The following motion has been put to the Scottish Parliament by Carolyn Leckie MSP.
Date of Lodging: 13 December 2006
Short Title: Make Women Safe - Stop Male Violence
S2M-05317 Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): That the Parliament
is deeply concerned by the discovery of five women’s bodies in the Ipswich area and offers its condolences to the friends and families of the murdered women, Tania Nicol, Gemma Adams, Anneli Alderton and of Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls who are currently missing, noting that all are, first and foremost, women, daughters, sisters, mothers and friends who may have been murdered by a predator who has preyed on their vulnerability as women abused through prostitution; is appalled that violence against women is endemic in our society and manifested most brutally in such murders; recognises that in Scotland many murders of women remain unsolved and believes that society and all agencies must take responsibility for bringing the perpetrators to justice and making women safe from male violence against them; believes that society, government and all agencies must work towards the eradication of abuse of women through prostitution and the harm it causes; believes that protection for women must be increased in the short term and that vulnerable women, many of whom are addicted to drugs, must be given the support and services needed within the NHS including, importantly, prescribed medications such as the Diamorphine substitute for heroin, in order to remove their need to raise money through prostitution and to ensure their safety; expresses concern about some public and media statements that place the responsibility on women to avoid being murdered rather than on those men who perpetrate the violence; believes that telling women to be safe when they have little control over poverty, drug and alcohol addictions and mental health issues is an abdication of responsibility; further believes that there should be an amnesty for all women involved in prostitution so that they can seek and access services free from fear and that there should be a zero tolerance approach to the men who buy the use of women’s orifices and who are violent to women and that the emphasis of the discourse on these issues must switch to the swift identification of men who present a risk to women rather than on the lifestyles of women; calls on women and men throughout the country to unite against men’s violence against women, and calls on government to ensure that all agencies and services have adequate resources to make and keep women safe, believing that women should have the right to go about their lives free from fear.
