JOHN Swinney has said the behaviour of men and boys in Scotland is “chilling” after schoolgirls told him violence against women is one of the top issues his Government needs to tackle.
The First Minister told the Sunday Times about a “deeply unsettling” moment when children as young as 10 from the Scottish Youth Parliament used a meeting with cabinet ministers to raise serious concerns about the prevalence of gender-based violence in Scotland.
He described it as a “very sobering moment”.
“I found that, basically, deeply, deeply unsettling,” said Swinney.
The First Minister said he would do what he could “as a parent to support my children” in response to the concerns raised.
During First Minister’s Questions last week, Swinney was asked about the Scottish Government’s plans to criminalise non-fatal strangulation during sexual encounters.
He pledged the Scottish Government will give “serious consideration” to making it a specific offence and promised to “lead from the front” in tackling the abuse of women and girls by changing male behaviour.
Fiona Drouet, whose 18-year old daughter Emily took her own life in the days after she was slapped and choked by her boyfriend, is among those petitioning for a specific offence to be created.
While he said ministers “constantly keep the law under review,” Swinney added at FMQs: “If there was to be a stand-alone offence put in place, we would need to be confident there is a gap in the law.”
Swinney said he took his responsibility as a male first minister “deadly seriously” when it came to making clear that the conduct of boys and men was integral to the experiences of women in society.
“I will lead from the front a campaign to say to boys and men in Scotland that their behaviour has got to improve,” he added.
Swinney has two children from his first marriage, Judith and Stuart, and another son, Matthew, who is in his early teens, from his second marriage.
He said: “I think that what I can do as a parent is to support my children and to give them the best example I possibly can do.”
Asked if misogyny and risks to women had increased, Swinney said he felt domestic violence was not acknowledged when he was growing up but that reports and prosecutions were now more common.
He added that he took no comfort from this because “women and girls should not have these experiences”.
The latest Police Scotland figures show 20,271 reported crimes of domestic abuse between April and September, a rise of 11 per cent on a year earlier.
A spokesperson for Rape Crisis Scotland welcomed Swinney’s commitment to leading on gender-based violence.
They said: “We have grave concerns about the impact of violent pornography on young people, especially young men.
“Young men in the formative years of developing their sexuality are being regularly exposed to depictions of women being hurt and strangled during sex. This normalises this behaviour and often gives the impression that women expect or enjoy this.”
Swinney said there were examples of male behaviour online that “can have a very, very negative impact on society and can exacerbate some of these problems”.
He added: “I think that’s a very serious challenge for society today.”
