NICOLA Sturgeon and Mhairi Black took to the stage with campaigners, activists and feminists from around the globe at the Women in the World summit in London yesterday.
The event, which began in New York in 2010, heard testimony from playwright Bonnie Greer, Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman and North Korean human rights activist Yeonmi Park.
It also included a former child soldier, business leaders and the parents of Malala Yousafzai, talking on topics including surviving abuse, achieving equal pay and ending child marriage.
Organiser Tina Brown said it was a platform where “powerful things” could be said, adding: “Our mission is to present women in a forum where we can see the world through their eyes and draw strength and wisdom from their lives, creating really new role models for us all.”
In an on-stage interview with journalist Sir Harold Evans, Sturgeon highlighted her determination to work towards gender equality through action against domestic violence and lack of opportunity.
She said: “In Scotland there are estimated to be about 60,000 incidences of domestic violence every year. That’s bad enough but it’s estimated that only one in five are reported to the police, so the actual scale is much bigger than that number would suggest.
“I believe passionately that domestic violence isn’t just a result of gender inequality but a cause of gender inequality.
“We’re never going to have gender equality unless we tackle and eradicate violence against women.”
Calling revenge porn “an absolutely despicable way of degrading and humiliating a woman,” she said Scotland's new legislation on the problem was part of an overarching approach aimed at improving the lives of women and girls.
The First Minister said: “I believe more passionately than I believe in many things that we need to drive forward gender equality. But we won’t do that whilst so many women are still victims of violence and abuse.”
Sturgeon said it was “depressing” to know her own cabinet was one of only three gender-balanced administrations in the world, and that and progress must be made on access to high-powered positions.
Speaking about the future, she added: “I’ve got a nine-year-old niece – I don’t want by the time she’s a young woman and she’s my age, for her and her generation still to be fighting these battles.
"I want us to actually try to win these battles for the next generation of women.
“We’re challenging private companies, public sector boards, I’ve set a 50:50 by 2020 challenge so we’re going to continue to try to make progress on this because I don’t believe it is right and I don’t believe it is good for any of us if we continue to under-use the talents of more than 50 per cent of our population.”
Later, Mhairi Black said gender and age no longer mattered to Scottish voters, saying: “People in Scotland are so switched on that political spin and aesthetic things like your gender, they don’t matter.
“What policy are you putting forward? Do you understand the issues affecting my life? Are you going to stand up for me? These are the things that matter.”
Sturgeon recently named Black as a potential future leader of the SNP, but Black played down the suggestion, saying: “Of course it’s an incredibly flattering thing that’s been said to me multiple times. It’s not about that, it shouldn’t be about having your eye on something. All I’m interested in is doing what I said I would during that campaign. I might not want to be the leader.”
Women's leadership in Scotland is a great source of pride
New anti-revenge porn law ‘will encourage victims to come forward’
Women’s groups launch 20-point equality manifesto
Emma Ritch: Battle for gender equality must take into account the diversity of women
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here