 I remind members of the Covid-related measures that are in place and that face covering should be worn when moving around the chamber and across the Holyrood campus. The next item of business is a debate on motion 2-6-7 in the name of Shona Robison on international day for the elimination of violence against women. I would invite those members who wish to speak in the debate to please press the request to speak buttons now. Cabinet Secretary Shona Robinson to speak to and to move the motion. Thank you for that and let me start by saying clearly and unequivocally that we stand united as we always have done across this chamber in our condemnation of violence against women and girls in Scotland and, of course, around the world. Today's debate marks the annual 16 days of action campaign to tackle gender-based violence around the world and the 30th anniversary of this global campaign. I'm sure we can all agree that we would absolutely prefer to be marking an anniversary of such violence being at an end, not using it as a way of shining a light on an issue that remains so pervasive across the world. This year, in particular, there are events that we all have in mind. We all watched the scenes in Afghanistan a few months ago with horror and concern and, while we'll be worried about all citizens under the control of the Taliban, we know that the lives and human rights of women and girls in particular have been impacted and changed. I stand with all those who do not want to see in our campaigning against the return to the oppression that women previously faced. Of course, this year, we also have in mind the tragic losses of Sabina Nessa, Sarah Everard, Nicole Smallman and Beba Henry. As high profile cases, their deaths exposed the pervasive and corrosive nature of men's violence against women. However, there are so many murders that don't get noticed or have the spotlight of media coverage and, as this is a global campaign, I want to also mourn and find it appalling that there are countless other women around the world who have also lost their lives at the hands of abusive men. However, so many murders don't get noticed that I think it's very appropriate, Presiding Officer, that this Parliament has marked that today in a very visible way, with the one-minute silence that took place earlier this morning, as a mark of respect for all of the women. I want to thank those who observed it across the Parliament campus. The landmark 2019 UN global homicide study has illustrated the gendered nature of this issue by showing that 87,000 women were killed by men around the world and, of course, mostly by men in their own family or their partners. I want to say how deeply appalled and concerned that I am that the risk to women and children affected by violence and abuse increased during the pandemic. I'm sure that I speak for all of us in this chamber in saying that it's shocking and absolutely unacceptable. This year's campaign focuses on the dual themes of femicide or gender-related killing of women and the links between domestic abuse and the world of work, in recognition of the many women who have lost their lives at the hands of male violence. Isn't it upsetting and deplorable that in 2021 we have to have a global campaign to highlight the issue of femicide in societies across the world, but it does provide us the opportunity to explore what more we can do to change it? There is a simple and unpalatable truth at the heart of the abuse and violence that women and girls face. It continues to be underpinned by women's inequality and the attitudes and structural barriers that perpetuate that inequality. Covid-19 has exacerbated and shown a spotlight on what was already there. That is why, as a Government, we have relentlessly focused on ensuring that women and children get the help that they need and that we are clear that tackling domestic abuse in all forms of gender-based violence remains a key priority. Without ending women's inequality, we will never completely rid Scotland of violence against women and girls. I want to pay tribute and thank those organisations and individuals, including women's aid and rape crisis networks, who continue to work tirelessly in challenging circumstances to support women and children who are affected by gender-based violence. I also want to pay my respects to the life of Emma Rich, the executive director of Engenda, who died in July and whose contribution to our understanding of violence against women as a consequence of women's inequality has been immeasurable. She is absolutely sadly missed. In recognition of the vital work that is carried out by the third sector organisations, including those at the front line, we are continuing to build on years of investment in specialist services and ensure that they are equipped to handle the additional pressures of the pandemic. Within the first 100 days, we allocated new funding of £5 million to rape crisis centres and domestic abuse services to help to cut waiting lists and to make sure that those affected can access the support that they need more quickly. That comes on top, of course, of the £5.75 million allocated in 2020-21 to help the redesign of front-line services. Also, as part of our £100 million three-year commitment announced in this year's programme for government, we also created a new delivering equally safe fund, providing £19 million each year over the next two years to organisations offering new and innovative ways to aid recovery and encourage primary prevention work. I am delighted that we have recently confirmed allocations to 121 projects from 112 organisations that are working to provide services and prevent gender-based violence. We recognise the paramount importance of high-quality sustainable service provision and the need to re-examine existing funding arrangements. We have listened carefully to the concerns expressed about the current funding landscape. That is why we are taking forward a strategic funding review of national and local specialist services for women and children experiencing gender-based violence. We want to ensure that there is a more strategic alignment of resources to ensure better outcomes for women and girls affected by violence and abuse. Our commitment is to undertake the essential root and branch reform of front-line services to ensure the long-term sustainability of the sector. Work around the review will be progressed during 2022. I want to ensure that it is robust and delivers results that are transformational and can change lives. That is important work. Therefore, I can announce that I have decided not to chair that review or that indeed the Scottish Government should chair that review but instead give that role to an independent chair and will finalise the details of the review and who will chair in the new year. Presiding Officer, let me be clear. Effectively tackling and challenging gender-based violence outdated stereotypes and societal attitudes is not just the responsibility of front-line organisations. It is incumbent on everyone within our society, particularly men, to take action to prevent such behaviour and work together to achieve success. The overwhelming evidence shows time and time again that it is male violence that is perpetrated against women. Research from last year's Femicide Census report shows that, in the UK, a woman is killed by a man every three days. On average, 62 per cent of these women will have been killed by a current or former partner. Let me say again that it is the responsibility of men as role models for their sons to stand up and challenge these abhorrent behaviours and attitudes and to challenge it with their brothers, their fathers, their grandfathers and their friends when they hear it. It is not the responsibility of women and girls to modify their everyday behaviour in order to stay safe. Ben Macpherson will say more about that during his closing speech. That is why prioritising prevention and working together with partners is essential if we are to achieve our aim of a strong and flourishing Scotland where women and girls live free from all forms of violence and abuse and the attitudes that help to perpetuate it. Our equally safe strategy jointly co-owned with COSLA continues to have a decisive focus on prevention, seeking to strengthen national and local collaborative working to ensure effective interventions for victims and those at risk and contains a clear ambition to strengthen the justice response to victims and perpetrators. A refresh of our equally safe delivery plan to build on the many achievements of the previous iteration will shortly commence. Once again, we will work with our partners to develop the updated delivery plan to meet the needs of where we are now and continue to ensure that we take a holistic approach to tackling all forms of violence against women and girls. Since we published the delivery plan in November 2017, we have made real progress in delivering on the 118 actions that it included. Of course, to fully deliver equally safe ambitions, we need to prevent violence, abuse and discrimination from happening at all. That is why our strategy connects to our wider ambitions for women's equality and, in this context, why we place so much emphasis on the importance of our primary prevention agenda. Our Equally Safe at School project, developed with Zero Tolerance and Rape Crisis Scotland, applies a whole-school approach to tackling gender inequality and gender-based violence in schools, equipping and empowering young people with the knowledge that they need to navigate consent and healthy relationships. We are also focusing on workplaces and their role in driving change, which has been highlighted through this year's other 16 days of action theme on domestic abuse and its links with the world of work. Domestic abuse has a devastating impact on victims. We have collaborated with Women's Aid as part of our Equally Safe and Practice project on the launch of a new framework, which will ensure that workforces across Scotland have a better understanding of domestic abuse, sexual violence and the norms and cultures that perpetuate it. That builds on our work with Close the Gap to develop Equally Safe at Work, an employer accreditation programme working with local authorities to incorporate gender equality into their internal policies. Scotland's police and justice partners continue to prioritise domestic abuse cases, and we are working very hard to ensure that victims receive the most appropriate response and support within the justice system. Our gold standard domestic abuse Scotland Act 2018 has strengthened the law and continues to be positively received by the public, partners and Police Scotland, who have greater opportunities to tackle the issue. This year, we have brought forward legislation on domestic abuse protection orders through the Domestic Abuse Protection Scotland Act. Gender-based violence, however, is not limited to domestic abuse rape or sexual violence, and I am saddened that other forms have emerged over the last 30 years. We recognise the increasing level of online abuse and the disproportionate impact that it has on women and girls, and I and many of my colleagues here in this place will have the first-hand experience of this, unfortunately. There is no place for this in a modern society, and we will work with partners to ensure that victims have as an effective and swift access to justice as possible. As I previously mentioned, our delivery plan is due to run until the end of this year, and that marks an opportune moment for us all to reflect on progress so far, but also to think about what equally safe might look like in the future, both in terms of strategic ambition and plans for delivery. The independent review of funding and commissioning of front-line services will also give an opportunity to create the conditions for a potential transformation of the current funding landscape. We will take forward further engagement on both those pieces of work over the next few months. To conclude, although we have achieved a lot, particularly in this Parliament, on a cross-party basis, there is a lot that remains to be done. A world without violence is possible, and that is what I want from my daughter, who is now an adult herself. I urge all of us to work together, from constituency to committee and across this chamber, to do all we can to eradicate violence against women and girls from Scotland and to play our part in eradicating from around the world. I move the motion in my name. Today marks the 30th international day for the elimination of violence against women. Society has come some way to recognising the need to protect the rights of women. However, much more needs to be done to end gender-based violence forever. We have heard from the cabinet secretary that violence against women and girls is an abhorrent human rights violation and that we must redouble our efforts to prevent this abuse from recurring and to support those who fall victim to violence. The Scottish Conservatives fully support the efforts by the Scottish and UK Government as they continue to eradicate violence against women and girls here and in other countries around the world. I am pleased that we can unite as a chamber today and as to the credit of the Scottish Parliament that it marks this day each year. It is also right that although we work collegially on this issue, the Opposition groups continue to effectively scrutinise the work of this Government to ensure the best possible outcomes for women and girls. I would also like to put on record my thanks to the wonderful work undertaken by organisations such as Women's Aid and Rape Crisis Scotland having leased with them to assist constituents as a councillor and MSP. I know the incredible care and support that they give to women and children. Today we must remember those who have tragically died as a result of gender-based violence. We remember Esther Brown, Michelle Stewart, Sabina Nessa, Bibi Henry, Nicole Smallman and Sarah Everard. The cabinet secretary rightly pointed out that there were many names that we have not mentioned today, but we must reflect and remember those women too. Those women should never be forgotten and should be the drive for parliamentarians to do better and to legislate better. Today we also recognise that gender-based violence is a worldwide issue and that we must continue to educate and learn from each other if we are serious about ending gender-based violence against women. Around the world, 137 women are killed by a member of their family every day. Haunting statistics by UN women estimate that of the 87,000 women who were intentionally killed in 2017 globally, more than half were killed by intimate partners or family members. More than a third of the same group of women were killed by their current or former partner. If anything, those statistics show just how fragile women's safety can be, especially when they are in the company of someone that they trust. Unfortunately, it is not just domestic abuse that women and girls suffer. We know that at least 200 million women and girls who are still alive today have undergone female genital mutilation. FGM is at such a huge and widespread issue, and I know that this Parliament is committed to ending the practice of FGM here in the UK, something that myself and my colleagues fully support. Although violence against women is a worldwide issue, we cannot ignore what happens at home here in Scotland. The latest domestic abuse statistics show that the number of incidents recorded by Police Scotland has been rising for over four years. Scottish Government figures show that between 2015 and 2016 and 2019 and 2021, there has been a rise of 4,803 cases, which is a stark increase. Domestic abuse cases in North Lanarkshire, an area that I represent as an MSP and councillor, and I will refer members to my register of interests, are also a cause for concern. For 2019-2020, North Lanarkshire was the third highest-recorded area in Scotland of reported domestic abuse cases, and it simply cannot go on. Behind each number is a mother, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a niece or a friend, and we must not forget that when we are looking at gender-based violence statistics. Aside from domestic abuse, sexual crimes are also at near record levels. We have all noticed the recent reports of spiking by injection, and although that has been raised in this chamber, it is something that must be tackled to protect women when they are trying to enjoy an evening out at a bar or nightclub. If I can make an appeal to businesses who have testing kits for spiking, please make those available to women free of charge. I know that some are already doing so, and I commend them for putting in measures to protect women from violence and abuse. The Scottish Government and COSLA have worked together to produce an equally safe strategy to tackle gender-based violence, and I fully support its intentions to eliminate the systemic gender inequality that lies at the root of violence against women and girls through a relentless focus on prevention. The Combine with the Domestic Abuse Protection Bill and the Female Genital Mutilation Protection and Guidance Act does strengthen the law to protect women and girls from abuse. However, much more can be done, and it is important to outline the measures that the Scottish Government can do to further strengthen legislation to eliminate gender-based violence. For example, the latest domestic abuse bill does not include provision to enable all victims to register to find out when their abuser will be released from prison. At present, only if the offender is sentenced to 18 months or more behind bars is the victim able to sign up for the victim notification scheme, and that is fewer than 1 per cent that has been given the advance warning. There is a strong argument that could be made for those who have suffered domestic abuse, that they would be made aware of when their abuser will be released. That will allow them to mentally prepare for it, as it can be daunting, and many victims feel that they are constantly looking over their shoulder. Michelle's law is linked to that, and it would prevent convicted killers from returning to the same community as those affected by the crime. Douglas Ross raised the implementation of Michelle's law today during First Minister's Questions. A promise was made to the Stewart family, and it is still waiting for the implementation of this very important law, which will help to protect victims of crime. I understand that the First Minister will formally respond to the questions raised by my party leader, and will make this document public, but for families who are still seeking justice, they need these additional protections now. Therefore, I ask the cabinet secretary to please implement this law on time, to fulfil the Scottish Government's promise to bring in Michelle's law to help to strengthen the protection for families who have tragically lost a loved one to violence. Another way to strengthen legislation to favour the victim and not the perpetrator of violence against women would be to allow the courts to issue a whole life order. As we know with the murder case of Sarah Everard, her killer was rightly issued with a whole life order, and although it will be of small comfort to her family and friends, significant punishment was passed for the horrific crime that was committed. We on these benches believe that this should exist here in Scotland, to give proper sentencies to those who commit the most heinous of crimes, and, similarly, the not proven verdict should be abolished. This has been backed by organisations such as Rape Crisis Scotland that have also called on the Scottish Government to make this important change into judicial law. Those are just some of the changes that the Scottish Government could make to strengthen the rights and protections of women and girls across Scotland. One area that I wish to mention before I close is the impact domestic abuse has on children and young people. Children are often the forgotten voice in domestic abuse cases because they are usually very young and may not be at maturity stage where they are able to describe the level of violence that they and their mother have endured. The court and legal processes can be stressful for young people and the experience can detrimentally impact their mental health and their ability to communicate with and trust others as they grow up. I believe that there needs to be a wider discussion on the specific impacts of children and young people who are involved in domestic abuse cases and what the Government can do to support them, especially as they need to live with the outcomes of the cases. To conclude, today is a day of remembrance, but it is also the time for parliamentarians to refocus their efforts to work together to eliminate violence against women. Behind every gender-based murder, domestic abuse incident, FGM case recorded or sexual assault is a loved one, who is either following victim or is living with the consequences of violence. We must continue to bring in legislation to strengthen the rights of women and children and I think that that is something all MSPs of all political parties can unite behind. I now call on Pam Duncan-Glancy. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and can I draw members' attention to my register of interest as a previous board member of Ingender Scotland and a current member of the GMB. I thank the cabinet secretary for bringing this important motion to Parliament today. Before I begin, I would like to pay tribute to all the women and girls who have tragically lost their lives at the hands of violent men. I also wish to send love, strength and support to all the women who are experiencing or are at risk of violence right now. I would also like to pay thanks to the countless individuals, activists and organisations who continue to fight tirelessly for women's equality and for a world free from gendered violence. There are too many to name you all, but I want to highlight the on-going work of Close the Gap, Zero Tolerance Scotland, Rape Crisis Scotland, Women's Aid and Ingender Scotland and take a moment, too, to reflect on our friend and colleague and activist Emma Rich, who is an incredible outstanding activist for women across Scotland and we miss her dearly. For women, gendered violence is part of our daily lives. It exists within our economic and social structures, within our culture and within our workplaces and institutions. Violence is woven into the very structures of our society and is the causing consequence of women's inequality. Approximately one in three women worldwide will experience intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime and research this year has revealed that the majority of Scottish women have been sexually harassed or assaulted. Violence is particularly prevalent for women from minority groups. 83 per cent of trans women have experienced a hate crime at some point in their lives. Ethnic minority and migrant women face higher levels of domestic homicide and abuse-driven suicides. Disabled women are twice as likely to experience men's violence as non-disabled women. A study conducted in the region of Glasgow where I represent showed that 73 per cent of participating disabled women had experienced domestic abuse and 43 per cent had been sexually assaulted. Those statistics are horrifying. It is vital that our approach to tackling gendered violence is intersectional and pays attention to the various and overlapping forms of inequality and discrimination that women face. Sadly, violence against women and girls is currently on the rise. The outbreak of Covid-19 in the lockdown measures that it has necessitated has led to an alarming increase in violence against women and girls around the world and here in Scotland, too. New figures reveal that the number of charges reported to the Crown Office related to domestic abuse last year were the highest since 2016. Femicide, the murder of a woman by a man due to gender-motivated factors, is also highly prevalent in our society today. It is estimated that, on average, in the UK, one woman every three days is killed by a man, and many of those cases involve the use of overkill. The tragic murder of Sarah Everard, Sean Light, on the extreme reality of violence against women and femicide also revealed that the various institutions that are supposed to keep women safe are not only failing to do so, but they often actively perpetuate and participate in acts of gendered violence. Much more needs to be done to keep women safe, to root out sexism, violence and corruption. Crimes of rape and attempted rape in Scotland currently have the lowest conviction rape out of all types of crime. In 2019-2020, there were 2,343 rape and attempted rape reported to the police, but only 130 convictions. That is not good enough. The Government must do more to ensure that those crimes are properly prosecuted and that victims get the support that they need. Limitations on jury trials because of the Covid-19 pandemic, including for rape, sexual assault and domestic abuse cases, have significantly increased procedural delays to access opportunities for justice, with the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service now having an estimated backlog of almost 50,000 trials. Delays exacerbate the strength of victim survivors, impact on their ability to give evidence, reduces confidence in the criminal justice system and poses significant barriers to justice and safety. The Scottish Government must act now to address that. It is also imperative that the Government properly records data on gendered violence. The Scottish Government does not document ffemmyside as a standalone crime nor does Police Scotland categorise any crimes as ffemmyside. Instead, it is included within wider homicide statistics, despite its intrinsically gendered characteristics and motivations. The work of the ffemmyside census and recording data is invaluable, but the Government needs to also record its own data. Failing to do so can mask the severity of the crime and make it harder to properly prosecute and eliminate. It is also important to recognise that a legal response is not the only way to tackle gender inequality and violence. We have come a long way and I recognise the measures that are already taken by this Parliament, but there is so much more that we must do. We must commit to eradicating poverty, rooting out gender stereotyping and education, increasing women's participation and representation in public life, ensuring the provision of affordable childcare and develop social security policies that promote women's safety and financial independence. More action needs to be taken to ensure women's equality in the workplace, too. The Government and local authorities can and must do more to narrow the gender pay gap and end the triple burden of labour. Employers also have a responsibility to tackle gender inequality, and I commend the work of the Better Than Zero campaign in organising against precarious work and, in particular, for women travelling alone at night. I also want to highlight the incredible work of trade unions in Scotland in organising women workers and fighting for better pay and conditions and against workplace discrimination. For example, the GMB trade union is doing, among other things, incredible work in organising care workers in its fight for 15 campaign. Local authorities must do more to tackle gender inequality and violence, too, and they must ensure that women's equality is embedded in their work and services due to everything that they can in their power to make local streets and communities safe for women. Clyde Ones, like the way campaign, calling for safety lighting in Glasgow's parks, is one example of how local authorities can protect women from potential violence. The Government must properly fund and support local authorities to do those things. Those with the power to affect change must not abdicate responsibility to protect and promote women's rights. To look away from the grim reality of gendered violence is to facilitate it. I call on the Government and indeed all of us in this Parliament and chamber today—particularly the men—to use those 16 days of action as an opportunity to redouble our efforts to tackle violence against women. Let's use our position and our platforms in Parliament to do all that we can to inform our institutions and culture towards one in which women and girls are respected, protected and safe. I refer members to my register of interests. I am a trustee of Shetland women's aid. I, too, would pay tribute to Scottish women's aid, rape crisis Scotland and other services and individuals across Scotland for the good work that they do, not just on international day for the elimination of violence against women but every day. It is worth saying again that 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the global 16 days of activism campaign. Thirty years and each year this debate exchanges statistics, unacceptable and horrific, as Pam Duncan-Glancy has already stated. The World Health Organization estimates that globally about one in three women worldwide will, in their lifetime, be subjected to either physical and or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence. It is a major public health problem and a violation of women's human rights and we know that Covid has impacted on women's equality progress across the globe. Earlier this year MP Jess Phillips, UK Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding, read out all the names of 118 women killed in the preceding year, where a man was convicted or charged as the primary perpetrator of the case. It took a little over four minutes and did not include the names of the women referenced in today's motion and tragically killed after March this year. Reports of domestic abuse incidents by Police Scotland have risen for the fourth year in a row, with one in four women experiencing domestic abuse in their lifetime in Scotland. Domestic violence is not only a plague that affects women, but one that impacts whole households. Children are tragically caught in it, too. In fact, it was seeing the lifelong impact of domestic abuse on children and the financial abuse of women that ultimately drew me into my voluntary trustee row. I know that all speakers here this afternoon are striving to ensure that women and girls across the globe and closer to home can live their lives free from fear. Scottish Liberal Democrats have previously called and do so again for the establishment of a new commission to look at ways of preventing men's violence against women and girls in all its forms to ensure a co-ordinated approach across all levels of government. Along with increased training for those working in education and on the front line in public authorities, we can work together to build better public understanding of the drivers behind violence against women and take action to eradicate it. The media, including social media, has a significant role to play in how it reports violence against women and girls. The subtle and sometimes not so subtle headline victim shaming must cease. We have known for too long about drinks being spiked on nights out, but the relatively new phenomenon of needle spiking hit the headlines recently. It is shocking, but rather than lessen its impact by giving the term almost a jokie phrase of spiking, let us call it out for what it actually is. It is the intention of a perpetrator to render someone incapable so that they can sexually assault and abuse them. It happens predominantly but not exclusively to young women. As has been mentioned before, lockdown forced abusers and the abuse to spend most of their time at home were previously there may have been hours of respite, but work is not always a safe haven. The closed-grap briefing indicates that three quarters of women subject to domestic abuse are targeted at work. Perpetrator tactics such as sabotage, stalking and harassment, unsurprisingly, affect women's performance at work, levels of absenteeism and job retention. I was pleased to see that Shetland Islands Council received a bronze accreditation during the pilot of Equally Safe at Work, and I would encourage other employers to participate in the innovative programme that requires demonstration across six standards and aligns with women's workplace equality. Finally, the Government's motion today refers to prioritising prevention. The Delivering Equally Safe Fund is welcome, but it is for a term of two years, and I wonder if the Government would consider extending that term to three years as that would benefit further prevention work. There is so much more behind gender-based violence against women and girls globally and here at home, as others have eloquently voiced and will do after me. I would like to draw this to a conclusion and to say that my thoughts are very much with people who are currently experiencing domestic abuse and that there is help out there if they are able to reach out. We now move to the open debate, and I call Jim Fairlie to be followed by Pam Gossel. I would just like to express my disappointment that there is not more men sitting here today. It gives me no pleasure to be speaking in today's debate because in this day and age we should not need to have the debate at all. Women have been given lots of advice over the years. They have been told not to walk home alone or dress too provocatively or show too much skin. They have been told to mind their drinks while out socialising or not to get too drunk. They have been given secret codes to tell the bar staff what to do when they feel in danger. They have given all this advice in order to protect them from the threat of male violence, and now it appears that the new threat is a syringe. However, this is not a young man's generational thing. It is a multi-generational, classless, continuous thing that needs to be faced up to. Recognising international day for the elimination of violence against women and girls also tells us that this is a global issue. However, the danger is that by focusing on that global perspective we risk failing to ask the most fundamental question of all, and that is what we do right here and right now. When I say we, I mean men and boys, why is it that we think the solution to the issue of male violence is to tell women and girls how to protect themselves from us? Surely the most obvious answer is to stop the behaviour that hurts them in the first place. If we manage to get any message out of today's debate, we need to get the message across to men that we are responsible for our actions. During the marches after the rape and murder of Sarah Everard, I read the banner that said, why don't you just stop killing us? Think about that for the same. Why don't you just stop killing us? Well, the message is clearly not being heard, because since that crime there have been another over 80 women killed by men since March alone. I am not asking how many more there has to be before we start to do something about it. I say we start to do something about it right now and we start to do it for real. This is not an issue for somewhere else, it is an issue in every town and every city right here in Scotland, and we must look at ourselves at how we behave and how we teach the next generation. As a boy, I was taught to treat girls in the same ways that I want my sisters to be treated. However, that life lesson did not fully arm me with the knowledge and understanding that I think that we should teach all our young men and boys about what it is to be a female in our society. It does not matter if she is someone's mother, daughter or sister, that she is someone at all is what matters. My daughters and wife explained to me the turmoil and fear a girl feels when walking home and some random guy calls out her wheel whistles, even worse when there's more than one male and safety and numbers that egg each other on to check her out. But they never seem to understand why the compliment isn't welcomed, why fear kicks in for a lone female as she walks home at night and there's a man walking behind her, or worse, crosses a street and starts walking towards her. This is of course when people start to chip in with the argument, not all men, but how does someone who has grown up learning to fear males know that you are safe? They don't, she doesn't, and it's us, it's our men's responsibility to make sure that we create the space to allow that fear to be dispelled. That means being fully mindful of how our actions, however innocent, could be interpreted. We teach our children from a very early age that unwanted male attention is acceptable if a wee boy pulls a pigtail or hits a girl or tries to steal a kiss. We tell the wee girl that he's showing that he likes her, rather than telling the wee boy that his behaviour is wrong and explaining to him that if he likes the girl, he doesn't get her attention by hitting her. Even at that early age, we're setting out the societal norms that are entirely skewed towards females accepting male dominance and violence as a form of affection or endearment and that the refusal of females to accept those advances is somehow a breach of the male entitlement. As we grow, the lads mentality in male entitlement grows with us because society accepts it as the norm. The distance between laddage banter to sexual violence is far shorter than we are prepared to believe, and we need to challenge and change that culture. The Police Scotland video born out of the murder of Say That Everard don't Be That Guy is a good start to the conversation. It's an easy phrase to adopt in male company, and it can quickly change the direction of a conversation that is heading in the wrong way. A recently read a book by Brene Brown and she talked about challenging someone who has gone over the line. Her argument was that challenging it lasts about eight seconds. The discomfort of challenging it lasts about eight seconds. That feeling of allowing behaviour that flies in the face of her own values to go unchallenged, however, never goes away. I have to say, I can tell you from experience she's right on both counts. However, a man calling out the behaviour of other men will lead to that few seconds of discomfort for us, for a woman. That discomfort comes with fear that she may have just entered an unsafe situation that can lead to aggression and violence extremely quickly, and that is a real life experience of many women in these situations, and it shouldn't be. In every facet of society, from schools, colleges, at university, sports clubs, sports stadia, the workplace, this Parliament and, as importantly, home, it's up to us to change that culture. We can legislate, we can set punitive sentences for domestic, sexual, physical or psychological abuse, but all this is doing is treating a symptom and not a cause. We need to stop the abuses before they start. We must recognise that what we male see as harmless fun can be frightening to a woman. We must teach our boys and girls that those cute wee behaviours aren't cute. They are the future of a continuing patriarchy, and that the lad's lad mentality is dangerous, because it leads to a tacit approval of escalation in the sexism, misogyny or worse, domestic abuse, assault, rape and even murder. That means that we males have to look in the mirror and ask ourselves some serious questions, and, as my daughter rightly pointed out, feel that personal discomfort of recognising something in ourselves that we may have said, we have done a joke about a banter, whatever it was, and accept that it is no longer and, in fact, that never was acceptable. It's up to everyone of us right across the country to recognise and we do the behaviours and comments that cross that line. For the sake of the safety of women and girls, when we see it or hear it, we call it out and we take that eight seconds of discomfort and just say, don't be that guy. Pam Goswll, to be followed by Eleanor Whitham. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I am grateful to be contributing to today's debate, however it gives me no pleasure to do so. The eradication of violence against women is a subject particularly close to my heart as a woman, mother, auntie and daughter. I am sure that this is something that felt strongly across the chamber today. Violence against women and girls is a fundamental human rights violation. No woman or girl should live in fear of abuse. Presiding Officer, the past 18 months have been torturous for some women with the pandemic, the number of sex crimes reported in Scotland's sword to a six-year high. I welcome the Scottish Government's equally safe strategy and I'm pleased at the increased levels of funding being dedicated to ending violence against women and girls and supporting them as they leave the most horrific circumstances. I would like to thank the national and local community outreach organisations, who are true heroes in this crisis, from the rape crisis Scotland, Scottish women's aid, zero tolerance and the list goes on, all of whom are working tirelessly to ensure that Scotland is a safe place for women and girls. Even though it is 2021, where equality and fairness are now being discussed more openly than ever before, too many women are still hidden in darkness, living in fear of abuse, violence, rape and sometimes even death. If they ask for help, they are ignored. If they try to run away, they are caught. If they try to report it, they have no one to turn to or even worse, they still have to keep it a secret. Data from the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2019-2020 showed only 22 per cent of victims and survivors of rape and 12 per cent of women who were victims and survivors of other types of sexual offence reported to the police. We cannot ignore that fact. That may indicate a huge lack of trust between victims and the wider justice system. More must be done to ensure that victims feel safe enough to report incidents to the police. Victims do not fear repercussions to be reporting their abusers. The victims feel listened to. We cannot support victims by ending automatic early releases so that every criminal we will have to face a parole board before being released early. I am very conscious of the fact that many reports of abuse will never see the light of day. Sadly, that is all too common in many BAME communities. A recent survey by the seek women's aid revealed that 70 per cent of women's surveyed had experienced domestic abuse. Nearly half had been abused by more than one abuser. Even more distressing is that most victims knew that they were abused and nearly half of the incidents took place at home. Research has also shown that the BAME and migrant women face higher levels of domestic homicide and abuse-driven suicide. Sadly, the last decade has seen the closure of 50 per cent of BAME specialist refuge across the UK, which has been a safe heaven for most BAME women. Those specialised services are a vital lifeline for those women, as they understand particularly cultural and societal norms. Many victims in the male-dominated or honour-based cultures fear bringing shame to their family or community. Sadly, in some cases, when the victim does reach out to family members, the family member also fears to be isolated from the community. Therefore, as we continue our plight to eradicate violence against women, we must engage with BAME communities and specialised services more closely to find out how we can best support victims where different cultural and societal norms exist. We cannot take one-size-fits-all approach to tackling that issue. Coming from a BAME background, current support is not fit for the purpose. Women are not only afraid of the abuser but fear rejection by the family and the wider community. A service that may offer support to one woman does not necessarily mean that it is right for support for another or even advice for another. In conclusion, we must ensure that victims trust that when they report domestic or sexual abuse, they know that their abuser will not walk away on an automatic early release. Secondly, we must engage with BAME communities to have maximum outreach in order to better educate children on the appropriate behaviour, gender equality and how to spot signs of violence against women and girls to ensure that victims feel safe in reporting cases of domestic and sexual abuse and to raise awareness of the support that is available to them. That is key to the prevention of domestic and sexual abuse. No one here today should have to talk about eliminating violence against women and girls. That violence should not exist in the first place. As a former women's aid worker, I want to pay tribute to all the women and children whom I supported over a decade and who allowed me into their lives. It is a really big privilege to be in that position. I also feel that it is my duty today to speak here in this place to amplify the voices of the women and children across Scotland and the world who endure men's violence and coercion and also those who have been victims of ffemicide. I have been a feminist activist since December 6, 1989. I can remember the day when it was yesterday. I would come home from school trudging through the drizzly snow just like any other Montreal winter and was busy with homework with the television on in the background when a news report cut in and an unfolding act of misogynistic horror tattooed itself on my very soul. A self-styled anti-feminist walked into Le Calpolytechnique and the engineering school of Montreal ordered the separation of men from women. In the space of 45 minutes shot dead 14 women, injuring another 10 women and four men before turning the gun on himself. His suicide note was clear. Feminists have always enraged me, he wrote. I have decided to send the feminists who have always ruined my life to their maker. He was enraged that those women dare study engineering, a career path denied to him due to his apparent lack of aptitude, but in his mind denied to him by those women who took his rightful place. As a 15-year-old, the magnitude of what was happening that day was underscored the following morning when I woke at 6 am to deliver the Montreal Gazette newspaper round a had and was confronted by a graphic image of one of the dead women slouched on a cafeteria chair. Her dinner left untouched on the table beside her. I delivered my newspapers that morning in a daze with tears streaming down my face. Little did I know that four years later we would debate the use of this image in my journalism ethics class. To this day, I am divided. Was it a stark brutal reality check or blatant sensationalism? Closer to home, Twitter campaign counting dead women is today bearing witness to the women murdered here in the UK so far this year. Naming a woman every five minutes from 8 am this morning, it will take over 11 hours to complete. That is the staggering 126 women murdered at the hands of men and it clearly demonstrates the absolute reality of the patriarchal system that still operates here and across the world, including recent horrific murders, FGM, spiking attacks, online misogynistic abuse, rape culture and so-called honour killings. For the decade that I supported women and children in North Ayrshire experiencing domestic abuse, it became crystal clear to me that we really must prioritise prevention work, whilst also continuing to ensure that specialist support services are available across the country. I was dismayed in 2014 when the contract in North Ayrshire held by North Ayrshire Women's Aid was put out to tender, resulting in the loss of several key aspects of our work, including specialist addictions in children's services. We currently see the same issues at play in other areas of Scotland and I fundamentally believe that there must be exceptions to procurement policies so that the best possible specialist support services are available when women reach out for help. I look forward to the outcomes of the front-line service review announced by the cabinet secretary earlier. According to Close the Gap, Covid-19 has disproportionately impacted women's often precarious employment and had far-reaching implications on women's experience of work. Many victims' survivors of domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women have experienced significant barriers in accessing specialist services and support. Additionally, their experience may have been exacerbated by isolation and a lack of access to informal support networks. Employers have a really essential role to play in ending violence against women and the on-going crisis has provided opportunities for employers to reassess their employment policies and practice to be more inclusive of women's needs and experiences. As a councillor, I referred to my register of interests, I was proud to help to develop domestic abuse policies for both employees and tenants of East Ayrshire Council. I am also hard to hear of Close the Gap's Equally Safe at Work Employer Accreditation scheme, which has been piloted in seven local authority areas across Scotland. That scheme complements our bold national equally safe strategy, our world-leading gold standard domestic abuse laws and other endeavours such as the far-reaching independent report published by Scottish Women's Aid and the Chartered Institute of Housing, which makes urgent recommendations that social landlords use a human rights-based approach to improving housing outcomes for women and children experienced domestic abuse by prioritising their safety over the rights of perpetrators. Today, I also think of Michelle Stewart, whose life was horrifically cut short in my constituency when she was only 17, and of a constituent who contacted me recently to reveal she is continually being abused from prison by phone by her abuser. Those cases and the pressures placed on the justice system during Covid highlight just how precarious women's access to justice remains, and how important it is that the needs of families are considered at all points in the judicial journey. That is an area that I will campaign on during my time here as an MSP. Finally, it is my firm belief that the continued commodification of women's bodies has a direct result and impact on our collective safety. We cannot look at commercial sexual exploitation and pornography in a vacuum and pretend that they have no bearing on the treatment of women in society at large. My children have grown up in an era where the most extreme forms of pornography are available in the palm of their hands 24x7. The rise of women's deaths during choking during sex is terrifying, and the pressure on young people to conform to this unrealistic and extremely gendered and dangerous portrayal of sex is damaging beyond belief. Daily, women are trafficked around the world for men to purchase. As long as this demand continues unfettered, we all continue to be at risk. I call Pauline McNeill to be followed by Neil Gray. May I begin by thanking Shona Robison, cabinet secretary, Pam Duncan-Glancy, Megan Gallacher for their excellent front-range contributions and, to be honest, to excellent speeches at their after in this debate? I sincerely believe that we are witnessing a watershed moment in the realisation that violence against women and girls is ingrained in our society and that the high-profile cases of murders here at Everard be behind me, and I would like to mention Libby squares, too. We must make a deeply question why one woman is killed every three days in the UK. Misogyny sadly is everywhere. It's in our police armed response unit. In the military, it's in our schools, our workplace and for young women, we're only beginning to get an insight into the presence of sexual harassment and what is becoming known as rape culture, mentioned earlier by Elena Whitham. The Justice Committee heard this week that the testimony of female victims of sexual assault have been utterly failed by a system full of delay, poor treatment, is utterly shocking and, in one case, a full year to get the DNA result the evidence required for her case. For the advent of terms like rape culture or sexual violence against women, it is excused in the media and popular culture. Can we really claim that we have made a real and significant enough level of progress in addressing the root causes of male power and abuse control women? In fact, we will agree that it's a very depressing picture as we discuss it today. We know that such as Scotland's problem is a global issue, and that's why the World Health Organization has described it as a major public health problem and a violation of women's human rights. It's an issue that cuts across justice, social attitudes, equality and human rights, but we must tackle the root causes of male attitudes and male violence against women. It comes in many forms, sexual harassment, domestic abuse, reverned pornography, female genital mutilation, human trafficking, child brides, self-think, rape, femicide, and so the list goes on. There's not been a time where I think that parents have become more concerned for their daughter's safety. As other speakers have talked about, the recent horrific crimes of spiking, including bodily spiking of women, are redding and unconscious for reasons that we know only too well. I also want to support the call of Megan Gallacher in what our cubs and our hospitality sector should be doing to keep women safe. The agenda of smartphones and social media has meant that teenage girls are often under pressure from boys to send nude photographs of themselves. It was highlighted in a recent report by Ofsted in England and it said that it's become the norm in schools. Out of 32 schools inspected, nine out of 10 girls said that the unsolicited explicit pictures or videos were sent to them or their peers very often. The report states that it's alarming that many children and young people, and particularly girls, feel that they have to accept sexual harassment as part of going up. I would ask the cabinet secretary to reflect on whether we need to look at Scottish schools to see if we have an alarmingly similar trend. Boys and young men need to be brought into the debate, and, as Jim Fairlie excellently said in his speech, men must take responsibility for their behaviour. Isara McDermott's recent documentary on rape culture where she talks to young men, she finds out that some of those men who talk to their first experience of watching pornography can be as young as nine or 10, and many boys' first understanding of what sex is like is through the internet and pornography showing an unrealistic and often violent representation of sex. I am sure that we agree that we need more programmes in schools that teach young people about consent and aim to prevent violence in dating and relationships. I do want to commend the work of Great Crisis Scotland, where it has worked with more than 10,000 young people in the past six months to follow a programme that allows people to explore and better understand those issues. Cyber crime has also doubled in the last year, and it now accounts for an estimated one in three sexual crimes. Those crimes include revenge, pornography, online harassment and abuse, which has sharply risen in recent years. Research by the NSPCC shows that the reported cases of predators abusing children after contacting them online has risen 78 per cent in just four years. The United Nations declared the shadow pandemic as women across the world faced being stuck with their abuser and unable to get help or respite. The pandemic may be down to thirds of cases waiting to be heard in our High Court of Sexual Crimes. I have shot myself to learn of those figures in the past few months. There are around 32,000 trials outstanding in share of courts, including many domestic abuse cases. The Lord Advocate has described the court backlog as an enormous problem. She noted in a recent committee session the extraordinary number of sexual violence cases that are waiting for trial and that the impact that it has on the most vulnerable members of our community and our society requires the protection of our court. Of course, she is talking about women and girls. We need to look at the specific ways that those backlogs are placing a disproportionate burden on women and children. By the end of this session of Parliament, the sixth session, we must work together to ensure that we are on a permanent path change, not just through changes to the justice system, but to strike at the heart of men's violence against women and be brave enough to tackle that at all ages, in our schools, in our education system. We must begin to see a reversal of those trends and those horrific crimes, or we, as politicians, will not have done our job. It is a pleasure to follow that excellent contribution from Pauline McNeill and like the cabinet secretary and others today. I am thinking of all those women who have lost their lives to men and continue to suffer abuse from men here and around the world. I want to speak in this debate to raise two main issues concerning me about making sure that we are doing all that we can to tackle violence against women and girls. In the first, why are we still seeing violence against women? I speak as a man, a husband and a father of three girls and a boy. I hope to rise to the challenge rightly set by the cabinet secretary and by Pam Duncan Glancy in their excellent speeches. The second, I speak as a local MSP concerned about local, proven domestic abuse services. Others have already talked about what drives abuse and violence against women and girls, who it is that is killing them and whose behaviour needs to change in order for us to see this violence and killing stop. It is men. Those of us men who say that it is not all of us, not all men are the same, as I have seen in varying degrees in response to social media posts today, completely miss the point, as Jim Fairlie said, in what was an excellent speech. It is true that not all men kill or abuse women, but it is also true that when women are killed or abused, they are almost always killed or abused by men. Indeed, it should shock and anger and shame all of us and give us renewed focus to tackle violence against women when we know, as Eleanor Whitham said in her incredibly moving speech, the counting dead women Twitter count is today, on international day for the elimination of violence against women and girls, publishing the names of all the women killed by men in the UK so far in 2021. They started tweeting a woman's name every five minutes from 8am and it will take them until 7pm to publish the names of all 126 women who have been killed by men in the UK this year. How much longer would it take to recognise the 87,000 women killed around the world, as highlighted by the cabinet secretary? We need action to stop that. That is why I welcome at Police Scotland's new campaign, Don't Be That Guy, because the killing of women does not come from nowhere. It comes from unacceptable behaviour being tolerated, left unchallenged and allowed to progress. Don't Be That Guy includes all of us challenging the behaviour of others. That can sometimes be difficult, but not nearly as difficult as for the women suffering this abuse. We must commit to stop the casual sexualisation and misogynistic abuse, masked in apparent jest, which, in so many of the cases listed in the motion, was the starting point for the male perpetrators. The second issue that I want to raise continues on the prevention theme and is about local domestic abuse services for my constituents. For years, North Lanarkshire Council has been looking to restructure domestic abuse services, which is of major concern to Monkland's women's aid. Alex Neil and I, when he was the MSP and I the MP, worked closely with them and the other women's aid groups in North Lanarkshire to try to stop the council's tendering for domestic violence services, when for more than 40 years Monkland's women's aid had been successfully meeting the needs of the women and children in Ergy, Co-bridge and beyond. Women's aid services are grassroots and, as such, they have been founded, developed and run by women for women. Domestic abuse is their core focus and they continue to overperform year on year in the attempt to meet the demand for specialist women's aid services that work to a gendered analysis at a local level. North Lanarkshire Council undertook a review of all domestic violence services, including statutory public and third sector provision. The review identified gaps in statutory provision, specifically in relation to services for men. As a result, the council chose to enact procurement activities to widen and meet broader equalities duties. In doing so, it sadly disregarded the voices of the women who use women's aid services, as well as the recommendations in the report from COSLA and Scottish Women's Aid, called good practice on commissioning specialist domestic abuse services that stressed the alternatives to commissioning specialist women's aid services. The new service provides services to both men and women. In doing so, the council became the first local authority in Scotland to defund proven grassroots women's aid services. The result was losing 70 per cent of their capacity in women's aid services. What has baffled and angered me, an equal measure, is that, by meeting a need but a much smaller need for violence against men, by lumping gender services together, North Lanarkshire Council has jeopardised the trusted route that the women who manage to find the courage to flee an abusive relationship recognise which is their local women's aid. That is a perfect example of where well-meant policy has been misinterpreted at a local level to serve a broader equalities need, and in doing so, harming those most at need, that being women. There was absolutely no need to pursue this course of action. North Lanarkshire Council could have set up and funded a dedicated service for male victims if there was a demand for it. Figures that I have received from North Lanarkshire Council show that the new service that they have procured has received substantially fewer contacts than the women's aid groups in North Lanarkshire. Local women who need domestic violence support are voting with their feet, and just as we had warned, they have no desire unless automatically referred by the local authority to use a service that they do not see as a dedicated service for them. So, while Monklin's women's aid has seen its funding cut substantially, so the demand for their services has sadly risen by approximately 20 per cent in this period, as Megan Gallacher said in her excellent contribution and North Lanarkshire's the third highest prevalence of domestic abuse in Scotland. Yet, if it hadn't been for the Scottish Government's delivering equally safe funding, I really fear that Monklin's women's aid would have had to shut their doors. I have nothing against SACRO, which delivers North Lanarkshire Council's new service. I am sure that North Lanarkshire Council was well-meaning with that procurement, but I cannot see how the council can do anything other than fund services that meet demand when the current tender comes to an end. I am also concerned that we recognise the danger of erroneous gathering of statistics that are based on flawed categorisation and how they skews the understanding of need and subsequent decimation of resources. If we are to tackle gender-based violence, we have to support gender-based domestic violence services and we have to change male behaviour. We must stop expecting women like Sarah Everard to constantly change their lives to protect themselves from men, as we know in Sarah's case that even her mitigations were not enough. If we do not give women the safe and trusted places to go to flee escalating domestic abuse, then we will continue to see violence against women. That is why I say to men, but also local authorities, do not be that guy. Thank you, Mr Gray. I now call on Maggie Chapman, who will be followed by Evelyn Tweed again in six minutes. Before I begin, I refer to my register of interests pre-election, I worked for a rape crisis centre and I thank once again all those involved in supporting and advocating for survivors of gender-based violence. It is heart-wrenching work, but it is so important. I also want to acknowledge and remember all the women and girls who have lost their lives because of gender-based violence, those named in the motion and around the chamber today, and those known to us, those who are unknown, unnamed here in Scotland and around the world. I echo the cabinet secretary's comments about Emma Rich. Emma made Scotland a better country for women and girls, and we miss her. We should not have to be having this debate today. We should not have to have a 30th anniversary of the international day for the elimination of violence against women. We should not be in the situation in the 21st century where our society, our culture is still so deeply unequal. That we are here at all should be a source of shame for all of us. One in three women have been abused in their lifetime. When things are tougher, then usual such as during a pandemic, the numbers of victims and survivors increase. A recent report from UN Women based on data from 13 countries since the pandemic shows that two in three women reported that they or a woman they know experienced some form of violence and are more likely to face food insecurity. Even more if not all women have experienced some form of gender-based oppression, coercion, financial insecurity and street harassment. We can expect incidents of abuse and violence to rise as we face significant other crises, climate disasters, humanitarian crises and conflict. That same UN Women report shows that only one in 10 women said that victims would go to the police for help. We will be speaking more about justice and policing issues in next week's debate, I am sure, but I raised the rape crisis Scotland survivor reference groups report on police responses to survivors this morning in FMQs because police dealings with survivors of sexual crimes tells us, among other things, just how entrenched sexism and misogyny are in our institutions and our society. It tells us just how important understanding and awareness of trauma is for both justice and for recovery and it tells us how equality matters and just how vital intersectionality is. We still live in a deeply unequal, deeply patriarchal society where the abuse of power causes life changing, sometimes life ending, physical and mental harm. We should not accept that as inevitable. Violence against women can and must be prevented. It can and must stop. Stopping the violence will mean transformational action across many sectors—justice, health, education, policing and culture. It means securing long-term, not-peace meal funding for survivor-centred support services and the women's rights agenda. Fundamentally, it means tackling the root cause of violence and oppression—inequality. Inequality that fuels harmful social norms. Inequality that leads to the implementation of policies that have disproportionate impacts on women. Covid has made that only too abundantly clear. Indeed, the UN estimates that Covid could set women's equality back by a quarter of a century. We cannot assume that Scotland is immune to this. We women are not yet adequately protected from misogynistic behaviours and sexualised harassment. Gender-based violence happens to a majority, if not all, of us women. It costs us money. It wastes our time. It wastes our energy. It makes us fearful. It changes how we use public spaces. It makes us consider what we say and do, what we do not say and do not do. It exhausts us. It kills us. We have a moral obligation to act. As parliamentarians, we must ensure that the policies and practices that we agree do not exacerbate gender-based violence or negatively impact women. We must take seriously the mechanisms that we have in place to scrutinise what we do. Equality's impact assessments, for example, must never be just tick-box exercises. We also need to see the connections between different areas of policy and understand that well-meaning policy in one area can have devastating consequences in other areas, both in Scotland and further afield. Policy coherence matters. However, it is not only in our policymaking and scrutiny that we require to act. We need wholesale culture change. Preventative measures play a key part in that. I once again would like to recognise the prevention, education and awareness raising work that happens across our schools and communities by so many of those same organisations—Scottish Women's Aid, Closed the Gap, Zero Tolerance, Engender, Rope Crisis Scotland and all the Rope Crisis centres—those same organisations that support survivors of violence. We also have a role to play in that culture change. I challenge all the men in this Parliament, all the men MSPs that are role models in their communities to look critically at their own behaviour. All men have a responsibility in that. A responsibility to act, a responsibility to check their own behaviour in work, in social, private and intimate settings, a responsibility to call out sexist behaviour and language whenever they encounter it, including in their own heads. I am pretty sure that all the women in this chamber can recall actions or words of some of the men also in this chamber that have made them, us, feel and comfortable. It is not good enough. You men must do better. In closing, Presiding Officer, gender-based violence is a public health issue. It is a women's rights issue. When we talk about tackling the inequality women face standing up for women's rights, we must include all women—trans women, disabled women, women of colour, poor women, old women, girls—only with an intersectional approach to tackling gender-based violence will we create a better world. I want to ask members in this chamber to think about three questions. Do you feel safe when you walk out of the Parliament building in the evening? Do you feel safe going out for a bite to eat on your own? Do you feel safe getting public transport home? For me and I can imagine most women in this chamber, the answer to those questions is no. A 2016 survey found that 35 per cent of women in Scotland do not feel safe in walking in their own neighbourhood. Sadly, there is good reason for that fear. Women face threats every day that men thankfully seldom need to worry about. At home, at work, on and out, the threat of sexual violence perpetrated by men is a clear and present danger. As the cabinet secretary highlighted, horrifically, one woman is murdered every three days in the UK. To put that figure in context, in one year in the UK, the same number of women will be killed as the total number of people murdered by terrorists in the UK this century. Compare the focus and funding that anti-terrorism receives, and rightly so, to the lack of emphasis placed on preventing violence against women. One in three women in the UK experience some form of physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. I have no reason to believe that the situation in Scotland will be much different. In my constituency, in the five years to 2019, the number of recorded sexual crimes has increased by 75 per cent to 258 incidents. Many constituents contacted me recently with complaints about spiking, and the initial police messaging was less than I had hoped for. I welcome the focus that Keith Brown, cabinet secretary for justice and veterans, has put on the issue and stated that we should be absolutely clear that women are not to blame. Any suggestion that women are in the wrong place at the wrong time is utterly wrong-headed. The onus and responsibility should be put squarely at the feet of men who must take responsibility for their own behaviour. It has been very good today to hear men in this chamber talk about changing our culture. Jim Fairley's contribution was excellent, as was Neil Gray's. As others have touched on, despite recent advances, the attitudes of men must change, and misogyny is deep-rooted. The Scottish Government continues to support front-line services, the aid survivors of violence, and which focus on prevention. The Scottish Government made a programme for government pledge to invest over £100 million to support front-line services and focus on the prevention of violence against women and girls from school onward over the next three years. That figure includes the enhanced delivery, equally-saved fund, which has been increased by £12 million to £38 million. However, it must be accepted that this is going to take many years to significantly change male attitudes. In the meantime, we need practical action. In gender, I highlight that women need to do safety work when navigating public space. Women change the way that they use public space, including public transport and streets, to manage safety risks and avoid men's violence. Violence and the threat of violence hold back economic growth in urban areas, limiting women's mobility, access to public space, access to education, economic, political and social opportunities, and the ability to move into higher-paid or more secure jobs. Open space and buildings are seldom, if ever, designed with the safety of women as an objective. The national planning for framework is currently open to public consultation, and this is an area where we could really make a difference. I would like to see a specific commitment to new design standards approached specifically from the point of view of preventing violence against women. In public transport, which women typically use more than men due to their lower social economic status, far more thought must be given to routes, staffing levels and improved connections to ensure that women are safe. Safe, inclusive and well-planned public spaces infrastructure, urban services and transport can reduce violence and harassment that women and girls face and increase access to economic opportunities. Modern Scotland should demand nothing less. This year's UN theme for the 16 days of activism, Orange the World, End Violence Against Women, now emphasises the urgency of the need to eradicate men's violence against women. We need to consider effective prevention and responses to tackling women's inequality with men across all areas of life, so let's start making these changes now. I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak in this debate on a subject that is, as we have seen today, an issue around which all parties can unite. I acknowledge many powerful and excellent speeches that we have heard this afternoon in the chamber. To this end, I will of course be supporting the Government's motion today. Every year this day marks the start of 16 days of activities against violence against women and girls. Indeed, we have already heard that it marks the 30th anniversary, but this year the focus for the campaign will be on strengthening the worldwide response to violence against women by advocating for strategies that we know are effective in attempting to stop it. It will of course lead to ensure that women and girls have the opportunity to participate in democracy around the world. Initiatives along the lines of ask her to stand campaign have a role to play in this promotion. However, it is clear that there is much more to be done to increase the number of women and girls in positions of power. The year's campaign also emphasises the impact that the pandemic has had on the worldwide problem. There are many risks associated with violence against women and girls, including poverty, isolation, which has been exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic. Social media has a role to play, and long online abuse has exacerbated and has become a massive problem. Sadly, UN women have already reported significant increases in violence against women and girls in countries such as Cameroon, Kenya and Thailand. A data on further developing countries will be available soon, and I fear that they will see a repeat of the pattern. The sad truth is that Scotland has not been immune from the effects of the pandemic with regard, and we know that Scotland's domestic abuse charges are now at a five-year high, with the average of 91 cases per day over the last year. Alarmingly, organisations such as Scottish Women's Aid and Rape Crisis Scotland have reported huge increases in demand for their front-line services since the start of the pandemic. To the end, I welcome the additional £5 million of funding that has been committed to supporting those front-line services, because, Deputy Presiding Officer, they are vitally important as many speakers have said today, and they are a lifeline to some individuals. To those organisations in my constituents in my region of Fife, Women's Aid and Kingdom Abuse Services projects have received funding, and they do tireless work to ensure that people are protected. However, as many of those organisations have told us, the effects of their pandemic will be felt for many years to come. Financial assistance inevitably will be needed in the future to support. We also know that there is a massive court backlog around 7,000 cases of domestic violence against women and girls, and also around 70 per cent of those who involve sexual violence. Some victims currently have to wait up to three years between reporting their abuse and seeing their abuser in court. Scottish Women's Aid has warned that women's confidence in the justice system risks because, at the length of time, they are losing confidence in the justice system. I hope that I am wrong, but I fear that I am right that that backlog will continue as we progress. Although the issue is a global one, and indeed a Scottish one, for me it is a personal one. As a three-year-old child, I witnessed the devastation and traumatic impact of violence subjected to my mother by my father, and that has never left me. She accepted this abuse for years and blamed herself before she had the courage to take her three small children out of that situation before she became a statistic and lost her own life. Many women do not have that courage to do that. They find it very hard to leave an abusive partner or an abusive relationship. Today, the devastating situation needs to be discussed in this Parliament, and we need to be debating it this afternoon. It is to this Parliament's credit that every year we have taken time to deal with this problem. Although I welcome the Parliament's debate this afternoon, it is disgraceful that we continue to have to debate this issue. Although the debate itself is important, it is positive action that is required to change people's attitudes. In this regard, the onus acts on all of us, all of us as politicians, all of us as men, all of us in society to tackle this issue. This is an issue that covers many aspects of society—culture, race and inequality. They all exist, and only through society acting as a whole can we finally eliminate the violence and ensure that women and girls can live without fear and trepidation wherever they are and whatever they are doing. In 2016, when an MP I spoke in the House of Commons about being raped at the age of 14, too little has changed. In the immediate aftermath, I received thousands of cards, letters and emails. Simultaneously, I received extensive abuse on social media almost always from men. After my speech, I made a complaint to Police Scotland that the perpetrator was identified and charged but not prosecuted due to the passage of time. It was never reported in the press. When making a police report was difficult, I learned why some facets of my adult character were as they were. When I described my very varied career to Police Scotland, they explained to me that my workaholic habits were entirely understandable. When someone like me starts running, they keep running. For many women, however, it is into the arms of an abusive partner, drugs or drink. The police also helped me to understand why my disclosure in such a public arena where I was being constantly scrutinised and briefed against was, in fact, a rational action, because it is common for women to disclose after significant life changing or shocking events such as the loss of a child or partner and often after years of silence and denial. Disclosure was me finally standing my ground. I was naked from the inside out and all I had was that small voice whispered hear me. I learned freezing rather than fighting or fleeing had become a learned behaviour. I understood how I'd repeated this freezing during other events. The victims' guilt and shame I carried is regrettably quite normal. The process was difficult for me and my families. We came to realise the extent to which I'd mass my pain. I went through a process of grieving for the innocent girl I had been and the uncluttered woman I might have become, but I refuse to have my voice shut down ever, ever again. Multiple studies help us to understand how trauma forges different neuropathways and how future life events can add trauma upon trauma, and that makes true recovery difficult. Women all around the world are raped, beaten, abused, subjected to genital mutilation, sold into slavery, prostituted. Data from the UN tells us that globally almost one in three women have been subjected to either violence from an intimate partner, generalise sexual violence or at least once in their life. Fewer than 40 per cent of the women who experience violence seek help of any sort such as the taboos of speaking out. Women and girls together account for 72 per cent of all human trafficking victims globally, with girls representing more than three out of every four child trafficked victims. Most face a life of sexual slavery. Sex-based violence is a major obstacle to universal schooling and the right to education for girls. We have seen that in Afghanistan recently. The Covid pandemic has not only enabled more crime against women, but it has also disproportionately affected them economically, thus placing them more at risk. The Me Too movement brought solidarity to women sharing common experiences about the use and abuse of power, but it has not brought change. Historically, our state systems were developed by men for men. Our law, our business practices, etc. are now being replicated by artificial intelligence algorithms, ironically embedding sexism further. The advances that women have made feel elusive. Women as a sex class are constantly under threat, and many feel that our hard-won rights are being challenged. The fact remains that countless other women, like myself, were attacked because of their sex. Sexist and misogynistic behaviour is common in politics, and we cannot pretend that our Scottish Parliament is immune. Scotland's line is rampant in one area—that of casual entitlement, despite huge efforts by Government and multiple agencies. However, sexual violence is not just confined to some. It affects lesbians, gay, straight people, trans people, women, children and men. However, the perpetrator is almost always a man. Good men—that majority of decent-loving, caring men—I know exist—have a critical role in helping to affect the changes that we so desperately need, whether casual sexism, a joke that the female target does not find amusing, or more blatant misogyny that tries to shut down women's voices. Society needs us all, including men, to shape the change that we so desperately need to see. Let us all commit to making that change. Today, we mark the 30th anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Despite some progress that has been made, it is clear that gender-based violence is still the lived reality for too many women across the world. We see that in the Covid-19 pandemic, in humanitarian crises, conflicts and climate disasters, all causing an increasing threat of violence to women and girls. I welcome the UN's Unite to End Violence Against Women campaign, and the 16 days of activism focus on preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls around the world. I welcome the Scottish Government's motion, which highlights the need for this Parliament to renew its shared ambition to tackle gender-based violence. However, there is clearly still more work to be done to make this a reality. Gender-based violence, whether it is domestic abuse, rape and sexual assault, stalking or harassment, remains deeply rooted in our society. Recent figures published in September found that there were over 33,000 charges of domestic abuse in Scotland last year. This was the highest number of charges reported since 2015 and represents almost a 10 per cent increase in one year. There were also over 1,000 stalking charges last year. However, those figures only represent instances of gender-based violence that were reported and where charges were brought. The truth is that too much of the gender-based violence suffered by women and girls in Scotland goes unreported. It is clear that there is more that we must do in Scotland and that there are policy changes that we could make now. We must teach our children and young people to respect each other's bodily autonomy. Girls should not be expected to internalise misogyny and boys should not grow up with a sense of entitlement over others. In our public services, we must look to increase awareness of gender-based violence among staff and strengthen training for them to support women and girls. We must address the concerns that women and girls have for their safety by carrying out safety audits of public spaces to ensure that they are well lit, welcoming and accessible, but we also have to acknowledge the role of the police in women's safety. Today's motion refers to the murder of Sarah Everard. Sarah Everard was not just murdered by a man, but a man who was a serving police officer. Women and girls are told to turn to the police in times of crisis, but Sarah Everard's murder has damaged trust in the police as an institution. Statistics show that Sarah's murderer is not an exception but a symptom of the institutional sexism that still exists within the police. At least 15 serving or former UK police officers have killed women since 2009. More than 40 police officers and staff in Police Scotland are being prosecuted over offences, including sex crime, assaults and domestic abuse. Rape Crisis Scotland published a damning report of the experiences of survivors of rape and sexual assault that exposed the systemic sexism that still exists in Police Scotland's ranks. That is why it was so concerning that Police Scotland's international development and innovation unit had been undertaking work with the Sri Lankan police, including on how to tackle gender-based violence. Given Police Scotland's poor record, how could anyone argue that this unit was best placed to be promoting good practice internationally? In spite of its supposed aims, the unit's activities in Sri Lanka had failed to change the attitudes and culture of gender-based violence, which is rife in the country. A Sri Lankan police spokesperson was recently quoted as confirming that the force would not take cases of intimate partner violence to court. It is no surprise that campaigners feared that Police Scotland's work was providing political cover and legitimacy to the human rights violations, including gender-based violence occurring in Sri Lanka. However, the chief constable has made a welcome announcement that there will be no further deployment of Police Scotland officers to Sri Lanka during the remainder of the agreed period, which ends in March 2022, and that Police Scotland will not seek to renew their engagement to support policing in Sri Lanka when the current period ends. This is a victory for campaigners, and I understand that they will be writing to the chief constable in the coming days to seek a written confirmation of this decision, and I hope that they are provided with one. Members should note that this U-turn comes in spite of the justice secretary's inaction. If the Scottish Government had wanted to demonstrate its willingness to take all steps necessary to tackle gender-based violence, the justice secretary should have supported the calls for Police Scotland's contract with Sri Lankan Police to be terminated and not renewed. There is no point in a justice secretary who does not stand up for human rights, yet that is exactly what we have in Keith Brown. I would like to conclude by acknowledging that all of us in this Parliament want to tackle gender-based violence, but it is all of our responsibility to push the Government to do more to help to achieve this. We must educate our children and young people if we are to address deep-rooted attitudes and behaviours. We must improve the support offered to women and girls by our public services, and we must make our public spaces safe for women and girls. It would be a mark of failure for all of us in this Parliament if those looking back on this time in another 30 years concluded that we said all the right things but failed to deliver the action needed to eliminate violence against women and girls. In closing for Scottish Labour, can I share the sentiment expressed here today and add to members' voices? Violence against women is not only, sadly, still a major concern in 2021, but it appears to be getting worse in Scotland and around the world. If anyone imagines that it is becoming a thing of the past, they are sorely mistaken. The cabinet secretary and Megan Galliford opened by raising the shocking statistics from the UK and around the world, and others across the chamber have emphasised that. That is a pandemic. We know that at least 126 women have been killed by men or a man in the principle suspect in their death in the UK this year. How can we look at those numbers and think that there is not a serious problem in our society with the way men view and cheat women? Whether it is domestic violence, sexual harassment or indeed rampant misogyny, women continue to be the target of far too many men's terrible behaviour and aggression. I agree with Maggie Chapman that if we cannot understand how serious that is today and address it at the root cause, then we do not deserve to be standing here. A big step towards that is exposing the parts of our society that apologise for and normalise the violence that was mentioned by Michelle Thompson, Pam Duncan Glancy, Pauline McNeill, Mercedes Valalba. Many of them are key parts of our establishment that seem to think that they are immune to the problem. There could not have been any greater example of the dangers women face across the UK than the terrible murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer who used his authority to subdue and kidnap her. In the wake of that event, naturally, women felt particularly vulnerable and angry yet at a peaceful vigil to remember Sarah and to protest the police's failings in London. Officers pinned down and arrested many of the protesters under Covid regulations. To even consider this as normal or a rational thing to do is evidence of a stone-age thinking by a supposed pillar of our society. This was done by the very service that is there to protect us in response to one of their own killing a young woman. Who has been held responsible for this? The Met Office commissioner continues to be imposed despite the events that I have just mentioned, while some of the women at the protest were actually made out to be criminals. How am I supposed to tell young people in my region or indeed my own daughter that this is a safe country for women when that is the headline news and this is the response? Something needs to change and it needs to change quickly. Often the institutional responses to what I and many other women are regularly saying is minimal to say the least. We have heard from others that rape crisis Scotland have recently highlighted how Police Scotland's response to rape allegations are riddled with poor communications, outdated attitudes, lengthy, unclear proceedings that leave survivors feeling isolated and anxious. Is it any wonder then that so many women, so few women, come forward and report these crimes? As mentioned during the debate, another issue that is all part of the same problem is the fact that women are now feeling that they have to boycott clubs and bars up and down the country in response to serious concerns about increases in drink spiking. For years, they have only really been met with PR campaigns and awareness approaches and responses, but how many people are actually being convicted of spiking drinks or similar activities in Scotland are charged known as drugging. While over the past three years where there is data available, the answer is no one. So either all of these women are making this up or this crime is not being detected at all. I wonder if that many men were saying they had fallen victim to spiking, whether the statistics would be the same. Each and every women who is the victim of the violence must be treated equally and fairly by an establishment that actually understands or at least seeks to begin to understand what they have gone through. That begins with accepting that this is a serious problem that we do not have under control and it means direct engagement with grassroots organisations, health and recovery charities, and rightly raised by Pam Gosw, right across and sensitive to all our communities. For institutions like the police to actually open their eyes and their ears to what is going on. Finally, I thank Jim Fairlie for his comments about men joining in in this debate. I thank Neil Gray, Jim Fairlie and Alex Stewart for their contributions. Excellent and thoroughly worthwhile we need to hear them. The sorts of attitudes that we are exposing young men to, which encourage a culture of entitlement instead of one of respect, is one that we need to deal with. A point raised by the cabinet secretary, if we can approach this problem as both a criminal issue and a societal issue, which is absolutely mixed in with the way some men think that it is acceptable to behave, we can begin to tackle it. Until then, it will just be more peer stunts and not enough serious change. Can I finish by saying and just repeating what Pauline McNeill said, if we want to change this, we need to be brave. All of us need to be brave. I now call on Tess White to close for around seven minutes. We have heard some powerful speeches today. Each year, as we mark the international day for the elimination of violence against women, we agree together that more must be done to create an equally safe society in Scotland and around the world. But progress to protect the physical, sexual and psychological safety of women and girls has been painfully slow. We have been reminded today that the number of domestic abuse charges is at a five-year high. Sexual crimes are still at near record levels. Today, Mercedes Villalba highlighted the number of stalking charges. The increased reporting of these crimes is, of course, welcome, but it demonstrates how pervasive they are. Just this week, author J.K. Rowling posted on social media that she has now received so many death threats that she could paper the house with them. Dr Marcia Scott, chief executive of Scottish Women's Aid, told the Criminal Justice Committee earlier this year that, if you are asking me what outcomes we have seen for women and girls since the first strategy or, indeed, since the equally safe strategy, my response is sadly that we have seen very few. The reality, Presiding Officer, is that women feel their safety is under siege. In March this year, Sarah Everard did everything she could to protect herself as she walked home. She walked through well-lit streets. She wore bright clothes and running shoes. She texted her boyfriend to let him know she was leaving. Sabina Nessa had been walking to a pub less than 10 minutes from where she lived. The Cabinet Secretary highlighted those women who have lost their lives this year for violence, including Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa. For hundreds of thousands of women across the UK, it all feels far too familiar. Women with their extraordinary strength, tenacity and resilience are not victims far from it, but too often we are victimised. Somehow a narrative of victim blaming has become entrenched. That we bring this on ourselves by the way that we dress and act. Women must modify their behaviour, they say, not the perpetrators. It simply shouldn't be like this. Women shouldn't have to be fearful as they go about their everyday lives, but they are. They have every right to be angry, and it gets worse, not better. Evelyn Tweed, Megan Gallagher and Beatrice Wishart highlighted the serious issue of spiking, which has once again come to light in recent weeks, including in my own region in the north-east. Women are covering their glasses on a night out, they are wearing thick fabrics to stop a needle penetrating through, or they are choosing to stay at home. For some women, home doesn't always offer the safety and sanctuary that it should. Alexander Stewart described the traumatic experience of watching his mother being abused when he was a young boy. His experience is a painful reminder that violence perpetrated against women has many victims and that its legacy endures over many years. The Cabinet Secretary already mentioned the UK-wide Femicide Census, but its findings should be repeated and repeated again. Home is often the least safe place for women. Between 2009 and 2018, 888 women were killed in the UK by their current or ex-spouse or intimate partner. 62% of the total number murdered over the 10-year period. As we have heard today, most commonly women were killed at home. The Covid-19 pandemic has only made this worse. We know, too, that during the pandemic, specialist BME organisations in Scotland have observed significant decreases in referrals for BME women experiencing extended family abuse and enforced servitude. Those women could not make contact with such services because of stricter controls and their freedoms, with family members much more likely to be at home. There are also concerns that the pandemic has prevented women from reporting cases of FGM and from seeking medical help. Pam Gossel and Alexander Stewart and others have stressed the importance of the lifeline support of services for women. Pam Duncan Glancy highlighted that violence against women is woven into the structure of our society and emphasised that disabled women are twice as likely as non-disabled women to experience men's violence. Jim Fairlie highlighted male dominance and male entitlement. Eleanor Whitham, drawing on her extensive experience, emphasised the problems faced by abused women in accessing informal support networks. She raised serious concerns about the dangerous portrayal of sex in pornography. Maggie Chapman raised the issue of harassment and the fact that women are not protected from misogynistic violence. Violence against women, she said, is a women's rights issue. Neil Gray outlined that men need to modify their behaviour. Presiding Officer, in closing, I am pleased that there is consensus in the chamber today to quote Pauline McNeill, the list goes on of male power and abuse. Michelle Thomson showed courage today in sharing abuse in a very powerful speech. The Scottish Conservatives have pushed for the introduction of whole-life sentences in Scotland, the same sentence that Sarah Everard's killer Wayne Cusins was handed several weeks ago in England, but all other parties have resisted it. Today, Douglas Ross highlighted the lack of progress with Michelle's law and the importance of victims being forewarned that an offender in their case is going to be released. Presiding Officer, MSPs are in agreement today that the safety of women is in a precarious position. Women are looking to us in the Scottish Parliament to represent them and to advocate for them. Finally, I very sincerely hope that, over the next 12 months, and now with a Parliament of 45 per cent women, we will find a way to rise to the challenge. Thank you very much, Ms White. I now call on the minister to wind up the debate. Can you take us to decision time? First of all, I want to thank all colleagues who have given such remarkably thoughtful, moving, courageous and emotive contributions this afternoon. Summing the debate up is very challenging because of the sheer power of what has already been said. Before I go on to refer to what others have brought up during this important debate, I also want to give some thoughts of my own. I also want to mention one person who is absent, and that is my colleague Christina McKelvie, the Minister for Equality and Older People, who has been a mainstay of the debate, tackling its subject and has also been a driving force of the progress that we have made in addressing its blight on Scotland. We wish her well in her recovery and look forward to welcome her back from her medical leave. As we have heard during the debate, violence against women and girls is a blight on our country as well as globally. Today, we remember all the victims and we reaffirm our collective determination to do more to tackle violence against women and girls in all its forms. Part of that is about legislation. One of the most important things that we did in the last parliamentary term was passed the Domestic Abuse Act 2018, giving greater police powers to tackle this insidious crime. We also passed the Domestic Abuse Protection Scotland Act 2021, and when it comes into effect, it will provide new powers for the police and courts to make emergency orders designed to protect people who are at risk of domestic abuse from someone they are living with. The independent working group, chaired by Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, to specifically look at misogyny in Scotland and explore whether there should be a stand-alone offence to tackle misogynistic behaviour, continues its work. I appreciate a number of members, in particular Megan Gallacher, who raised points around the criminal justice system. I am sure that my colleagues Keith Brown and Ash Denham will explore those in more detail next weekend in the debate that we have then. Others have also talked about and absolutely rightly emphasised their thanks and praise for all the organisations working to tackle and prevent violence against women and girls and support victims, particularly moving contribution from Elena Whitham. The Scottish Government absolutely recognises that. Over the past 18 months, we have invested an additional £10 million to allow rapid redesign of services and address backlogs, supporting organisations such as Scottish Women's Aid and Crisis Scotland and Zero Tolerance. Pam Gosol made important points around the specific organisations working in minority communities. I know that from my experience as a constituency MSP with Six on Joke and Shack to Women's Aid and Sahilia to name but a few. As part of our £100 million investment, which is a three-year commitment to tackling violence against women and girls, we have also created a new delivery and equally safe fund, which is about £19 million each year until 2023. I have recently confirmed allocations to 121 projects from 112 organisations working to provide key services and prevent gender-based violence. The longer funding commitments that Beatrice Wishart talked about will be considered as part of the front-line services review that the cabinet secretary talked about. One of the most significant points raised today was about how we change culture. I spoke earlier about how we miss Christina McKelvie today, but in her absence, I feel privileged to have the chance to speak in this debate because, as colleagues Jim Fairlie, Neil Gray, Alexander Stewart and others in the debate emphasised, that men need to speak up and act. Of course, the fault and cause of violence against women and girls lies with men. Although some men, the perpetrators, are more to blame, all of us, all men, are responsible. Collectively, we are responsible for the society that we live in and the underlying prejudices, sexism and misogynistic societal attitudes that are still far too prevalent. Because it is only by prioritising prevention can there be an end to violence against women and girls? As the motion states, gender-based violence, which includes but is not limited to domestic abuse, rape, harassment and sexual violence, is a function of gender inequality and an abuse of male power and privilege. Gender-based violence is a manifestation of toxic masculinity, the commodification of women, porn culture and an immoral set of attitudes of sexual entitlement that are still held by too many men in our society and around the world. It is men who have created the injustice and imbalance in our society today, and so men have an ethical and urgent necessity and responsibility to lead the change that we need to see with solidarity, empathy and in partnership to bring about the better society that we need to create. That needs to be across the generations. I also want to pay tribute to my predecessor Malcolm Chisholm, who has been and continues to be a strong voice on the issue. What is clear is that, men and I, the problem is ours, all of ours, younger and older friends and partners, brothers, fathers and grandfathers, because to address the problem in the way that we need to, the change required needs to be societal, behavioural, cultural and systematic. To effectively and comprehensively tackle gender-based violence, society must challenge and alter the still too prevalent and outdated gender stereotypes and social attitudes towards women and girls that enable it to continue. Men, we need to look in the mirror and to do so critically, as Maggie Chapman rightly emphasised, and to ask how we do better, individually and collectively. We need to stand up more often to what we hear and see other men say and do, as Jim Fairlie emphasised, and to do so with courage and conviction to change minds, challenge behaviour, champion equality and call-out misogyny. As men, we must do better at challenging and criticising ourselves and each other and to do so not just in person but also online. This is important and was rightly emphasised during the debate. Women and girls should not have to modify their everyday behaviour in order to be safe. Men, the onus is on us to modify our collective behaviour and to do so in a way that is more sensitive about the situation that women around us face day in, day out. As a recent Police Scotland campaign highlights, we have to not be that guy, not be that guy who is sexist, not be that guy who is abusive, not be that guy who is misogynistic, not be that guy who harasses women and girls, but also not be that guy who ignores this. That is why today I have signed the white ribbon pledge and encourage other men to do so too, because we can and should do more proactively. Men, guys today and over the next 16 days and beyond, let us be that guy who does more to tackle and prevent violence against women and girls. Let us be that guy who calls out our mates when you hear or see sexism, misogyny, abuse or harassment. Let us be that guy who modifies our behaviour to make women feel safer. Let us be that guy who is part of the change in culture that we need and be that guy who makes a positive difference in our circles of influence and in everyday life. As a Parliament, as one, today we mark the international day for the elimination of violence against women and girls, which is beginning the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. We are united in condemnation of violence against women and girls in all its forms in Scotland and around the world, and we speak with one voice. We reaffirm our commitment to continue to work collaboratively to eradicate gender-based violence. What is more, we call on all of Scotland to do the same, so that together we eradicate violence against women and girls across our country, in communities and workplaces, in bars and nightclubs, in homes and in the streets and online, and in all the places where sexism, harassment, misogyny and abuse are still far too prevalent. As others have said, in a remarkable debate full of really moving speeches, we must and will do more, and I urge Parliament to support the motion in that sense of solidarity. That concludes the debate on international day for the elimination of violence against women. It is now time to move on to the next item of business, which is decision time, and there is only one question to be put as a result of today's business. The question is that motion 2287, in the name of Shona Robison, on international day for the elimination of violence against women, be agreed. Are we all agreed? The motion is agreed. That concludes decision time, and I close this meeting of Parliament.