Equalities

GENDER

The Scottish Greens stand firmly for inclusive, intersectional feminism which recognises not only that gender inequality runs deep in our society, but also that it is affected by other kinds of inequality like wealth, disability, racial injustice, LGBT+ discrimination and more. Scotland still has much work to do if we’re to make progress toward a more equal society for women, and to ensure an inclusive approach for people of all genders and none.

The impact of COVID has worsened pre-existing gender inequalities, from the uneven burden of both paid and unpaid care work, to the impact of gender based violence and the barriers to accessing support under the pandemic restrictions. However there have also been positive developments. Many employers have been forced to recognise not only that flexible and remote working is possible, but also how gender inequality affects the way people’s home lives impact on their working lives. Learning from the experience of COVID could result in real improvements to equal, accessible and flexible working arrangements.

The Scottish Greens will:

• Fully integrate gender budgeting into all public budgeting processes.
• Place closing the gender pay gap at the heart of our plans for a green recovery.
• Support the work of the expert group established to examine how the criminal justice system deals with misogyny.

DISABILITY

Our society, our economy and our public services create the barriers disabled people face to full participation, and removing those barriers must be a priority for every level of government.

We will:

• Support incorporation of the UN Convention on Rights of Disabled People into Scots Law to fully promote, protect and realise disabled people’s human rights. We recognise the case being made for a Commissioner or independent body to uphold these rights and will consult with disabled people on this proposal.
• Ensure the Scottish Government is an exemplar of good practice in removing the barriers disabled people face in employment, working with employers to remove barriers to employment, and encourage working arrangements that respond to the individual needs of disabled people. Engaging with this will be a condition of publicly funded business support.
• Ensure disabled people benefit from the Young Person’s Guarantee and have a role in designing employability support schemes.
• Deliver an inclusive education system so that disabled children and young people receive appropriate care and support before, and during, the transition to adulthood.
• Make inclusive communication the norm for the Scottish Government to ensure that everyone, including disabled people, can access the information they need in the right formats.
• We will increase the provision of BSL training places in Scotland’s education institutions and workplaces.

The delivery of all public services must benefit from the lived experience of disabled people if those services are to fulfil their purpose and remove barriers to disabled people’s full participation in society. This will be particularly important in the development of a National Care Service, and in the growing role of the devolved social security systems.

LGBT+

The Scottish Greens have always taken a strong and proactive stance on LGBT+ equality, working for a progressive and inclusive Scotland where the LGBT+ community and intersex people can live and thrive freely. We were the first political party to back marriage equality, we pioneered legislation to tackle transphobic and homophobic hate crime, and unlike most political parties we have never treated LGBT+ people’s human rights as an optional matter. Green candidates are committed to progress, and will not hide behind special “votes of conscience” to stand in the way of equality.

We will:

• Ensure that health and social care services throughout Scotland, including mental health services, are fully inclusive of LGBT+ people and designed to remove barriers and tackle health inequalities.
• Implement the Time for Inclusion Education (TIE) campaign recommendations, including the delayed delivery of promised funding to assist this important work.
• Deliver long overdue reforms to the Gender Recognition Act, including statutory self-declaration, recognising non-binary identities and all genders, and providing access to health care for trans minors with parental or guardian consent.
• Introduce an informed consent model of trans healthcare, and in the meantime continue to push for access to Gender Identity Clinics within 18 weeks, in line with NHS standards for other services.
• Ban so-called “conversion therapy”, which refers to unethical and unnecessary interventions that seek to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBT+ people or alter a person’s sex characteristics without their consent.
• Ensure LGBT+ inclusion in Scottish Government international development policies, and enshrining the Yogyakarta human rights principles into Scots law.

RACE

While Scotland has often perceived itself to be a welcoming and inclusive society, there is much work we have not yet done to examine the extent of racism and white supremacy in Scotland, and the legacy of empire and colonialism. Greens continue to call for the devolution of immigration in order to combat the racist consequences of UK Home Office hostile environment policies, for adequate support and an end to destitution in the asylum process, and for asylum seeker accommodation to be in local hands. Within the scope of powers already devolved there are clear priorities for action.

We will:

• Improve the collection of data about issues such as black and minority ethnic communities’ economic participation, health status, and access to public services.
• Work to ensure that Scotland’s institutions and workforces are as representative of our society as possible. We particularly recognise the fact that Scotland’s race pay gap is far too high and will take action to address this.
• Work nationally and locally to re-evaluate existing public monuments and references to figures involved in colonialism and the slave trade, and dedicate new public art to people, including people of colour, whose place in our history has been ignored.
• Review racial awareness in policing and the criminal justice system, and the ways in which black and minority ethnic communities are impacted. As much as possible this process must be led by the affected communities.
• Introduce mandatory recording of racist incidents and prejudice-based bullying in Scotland’s schools, and work with third sector partners to build anti-racist competence in schools.

FAITH AND BELIEF

The Scottish Greens respect all communities and their rights to practise their religion free from persecution and discrimination. We believe in an inclusive and secular society, including within the education system, and we recognise that religious freedom includes not only freedom of religion, but also freedom from religion.

The Scottish Greens will

• Regularly engage with Scotland’s representative faith and belief bodies, and be guided by their proposals on how best to represent and advocate for their communities within Parliament.
• Defend the right to wear religious and other dress and symbols of Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Catholic and others, and protect the faith practices which are important to our religious communities, including the production of halal and kosher meat, in line with high animal welfare standards.
• Work with our diverse religious communities to campaign against prejudice and discrimination on grounds of religion and belief, and are committed to tackling the unacceptable levels of religious hate crime.

A NEW DEAL FOR TRAVELLERS

The Scottish Greens want to ensure that Gypsy/Travellers are provided the same respect and rights as those in the settled community, and will take measures, including where necessary legislative action, to ensure that their lifestyle and heritage is protected.

The Scottish Greens will:

• Work with Local Government to introduce new permanent stopping places which will be allocated in consultation with members of the Travelling community.
• Protect existing stopping places from development and ensure they are equipped with provisions for waste disposal, personal hygiene, and food storage.
• Develop a common rights framework for Gypsy/Traveller communities using council-owned stopping places.
• Support further protection for the Gypsy/Traveller community within the Equality Act, ensuring their status is understood as a race and not a lifestyle choice.
• Push for an apology for past treatment of Gypsy/Traveller communities in Scotland, including the displacement of over 3,000 children.

SCOTLAND WELCOMES REFUGEES

The Scottish Greens stand for the rights of refugees and believe Scotland should do everything in its power to welcome them. Asylum seekers have often fled war, famine, and discrimination. Many have embarked on perilous journeys to reach safety.

Scotland must play its role as a welcoming and supportive country, but is often held back by the UK Government.

The Scottish Greens will campaign for all asylum seeker support to be devolved to Scotland, and in the meantime will:

• Call on the UK Government to accept more asylum seekers, particularly unaccompanied children, and to ensure there are safe routes to the UK.
• Fight to close Dungavel Immigration Detention Centre and work with local councils and third sector partners to ensure asylum seekers and refugees are properly supported.
• Extend voting rights to all asylum seekers, building on the extension of the franchise to refugees with leave to remain in Scotland that we helped secure in the last Parliament.
• Submit a public & third sector bid to the Home Office tendering process for asylum seeker housing and support services, with the intention of ending private sector involvement and profiteering in the process.

THE SCOTTISH GREENS WILL ALSO

Support children in care and estranged young people

• Commit to keep The Promise, so that our care system ensures that all children in Scotland grow up in an environment where they are loved, respected and safe, and enables them to fulfil their potential.
• Put in place educational and financial support services for those estranged from their parents and guardians.
• Ensure estranged students have access to guarantor schemes so that they can get the housing they need.