The report of the Independent Strategic Review of Funding and Commissioning of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Services in Scotland  details the legal right to, and guaranteed funding for, minimum core services and compliance with international human rights conventions, “which positions Scotland as an exemplar of best practice”.

The review included over 100 engagement events with women, children and young people across Scotland. It heard evidence that current services do not work for large numbers of women, children and young people, in particular those from minority ethnic communities, as well as older and younger women, disabled, including learning disabled, women and D/deaf women.

Scotland is currently not compliant with several international human rights conventions, including the Istanbul Convention (the Council of Europe’s Convention on Preventing and Combatting Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence) and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as we are not providing a full range of services to all who need them.

To put Scotland in line with best practice developments at European level, the report recommends that a new body called the Istanbul Convention Implementation Observatory (ICIO) is established, and a VAWG Commissioner appointed to ensure progress is maintained.

Chair of the Review, Lesley Irving, said: “I am confident that our recommendations, which are grounded in the evidence we have gathered over the course of the Review, will allow us to take a very significant step forward in how we respond to VAWG in Scotland. It’s time to make that commitment.”

The report’s recommendations will take several years to be fully implemented, and the Scottish government and COSLA have been asked to provide a timeline for implementation by December 2023, with annual reports to the Scottish Parliament on the progress of implementation thereafter.