Minutes of Meeting 12 March 2014 (212KB pdf)

Cross Party Working Group on Men’s Violence Against Women & Children
Draft and unapproved Minute of AGM and meeting of 12th March 2014
12th March 2014; 17.30 – 19.00, Committee Room 4, Scottish Parliament.
Present/Apologies:
Attending
Claudia Beamish MSP- Joint Chair
Malcolm Chisholm MSP-Joint Chair
Rhoda Grant MSP
Alison Johnstone MSP
Sandie Barton- Rape Crisis Scotland
Megan Bastick- WILPF
Jonathan Hancock -Children 1st
Callum Hendry -White Ribbon Scotland
Louise Johnson- Scottish Women’s Aid ( Minutes)
estne - Researcher for Rhoda Grant and David Stewart, Scottish
Parliament
Anke Kossurok- University of Edinburgh
Gill Lawrence -Edinburgh East Neighbourhood Children & Families Practice
Team
Cath Logan- Big Lottery Fund
Rory MacRae -Safer Families Edinburgh
Stephen Madill -Safer Families Edinburgh
Juliet Matipano - West Lothian Council
Mhairi McGowan -ASSIST
Graeme Richards -Circle Scotland
Emma Ritch- Engender
Dave Smith- Parliamentary Researcher for John Pentland MSP
Kirsten Smith -Zero Tolerance
Annie Taylor -Children 1st
Davy Thompson- White Ribbon Scotland
Katarzyna Zalewska -Respekt
Kenny MacAskill MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Justice
Lesley Cunningham- Scottish Government
Eileen Flannigan- Scottish Government
Lesley Irving- Scottish Government
Apologies
Christina McIlvie MSP
Jamie McGrigor MSP
Asia Bartsch- City of Edinburgh Council Working With Men
Catriona Grant- City of Edinburgh Council
Lily Greenan- Scottish Women’s Aid
Isy Hart
Ann Hayne- NHS Lanarkshire
Nadine Jasset- Scottish Women’s Aid
Jenny Kemp- Zero Tolerance
Nancy Lombard- Glasgow Caledonian University
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Marsha Scott- West Lothian Council
Linda Thompson -Women’s Suppo t P oject
Maureen Wylie -Improvement Service
1. AGM and Election of Office Bearers
Approval of Minutes of AGM of 20th March 2013.
These were presented and approved- proposed by Rhoda Grant MSP and
seconded by Claudia Beamish MSP
Election of Office Bearers
The current Co-Convenors, Malcolm Chisholm MSP and Christina McKelvie
MSP were proposed and re-elected- proposed by Louise Johnson and
seconded by Mhairi McGowan. No alternative candidates are put forward.
The current Vice Convenors, Claudia Beamish MSP and Jamie McGrigor MSP
were proposed and re-elected. No alternative candidates are put forward.
Louise Johnson (Scottish Women’s Aid) was elected as Secretary.
2. Minutes of the last meeting and matters arising
Action:
The minutes of the last meeting of 4th December 2013 were read and
approved- proposed by Alison Johnstone MSP and seconded by Claudia
Beamish MSP
Following discussion on the Uni e sity of Sti ling “L d Cultu e” it w s g eed
that a letter should go to both the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong LG & MC
Learning, Mike Russell MSP and the Cabinet Secretary for Commonwealth
Games, Sport, Equalities and Pensioners' Rights, Shona Robison MSP, drafted
by Lily Greenan and signed by Malcolm Chisholm. This action is to be carried
forward.
The meeting of 4th December had discussed the LCM on Forced Marriage.
Louise Johnson gave an update on the new criminal offence of forced marriage
cont ined within Westminste ’s Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act
2014 and that implementation of this in Scotland would be raised with the
Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Scottish Government Civil Servants when
they attended the meeting later in the proceedings.
The meeting of 4th December agreed that Marsha Scott, Lily Greenan,
Christina McKelvie MSP and Malcolm Chisholm MSP are to meet to discuss
CPG attendance and how to reinvigorate. This action is to be carried forward.
MS, LG, CM
& MC
An outstanding action from the December minutes is the joint presentation from
HMP Addiewell and White Ribbon regarding working with men in prisons.
Alison Johnstone MSP and Malcolm Chisholm MSP both left the meeting at
6.30pm and Claudia Beamish MSP took over as Chair. Dave Smith also joined
the meeting.
3. Discussion with Kenny MacAskill MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Justice,
and Civil Servants from the Scottish Government’ s VAW Team on the
Scottish Government response to VAW
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Kenny MacAskill MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Justice also joined the meeting
along with Lesley Cunningham, Eileen Flannigan and Lesley Irving from the
Scottish Government’s Gender LGBT Equality & Violence Against Women
Team.
The Cabinet Secretary took questions on a variety of subjects related to the
Scottish Go e nment’s policy on VAW, and responded as follows: VAW Strategy
Shona Robison MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Commonwealth Games, Sport,
qu lities nd Pensione s’ Rights is leading on the VAW Strategy. A crossgovernment approach has been adopted since the Strategy covers areas such
as health, education, culture, etc., as well as justice and the paper builds upon
work on VAW carried out by the current SGov and previous administration.
50% of rapes in Glasgow and Dumfries and Galloway are domestic abuserelated. This is not a cultural phenomenon but a result of attitudes which need
to be changed in relation to domestic abuse to emphasise that this is not an
issue of “couples guing” but p emedit ted ction.
 Implementation of the Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2014
The timetable for implementation of the provisions relating to automatic
entitlement to use of special measures + right to choose gender of police
interviewer is still under discussion. This will be done as soon as possible and
third sector stakeholders and Police Scotland will be consulted. Similar
discussions are underway in relation to the duty on justice agencies to set clear
standards
The dminist tion of the Victims’ Su ch ge p o isions will be gi en to Victim
Support Scotland who will also be responsible for developing the process. This
funding will be available to victims of crime who have an urgent need ( e.g. to
change locks or clean up a domestic crime scene) and it is envisaged that the
application and payment process should be swift and uncomplicated, subject
to a set criteria of need and financial thresholds.
On the right of victims to obtain case-related information, COPFS had already
been doing this to a certain extent but the process was not always successful.
The various prescribed bodies will be responsible for rolling out the scheme for
their particular sector and will be expected to work with stakeholders in this
process.
 Court Reform (Scotland) Bill
Important that the court system is fit for purpose and cases are heard at the
appropriate court level. The Cabinet Secretary commented that the introduction
of Summary Sheriffs is not an exercise in downgrading cases but is intended to
bring in expertise and reflect the evolving role of the judiciary and the advent of
a younger generation onto the bench and in which the Judicial Institute of
Scotland will play an important role in ensuring the new judiciary receive
appropriate training.
 Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill
The Cabinet Secretary discussed the proposals relating to the removal of the
requirement for corroboration, and Lo d Bonomy’s Re iew which will look at the
rights of both complainers and accused in the court process. In terms of other
areas, the matter of the 3 verdicts will come under review by the Scottish Law
Commission, and further consideration will be given to how we engage with
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social media and evidence-giving, including police use of body cameras, issues
of interest to Police Scotland and senior judiciary.
Lesley Irving and Lesley Cunningham then took questions on, and discussed
the draft VAW Strategy and the new criminal offence of forced marriage.
 Draft VAW Strategy
Lesley Cunningham advised that a targeted consultation process had ended
and the paper was in development, with key themes and areas for action being
considered, with a publication deadline in June. The challenge is to strike a
balance between a high level document and practical action plan. There is a
major focus on primary prevention and intervention, looking not only at helping
women but at societal attitudes, how these develop in children and the whole
environment of culture, health, education, etc. The intention is to send a clear
message that addressing VAW is not only about giving women services but
demonstrating that the justice system is there to hold perpetrators to account.
The Scottish Government will be coming back to partners to discuss
responses.
Lesley Irving explained the background to Scottish Government policy in this
area, the 2000 Domestic Abuse Strategy which came out of the 1995 UN
Beijing Conference , and the 2009 “S fe Lives: Changed Li es” document .
The latter provided a shared understanding and partnership approach to an
expanded remit which moved on from domestic abuse to violence against
women generally and included a definition of VAW based on the UN definition
which had gender inequality at the heart of VAW. The 2009 paper provided a
strategic approach but was not a strategy and had no action plan. The current
strategy under development will have milestones and commitments to ensure
accountability.
New criminal offence of forced marriage
The COPFS will be developing guidance for prosecutors, Police Scotland will
be ef eshing thei office s’ t ining nd the Scottish Go e nment will be
conducting an awareness-raising campaign with advertising, etc.
There is no date yet from Scottish Ministers for implementation of the offence.
A general discussion then followed
Alison Johnstone noted that VAW takes place in a particular concept and
raised the issue of violent pornography and the effects on young people of
being exposed to this, the question being whether teachers should be
discussing this issue with pupils, in order to support positive messages from
education on VAW.
Lesley Irving commented that the sexualisation of women has been normalised
and technology has played both a negative and positive role in this. This is an
important issue and has been raised with Scottish Government colleagues in
Education to explore what action they can commit to in the draft VAW Strategy
and Curriculum for Excellence and also what schools can commit to. Zero
Tole nce’ nd the Women’s Suppo t P oject’s online “P oject Po cupine” with
young people, which raised awareness about the reality of the porn industry,
was referred to as an example of good practice.
Sandie Barton reported on an Early Intervention Fund project in schoolsfeedback from teachers is positive and they need the skills to deal with putting
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across appropriate messages on gender. There is a need to look at
po nog phy nd the mess ges th t this ises nd imbed this in schools’
training , including challenging stereotypes at nursery level.
Mhairi McGowan highlighted that while the Curriculum was a good way of
highlighting cultural change across Government, the discretion allowed to Head
Teachers on implementation does not help. She also raised the issue of delays
in court process resulting in a 6 month wait for a trial date in the Glasgow DA
court, which puts enormous pressure on women complainers. In relation to the
court process, the public perception of the role and jurisdiction of Summary
Sheriffs is an issue; including domestic abuse –related civil and criminal cases
in their jurisdiction will be seen by the public and the justice system as a
downgrading of the status of domestic abuse in the justice system.
Stephen Madill also commented on the unintended consequences of pressure
on courts and the increased pressure on other parts of the system- 40% of
cases in Edinburgh Sheriff Court relate to domestic abuse.
The Cabinet Secretary commented that negative perceptions can be dispelled
by appropriate messaging and training of justice system personnel. Court
delays require further consideration .This will be looked at by the Making
Justice Work programme and Justice Board- cases need to be prosecuted and
there is slack and capacity in the system, which c n be “sm tened” so
approaches have to be changed- taking things out/timing of courts/weekend
courts. Have to look at ways to get around the issue, but the increase is based
on need nd the efo e the esponse c nnot be “w te ed down” by emo ing
serious cases
Ro y M c e enqui ed s to the Go e nment’s intention to fu the oll out the
Caledonian System. It is currently running in 13 Local Authorities, dealing with
1350 men and the first findings of an evaluation, which is imminently going out
to tender, should be available next year. The Cabinet Secretary advised that
while he was persuaded by the merits of the system, there was no available
funding but that he would come back to the CPG on this. A different approach
may have to be adopted in rural areas but the SGov is committed.
Annie T ylo d ised th t the e w s need to see mo e efe ence to “gi ls”
nd thei specific issues in the d ft VAW st tegy. Child en’s o g nis tions
keen to work with the SGov on this.
Cab Sec
Cab Sec
e
Louise Johnson commented that there was a concern that the draft VAW
Strategy had no real focus on the impact of domestic abuse on children and
young people and asked for clarity on the issue of service provision for women,
since prevention work could not be done to the exclusion of services for
women, children and young people but had to be complementary and in
addition to this.
Lesley Cunningham clarified that this was not the intention, which was to look
t wide cultu l issues, gende ste eotypes nd t king women’s equ lity
issues forward, to look at structural, financial inequalities and challenges- for
instance, the welfare changes have had a significantly worse impact on
women- and that naming this in the draft Strategy was a notable development
that sets the SGov strategy apart from others.
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Lesley Irving advised that the gap in the draft Strategy in relation to children
and domestic abuse had been noted. She further commented on the debate
bout te minology nd the use of “gi ls/child en/women” nd th t the n me,
whether for VAW/girls, a VAW strategy or a VAW/Children strategy has
implications and changes the focus.
4. Information sharing
Katarzyna Zalewska from Respekt mentioned a new project for Polish
professionals in relation to domestic abuse. This is a major issue and there is a
need to improve international communications between social services on
domestic abuse looking at risk and why people move.
The Cabinet Secretary commented that this had been noted as an increasing
issue with statistics for the Polish community higher and positive discussions
are underway between police and prosecution which may be undermined by
proposals for the UK to opt out of the EU Arrest Warrant. He was not aware of
difficulties in international liaison and communications between social services
but will enquire.
Cab Sec
5. AOCB
RESPEKT presentation - a priority for the August CPG
Action:
KZ
White Ribbon- joint event for 2014 16 Days.
Istanbul Convention- Scotland could proceed with UK ratification. Possibly
invite someone from the Council of Europe to the CPG? It was agreed that
there should be further discussion within the CPG , with a lead to frame this
discussion. Emma Ritch volunteered to take this forward
Progress the outstanding action from the December minutes is the joint
presentation from HMP Addiewell and White Ribbon regarding working with
men in prisons. Louise Johnson will contact Callum Hendry to organise this on
the agenda.
The members agreed that another meeting should be held in the summer
which would be possible in July or August as the Parliamentary recess times
were different this year due to the Referendum. A date was to be identified and
circulated
Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Mike Russell MSP and
the Cabinet Secretary for Commonwealth Games, Sport, Equalities and
Pensioners' Rights, Shona Robison MSP to be invited to the August 2014
meeting
ER
LJ & CH
LJ
LG & MC
7. AOCB
Action:
7. Date of Next Meeting
28th May , 17.30- 19.00 , Committee Room 4, Scottish Parliament
13th August, 17.30 -19.00, Committee Room 5, Scottish Parliament
Action:
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