Seòmar agus comataidhean

Good morning, ladies. It is good to see you back. Thank you for all the information that you have provided so far.

The mapping exercise on access to justice found that only 38 human rights services offer legal representation, out of 262 services. As you have probably heard, the committee has taken evidence that indicates that people in rural areas are even more disadvantaged than people in urban areas, as access to justice is even more restricted.

We heard an example of a woman in the Highlands who had contacted a solicitor 116 times about her divorce case. That is not an isolated case; some women have contacted between 30 and 60 firms to try to get a legal aid lawyer—sometimes successfully, but sometimes unsuccessfully.

As you know, it takes a lot for a woman to come forward, especially when they have been domestically abused and are at their most vulnerable. For them to not have access to justice just puts them behind and makes them ask, “Why am I doing this? Why come forward when there is no service to help me?” What steps should be taken to improve access to justice, especially in rural areas?

Just overall, on the services we are talking about, basically, and joint working more—

Thank you, Jan. If I may, convener, I will just come back on that. It is good to see that you have put forward some good, robust recommendations. You talk about holding the Scottish Government to account, and you have said that you certainly hope that it will implement the approach. However, I feel that, from what I have seen as a member of the committee and from the evidence that we have taken over the past couple of years when I have been talking about these issues, nothing has changed—and, unfortunately, people on the ground in rural areas are feeling that even more.

Obviously, you will keep bringing the situation up with the Government. Is there anything else that you could do to push the Government to make sure that it is implementing and delivering?

Thank you for that. I asked a question last week about joint working, which you have just mentioned, especially in relation to housing and access to GPs. Nothing works in a silo. Actually, to be honest, some things do work in silos, but we want services to take a joined-up approach. When we are dealing with a domestic abuse case, silo working is of no use if we need to take the survivor away from the perpetrator, given that they may require housing and, right now, as you know, there are housing shortages in many rural areas.

Services cannot work without one another. I want to hear a little bit more about joined-up working. I have said to the Minister for Equalities, Kaukab Stewart quite a few times that we need to start right at the top. It is about budgeting—making sure that the Scottish Government is setting the right budgets—but also ensuring that departments speak to one another. The majority of the time, that does not happen—we have seen evidence of that. Budgets are created for different areas and departments, and they are maybe not speaking to one another. On the ground, as you can see, that becomes a broken-up approach.

We have spoken about how people who are experiencing domestic abuse may not get a house, and there are issues with people not getting GP appointments and difficulties with transport links. I just want to hear a little bit more from the commission about how important it is that the Scottish Government implements a joined-up approach to its work, from those at the top down to those on the ground.

It is just to correct the record, convener. I am not sure whether I made it clear that the woman in the Highlands actually contacted 116 different lawyers. I may have phrased it that she contacted someone 116 times, so I wanted to correct the record. She contacted 116 different lawyers.

Thank you, convener, and good morning to the committee, minister and officials.

I thank the committee for considering amendment 3, which is particularly important as we mark the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. My amendment would give ministers the power to require the Scottish Funding Council to place conditions on anybody receiving funding for post-school education and skills training to ensure that they take meaningful steps towards addressing gender-based violence against staff and students.

In turn, the body in question must report on an annual basis to the Funding Council on the actions that it has taken to prevent and intervene in gender-based violence, and to provide support to individuals who are experiencing or have experienced it, as well as the outcomes of those actions.

I am happy not to move my amendment, and I will take up the offer to work with the minister ahead of stage 3. I also thank the minister for recognising all the great work that EmilyTest has done.

Amendment 3 not moved.

Amendment 51 not moved.

Amendment 52 moved—[Maggie Chapman].

Right now, there is no uniformity across colleges. I will speak further about why I lodged amendment 3. A tragedy happened, and many tragedies are continuing to happen. It is important for the committee to hear that the situation is not uniform. I know that personally, because I have been working on this stuff outside the Parliament by speaking to colleges and universities about that sort of training and awareness.

While drafting the amendment, I engaged with Fiona Drouet from EmilyTest. Almost 10 years ago, Fiona’s daughter Emily took her own life after suffering abuse from a partner who lived in the same halls as her at the University of Aberdeen. Had the university staff received adequate training in identifying such abusive behaviour, Emily might still be with us today.

We know that one in four female students report unwanted sexual behaviour during their studies, with one in five experiencing sexual harassment during their first week of term. Those are shocking figures. That is why it is so important that anybody who receives funding not only delivers education and training but ensures the safety and wellbeing of those who rely on their services.

I have raised many times in this committee the example of the Highland woman who had to contact 116 legal aid lawyers regarding her divorce case. If that was not bad enough, last week we heard shocking evidence from Dr Luis Yanes from the Scottish Human Rights Commission and from Alan Webb from Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway, who painted an even bleaker picture. I was shocked by examples of abused women having to travel for hours to access support, even on ferries and sometimes wearing the same clothes as they were wearing when abused.

The full extent is not known as many survivors do not feel comfortable coming forward due to a lack of support mechanisms. The fact that women’s aid organisations are underfunded does not help either.

Minister, can you imagine what these women are facing? How will the Scottish Government ensure that people, especially women, in rural areas have access to support and advice when they need it?

Thank you, minister. Once again, I hope that, when we come back after May 2026, we can look back and see what the differences are, because the issue is so important. I have spoken to so many women and heard their shocking stories, especially in rural areas, and they really need help. I am happy to hear that you are doing so much, but now it is a matter of seeing what happens when that is put into practice. A year later, what are the actions, where are we going and have they helped? Thank you so much.