The Scottish Women's Convention held a conference on sexual harassment in light of recent high-profile scandals
A Scottish summit on sexual harassment was held for the first time at the weekend.
Organised by the Scottish Women’s Convention (SWC), the event in Glasgow was addressed by politicians and other speakers.
The conference was arranged in light of high profile cases of harassment in Hollywood and closer to home, and aimed to allow women from throughout the country to discuss issues which have recently arisen and how best to tackle sexism.
Particular focus at the event was given to harassment in the workplace, with employers urged to do more to ensure strict procedures are in place.
SWC chair Agnes Tolmie said: “We need to show solidarity with every woman that speaks out and look forward as to how to tackle the institutionalised sexism that allows harassment to continue.
“The subject of the conference has never been more in the spotlight and it is up to us to ensure that we keep it there, never again to be consigned to the shadows for fear of the consequences of speaking out.
“Employers need to ensure they have robust, sensitive and fair procedures to deal with complaints, and that their employees have confidence in these. If women experiencing harassment and abuse do not have confidence, that pervasive silence will continue to exist and those who choose to behave in this way will continue to believe they can act with impunity.”
Keynote speaker Angela Constance, equalities minister for the Scottish Government, said that men must also speak out when they see unacceptable things happening.
“The women who have spoken out have pushed open a door. It’s up to us, as women, to push that wider,” she said.
“The time for silence is over and the time has come to call harassment out for what it is – violence against women and girls. We need to tackle the underlying inequalities which perpetuate sexual harassment. Men must join the women who are speaking out and acknowledge that this issue isn’t just for women to fix.”
The conference also heard from former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, who said that the Scottish Parliament needs to lead the work to tackle sexism.
She said: “Sexual harassment is subversive within the Scottish Parliament. We need to fix that, but we also need to create step change across the country, in all workplaces.
“We have to use the parliament as a tool for that change. We need to look at creating an advertising campaign which talks about what sexual harassment is and how we can actually tackle it in workplaces.”
