Seòmar agus comataidhean

I mean in terms of initially coming forward and reporting.

This question is for Marsha Scott. I am interested in the approach of front-line services to advising survivors on access to justice. My personal experience is that, often, organisations have to give the advice that people need to be careful about coming forward because of how common further traumatic experience is. The alternative seems to be feeling as though you are using survivors as battering rams against barriers in justice. Where does the balance need to be in terms of funding one-to-one support services and funding projects that are aimed at prevention or evidence gathering for policy changes? What needs to change in order for specialist services to feel more confident when their service users want to take the legal route?

I will do them one after the other.

I will direct this first question to Mariam Ahmed. We heard a lot from the previous panel about intersectionality in relation to BAME women and disabled women being more at risk, and we know that parents and transgender males are more likely to experience sexual assault. How important is intersectionality as a consideration in addressing misogyny and sexual crimes? How closely linked are misogyny and other prejudices?

Yes, thank you so much, Mariam. That was great.

I will move on to prevention now, and this question is aimed at Carolyn Fox MacKay. I notice in the Girlguiding Scotland written response that

“37 per cent of girls aged 13-25 said that they knew another girl their age who had experienced rape or sexual assault.”

To me, that is already unacceptably high, but it still seems low given how large we know the issue to be. Whether knowingly or not, everyone probably knows someone who has experienced rape or sexual assault. Do you feel that lack of awareness of what constitutes sexual assault or what constitutes consent, as well as unwillingness to call rape and sexual assault what they, is suppressing that figure and playing a part in making the number seem smaller, particularly for those of a young age who are pressured to engage in sexual relationships? How important for prevention work is it to overcome that suppression?

I have one more question, which is for Hassan Darasi. In the previous session, we spoke a lot about the effects of NRPF on women in particular. Are other groups of people, in particular those who share protected characteristics, disproportionately impacted by the policy?

Good morning, everyone. My question is for Lidia Dancu; it is an extension of what she said earlier.

We know that migrant women are much more likely to be subject to domestic abuse, yet the NRPF policy prevents them from accessing support services. Given the high levels of destitution among those women, do you agree that supporting them needs to be the priority in ending destitution? In your view, who is best placed to provide that support? When someone has NRPF status, does that make them even more vulnerable to further abuse?

This question is for Phil Arnold, and it follows on from the questions asked by Pam Duncan-Glancy earlier. On the distribution of the crisis grant, have you learned any lessons that might be helpful to the Scottish Government or to local authorities when considering any future changes to the likes of the welfare fund in providing support for refugees and asylum seekers?

This question is for Alistair Dinnie. How does the Scottish Government’s approach in the new Scots refugee integration strategy differ from the UK’s approach towards asylum seekers and refugees?

I will group the questions that I was going to ask later for the sake of time. I am not sure whether Calum Maciver is here, but if not, I will ask Susan Aitken. The Scottish Government guidance makes it clear that people seeking asylum can and should be entered on to social landlords’ lists if they apply for social housing, even though they are not entitled to the housing until they are granted refugee status. Is there anything more that can be done to encourage people to get on the list early and to widen social landlord awareness of that guidance?