16 Days of Activism to Challenge Violence Against Women

The motion

That the Parliament endorses the global 16 days of activism to tackle violence against women; welcomes the demonstration organised outside the Parliament by Amnesty International and Scottish Women’s Aid (SWA) on 4 December 2008; recognises that gender-based violence is a fundamental abuse of human rights; supports the calls by Amnesty International UK (AIUK) and SWA for women with “no recourse to public funds” (NRPF) to have the same rights to access refuge and services as domiciled Scots women and children when fleeing violence; notes that the NRPF rule applies to women with insecure immigration status; recognises that this includes women with spouse visas, work visas, student visas and other temporary visas, and women who have been illegally trafficked, as well as women who have overstayed their visa; accepts the research undertaken by AIUK and SWA that found that women subject to the NRPF rule find it almost impossible to secure places of safety because they usually leave a violent situation with nothing and find that they cannot claim the required benefits that fund accommodation and support; notes that only 24% of women seeking refuge between 2007 and 2008 who are subject to the NRPF rule were accommodated; is concerned that some local authorities will provide support to children only, which would separate children from their mothers; calls on the short-life working group on this issue to report back to the Parliament; supports the calls by SWA and AIUK for the Scottish Government to make available immediate emergency funding to help women in Scotland until a permanent solution is in place and to ensure that the needs of women subject to the NRPF rule are addressed in the strategic framework on violence against women, and urges the Home Office to exempt women fleeing violence from the NRPF rule.


No recorded vote on this motion. Most motions are never debated, and many that are debated are agreed without a division. Vote records are published from 2011.

SNP 16 Lab 6 LD 2 Green 2

Party shown is each supporter’s party when the motion was published.

No contribution in the Official Report cites S3M-03027 by reference.