4th December 2025

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for attending this important 16 Days of Action Spotlight event. It is inspiring to see so many of you here from across our local authority, wider public sector and the VAWG expert sector, committed to making Scotland a place where women and girls live free from violence.

I am delighted to open today’s discussion on Scotland’s response to violence against women and girls, with a particular focus on understanding and tackling digital violence against young women and girls. These sessions are designed to shine a light on critical issues and to strengthen our collective resolve to prevent and eradicate abuse in all its forms.

As many of you know, Equally Safe, Scotland’s national strategy to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls, is jointly owned by the Scottish Government and COSLA. It makes one principle clear: all forms of violence against women and girls -including those facilitated by technology - are both a cause and a consequence of gender inequality.

Tackling online abuse is not an optional extra; it is integral to our shared vision for a Scotland where women and girls are safe, heard, and respected in every space - on our streets, in our homes, and online.

For local authorities working closely with our strategic partners, this means embedding digital safety into everything we do: from safeguarding and education to housing, justice, and democratic processes. The same collective leadership that drives Equally Safe must extend into the online spaces where harm is escalating.

This year’s 16 Days theme, agreed nationally by Violence Against Women Partnerships, is “All Together to Prevent and End Violence Against Women and Girls.” It reflects a simple truth: tackling violence against women and girls is everyone’s business. No single service, sector, or system can end this abuse alone. It demands collective leadership, joined-up action, and a relentless focus on prevention - not just for 16 days, but every day of every year.

Globally, the scale of male violence against women is staggering. Nearly one in three women worldwide - 840 million - have experienced partner or sexual violence in their lifetime. Progress has been painfully slow, with only a 0.2% annual decline over two decades.

The World Health Organisation reminds us: “Violence against women is one of humanity’s oldest and most pervasive injustices, yet still one of the least acted upon. No society can call itself fair, safe, or healthy while half its population lives in fear.”

In the 21st century, the spaces where violence occurs have expanded to include digital spaces. Here in Scotland, recent research shows that almost one in six women and more than a quarter of young women aged 16 to 24 have experienced online abuse, including threats, trolling, unwanted sexual remarks, and image-based violence. For LGBT+ women, this figure rises to 45%, highlighting the disproportionate impact on marginalised groups.

Technology-facilitated abuse takes many forms: cyberstalking, doxxing, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, deepfake pornography, and misogynistic harassment on social media. These behaviours are not isolated; they exist on a continuum with offline violence. In Scotland, one in nine women who experienced online abuse reported that it escalated into real-world violence.

The impacts are profound. 85% of women who experienced online abuse said it affected them, with over 60% reporting harm to their mental health and wellbeing. For girls and young women, fear of harassment undermines confidence, limits participation, and erodes safety in schools and communities. Exposure to misogynistic content online is also shaping attitudes among boys, fuelling harmful behaviours and reinforcing gender inequality.

Despite the scale of the challenge, there are signs of meaningful change. Under the UK’s Online Safety Act, Ofcom now has sweeping powers to hold tech platforms accountable for protecting users from illegal and harmful content. Companies that breach these obligations face fines of up to £18 million or 10% of global turnover, and in severe cases, services can be blocked in the UK.

Crucially, Ofcom has issued new guidance focused on women and girls, setting out practical steps for platforms to curb misogynistic abuse, cyberflashing, and coordinated harassment. This represents a major shift: platforms will no longer be able to treat online misogyny as optional - they will be legally required to design safer systems.

But legislation alone is not enough. We need leadership at every level - national, local, and community - to make digital safety a reality.

Local government and strategic partners have a vital role to play - integrating digital safety into safeguarding frameworks, supporting schools to challenge harmful attitudes, ensuring justice systems are equipped to respond, and amplifying the voices of survivors.

Today’s event is an opportunity to learn from experts who generously bring their knowledge and expertise to this event today. This is here for you to draw on, so that together we can strengthen Scotland’s response.

And so, I want to end on a hopeful note…and with a challenge.

Change is possible. We have the strategies, the partnerships, and the commitment. What we need now is action. Before you leave today, I ask each of you to identify one concrete action you will take away from this event - one step you can commit to that will make a difference in your sphere of influence.

It might be reviewing your organisation’s digital safeguarding policies, starting a conversation with boys and men about online misogyny, or advocating for better data collection on technology-facilitated abuse. Whatever it is, make it real, make it count.

My commitment is to ensure that as part of ongoing business in the new year my Board at COSLA will connect with the innovative work in Scotland that is taking place to tackle tech enabled gender based.

Together, we can create a Scotland where women and girls live free from violence - in every space, every day. Thank you.