Legislation alone cannot change attitudes, but it can contribute. It can also raise awareness, and give victims of hate crime confidence that it will be taken seriously by authorities.
This is according to a May 2018 independent review (pdf) of hate crime legislation in Scotland, chaired by Lord Bracadale – a senior member of the judiciary.
Scottish politics is in a state of flux and the referendums on Scottish independence in 2014, and then Britain’s EU membership in 2016, have created new dividing lines in politics.
This is according to the May 2018 report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on the role of low-income Scottish voters on Brexit, the general election and Indyref.
Housing is the cornerstone of independent living, yet many disabled people live in homes that do not meet their requirements.
This is according to the May 2018 report on housing and disabled people in England, Wales and Scotland by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
The Scottish Government have published its 2016 Official Statistics for Scotland on people, communities and places. This data came from the Scottish Surveys Core Questions (SSCQ) and covers the period of 2012 – 2016.
The Government Equalities Office have published its 8th report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (pdf), in April 2018.
The Scottish Affairs Committee have launched a March 2018 inquiry on the impact of Brexit on trade and investment in Scotland.
It is deeply concerning that more than half of all employees who win a case at an employment tribunal do not receive the compensation they are due.
This is according to the UK Parliament All Select Committee publication on the future of working practices in Scotland.
In the last Parliament, the predecessor Committee launched an inquiry into sustainable employment in Scotland. They were unable to complete its work before the snap 2017 General Election, and this report seeks to build on that work, and examines the particular needs of Scotland.
The report recommends:
The Government should commission a study to assess the extent of unfair employment practices in Scotland—to establish how many workers suffer from unfair or illegal employment practices, and whether there are particular issues in certain sectors.
Where the UK Government is planning to change spending in a way which will affect devolved funding, the Government should engage with the devolved administrations at the earliest possible opportunity on implications for devolved policy
That the Government put in place new mechanisms—which could include the establishment of additional enforcement agencies—to proactively identify and combat all unfair employment practices.
Read the full report.
Human rights belong to everyone. We all have rights regardless of sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age, income, gender, country of birth or belief.
This is from the February 2018 report from the Scottish Human Rights Commission on building a human rights culture in Scotland.
The research tested and identified the impact of different types of messages on people’s attitudes towards human rights
The report finds:
Demographic groups of women and 16-24 year olds were most likely to become more supportive and engaged with human rights when exposed to key human rights messages
When talking about human rights, organisations involved in human rights secured the greatest levels of trust amongst all those surveyed, with 58% of participants saying they would trust them a great deal or fair amount.
This compares to 17% for a famous singer, actor, sportsperson or musician who is well known for caring about human rights
Different spokespeople affected the impact of messages. For example across all those surveyed, a disability rights campaigner has more impact than the Chair of the National Human Rights Institution when discussing disability rights.
Read the full report (pdf).
The Scottish Government, COSLA and the Scottish Refugee Council have launched a strategy to support refugees and asylum seekers in Scotland’s communities.
New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy (pdf), published in January 2018, aims to coordinate the efforts of organisations involved in supporting refugees and asylum seekers.
‘People in Scotland have become more critical of the way that both the UK government and the EU are handling Brexit’ says a January 2018 report (pdf) from NatCen and UK in a Changing Europe.
In this report, Sir John Curtice highlights what Scotland is making of Brexit.
