Violence Against Women

Like other members, I am pleased to support the 16 days of activism against gender violence campaign and to pledge my continuing support for the elimination of violence against women. Women and children have the right to live free from the threat of violence.

We have an annual debate on the issue, and I am sure that we all agree that it would be great if it were not necessary to do so, but sadly, as Bill Aitken said, that day is still a long way off. The fact that levels of violence against women in Scotland are still extremely high ought to be, and is, a matter of grave concern to us all. As others have noted, the recording of 53,000 incidents of domestic abuse in 2008-09 represented an 8 per cent increase on the figure for the previous year. Each of those cases represents a human life in turmoil. The huge number of incidents is even more concerning given that, in many cases, domestic abuse is not reported to the police. Liberal Democrats have consistently called for the adoption of a zero tolerance approach. It must be made crystal clear that there is never any excuse for domestic abuse.

Ministers must tackle underlying factors that contribute to domestic abuse, notably drug and alcohol misuse but, fundamentally, there needs to be a culture change if we are to stamp out the problem once and for all. Repeat victimisation has been mentioned, and I agree that the number of such incidents is extremely concerning. We must give further consideration to how repeat offenders in particular are dealt with-the damage that is caused to partners and to the welfare of children demands no less. The domestic abuse task force that was established recently by Strathclyde Police has been referred to. That task force actively targets the most persistent offenders to protect those who are at high risk of serious violence and ultimately to reduce incidents of domestic homicide.

Progress has been made, but much more needs to be done. Violence against women continues to be a major social problem and a real challenge to all the agencies and individuals involved in prevention, protection and supporting. I acknowledge the contribution that voluntary sector groups, particularly Scottish Women's Aid, Engender and Rape Crisis Scotland, have made in driving policy change and in practical support.

"Safer Lives: Changed Lives" rightly acknowledges that the solution lies in health services, local councils, the police, the voluntary sector and the justice authorities taking a shared approach. However, that document is not an action plan, and fine words alone will not effect the change that is needed. Having a shared understanding and taking a shared approach need to be kept at the forefront of everyone's minds every day, not just once a year, and they must be reflected in budget decisions and underpinned by safeguarded funding.

"Safer Lives: Changed Lives" identifies three priorities that I agree should be the three priorities: prevention, protection and provision. I will spend a little time on those.

Prevention is surely the hardest priority, as it involves changing culture. Many members have said that. It is appalling that one in two boys and one in three girls believes that there are some circumstances in which it is okay to hit a woman or to force her to have sex. It is clear that investment is needed in work that tackles root causes and creates an understanding of women's inequality as a cause and a consequence of violence against women.

On protection, Scotland's rape conviction rate of just 3.7 per cent is one of the lowest rape conviction rates in the world and the lowest in Europe. In August, the Liberal Democrats revealed that less than 10 per cent of rape cases went to court in 2007-08. It is obvious that much more needs to be done to improve the prosecution levels in rape cases in Scotland. It is not the place of politicians to interfere with the legal process, which must, of course, continue to allow people who have been accused of rape to have a fair trial, but the Government must ensure that victims of rapes can be confident that their case will be taken seriously, that they will be treated with sympathy, and that everything possible will be done to bring justified and provable cases to court.

The domestic abuse court in Glasgow has been successful in delivering faster and more effective justice, more convictions and better support for victims; the Liberal Democrats-particularly my colleague Robert Brown-have been vociferous in our support for that kind of specialist court. We were therefore disappointed when the Scottish Government did not rethink its decision not to roll out domestic abuse courts beyond the court in Glasgow. We are pleased to see the amendment in Bill Aitken's name. If specialist courts are available throughout Scotland and are seen to be dealing effectively with domestic abuse, more people will come forward to report incidents of abuse. That would mean that more victims would get more help.

On provision, I was going to refer to the Scottish Women's Aid census on 24 September, but Cathy Peattie mentioned the figures in that. Of those figures, I was most concerned about the 47 women who requested refuge, the 12 women who were denied access to a refuge due to lack of space, and the five children who were turned away due to lack of space. Those figures are chilling. Some of those women had to return to their abusive partners.

It has been said that violence can have far-reaching and long-lasting effects. It can result in physical and psychological damage, isolation, low self-esteem and even economic losses as a result of people losing their jobs. Much more needs to be done to provide victims with practical help, emotional support and information to help them to escape from violence and recover from the experience of being a victim of violence.

With the squeeze on public sector funding, we must redouble our efforts to ensure that targeted funding is available for such critical work. Significant pressures are being put on the voluntary sector as a result of the local government concordat and single outcome agreements, as well as by local authorities' tight financial settlements. The situation is compounded by the effect of the recession on charity revenue and business investment. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations has described the current combination of effects as "a perfect storm". We should all be concerned by that.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission's map of gaps campaign highlighted the postcode lottery that exists in the United Kingdom in respect of support services for women who are the victims of violence. In Scotland, which has a female population of around 2.6 million, there are only 45 domestic violence services, 13 rape crisis centres and one sexual assault referral centre. Ring fencing funding is not always a solution, but the removal of ring-fenced funding for those services has been detrimental. Therefore, I welcome the significant counting the cost research that the Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland has commissioned. Local authorities' funding and organisational decisions will be analysed. I hope that the Government will heed the findings when that research is published in the spring.