Our plan for Scotland: what it means for women

The First Minister has set out the Scottish Government’s plans for the next year.

Here’s just some of the action we’re doing in government to support Scotland’s women.  

• We will bring forward a Gender Balance on Public Boards Bill which will require positive action to be taken to redress gender imbalances on public sector boards.

• We will establish an Advisory Council on Women and Girls to advise on action to tackle workplace and occupational segregation and other issues relating to gender equality.

• We will invest £200,000 in the Women In Enterprise Action Framework to tackle the gender gap in enterprise.

• We will continue working with the Equality and Human Rights Commission to tackle pregnancy and maternity discrimination, and create guidelines for employers to ensure best practice on monitoring and reporting on pregnancy and maternity.

• We will offer free vitamins to all pregnant women from spring 2017, including the new recommended dose of Vitamin D.

• We will establish a ‘Returners’ project to help women update their skills and knowledge after a career break, and help employers retain skilled staff.

• We will introduce a Domestic Abuse Bill, which will help ensure coercive and controlling behaviour can effectively be dealt with under the criminal law.  
   
• We will also work to implement Equally Safe: Scotland’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls.

• We will develop a  £300,000 Gender Equality in Sport Fund to address the barriers specific to women’s participation. 

• We will radically change how we deal with female offenders, constructing a smaller women’s prison on the Cornton Vale site and establishing community-based custody units for women offenders.