbank Townhall to raise the flag to Highly International Women's Day. There's strong support for this event, and it was good to raise awareness in this manner. We're a strong community, and I pay tribute to women's aid and the wider support groups within my constituency. We're a tower of strength to many women at a time of greatest need. Quite simply, they've saved lives and supported women. That is why one of the features of International Women's Day must be to remember all those strong and determined women who have gone before us and what they've achieved. There are so many to mention, but one such woman with a strong connection to my constituency is Jane Ray. She was a political activist and took part in the Singer Strike in 1911. Jane was among the 400 workers that sacked for their involvement in the strike in March at the April of 1911. From 1922 until 1928, she served in Clifbank Town Council and was in the anti-war network and a supporter of the suffragette movement. She even chaired a meeting with Emily Panchurst in Clifbank Townhall. Jane is especially famous for her role in the Clifbank rent strike, which has been described as one of the key events in the legend of Red Clyde site. If she could muster just a small part of the energy that Jane showed to secure equity, we would achieve so much. It is right that we are fuelled by the achievements of her and many others. When striving for equity, we must also reflect on what has been achieved by the Scottish Government and our Parliament, the introduction of the World Leading Domestic Abuse Act that makes psychological domestic abuse and controlling behaviour a crime, the publication of the women's health plan to reduce inequality in health outcomes and improve information in services for women, and the appointment of her first women's health champion. She expanded free childcare, making available 1140 hours a year to all three and four-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds, the full mitigation of the benefit cap and the introduction of the Scottish child payment with no Westminster-like two-child policy and its born rate clause, the care allowance supplement correcting a wrong, created and maintained by success of Westminster Government, and the collaborative work on the period poverty already mentioned and training the law on access to free period products, the implementation of the equally safe strategy to prevent and eradicate all forms of violence against women and girls, and to tackle the underlying attitudes that perpetuate it, the refreshed action to tackle the drivers of the gender pay gap. Those are significant milestones, but as a woman and indeed the first female MSP for Clybankamoghau, I know much more is needed to be done. In Scotland we know the gender pay gap between men and women is lower than the rest of the UK, but it is still as significant a major barrier to equity. With the burdens of caring still falling on women and improved assistance to unpaid carers, it is welcome, but we also want to see the new carers assistance recognise the further reforms needed. The poverty alliance has highlighted that women are twice as dependent on social security as men. The UK social security system is not fit for purpose and increases to conditionality for women with children have made it worse. We need to address that through the further devolution and minor income guarantee for all. In conclusion, those are just some of the things that we need to fix if we are to make further progress, but let's celebrate international women's day and push for that equity that all women deserve. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I'm glad Pam Duncan-Glancy's share of quoted lyrics weren't, if I could turn back time, especially in this context. It gives me great pleasure to follow on from all the other contributions from right across the chamber today, and I align myself with many of the comments. It is testament to the achievements, bravery and dedication of women who have gone before us to see just how many women are here today, but not just in this chamber but in parliaments and assemblies across the United Kingdom and indeed the world. It's been 105 years since women were given the right to vote and 95 years since women got vote on equal terms to men in the UK. Since then, we have collectively campaigned for equality at work, access to birth control and healthcare, education, economic opportunity and recognition of past sins, and began to enshrine gender equality in domestic and international law. We have achieved so much in the last 105 years, but there is so much more we can and must do. As is my way, it's time for our personal anecdote. I was recently at a constituency visit in Rossife for the cutting of steel for the new frigate, chatting to another woman who was originally from Canada and worked in the civil service. We had bonded over our positions and effects to family that our jobs created and the fact that we were women. The conversation moved to erosion of women's rights across the world with examples of changing abortion laws, banning of education for girls, beatings for ill-worn headwear and on-going gender concerns. In mid-discussion, a next councillor from Perth, whom I knew, came over to say hello, and we proceeded to bring him up to speed on the agreed conversation. His response was to tell us that we were wrong and then he proceeded to tell us that women's rights had not moved back at all, with no evidence to his statement other than the self-assured protestation, in effect cancelling our truth. I don't mention this to highlight the behaviour of the gentleman in question because this is what happens daily for women in business, politics, public life and in the home all over the world. I bring this up because I said nothing. Neither of us did. I didn't stand up. I let the conversation dwindle and soon after that we all went on to talk to others at the event. As the motion highlights, it is the responsibility of everyone to end discrimination that women and girls face and that can be in the simplest of ways. By calling out everyday prejudice and a baseless assertion would have been a good start and I promise I will never let that happen again. The Scottish country I know is not a nation to look inward and international women's day gives us a chance to be reminded of what and who has gone before us and how we can pave the way for a better future for those still to come. However, in recent years, authoritarian leaders have launched assaults on women's rights and democracy that threaten to roll back decades of progress on both fronts. Across the world, there are women and girls who are treated horrifically. The Taliban, the self-declared government of Afghanistan, promised that girls would be able to access education. Women were promised to be able to continue to go to university or to work. They are not permitted to have any of those freedoms. If they are caught studying or working, they are met with such severe punishment that can and has in some cases led to death. Those women are being made to feel that they are being punished for simply being women. Horia Mozadik was a girl when Russia invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Now, Horia works in amnesty. She said that Afghan women were the ones who lost most from the war and militarisation. They lost all their freedoms that had become the norm across the country in just a matter of weeks. In Iran, women have been sent to jail for publicly speaking out in favour of equal rights for women. The Ayatollah described the notion of gender equality as unacceptable to the Islamic Republic. The death of Masa Amani in 2012—excuse me, who died in September 16, 2022, after morality police beat her apparently for wearing a loose hijab, was the catalyst for this new wave of protest. Protesters have adorned, adopted a Kurdish slogan of women, life, freedom as their rallying cry and have taken to the streets to demand political freedom in the face of internet blackouts, mass arrests and live fire attacks by security services. Women are continuing to stand up. Many thousands of nameless, faceless women standing side by side demanding their voices are heard. We stand in this place time and time again naming the person who is the face of a campaign and quite rightly so. But a leader is only as strong as the people who stand behind them, and it is them that I believe need special recognition. If we agree that there is more to do in Scotland and around the world to achieve and maintain equity, then these wonderful women are taking the challenge head on and our example is set. We must never lose sight of the fact that there is still so much more to fight for if we are to drive forward the rights of women and girls at home and across the world. On a final note, it is imperative that we support each other, work together, both men and women, to embrace equity here and across the globe. We need to big up each other to cheer for our achievements. Men, I speak to you now because equity is about fairness. It is a role that you should all embrace. Stand with women because change can only come from a joined will to do so. We must support our daughters and educate our sons. We must live in an equal society and we must fight to achieve that. We want men to encourage support and help, so I ask that you do that. I am really happy to speak in the chamber. I am honoured to be the first male speaker on this very important day of the Women's International Day. I would like to thank our First Minister for bringing this important issue to the chamber today. She has been a role model for a lot of women in the world. Thank you for that. International Women's Day is a day to celebrate women's achievement and also raise awareness about discrimination and move towards gender equality. Gender equality is not just an issue for women but for everyone to pay attention, including men. I get told that every day I have gone up with five sisters and 21 cousin sisters and now I have a daughter who reminds me every day. We must all be present to listen to the experiences of women and girls and to join in the conversation. Originally, being set up to help bring attention to women's right to vote. International Women's Day initiatives have changed in line with the issues that are most pressing in society. In response to armed conflict happening worldwide, International Women's Day highlighted the struggle of displaced women in 2010. Women and children make up almost 80 per cent of displaced people. We are seeing this again with the war in Ukraine. Women are being displaced at the higher rate and there have been reports of people trafficking that disproportionately affects female refugees. I spoke about the need to protect refugees' women in the Scottish Government's debate making one year of war in Ukraine. Today, I want to draw attention to the important theme of this year's International Women's Day, embracing equity. Ensuring that every woman and girl be provided with equal opportunities to succeed regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and social or economic background, must be priority for this Parliament. Equity is vital to making sure International Women's Day is inclusive for all women and girls across Scotland. For this reason, I wanted to draw attention this International Women's Day to ethnic and religious minority women. Many ethnic and religious minority women experiences misogyny and sexism in different ways and we must recognise the multiplicity of experiences if we want to tackle sexism and misogyny. Yesterday, my colleagues spoke of the safety of women and girls on public transport. Many spoke of worrying statistics that around half of women and girls feel uncomfortable using public transport after dark. With many women having no choice but to take an expensive taxi as they do not feel safe taking public transport or walking home alone. The Scottish Government must do better to ensure women and girls are able to travel safely and without fear or harassment no matter the situation or time of the day. The feeling of danger when walking alone at night or taking public transport alone is shared by women across Scotland. But ethnic and religious minority women have the added fear of discriminatory behaviour to factor into their safety. Some Muslim women wear hijab or niqab that represent a sign of modesty and faith in their religion. Because of this religious choice, they face violence, discrimination and harassment. I've been told of cases of Muslim women avoiding train stations all together out of fear that someone would push them onto the tracks. Recent reports into Islamophobia in the UK have found that women are much more likely to be targeted than men. But violence against women and girls is not the only way ethnic and religious minority women face further inequality. In employment, the gender pay gap for ethnic minority women is even wider. In sports, black, Asian and ethnic minority women and girls suffer from particularly low levels of involvement. In higher education, economic positions are heavily dominated by white people and in most senior roles also predominantly male. Embracing equality means acknowledging the added discrimination and inequality that women and girls from ethnic and religious minority backgrounds face. Embracing equality means recognising the differences in resources and opportunities that must be provided to strive for an equal outcome for all women and girls. Embracing equality means reaching full equality for all women. International Women's Day means something different to everyone. Of course, celebrating the achievements of women and scrutinising the progress still to be made comes front and centre, but there are so many different issues surrounding equality and how we achieve this that all women have very different experiences and I think that has been accurately reflected here today. Women are still disproportionately impacted by poverty and within Scotland this is even worse than last year with women being hit hardest by the cost of living crisis. Women are still more likely to have caring responsibilities and more likely to depend on social security, so of course they are directly impacted by the benefit cap, the two-child limit and the cost of living crisis is just compounding inequalities further. If we are to truly embrace equity to build a more diverse, equitable and inclusive society then tackling poverty must be at the absolute core of that. Women will never be able to be the best that they can be when they are living in poverty and while that is true to any person, more women in Scotland are disproportionately impacted. Now looking towards Parliament and politics. As part of this year's International Women's Day, engender has been calling on MSPs to act for women's equity by supporting equal representation for women in marginalised groups in politics and I absolutely support that. We are doing well in Scotland on this front and it is clear to see the difference that it is making. Over the last few years I have been so proud to hear more and more women's issues raised and being discussed in this Parliament. At one time in our history I think it might have had to have actually been International Women's Day for issues such as periods, women's safety, perinatal mental health, menopause or breastfeeding to make it to the forefront but not anymore and it is so refreshing to speak openly and honestly about these things. Thanks to the representation of women in this Parliament, more and more policies and legislation is being passed with the aim of advancing women's rights. Just look at the women's health plan, the women's health champion and key policies such as the expansion of early learning which has unequivocally broken down so many barriers for women. However, while more and more women's issues are being raised and debated, the structures and attitudes are not moving as quickly. I have experienced sexism misogyny in this Parliament and I have witnessed it on countless occasions. Many of the women in here today will have experienced abuse on social media, most of the women I would say, and many will have been questioned in no way that any man ever would have been. I always think back to one of the first things that happened to me when I was elected, first elected as local councillor attending my first community council meeting and someone told me that they didn't like the jumper that I wore in my photo that went on the council website. I know that the women in the room will understand how deflating that was. My first community council is a councillor and, before I even opened my mouth, I am being judged on my choice of clothes in a picture over and above any of my priorities, my views or my work-to-date. Sadly, I and many others continue to experience these views on a daily basis. I also have some concerns around the family-friendly label that the Parliament has and, with a one-and-a-three-year-old at home, I have a direct experience of that. There have been no childcare facilities in this Parliament since before the pandemic. Cross-party groups and parliamentary receptions are almost out of the question if you want to make it home for story time and the timing of debates is so unpredictable that it is impossible to be a reliable parent. That does not just impact on us as members but also on staff and the public. I do not say all that for people to feel sorry for me or feel sorry for politicians. I am saying it to emphasise that there are absolutely still huge barriers to women entering politics, and I believe that that is true of so many spheres where women historically have had less involvement than men. How can we possibly hope to inspire more women into politics when the system is not yet ready for them and attitudes still need to move on? Discussing similar issues to this, I once heard someone say, well, that is politics for you. Promoting the idea that entering into politics you somehow have to accept the institution for what it is, but that is such a dangerous way of thinking. Politics, the establishment, it was all built for men, by men, around men, so it is no wonder that it does not fit around the lives of women in the 21st century. As I was just saying, we need women in Parliament because it means more women's issues at the forefront of the conversation. Likewise, we need more mothers, more disabled women, more women from poverty, more women from different ethnic groups. As we work to encourage women into politics, we need to ensure that we are breaking down those barriers and ensuring the structural change that is needed to ensure that Parliament, politics and all other spheres of work for women just as much as they do for men. I was really pleased to see some of the recommendations that came from the Parliament's gender sensitive audit and I look forward to that progressing. So I want to finish by very briefly speaking about historic misogyny. It was a year ago today that the First Minister made an apology to women historically convicted of witchcraft and it wasn't long after that I introduced my member's bill to the public. Naturally, I received a lot of support but I also had a lot of people saying that it was a waste of time. So I want to respond very briefly right here and right now on International Women's Day. We absolutely have to look to the past to tackle issues such as misogyny in the modern day because it is through history and tradition that stereotypes and misogyny have manifested. It is unacceptable that women who were accused of witchcraft, arrested, at times beaten, starved and brutally raped are still labelled in the eyes of the law as criminals and I don't want my children grown up in a society where this is so. On this International Women's Day, let's commit to continue looking at our behaviours both past and present to tackle the inequalities that still exist in society. Thank you. We move to winding up speeches and I call on Pauline McNeill. If I may say that absolutely excellent speech by Natalie Dawn is one of 100 per cent of excellent contributions that I've enjoyed this afternoon. On International Women's Day, it is important for us to reflect on how far we've come but also to discuss what we've yet to achieve. I too, if I may, would like to recognise Scotland's First Women's First Minister accomplished not just in the United Kingdom and Scotland but internationally. Now, I know that this is true. I know that it's true because in a recent visit to Jordan, Nicola Sturgeon knows my passion for the Middle East, when someone found out that I was from Scotland and said, well, do you know Nicola Sturgeon? I said, well, I've never heard of her. Seriously. It turns out recently that Nicola Sturgeon and I had a private conversation, which is laughing. About a passion that I shouldn't reveal, all I'll say is that it begins with shh and ends with ooze. I do want to say something to you, Nicola Sturgeon. You won't recall, but, in 2011, I found myself losing my seat. I thought that would happen, but my team were devastated. All I'll say is that I won't forget the kind words that you said to me back then, and I thank you for that, and I thank you for the service that you've given this Parliament in public life. Today, I want to reflect, as others have done, on the position of women and girls around the world, and as has been mentioned, women in Afghanistan. That's important because it is the only country in the world in which education is actually banned. In some poor countries, they are really trying hard to get girls educated, but it's a disaster. It's shocking that we have girls in Afghanistan who can't be educated at secondary level. Women and girls across our country face many issues that have been mentioned by our First Minister and others, but we must draw to the attention and struggles of women and girls around the world in conflict zones and regimes that deny fundamental human rights. If I may mention the Palestinian women, which is my passion of mine, who suffer deeply in occupied Palestine because of a lack of healthcare and a lack of fundamental rights. I had the privilege on Monday of representing Labour in the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly, and it recognised 25 years of peace in Northern Ireland. In some ways, me and other colleagues had the privilege to listen to former T-shirt Bertie Ahern and other key people who were around 25 years ago, such as their John Holmes, who talked about how difficult it was to get the peace agreement signed 25 years ago and how different it might have been. Hadn't those people, such as John Major, Tony Blair and others, been sitting round the table? Importantly, we heard from the Women's Coalition, I will. We heard from the Women's Coalition in Northern Ireland that was set up round about the time and what they talked about, and I have to say that I didn't know much about this until I heard them, talked about the role of women in achieving peace and being parted to that agreement, something that we do not often hear about, but it is crucially important. I would like Anna Harper to enter in a minute because she was also there, and she had the job of trying to get women to stand for local elections, and she went from 0 to 79 candidates in a matter of weeks. Those brave, amazing women should be recognised for what they did. I give way to Emma Harper. Thank Pauline McNeill for giving way. Yes, I was there at the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly as well, and I was struck by the words of the Northern Irish Women's Coalition and how effective they were in promoting sustainable peace in Ireland. Would Pauline McNeill agree with me that we really need to highlight the work of the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition and the fact that, when women are engaged and included in the peace process, whether the conflict zones are in Ireland or anywhere in the world, we need to value the contribution that women can make in lasting sustainable peace across the world? I thank Emma Harper for that contribution. Of course, in conflicts around the world, the role of women is absolutely vital. I am certain in keeping peace as well. The Westminster Government has completely abandoned human rights and duties in relation to asylum seekers. I have to say this because it is something that I really feel strongly about. If there is to be no legal route to claim asylum, then it is impossible for women and children to flee regimes where their lives and liberties are threatened. It is important to say that in this debate. In Scotland today, asylum-seeking women are experiencing increasing food insecurity, women with caring responsibilities struggling to afford essential items, and single mothers are facing further pressure to keep their households afloat in a single income. As others have said, sexism, misogyny, gender inequality is sadly still so deeply rooted in our society that sadly it has become normalised. Scottish Labour, as Pam Duncan Glancy in opening for Labour, said that we are committed to pushing for change. Last year, we launched a consultation that proposed a long-term strategic response to gender-based violence in Scotland once and for all simply to take part in what is some excellent work by the Scottish Government and I welcome what Nicola Sturgeon said in relation to the importance of justice in that regard. However, tackling women's poverty and continued economic inequality is critical to realising gender equality and embracing equity in Scotland. Esgalating costs of living crisis, resulting in untold harm from women, is absolutely clear. It deepens gender inequality, a time when women continue to experience the fallout of the on-going Covid-19 pandemic. In Scotland, women are the majority of those in temporary work on zero-hours contracts. It means that they are disproportionately exposed to worry about reduced-hours unemployment or underemployment associated with precarious work. Young women are full of power and promise, but many are held back by inequality and sexist attitudes. Unfortunately, the same, if not worse, sexist attitudes that their foremothers experienced. I have said in many debates, as other members have said, that we have a real duty here because you would not have expected, in 2023, to see a massive difference in sexism. I have to say, if anything, in some aspects it is getting worse. During the pandemic, young women are particularly black and minority ethnic women, others, because I have mentioned, are on low incomes. We are less likely to have their salaries furloughed topped up by their employer. The Scottish Labour believes that women's work should be properly valued, so we repeat our calls for an immediate rise to the 12 pounds per hour in social care. Presiding Officer, I have gone well over my time, so I will cut to the end and say that it has been an excellent debate. Monica Lennon quotes Dolly Parton and Pam Duncan-Glancy quoted I'm going to quote beyond CNC in the future. Who runs the world? Hopefully, it will be women and girls. Can I join Monica Lennon in welcoming Marion, Marion and George Macmillan and Marion Scott to the gallery? The unimaginable cruelty of forced adoption is something that I don't think any of us can fully comprehend. I've got three girls and I cannot imagine what it would have been like for me to be forced to have given them up. On behalf of the Opposition, can I welcome and echo the First Minister's words and say sorry on behalf of this Parliament to all of those who suffered? We can never make up for this trauma that you went through, but I hope this apology from the nation is some small comfort. Today is a good day to be a woman in Scotland and the United Kingdom, and that is not to say that better times lie ahead. On that note, I wish Nicola Sturgeon all the best in whatever the rest of her political career brings her. For a woman living and growing up here, today can be a day to celebrate, to be proud of all that women have achieved in this world and to look forward to a future unencumbered by misogynistic barriers of old. I listened with interest to Beatrice Wishart, who spoke of women prevented from fully participating in the workforce and the inequalities faced by older women, who have much to offer. As he quite rightly said, Gillian Martin spoke about the need to work at narrowing the gender pay gap, and Pauline McNeill and Natalie Donne spoke about the impact on the cost of living of women. In contrast to the freedom women and girls have here, I think it is important that we do acknowledge those women in other parts of the world who, by virtue of their biology, are denied so many of the rights that we take for granted. Today in this chamber we join millions across the world in celebrating International Women's Day. My colleagues, Megan Gallagher and Claire Adamson, spoke about violations of women's rights across the globe. Foysal chowdry highlighted the plight of displaced women in war, particularly in Ukraine. In Afghanistan there will be no celebration, instead Afghan women faced subjugation. In the UK women are well ahead of men in university admissions, but this year no women in Afghanistan will even have the opportunity to apply. Indeed, under the Taliban government, education for women and girls at any level has become all but inaccessible. I just want to make the point that Action Aid were welcoming the Women and Girls Empowerment Fund launched by the Scottish Government, but they do want to see evidence of how this will work in practice because it is yet to be published. That is an important thing for the Scottish Government to be monitoring. In 1979, when the UK's first female Prime Minister was elected, there ceased to be any limits on what women in Britain could achieve in politics, as mentioned by my colleague Sue Webber. However, today there are still countries for where a woman to participate in democracy is to put their life on the line. I believe that this point is worth dwelling on for a minute. Organisations such as Women to Win have championed the participation of women in politics. People such as Theresa May and Ann Jenkins have been at the forefront of this, ensuring that hundreds of women are elected to public office. I am very proud to be part of that organisation, which does so much to further the role of women in politics. Yes, although we enjoy and support this support and encouragement, women in patriarchal societies continue to have their suffrage, never mind their prospects of election to public office, suppressed through violence, intimidation and regressive national attitudes. Today we must call out those countries whose attitudes to suppress women's suffrage, and I have no doubt that everyone in this chamber will join me in doing so. Of course, suffrage is not the only issue that women must contend with internationally. Time will most certainly not permit me to cover everything, but since hosting a debate in 2021 on endometriosis, which blights the lives of so many women in Scotland and internationally, I have been keen to understand the global picture of women's health. During cervical cancer awareness month in January, we heard from Joe's cervical trust that Malawi has the highest levels of mortality related to this dreadful disease. With our site set on eliminating cervical cancer as a public health problem here, it's important to acknowledge the disparity in women's health across the globe, particularly in relation to large preventable diseases like cervical cancer. Resources for healthcare may be scarce where this disease is most prevalent, but the taboo nature of women's health in some of these areas can also act as a barrier to treatment and prevention. Cervical cancer is not the only disease that has a higher prevalence where those attitudes persist, with rates and other sexually transmitted diseases. Bloodborne virus is higher in many countries, typically perceived as being patriarchal. Closic to home, women's health concerns still require more attention. At this point, I want to pay tribute to my colleague Douglas Ross, who has persistently and passionately campaigned to reinstate the consultant-led maternity services at Dr Gray's hospital in Elgin. Pam Duncan-Glancy spoke about the need for safe access to women's healthcare, particularly around Gillian Mackay's abortion summit that we recently attended to create a zone to protect women at access safe healthcare, and I think that that is a really important point that you brought up. So it's clear that going back to endometriosis, we have a lot more work to do in Scotland to improve women's healthcare services. I've spoken recently to women who poinently talked about the impact that this debilitating condition has on their life, women wait a long time for diagnosis, never mind treatment. During that time, this condition can leave them crippled in pain and sometimes not able to work. I recently wrote to the newly appointed Scottish Government women's health champion to highlight women's concerns and call for the establishment of a specialist service covering each health board in Scotland. I very much look forward to receiving her response and to working with the Scottish Government and the women's health cross-party group to improve health services for women across the country. I would add that this morning's news of a new treatment for endometriosis being trialled across the country is also incredibly welcome. Just like Jenny Minto spoke about Jodie and about her motocross ambitions and her constituency in Argyll and Bute, I want to finish today's debate by talking about some of the incredible achievements of women from my constituency in the borders over the last year. I want to congratulate Lana Skeldin and Chloe Rowley for doing Scotland Proud at Last Year's Rugby World Cup, Sammy Kinghorn for smashing record after record in wheelchair racing, Erin Rae for being Crown Scotland's young traditional musician of the year and Rachel Gardner a community learning disability nurse in the borders who was awarded the prestigious Queen's nurse title. These are just some of the incredible women in the borders that I am proud to represent in the Parliament. Having reflected on my colleague Ross McCall's speech, which I thought was excellent and thought provoking on this International Women's Day, I want to finish by saying that despite women making up half the planet, many have no voice. We are the lucky ones. Let's not waste it. Let's use it to help others. The right to speak is a wealth that we take for granted. Let's not waste it and let's help to redistribute that right. I call Shona Robison to wind up. Nine minutes or so, cabinet secretary. Presiding Officer, this debate has been a valuable and very impactful way to mark International Women's Day this year. I would like to thank members for their very powerful and thoughtful contributions from across the chamber and reflect on how we have come together as a Parliament to express the importance of our shared aim of advancing equality for women and girls just as we unite to condemn sexism, misogyny and gender-based violence. I just want to say at this point that I am happy to accept both amendments. Talking of women from other countries, I feel that it is particularly poignant to be marking International Women's Day this year, one year on from the start of the war in Ukraine. Over the last year, we have seen women forced to flee violence in Ukraine to make home in a new land, often with our young children. I want to take this opportunity to express solidarity with the people of Ukraine and particularly women and children who we know suffer the impact of war severely. I got a message from the lady that I host, Margarita, who is from Dynipro this morning, asking me if we celebrate this day as they celebrate it in Ukraine. It is lovely to be able to say that I might even give her a wee mention in the International Women's Day debate here in the Parliament. Nicola Sturgeon and I entered this Parliament for the first time in 1999, which was a few sleeps ago now. There were 48 MSPs who were women, 37 per cent of the chamber. Notably, at that time, women made up 50 per cent of Scottish Labour MSPs and 43 per cent of SNP MSPs that were elected in 1999. That was called, at the time, a gender coup, and compared to the high numbers of women in elected positions in Nordic countries. It was a dramatic change in the gender representation of elected politics in the UK, which had previously had a pretty dreadful record on women's representation. On 6 May 1999, more women were elected to the Scottish Parliament in one day than had been elected to represent Scotland in the House of Commons since 1918, when women were first allowed to stand as MPs. That did not happen by accident. There was a campaign by women's organisations, trade unions and civic society, and, indeed, across political parties who came together because we wanted to see that equal representation in our new Parliament. That is something that we must remember and continue. Of course, now we have representation at 46 per cent, so it is still a bit of work to be done. We cannot be complacent about women's representation in politics or in Parliament. We know that women still do not have equality in society and in countries around the world, which is why debates such as today remain vital. I want to close this international women's day by mentioning the work of one particular woman, who may have spoken in her last debate in that role. I want to thank members from across the chamber in their personal tributes to her. As well as the many years of public service, we should also thank the First Minister for being a role model for women and girls in Scotland and beyond. There are many achievements in our time in office, and I want to mention just a few that are particularly important to women in Scotland. The First Minister set up the National Advisory Council for Women and Girls back in 2017 to champion gender equality and the lack of representation in tackling inequality and challenging gender stereotypes. At COP26, she led the Glasgow Women's Leadership Statement on Gender Equality and Climate Change jointly sponsored by the Scottish Government and UN Women, which committed to strengthening efforts to support women and girls addressing climate change. She, of course, helped to ensure that free period products were put in every school, college and university building on the work that Monica Lennon has done and continues to do. Of course, it is commonplace to see such products in many settings. Yes, of course. Monica Lennon, to mention my favourite subject, I am very grateful. I just want to shout out to the girls who are out in the members' lobby to thank Paul MacLennan for hosting them. Colleagues may be aware that they have got some period pants on display. I have been lobbying the UK Government about period pants because they are still taxed as a luxury item. We know that there is nothing luxury about periods. I hope that the minister, indeed all of the Parliament, will join me in supporting gay girls who are here with their reusable products and to speak to one voice to ask the UK Government to take VAT of our menstrual products. Absolutely. I would want to pay tribute to the work of gay girls and join Monica Lennon in that important call. There are too many initiatives to mention, but I just want to mention two further things that are important. The recognition of the importance of free childcare, which has been put firmly at the centre of the work that the Government has been doing, and tackling poverty and inequality is that Nicola Sturgeon has made tackling child poverty a national mission. Of course, a lot has flowed from that core commitment in recognising that if we can tackle women's poverty, we tackle child poverty by association. The work with the Scottish Child Payment and the five family benefits have been absolutely critical to that. I guess that it is not easy holding the highest office in Scotland. I might be stating the bleeding obvious. Anyone who has held such a position will feel the pressure of that role. For a woman in that role, it is not easy facing the misogyny it brings. Over that time, the rise in social media has impacted on not just the First Minister but women across the chamber in the misogyny and abuse that has become all too common. It is fitting, and it was great to hear in the First Minister's opening remarks, about the work that is going on to introduce criminal offences to tackle misogyny and building on the fantastic work of Helena Kennedy. What fitting legacy also to Emma Rich than the law clinic that is named after her is a tremendous thing that we have heard today. I know that Emma Rich's family will be absolutely delighted by that. As women, we all have a role in doing this, but Nicola Sturgeon has led from the front. Speaking about issues that perhaps back in 1999, we would have found difficult to talk about, whether it is miscarriage or the menopause, words that were maybe whispered in the corridors of the Parliament but not spoken openly within international women's day speeches because we felt that it was a taboo subject. I think that we have led by First Minister and women in this Parliament by making it absolutely normal to talk about the menopause and to talk about miscarriage. I hear women now openly discussing things that are deeply personal, but they can feel now can be brought out into the open and discussed. I know that the First Minister, when she perhaps moves to other seats in this chamber, will continue to champion the equality and rights of women and girls. As the first female First Minister and still one of the few women leaders in the world, she has shown that that glass ceiling can be shattered, so that saying of you cannot be what you cannot see, girls across Scotland have seen that they can aspire to hold the highest office in our country. That is a huge achievement. I apologise that I have not got a singer's quote to give here, so I know that I should have done better. I do want to quote Anne Richards, who is a governor of Texas, who was a strong feminist, who said about Ginger Rogers and Freda Stair. She said about Ginger Rogers and Freda Stair that she did everything that he did but in high heels. I think that we can definitely say the same about our First Minister. I just say that it has been a pleasure to take part in this debate. I think that the tone of this debate has perhaps shown this Parliament at its best and once again led by women. Well done to everybody. Thank you.