Violence Against Women

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at 10:53 am on 23 December 2010.

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Photo of Alex Neil Alex Neil Scottish National Party 10:53, 23 December 2010

I would never do such a thing. Seriously, if the Treasury was more flexible, the Scottish Government would wish to do more to help with funding for women with no recourse to public funding. We will continue to talk to our colleagues at Westminster about that.

We are working on the Forced Marriage etc (Protection and Jurisdiction) (Scotland) Bill, which, if passed, will also mark another advance on the issue.

In my opening speech, I paid tribute to the pioneering work of Strathclyde Police on its GPS project, although Johann Lamont made the point that it is a tragedy that we need such a system in the 21st century. Margaret Mitchell also mentioned the pioneering work that Strathclyde Police has been doing in the run up to, during and immediately after old firm games. It is worth pointing out that, since that work was started almost two years ago, the incidence of domestic abuse around old firm games has been reduced by about 30 per cent. That shows that a proactive approach by the police to prevention and to dealing with the problem can be effective.

As I have nearly run out of time—although I have much more to say—let me say finally that not only are we united in this chamber about the unacceptability of violence against women but there is a great deal of agreement on how we should move forward to do more to tackle the problem.