FOREWORD
I am delighted to introduce the Scottish Ministers' reports on our gender equality priorities to tackle violence against women and to tackle occupational segregation.
The Scottish Government is working with others to ensure that Scotland is a country where girls and boys and women and men no longer face barriers and discrimination which prevent them from being the best that they can be. We are committed to creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish. This is at the heart of our Economic Strategy and underpins the national performance framework.
The public sector duty to promote gender equality helps us and the wider public sector to deliver the changes that are needed to make real improvements to women and men's lives. The duty is an instrument to drive both institutional and cultural change. It ensures that public organisations systematically consider the impact of all their policies and services on women and on men and are active in finding ways to remove disadvantage and discrimination.
In addition to the duty on public authorities, there is a duty on Scottish Ministers. This Scottish Ministers' Duty enables us to determine priorities for advancing gender equality across the public sector as a whole and to report on progress. Our two priorities are to tackle violence against women and to tackle occupational segregation.
In response to the Scottish Ministers' Duty, we have published 2 reports on each of the priority areas (4 reports in total, each with an accompanying research summary). The reports focus on the good practice taking place in some public authorities in tackling violence against women and in tackling occupational segregation. We would encourage other authorities to consider adopting or adapting the identified good practice to suit their local area, helping us to make a real difference and deliver better outcomes for women and men in Scotland.
NICOLA STURGEON
DEPUTY FIRST MINISTER AND CABINET SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND WELLBEING
JUNE 2010