Chamber and committees

You say that tensions have been high. Could anything more have been done to address the situation, and are there any examples of that?

Yes, it would—thank you, Pauline.

Good morning. I thank Jenny Miller and Pauline Nolan for coming to the meeting and for their opening statements, especially on international women’s day.

We have heard that the rates of domestic abuse and violence against women increased throughout the pandemic. Was that the case for disabled women, too? If so, were there specific impacts on them? If so, how could we have addressed that?

I want to go back to the issue of apprenticeships, which my colleague Pam Duncan-Glancy mentioned. This week is also apprenticeship week. I want to ask about take-up of and access to apprenticeships for disabled people. Do you have any links with organisations such as Skills Development Scotland and Apprenticeships Scotland? How is that working? Is that an area that you are looking at?

You mentioned that you are working with Skills Development Scotland. Does more need to be done to promote apprenticeships and to make people aware that they are accessible to all, including disabled people?

I thank the panel for their opening statements and for sharing their personal experience and the work that they have done. Like my colleague Pam Duncan-Glancy, I thank you for all the work that you have done for the BAME community and women both throughout Covid and before it.

We heard in response to our call for evidence—and we have heard this today as well—that the restrictions due to the pandemic put many women in a vulnerable position in terms of relying on their partner’s income and in relation to interacting with support services. A Sikh Women’s Aid report drew attention to specific characteristics of domestic violence in the BAME community. The ethnic minority national resilience network recommended investment in bespoke multilingual and multicultural mental health services. We heard about the importance of that from Trishna Singh when she spoke about one size not fitting all.

In light of those findings, do you believe that there should be more investment in the third sector organisations that have specific capacity to reach out to BAME women who are subject to domestic violence, in order to provide bespoke services?

That is fine, convener. I mixed both my questions into one when I asked about one size not fitting all.

Thank you for your answers. I have a quick follow-up question on what Mariam Ahmed has just said. Your organisations do a lot of really good work. Are BAME women more comfortable coming to your organisations because you understand the culture and the family structure, rather than going to the many other third sector organisations that provide help for people who have mental health difficulties or are experiencing domestic abuse? Do they come along because they feel that you understand them more?

Mariam, you mentioned that they do not see people like us—I am going to be honest—on those boards, so they cannot relate. I have said that all my life. I could not see people like me in politics, so I totally understand what you are talking about. Is that why they come to you more?

Sara Medel Jiménez talked about working harder than her white female and white male colleagues. I have talked to a lot of BAME women and read a lot of the books. Sometimes we feel that we need to work harder for our position in society, and there is guilt. We feel that we need to work to be noticed. Was that the reason for that, or was that more about the employer pushing you to work differently from other colleagues? I think that I have put that right.

Good morning, and thank you for your opening remarks.

The written evidence that has been provided says that sheriff courts still do not seem to be equipped with Webex for child welfare hearings, and that parents are not being included in the Webex child welfare hearings. Are you confident that children are being heard in child welfare hearings?

Under the Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill, the use of remote hearings could be extended until 2023. How would that impact the rights of parents and children to be heard in child welfare hearings? I put that to Ian Maxwell.