Support for Victims & the Role of Schools
Victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse will be able to access support quicker thanks to an additional £2 million of funding from the Scottish Government.
The funding will go to Rape Crisis Scotland and Scottish Women’s Aid so they can reduce their waiting lists for women who need support services, including refuge places and counselling. Last year, both organisations supported more than 27,000 women and girls, but demand for their services has grown.
The £2 million for 2024-25 is in addition to £19 million annual funding the Scottish Government provides to support women with experience of violence through our Delivering Equally Safe fund.
It comes as a dedicated approach to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in schools is launched by the First Minister and Education Secretary.
Developed by a working group co-chaired by the Scottish Government, Rape Crisis Scotland and Zero Tolerance, the framework encompasses testimony from young people and staff and sets out how schools can use education, with an emphasis on compassion, to challenge societal views which normalise gender-based violence.
It aims to support schools by:
- demonstrating the different ways GBV can affect young people in a school community and highlighting how schools can challenge the underlying gender inequalities which can cause it
- providing guidance to support schools’ responses to GBV experienced, or carried out by, children and young people or other members of the school community, including staff
- outlining the approach schools should take to recording GBV behaviours and signposting to further support and learning
GBV refers to behaviours ranging from name calling, intimidation and physical violence to sexual harassment and emotional abuse, which can affect anyone, but is more commonly experienced by women and girls.
The Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research report, published last year, highlighted an increase in misogynistic views and language as an emerging concern in schools which the Education Secretary committed to developing a dedicated approach to address. This is as part of the government’s wider response to challenges with behaviour in schools.
I very much welcome both the increased funding and the new strategy for schools.
GRAEME
Violence against women and girls is abhorrent, and on the front line we have these support services and we have education in schools.
This Scottish Government is determined to fighting this scourge on society, and that means an emphasis on both prevention and victim support.
These measures will go some way in advancing both.
We want schools to create cultures in which all members of the school community know that gender-based violence is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Prevention and early intervention are key to the approach to address the underlying causes of gender-based violence, particularly gender inequality.
FIRST MINISTER HUMZA YOUSAF
This framework forms part of our broader action to address the issue of gender equality within education as part of the implementation of our Equally Safe Strategy and broader commitment to eradicate gender-based violence in every part of our society.
All children and young people have a right to a learning environment where they are protected, cared for, and in which their rights and needs are respected. It is vital that schools are at the part of our drive to support the end of gender-based violence and misogyny once and for all – it is up to us to show the leadership necessary to empower them to do so.
We’re proud to have been closely involved in the development of the Gender Based Violence in Schools Framework. The guidance is a vital step towards preventing and responding to boys’ sexual harassment, rape, and abuse of girls, which is all too common. We now look to the Scottish Government to demonstrate its commitment to ending boys’ violence against girls by resourcing the guidance’s implementation so both teachers and children can focus on learning.
LAURA TOMSON, CO-DIRECTOR AT ZERO TOLERANCE
In this time of rising costs and rising demand, Women’s Aid services in Scotland have never been stretched thinner, and children and women needing support should never have to sit on a waiting list.
MARSHA SCOTT, SCOTTISH WOMEN’S AID CHEIF EXECUTIVE
We are grateful not only that the fund has been extended until the end of the next financial year but that the Scottish Government has responded to concerns about inflation and mounting pressure on staff who work so hard to provide sometimes life-saving services.
